“Florida Aulani.” Why the Internet Apparently Hates Disney World’s New Hotel Tower Before It’s Even Open

We’ve seen quite a few hotel updates roll through Disney World recently!

From an overhaul of the rooms at the BoardWalk Inn to the brand-new cabins at Fort Wilderness, Disney has really been taking the time to update accommodations around property. And coming up soon? We’ll be getting NEW rooms at the Polynesian Village Resort!

In case you haven’t heard, we’re getting a brand-new Disney Vacation Club addition to the Polynesian Village Resort. The Island Tower opens later this year with ten stories of rooms inspired by the four elements.

We’ve already shared a sneak peek at these new hotel rooms, but we won’t get to stay in them until December 17th. When we shared a first look inside the new tower, we definitely got some mixed opinions from our readers, with some excited about the updates…while others were quite upset!

So to get a better feel for the crowdsourced opinion, we reached out to our followers on Facebook and asked, “What are your thoughts on the new rooms in Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort?” And they had some very interesting things to say!

Scanning through the responses, we had a mixed bag of opinions. Some were excited for the update, saying things like, “They look GORGEOUS and I can’t wait to stay in them!!!!” or “Happy to see 1- and 2-bedroom options at Poly.” But on the whole, the responses tended to trend slightly toward the negative.

One person shared their thoughts, noting, “I like the rooms. I just wish the tower blended with the original resort. I know this is blasphemy to some but they could have knocked down the Great Ceremonial House and built a new lobby and tower there in the same architecture as the original resort. Then built another pool to the side and left the Spirit of Aloha alone.”

And it seems that the idea of the tower “not blending” was a pretty common thread. One reader said, “The building looks out of place. We will see how it looks when finished” while another also noted that it looked out of place and called the hotel “Florida Aulani.” The exterior architecture we’ve seen so far does bear some resemblance to the style of Aulani — A Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawaii.

Besides complaints about the exterior, many people also lamented the size and space of the rooms. One commenter was upset that they’d never be able to stay in the new tower because the rooms wouldn’t fit their family of five, while another pointed out that the square footage was smaller for the two-person rooms than some of the value resort hotel rooms.

Finally, the final major concern about this addition is how the resort and the Monorail line will handle the extra crowds. One person said, “How many extra cars are they adding to the monorail to fit all these extra people? That’s my thoughts.” Another pointed out that these increased crowds could be particularly hard on those staying at the Grand Floridian Resort, since it’s the last stop on the Resort Monorail line before you reach Magic Kingdom.

We’ll ultimately have to wait until we get the chance to see the new building fully open and operating in action to see if some of these things become problems, so we’ll keep an eye out. We’ll be interested to see what the project looks like when it’s completed!

Stay tuned to AllEars for more updates about hotel changes coming to Disney World!

Click Here for a First Look Inside the New Rooms!

Are you planning to stay in one of these new rooms? Tell us in the comments!

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