Change is a fact of life at Walt Disney World. Over the last 5+ decades, nearly everything at the resort has changed on some level, including the resort’s iconic day one hotels.
The Polynesian Village Resort was one of two hotels to open with Disney World on October 1st, 1971. The resort was themed to Polynesia and the South Pacific — vaguely reminiscent of Adventureland — with eight “longhouse” buildings (originally known as Bali Hai, Bora Bora, Fiji, Hawaii, Maui, Samoa, Tahiti, and Tonga) built around a Grand Ceremonial House straight out of Tahitian royalty and lush grounds that mimicked the South Pacific. The hotel’s design ushered in the era of heavily themed Disney hotels that extends to the current day.
The Polynesian has changed a great deal over the years, including in name! After originally opening with the Polynesian Village name, the hotel was known simply as the Disney Polynesian Resort from 1985 to 2014 before reverting back to its original name. However, a change in nomenclature wasn’t the biggest alteration to the Polynesian in 2014.
When the Polynesian opened, its lobby building, themed to a Tahitian Grand Ceremonial House, featured a large tropical waterfall feature in its atrium, with over 75 species of plant life. spread across the massive space, surrounding guest services and other lobby functions.
The fan-favorite lobby was long thought of as one of the best hotel features at Disney World, and remained such until 2014…
… when the waterfall and foliage were removed and replaced during resort renovations, allegedly due to health and safety concerns. The lobby was then reminagined as a more open “social space.”
The lobby isn’t the only area of the resort to experience massive changes. From the day it opened in 1971, the Polynesian Village hosted a Luau show that fit with the hotel’s tropical adventure themes.
Over the years, the show had several names, including the Polynesian Revue, the Kaui-Pono Polynesian Revue and Polynesian Luau, and the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show.
The show’s run finally ended in February of 2023, much to the chagrin of many.
Moving outside, the Polynesian has long been known for its manmade beaches, which border the Seven Seas Lagoon. Today, the views from some areas of the hotel are dominated by the Disney Vacation Club Water Bungalows or the Island Tower hotel expansion, which opened in 2024.
However, during the hotel’s earliest years, the beach provided a view of something more bizarre. During the development and construction of the Polynesian, Disney executive Dick Nunis pushed HARD for an artificial wave machine to be installed on the Polynesian Resort’s beaches so that guests could surf in the lagoon’s waters.
After going all the way up the company ladder to Roy O. Disney, Nunis got the budget for his machine, and it was installed in time for the hotel’s 1971 opening. However, things began going wrong from the start. For starters, the machine broke down often, requiring a large amount of time and financial maintenance commitments.
On top of that, when it did work, the waves generated by the machine were quickly eroding the resort’s beaches. These issues, combined with legal concerns, led to the machine being abandoned in 1972. After a brief test revealed the same erosion problems would still be an issue, the machine was disassembled in the mid-1980s.
In the last 5+ decades, the Polynesian Village Resort has changed a great deal, just like the rest of Walt Disney World. While we’re still nostalgic for many of these elements — we’ll always miss that lobby! — there are modern elements of the resort like Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto that we also adore! Stay tuned to AllEars for more looks back at Disney’s past.
Disney Canceled 7 Hotels for Disney World
Do you miss these elements of the Polynesian? Let us know in the comments below!
You missed the parrots in the lobby…. they were there back in the day with the gorgeous plants and waterfall theme…. it was so special.
I loved seeing the parrots when I was a kid – and the beautiful waterfall.
The original lobby was so beautiful and lush. It really seemed like you were in a polynesian place. I wanted to stay there for years. When I finally could afford it, they changed it to that nothing in the lobby. A great disappointment for so many people.
Stayed at Polynesian many times with our kids . Went back 10 yrs ago and was so hurt. Gone was the resort we knew so well. Our boys (now all grown with families of their
own) told us of the awful change.
We had to see for ourselves. Just a heartbreak – a cheap nothing.
Very sad.
The removal of the lobby waterfall and Luau Cove are significant degradations to the (previously) well-themed Polynesian Resort. The replacements do not even begin to make up for their loss.