Reviews of Polynesian Deluxe Studios (Disney Vacation Club)
Reviewed by Diana K Review Date: 09/28/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
I have previously stayed at the Polynesian resort prior to it becoming a DVC property, and always found it enjoyable. I'm an owner at Bay Lake Towers, so I immediately compared the studios. The bathroom setup is much nicer, with one room with a shower, and another with tub; both had sinks. It always felt more cramped in the BLT studio tiny bathroom. The shower has an awesome rain effect and the flooring reminiscent of pebbles. Made me feel like having a shower outside, but without any of the ickyness of actually being outside. The room is longer because of the extra bathroom space, but narrower. I didn't have the extra bed under the TV open, but if it was it would have been a little difficult to get to the other end of the room. Because of the bed under the TV where the dresser would normally be, I wound up using the bathroom drawers for all my clothes. Worked out well for me since I usually wind up getting dressed in the bathroom anyway. I'd definitely stay here again the future. Plus, aside from the bungalows, all the DVC rooms at the resort are studios, so it was much easier for me to book a room after the 7 month window than at other resorts besides my home one.
Pros:
Rain effect shower, extra bathroom sinks and spaceCons:
Limited drawer space, a bit narrowReviewed by Joel0917 Review Date: 09/26/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
Hawaii feel in the heart of Orlando. This resort is great. Feels like a vacation within a vacation. And they have Dole Whip and some of the best drinks in all of WDW at the bars here. Good choice of food as well. View of fireworks on the beach at night.
Pros:
So many things. Pools. Beaches. Smores at night. Feel of the main building!Cons:
I can' think of anyReviewed by MomRN59 Review Date: 09/26/2018
Rating: (10) Recommended
Love this resort, so convenient on monorail, beautiful decor, love the spacious rooms, wish they had 2 bedrooms,2nd bathroom has wasted space, great restaurants and quick service.
Pros:
Monorail, decor, size of room, great restaurants and quick serviceCons:
No 2 bedrooms, wasted space in big bathroom, walkways not covered for rainReviewed by Aimee McCann Review Date: 12/20/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
Our stay was Dec. 9-16. 4 adults sharing one room. I was afraid the room would be too small and the sofa bed uncomfortable, but I was wrong. The storage under the bed, the drawers in the baths and the closet were enough to hold our things. The laundry room was busy on a late Tues night. We didn't get any pixie dust, but the CMs we came into contact with were very helpful and pleasant. We will definitely be returning.
Pros:
Location to monorail for Epcot and MK. Two baths. ThemingCons:
noneReviewed by maze4 Review Date: 10/06/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
We are DVC members and stayed 2 connecting studios 9/21-25 requested Tokeleu 3rd floor received ground floor #1913,1914. We arrived early rooms not ready so went to Epcot. Recieved email around 4pm rooms ready. Arrived back at resort after 9pm Luggage was there but not carry ons left at Bell Services. Room #1914 had an odor which once thought it was cigarette smoke so since my ds girlfriend has asthma we both went to front desk to alert them of situation. We were there approx 1 hour discussing options which were to have housekeeping come clean and they tried to find another room but since the hurricane alot of people were rescheduling their plans so all of DW was booked. They said that something would be avaiable the next day, while this discussion was going on another manager came over and asked room # and stated the the two rooms above ours were complaining the same smell. Head of housekeeping came as well as manager and we all came to conclusion that it was more of a mildew smell not smoke. They still cleaned and said they would shampoo carpets the next day. The manager said since we were not giving them a hard time and being reasonable they would like to compensate us. I explained that we used DVC points and they offered to refund those. That would have been great except our points would end up expiring since we have a Dec UY. so instead they comped us 1 night for each room monetary. Which ended up being over $500. They put it on our room credit which we used for F & W credits. This was truly amazing of them and not expected. The next day we came back with a puddle of water in the bathroom coming from the vent which we alerted front desk since we think that is where the smell was coming from and they quickly came and cleaned the area. We had no additional issues and the smell of the resort is very flowery so always had a nice smell. We loved using the monorail and boats and hardly had any waits. We used the walking path to TTC which only took 5 minutes and then you only had to use security checklines once. This is our home resort and look forward to returning. Only complaint We would goto quiet pools after returning from parks and the pool bar was always closed. This would be at 10pm I wish they would stayed open later. No issues with bugs, noise, boat horns etc. Loved it....
Pros:
Location, monorail, boat, quietnessCons:
pool bars not open lateReviewed by lightyear671 Review Date: 05/09/2017
Rating: (10) Recommended
We were a family of 3 staying in a studio for the 2017 Star Wars/Darkside Race, and the week after. This was our first time staying at Poly (we've been dying to stay here for years!) and we loved it. We were in the Tokelau building, so it was easy to catch the monorail to Epcot at TTC (about a 5-minute walk from our room), or it was a short walk to the main building to catch the monorail to Magic Kingdom. We loved the separate bathtub/shower. Made getting ready in the morning easier and quicker. Our 10-year-old son liked the pull-down bed beneath the TV, which saved a lot of space since we didn't have to pull out the sleeper sofa. As far as drawer space, you have the two drawers under the bed and a closet. I was able to fit in 8+ days' worth of clothing into one drawer, and our son used the other drawer. My wife used the closet for her clothing, so we found "clothing storage" to be adequate. It might be a little more tight during winter season with bulkier clothes.
As for a couple negatives... The monorail between Epcot and TTC broke down a couple times during our stay. Once, we had to catch a bus from Epcot to TTC after waiting about 20 minutes on the monorail (apparently the other monorail on the track broke down). The rooms aren't exactly soundproof, but this was something extremely minor with us. You can hear families out in the hallway talking and laughing (but hey, it's Disney!), and I could have done without the leaf blower at 7 a.m. right outside our room (we were ground floor).
Would love to stay here again if we can manage it!
Pros:
location, room size, separate shower/tubCons:
monorail issues b/w Epcot and TTC, noiseReviewed by hello12345 Review Date: 03/28/2017
Rating: (7) Recommended
We stayed in a studio for two nights over Thanksgiving. I checked in around 2:30 and our room was ready. Having two bathrooms is great. The quick service meals at the resort are also above average. The main pool was nice, but busy all the time. We stayed in a building close to the parking lot near the TTC. The staff felt the need to do landscaping/tree trimming outside our patio door at 7:00 am. However, we heard the rumble of John Deere Gators going past our room around 6:45. Nice resort overall, but I think it's hyped up too much due to its location.
Pros:
LocationCons:
severalReviewed by MWS Review Date: 02/23/2017
Rating: (6) Recommended
We are not Vacation Club members, but I found a good rate for the Deluxe Studio on Disney’s website and since we’ve never stayed at the Poly, I booked the room. We arrived in the morning and since our room was not ready, they claimed they would text us when the room was ready. I never heard from them, I finally called Disney’s customer service around 3:30 and discovered our room had been ready for quite some time. The deluxe studio is large and the split bathrooms are a big plus, the room was kept clean but housekeeping didn’t usually come until after 4 each day. We were very close to the TTC and found it easier to catch the monorail from that location instead of walking back to the Ceremonial House. There isn’t much in the way of sound proofing so we often heard our neighbors on each side and in the hall way. The pull down bed was nice, but there wasn’t much storage in the room. All Cast Members we encountered were very friendly and we had zero problems with transportation. However, for the price, there are nicer places to stay at WDW.
Pros:
LocationCons:
NoiseReviewed by Corks84 Review Date: 02/19/2017
Rating: (9) Recommended
Our experience at the Poly was largely positive! We were 2 parties, traveling together and were assigned adjoining rooms as requested! The adjoining rooms were fantastic! This was our first trip with our 7 month old - and with the grandparents next door, we had help whenever we needed! Plus, in the evenings, we could go to their room and watch tv with the baby monitor going and the door open.
The room itself was great, we had to get a little creative with storage, but we made it work. Definitely not the drawer space we are used to at most Disney Resorts, but we made it work. The split bathroom was great and made getting ready in the mornings a breeze.
Our location in the Tokelau building was perfect, it was convenient to the resort. We often walked to the TTC to catch the monorail to Epcot which was perfect! Our only real complaint was that the monorail was unreliable at best. Each day one of the beams was down. Resulting in having to get creative in transportation. Not a huge deal, but when paying to stay at a monorail resort and then not being able to use it like it is intended is a bit disappointing.
Overall we loved our stay at the Polynesian! The rooms, the lush, tropical grounds, location and theming make it an ideal place to stay when at Disney.
Pros:
Location - Location - LocationCons:
Monorail down frequentlyReviewed by tiggeress Review Date: 01/19/2017
Rating: (6) Recommended
First off, before this trip I LOVED the Poly. I've stayed here 6 times previously, and never wanted to stay anywhere else. I was too afraid I wouldn't love a different resort as much. However, I hadn't been here for 10 years, and my husband had never even been to Disney World. I planned to make this trip extra special, hoping he would love it as much as I do.
Check in was speedy and courteous. Gone are the days of driving you and your luggage in a golf cart to your room. Bags were brought after we called bell services from our room. The pools are definitely bigger, and better, at least in some ways. The quiet pool used to be pretty quiet, and it still is. However, with the addition of the whirlpools, more children are there, believing the whirlpool is a kiddie pool. The whirlpool is kept at 104 degrees, to hot and not safe for children. It would seen totally appropriate for the quiet pool to become for adults only, especially with the addition of the bar, and in the absence of lifeguards, similar to what Aulani has done. Give us empty-nesters something.
The rooms are nice, and the split bathroom is handy. I did not like how the fan went on by motion. At night its just too loud. The room was very nice, but with the addition of the split bath, it was! now smaller than their normal hotel rooms. There are a couple of small drawers in the nightstands and in the washrooms, but the two deep drawers under the bed are impractical, making clothes storage a problem, especially if you had three to five people in the room. Give us a dresser!
The monorail was inoperable for one and a half days. I suppose that can happen. The worst part of our transportation was one night when we were headed over to MK for the evening. From dinner we planned on taking the monorail. We went upstairs and found approximately 150 people waiting to board. Figured out is was right after the early luau was over. I think for the money you spend to stay there, and with the implementation of the magic bands, Poly guests should get priority boarding during times like this. The other hotels on the resort loop don't have large gatherings getting out at the same time. We had to then walk back to the TTC to get to the MK to make our first FP time.
In the past, I always felt the magic here, and felt like I was in paradise. I didn't feel that this time. The landscaping, while still neat, lacked the flowers and beauty from the past. Staff never once greeted with "Aloha". The beach area is almost an afterthought, especially since most of the view is blocked by the bungalows. We had a couple meals at the GF, and found that for the same, or just a little more money, it felt much, much more special overall. From the holiday decorations, to the live music in the lobby, and the beauty of the landscaping, the GF will be the next place we stay.
I never thought I'd say it, but I don't believe we will be staying at the Poly our next trip, and it breaks my heart.
