Disney's Polynesian Resort
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Disney's Polynesian Village Resort (formerly Disney's Polynesian Resort from 1985 to 2014) is a
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
-owned and operated resort located at the
Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. ...
. It began operation on October 1, 1971 as one of Walt Disney World Resort's first two on-site hotels. The resort has a
South Seas Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, most commonly refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. The term South Sea may also be used synonymously for Oceania, or even more narrowly for Polynesia or the Polynesian Triangle ...
theme, and originally opened with 492 rooms. It was designed by Welton Becket and Associates and constructed by US Steel Realty Development. The resort is owned and operated by
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Disney Experiences, commonly known as Disney Parks, is one of the three major divisions of the Walt Disney Company. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort. Led ...
. Since its opening in 1971, the resort has seen three major expansions; the first in 1978, with the addition of a longhouse, the Tangaroa Terrace restaurant/support facility, and a secondary pool. A second expansion took place in 1985, with the construction of two additional longhouses. In that same year, the resort adopted the shortened name "Disney's Polynesian Resort". On May 2, 2014, it was announced that the resort would revert to the Disney's Polynesian Village Resort title while expanding further to include
Disney Vacation Club The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is a vacation timeshare program owned and operated by Disney Vacation Development, Inc., a subsidiary of Disney Signature Experiences, a division of Disney Experiences, a segment of The Walt Disney Company. It allow ...
(DVC) accommodations as well as enhanced resort amenities. On April 1, 2015, the third expansion officially opened, including the new DVC additions and other amenities around the resort. However, on May 10, 2024, Disney Vacation Club announced new details about a new name, Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, which opened on December 17, 2024.


Design

Disney's Polynesian Village Resort is situated on the southern shore of the manmade
Seven Seas Lagoon The Seven Seas Lagoon is an artificial lake at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Located south of the Magic Kingdom theme park, the Seven Seas Lagoon serves as a natural buffer between the Magic Kingdom and its park ...
, south of
Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park is a Amusement park, theme park at the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences, Expe ...
and adjacent to other Walt Disney World complexes, with the
Transportation and Ticket Center The Transportation and Ticket Center (commonly abbreviated TTC) is an intermodal transportation hub served by monorails, ferries, and buses at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The station serves all three lines of the Walt D ...
to the east and
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa is a Victorian themed hotel and spa located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The property opened on June 28, 1988, as the ''Grand Floridian Beach Resort''. The name changed to ''Disney's Grand ...
to the west. The resort is on the Magic Kingdom monorail loop, providing transportation to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot (via transfer), and is part of the route for Disney's Magic Kingdom Resorts Water Launch service. Other Walt Disney World Resort theme parks and attractions are served by
Disney Transport Disney Transport is the public transit system of the Walt Disney World resort near Orlando, Florida, United States. It offers guests a variety of Free public transport, fare-free options to navigate the resort, including buses, the Walt Disney ...
buses. The resort is organized around a central building named the ''Great Ceremonial House'', itself designed after a Tahitian royal assembly lodge. The Great Ceremonial House houses guest services and most of the resort's dining and merchandise locations. From its opening until 2014, the Great Ceremonial House also featured an expansive tropical waterfall feature in its atrium, with over 75 species of plant life. The waterfall and foliage were removed and replaced, however, during extensive resort renovations due to health and safety concerns and to reimagine the lobby as a social space. No rooms are contained in this building, instead several lodges - ''longhouses'' - and water bungalows house all guest rooms and are spread out amongst resort property. As of 2008, Disney's Polynesian Village Resort is certified green lodging property with the state of Florida.


Original design and construction

The resort used
United States Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...
's then newly developed construction process for its original longhouses; steel frames were erected on-site, and pre-constructed modular rooms were lifted into these frames via crane, similar to
Disney's Contemporary Resort Disney's Contemporary Resort, originally to be named Tempo Bay Hotel and previously the Contemporary Resort Hotel, is a resort located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Opened on October 1, 1971, the hotel is one of two ori ...
. This method of building caused problems in both Disney's Polynesian and Contemporary Resorts, with guest complaints of a moldy smell in their rooms. It was found that mold and debris had collected in the spaces between each room. The spaces were filled in, stopping the problem, and longhouses built as part of the resort's later expansions were built using conventional building techniques.


Accommodations

The resort design and layout consists of 11 two- and three-story longhouses, spread throughout the property. The resort originally opened with 484 guest rooms in 8 longhouses: Bali Hai, Bora Bora, Fiji, Hawaii, Maui, Samoa, Tahiti and Tonga. In 1978, the Oahu longhouse was added. The Moorea and Pago Pago longhouses were added in 1985. Between 2013 and 2015, 20 over-the-water DVC bungalows were constructed in a new area named Bora Bora. On October 28, 1999, most of the resort's longhouses were renamed. Today the longhouses are named for islands on the Polynesian isle map, with chosen longhouse names matching the relative geographic position of their namesake island(s). Ten of the eleven longhouses, excluding Fiji, were renamed: Bali Hai became Tonga; Bora Bora became Niue; Hawaii became Samoa; Maui became Rarotonga; Moorea became Tahiti; Oahu became Tokelau; Pago Pago became Rapa Nui; Samoa became Tuvalu; Tahiti became Aotearoa and Tonga became Hawaii. The 2013-15 resort reimagining has returned the original names of the DVC longhouses. Two of the current longhouses, Hawaii (formerly Tonga) and Tonga (formerly Bali Hai), offer a Concierge Lounge - where refreshments, views, and lounge space are offered exclusively to guests of Hawaii or Tonga. In March 2021, Disney Parks Blog revealed updated rooms with new furnishings, fixtures, and Moana themed details, patterns, textures, and colors. In March 2022, it was announced that the resort's luau show, the "Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show", would not be returning after closing two years earlier due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
; the closure was due to anticipated expansions for the
Disney Vacation Club The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is a vacation timeshare program owned and operated by Disney Vacation Development, Inc., a subsidiary of Disney Signature Experiences, a division of Disney Experiences, a segment of The Walt Disney Company. It allow ...
, including new villas, as Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows and amenities which opened on December 17, 2024.


Dining

The Barefoot Pool Bar is located at the Lava Pool and offers alcoholic drinks and smoothies. Captain Cook's is a quick-service location offering classic and South-Seas-inspired foods. Kona Cafe offers continental Asian-inspired food in a casual setting. Kona Island serves coffee and pastries in the morning before switching to sushi, sandwiches, and salad in the afternoon. Oasis Pool Bar & Grill is a poolside bar located at the Oasis Pool. Ohana is a character dining experience where guests can meet Stitch, Lilo,
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
, and Mickey while being served an " all-you-care-to-enjoy" Island-style meal. The restaurant, whose
name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...
means "family" in Hawaiian, has existed before the development of ''
Lilo & Stitch ''Lilo & Stitch'' () is a 2002 American animated Science fiction film, science fiction comedy-drama film, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It was written and directed by Chris Sanders and De ...
'' (2002), having been mentioned in '' The Walt Disney World Explorer'' (1996). Pineapple Lanai is a stand dedicated solely to Dole Whips. Tambu Lounge is a bar offering tropical, Hawaiian-inspired drinks and appetizers. Trader Sam's features the "Grog Grotto," a tiki bar that features shenanigans from the servers, and the "Tiki Terrace," its outdoor counterpart.


Shopping

The resort offers several shopping areas focused on Disney parks merchandise, resort-specific specialty merchandise, and convenience items, located in the Great Ceremonial House. BouTiki is located off the main lobby, with Moana Mercantile located opposite Kona Cafe on the second floor. Trader Sam's Grog Grotto also offers a limited range of merchandise.


Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

On September 17, 2013 Disney Vacation Club announced that its next planned location would be at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. The first phase of DVC expansion to the resort opened April 1, 2015, adding 20 over-the-water 'Bora Bora' Bungalows and converting 2 existing buildings (Moorea (formerly Tahiti), Pago Pago (formerly Rapa Nui)) into Deluxe Studios. The Tokelau conversion was completed mid-2015 creating a total of 360 Deluxe Studios between the 3 buildings. Between the three DVC longhouses is a barbecue area for the use of resort guests, with two gas barbecues. In addition there would be 5 new rooms added between the Moorea, Tokelau and Pago Pago vacation club buildings. On May 10, 2024, it was announced that the name of the new tower would be Island Tower at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, which opened on December 17, 2024.


Role in ending the Beatles

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
signed the paperwork that officially broke up
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
at the Polynesian Resort on December 29, 1974.


References


External links

* {{coord, 28.4057, N, 81.5843, W, source:wikidata, display=title Polynesian Village Resort Hotel buildings completed in 1971 Hotels established in 1971 1971 establishments in Florida Polynesian Village Resort