Resorts past - Disney's Polynesian Resort
You thought I'd shut up about WDW didn't you? Just been too busy lately! Plus, this is gonna be a hard blog to do because I still haven't made it up to fixing the 2010 pics yet, so these pics are all raw and it's harder to dig through them! But alas, I'm gonna give it a go!
The second resort review is Disney's Polynesian Resort. We stayed there on my last trip in 2010. It's another one of the three monorail resorts besides The Contemporary and The Indian Burial Ground Resort (ok, Am, I know, The Grand Floridian). But The Poly and The Contemporary have something else in common, they were the only two resorts open when Disney World opened on...anyone...anyone...Bueller...October 1, 1971.
Although it is a deluxe resort and has been upgraded numerous times, it still has that 1971 feel to it, if that makes sense. The rooms decorations may be new, but the room itself feels old...I guess that is what I'm trying to say. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful! The main Ceremonial House is fabulous! Again, like most all the other resorts on property, you have to walk from the building that room is located in to the main house where the restaurants, gift shops, lobby, concierge, etc, are located, and depending on where your building is, than can be a walk and it is out in the elements (another reason why I love the Lodge so much).
Front Desk Main Ceremonial House (feel the 70's?) (again, Am, you don't want your butt in my pics, don't walk so damned fast!):
Lobby at the Main Ceremonial House:
Our favorite Tiki's behind a register:
But, it is a monorail resort, so you have instant access to the monorail, but as an added bonus, you are within walking distance to the TTC (Ticket and Transportation Center) where the resort monorail changes over to the Epcot monorail, so instead of riding the resort monorail and switching once you arrive at the TTC like you have to at the Contemporary, you can just walk directly there and hop on an Epcot monorail or, if your room is closer to the TTC than the Ceremonial House, hop on a Magic Kingdom Monorail (the resort monorail loops through the Magic Kingdom if you are closer to the main House). We were about centered between the two, so some days we walked and some days we rode. Good thing Am has an excellent sense of direction! I'd never found my way back and forth through all that foliage!!
Our room:
Beach (and Am's feet - I'm sure she had a reason to take this picture like this, but it turned out good, so I'm posting it!) - oh and a bit of Disney trivia...when Walt first started buying up land for Disney, the land he was buying was all swamp. They dug up a lot of the swamps and made lakes out of them, but at the bottom of the muck, they found sand! White, beautiful sand which now lines the beaches of the water-lined resorts (although, after all this time, I'm sure they ship sand in, but it's a nice story):
Walking daytime and Am butt shot:
Walking at night (yes, it was that dark - Am's pic...she's not comfortable with taking night shots):
I'll eventually be doing a restaurant review of Kona, which is in the Ceremonial House, but we have eaten there several times, and it was what prompted us to stay at the Poly in the first place. But this trip, the meal was sub-par, which was unusual, and it was enough that we won't be eating there this time (even the sticky wings were bad and Kona's sticky wings are heavenly!).
Oh, I guess I should add, for those that don't know, you don't have to be staying in a resort to eat at their restaurants...at Disney, you can eat anywhere you want so long as you have a reservation, and dining reservations at Disney are a must! But more on that at another time.
Oh, I found the best video of a walking tour of the Polynesian at the All Ears site! i ran across this quite by accident! I use the All Ears site probably more than any other Disney site, BTW, particularly the menus. I look at them and decide where we are gonna eat. I am definitely gonna check and see if they have vids for both the Contemporary and the Lodge!
So, that's it! Another review down! I think next time I'll do Port Orleans French Quarter since I seem to be going in a pattern here, which will be my first moderate resort review.
The second resort review is Disney's Polynesian Resort. We stayed there on my last trip in 2010. It's another one of the three monorail resorts besides The Contemporary and The Indian Burial Ground Resort (ok, Am, I know, The Grand Floridian). But The Poly and The Contemporary have something else in common, they were the only two resorts open when Disney World opened on...anyone...anyone...Bueller...October 1, 1971.
Although it is a deluxe resort and has been upgraded numerous times, it still has that 1971 feel to it, if that makes sense. The rooms decorations may be new, but the room itself feels old...I guess that is what I'm trying to say. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful! The main Ceremonial House is fabulous! Again, like most all the other resorts on property, you have to walk from the building that room is located in to the main house where the restaurants, gift shops, lobby, concierge, etc, are located, and depending on where your building is, than can be a walk and it is out in the elements (another reason why I love the Lodge so much).
Front Desk Main Ceremonial House (feel the 70's?) (again, Am, you don't want your butt in my pics, don't walk so damned fast!):
Lobby at the Main Ceremonial House:
Our favorite Tiki's behind a register:
But, it is a monorail resort, so you have instant access to the monorail, but as an added bonus, you are within walking distance to the TTC (Ticket and Transportation Center) where the resort monorail changes over to the Epcot monorail, so instead of riding the resort monorail and switching once you arrive at the TTC like you have to at the Contemporary, you can just walk directly there and hop on an Epcot monorail or, if your room is closer to the TTC than the Ceremonial House, hop on a Magic Kingdom Monorail (the resort monorail loops through the Magic Kingdom if you are closer to the main House). We were about centered between the two, so some days we walked and some days we rode. Good thing Am has an excellent sense of direction! I'd never found my way back and forth through all that foliage!!
Our room:
Beach (and Am's feet - I'm sure she had a reason to take this picture like this, but it turned out good, so I'm posting it!) - oh and a bit of Disney trivia...when Walt first started buying up land for Disney, the land he was buying was all swamp. They dug up a lot of the swamps and made lakes out of them, but at the bottom of the muck, they found sand! White, beautiful sand which now lines the beaches of the water-lined resorts (although, after all this time, I'm sure they ship sand in, but it's a nice story):
Walking daytime and Am butt shot:
Walking at night (yes, it was that dark - Am's pic...she's not comfortable with taking night shots):
I'll eventually be doing a restaurant review of Kona, which is in the Ceremonial House, but we have eaten there several times, and it was what prompted us to stay at the Poly in the first place. But this trip, the meal was sub-par, which was unusual, and it was enough that we won't be eating there this time (even the sticky wings were bad and Kona's sticky wings are heavenly!).
Oh, I guess I should add, for those that don't know, you don't have to be staying in a resort to eat at their restaurants...at Disney, you can eat anywhere you want so long as you have a reservation, and dining reservations at Disney are a must! But more on that at another time.
Oh, I found the best video of a walking tour of the Polynesian at the All Ears site! i ran across this quite by accident! I use the All Ears site probably more than any other Disney site, BTW, particularly the menus. I look at them and decide where we are gonna eat. I am definitely gonna check and see if they have vids for both the Contemporary and the Lodge!
So, that's it! Another review down! I think next time I'll do Port Orleans French Quarter since I seem to be going in a pattern here, which will be my first moderate resort review.
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