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Disney's Polynesian Resort is a Disney-owned Deluxe resort located at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida that began operation on October 1, 1971. The resort has a South Pacific and Hawaiian theme. It was originally called the Polynesian Village,^[1] "Resort" replaced "Village" after the resort hotel's expansion in 1985.

The resort originally opened with 492 rooms. The resort was designed by Welton Becket and Associates of Santa Monica, California and WED Enterprises and constructed by US Steel Realty Development. The rooms were constructed fully off-site and each room weighed 8.5 tons. The rooms were slid into place just like the Contemporary Resort and the Court of Flags Resort which were also built by US Steel.

In 1978, a new longhouse (Oahu) opened (later called Tokelau). and gave the resort a new total of 634 rooms. The resort's last major expansion came in 1985 (adding what is now Tahiti and Rapa Nui longhouses) which brought the room total to 853. This total was then reduced to 847 when 6 of the rooms were removed to add the concierge lounge onto the end of Hawaii longhouse. Just recently, the resort embarked upon renovations to the whole resort. These new renovations to the rooms will be complete by December 2006 with some ongoing changes going into 2007.

Contents 1 Resort facts 2 Resort Basics 3 Dining 4 Shopping 5 Recreation 6 Longhouses 7 Photo Gallery 8 External links 9 References

• Category: Deluxe
• Theme: South Pacific
• Location: Magic Kingdom Area Resorts
• Opened: October 1, 1971
• Areas: Rarotonga, Niue, Samoa, Hawaii, Tuvalu, Fiji, Aotearoa, Tonga, Tokelau, Tahiti, and Rapa Nui
• Rooms: 847

The Polynesian Resort is located on the southern shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon, south of the Magic Kingdom and just west of the Transportation and Ticket Center. The resort is on the Magic Kingdom monorail loop. Transportation to the Magic Kingdom is also available via boat, and all other Walt Disney World resort locations are reached via bus. There is also a lighted walkway connecting the Polynesian Resort to the Transportation and Ticket Center.

The resort has 847 guest rooms, located in a number of two and three story buildings located on site. The Great Ceremonial House is the central nexus of the resort, and contains several restaurants, gift shops, and resort check-in. The monorail is accessed on the second floor of the Great Ceremonial House.

Guest services sells tickets to all theme parks and attractions. Theme park tickets can be integrated with your room key, along with a credit card number for charging privileges at Walt Disney World. Valet parking is available, along with self-serve parking.

The Polynesian Resort has two restaurants, counter service and a Dinner show. The restaurant, ’Ohana, is a popular family-oriented destination at the resort, serving a variety of open-flame grilled meats and desserts. The food is served family-style at the table, and is all-you-can-eat. ’Ohana is located on the second floor of the Great Ceremonial House. It is also the site of the 'Ohana "Best Friends Breakfast", where Lilo and Stich, Mickey, and Pluto will interact with you right at your table. Lunch is not served at 'Ohana.

Also located on the second floor of the Great Ceremonial House is Kona Cafè, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Kona Cafè is well-known for its Tonga Toast, a deep-fried banana-stuffed French toast (that you can get baked also), a popular breakfast item. The Kona Cafè also serves 100% Kona coffee, prepared in a french press.

On the first floor of the Great Ceremonial House, one will find Captain Cook's Snack Company, a 24-hour counter service. Recently refurbished, Captain Cook's now offers Tonga Toast and Dole Whips, two Walt Disney World favorites. Samoa Snacks is available on the second floor and offers simple snacks.

A musical performance called the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show is performed nightly at the Polynesian. The food is all-you-can-eat, and is served family style. Authentic Polynesian dancing is featured, and reservations are required.

If you want to purchase some snacks for the room, located on the second floor of the Great Ceremonial House is Samoa Snacks. This is where you can buy Sundries, liquors, wines, beer, juices, sodas and snacks, as well as non food items like film, newspapers, magazines, stamps, paperbacks and sun tan lotion. Samoa Snacks is open from 8-11 PM.

While not located at the resort itself, a number of other restaurants are located at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Disney's Contemporary Resort, which are quickly accessible via the Resort-loop monorail.

There are two main shopping areas located at the resort. On the first floor, the "BouTiki" shop (new for 2006) has Polynesian themed gifts, clothing, and sundries. Wyland Galleries, in a new location, has collectibles. The second floor houses "Trader Jack's" (up-scale souvenirs and sundries), and is connected to "Samoa Snacks,".

The Polynesian Resort features two swimming pools; the extensively themed Nanae pool with its Volcano waterslide and "lava" waterfall, and the unthemed East pool (unofficially called the quiet pool). The resort's Nanae pool area was built in 2001 and opened in March replacing the original resort pool. Both pools are heated, and Nanea even features Polynesian music played through underwater speakers. The Nanea pool can be accessed with a wheelchair due to the zero entry at the beach end (pool sloping down like a beach on the on side). Adjacent to Nanae, a children's water playground with inground waterjets attracts kids of all ages. The East pool is much deeper and less crowded.

There is a marina where guests can rent a variety of personal watercraft for use on the Seven Seas Lagoon. There are no health club facilities located on site, but the health club at Grand Floridian is a short walk away, and free to guests of the Polynesian. Professional caliber tennis facilities also are available at the Grand Floridian. "The Neverland Club", a club specially designed for kids, offers entertainment, crafts, meals, a babysitting service, and more. It is open from 4:00 p.m. until midnight, and accepts toilet-trained children ages 4 and up.

There is a large expanse of beach fronting the Seven Seas Lagoon, though swimming is not permitted in the water. A video game arcade is also available for children. Volleyball courts are available, and guests may rent fishing gear for catch-and-release fishing only. Boats can be rented for a fee or if you have the premium package plan it is included.

Note: At one time swimming was encouraged and permitted in the Seven Seas Lagoon. The Polynesian use to have a wave machine that was used for a short time when the resort first opened. After very short time in operation they shut it down because of beach erosion. It was again tested in 1985 but it was decided to dismantle it and it was removed from the shore of Beachcomber Isle.

The resort design and layout consists of 11 room buildings, called longhouses, spread throughout the property. The resort originally opened with 8 longhouses, Bali Hai, Bora Bora, Fiji, Hawaii, Maui, Samoa, Tahiti and Tonga. In 1978, the Oahu longhouse was added and the Maui longhouse became the Maori longhouse. The Moorea and Pago Pago longhouses were added in 1985. In 1999, 10 of the 11 longhouses, excluding Fiji, were renamed: Bali Hai became Tonga; Bora Bora became Niue; Hawaii became Samoa; Maori became Rarotonga; Moorea became Tahiti; Oahu became Tokelau; Pago Pago became Rapa Nui; Samoa became Tuvalu; Tahiti became Aotearoa and Tonga became Hawaii.

Rooms added in Tokelau, Rapa Nui and Tahiti are larger (476 sq-ft) than the original longhouse rooms (415 sq-ft).

View from behind the volcano's waterfall

• Disney's Polynesian Resort official site. Retrieved on April 6, 2006.
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 28.405672° -81.584269°
  • Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
  • Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth

• Polynesian Resort. All Ears Net. Retrieved on April 6, 2006.