PHOTOS - Disney reveals new lobby design and Trader Sam's lounge for the Polynesian

MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Allow me to post my reaction to this little renovation project (WARNING, PERHAPS NOT FOR WEAK STOMACHS)-

eb03buh.gif
 
gmajew

gmajew

Premium Member
Hard to tell by the pictures if I love this or hate it. I understand the logic in getting rid of the huge water feature, but I am going to miss it.
 
Sage of Time

Sage of Time

Well-Known Member
Saw it on Friday night.

Not bad.

Not overtly good.

It's a nice hotel lobby, but it lacks the organic feel that the resort thrived on. It's a loss, for sure.

TikiShrug will seemingly be installed in April when the DVC portion is done. I think April 1 marks the day when DVCs either go on sale or you can stay in them. TikiShrug can only help. As can Sam's.
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
Sage of Time said:
Saw it on Friday night.

Not bad.

Not overtly good.

It's a nice hotel lobby, but it lacks the organic feel that the resort thrived on. It's a loss, for sure.

TikiShrug will seemingly be installed in April when the DVC portion is done. I think April 1 marks the day when DVCs either go on sale or you can stay in them. TikiShrug can only help. As can Sam's.
Click to expand...
April Fools! Joke is on us?
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Sage of Time said:
Saw it on Friday night.

Not bad.

Not overtly good.

It's a nice hotel lobby, but it lacks the organic feel that the resort thrived on. It's a loss, for sure.
Click to expand...
I think this summarizes pretty well the issue with this project. The Poly is part of the original WDW. It has a tremendous amount of nostalgia associated with it. Although IMHO the entire resort started to feel rather dated (especially the lobby area) that was really part of the charm. The water feature was a big part of what people remember about the lobby of the hotel. It was the Polynesian equivalent of the monorail running through the lobby at CR. The new lobby looks nice, but it has none of the history or nostalgia of the original lobby.
 
ChrisM

ChrisM

Well-Known Member
disney4life2008 said:
Wait this is the redesign? There is nothing tropical about this entire design. It looks more like a campground lobby in Wisconsin. Matter of fact, this is how several of the lobbies look in Wisconsin dell's. This is an embarrassment.
Click to expand...

It is a bit reminiscent of the Wilderness Lodge lobby, only utterly un-majestic and strangely empty of anything interesting.
 
Last edited:
asianway

asianway

Well-Known Member
Sage of Time said:
Saw it on Friday night.

Not bad.

Not overtly good.

It's a nice hotel lobby, but it lacks the organic feel that the resort thrived on. It's a loss, for sure.

TikiShrug will seemingly be installed in April when the DVC portion is done. I think April 1 marks the day when DVCs either go on sale or you can stay in them. TikiShrug can only help. As can Sam's.
Click to expand...
Tiki Shrug=Stockholm Syndrome lip service
 
wdisney9000

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
GoofGoof said:
I think this summarizes pretty well the issue with this project. The Poly is part of the original WDW. It has a tremendous amount of nostalgia associated with it. Although IMHO the entire resort started to feel rather dated (especially the lobby area) that was really part of the charm. The water feature was a big part of what people remember about the lobby of the hotel. It was the Polynesian equivalent of the monorail running through the lobby at CR. The new lobby looks nice, but it has none of the history or nostalgia of the original lobby.
Click to expand...

The fact still remains that Poly is one of the original resorts at Disney and is somewhat of an icon. The water feature itself was a huge part of that. Its just complete and utter disrespect to the resort AND to those who love the Polynesian and spend A LOT of their hard earned money there. Did they need to rebuild the entire water structure? No, but they took a resort with a STUNNING entrance that smacked you upside the head with a south pacific feeling when you walked in and they turned it into a mildly themed Hampton Inn. Its nothing horrible, but its also far from amazing. And people need to stop with the, "the lobby was cramped and now its open" comments. I stayed there several times during peak seasons and visited for diner and drinks even more and not once did I ever feel like I was in a confined space.

Look at the other monorail resorts. GF has a 'grand' entrance that takes your breath away when you enter and the Contemporary has a friking monorail that runs through it. Both of those resorts have lobbies that will make a first time visitors draw jop upon walking in. The Poly lobby used to be in that club, now its an upscale Pizza Hut waiting area. ya, im being a little harsh and the Poly is still a good resort, but they ripped its heart out and people say things like, "i love the new seats". I would prefer to say, WOW, look at that! That just doesnt happen often in WDW anymore.
 
Last edited:
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
wdisney9000 said:
The fact still remains that Poly is one of the original resorts at Disney and is somewhat of an icon. The water feature itself was a huge part of that. Its just complete and utter disrespect to the resort AND to those who love the Polynesian and spend A LOT of their hard earned money there. Did they need to rebuild the entire water structure? No, but they took a resort with a STUNNING entrance that smacked you upside the head with a south pacific feeling when you walked in and they turned it into a mildly themed Hampton Inn. Its nothing horrible, but its also far from amazing. And people need to stop with the, "the lobby was cramped and now its open" comments. I stayed there several times during peak seasons and visited for diner and drinks even more and not once did I ever feel like I was in a confined space.

Look at the other monorail resorts. GF has a 'grand' entrance that takes your breath away when you enter and the Contemporary has a friking monorail that runs through it. Both of those resorts have lobbies that will make a first time visitors draw jop upon walking in. The Poly lobby used to be in that club, now its an upscale Pizza Hut waiting area. ya, im being a little harsh and the Poly is still a good resort, but they ripped its heart out and people say things like, "i love the new seats". I would prefer to say, WOW, look at that! That just doesnt happen often in WDW anymore.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I put the water feature in the same category as the monorail going through CR. It was a classic part of WDW that's gone. As far as the lobby feeling open or cramped I think that's a matter of opinion. You can't say people need to stop saying it if that's their true opinion. As someone who has been visiting the Poly since the 80s I loved that water feature and never felt it made the lobby feel cramped, but I can see how someone with less feelings of nostalgia could have felt that way. Either way the new design is more open. That's a fact, not an opinion. In my mind the extra space isn't worth what was lost.
willtravel said:
Will this new lobby stop people from staying at the Poly or not buy a DVC?
Click to expand...
No and no. For the hotel itself there are probably some fanboys who will swear it off now and maybe actually not stay there anymore, but those numbers will be relatively small and quickly absorbed by others. Keep in mind the overall hotel room capacity will be shrinking by 300 rooms which I think is about 1/3 of the resort. If they loose a few guests it won't be an issue from a purely business standpoint. The DVC is going to sell fast. I haven't seen this kind of buzz for a DVC resort. Removing the water feature won't hurt the DVC sales.

That being said, just because it won't hurt room or DVC sales now doesn't mean it's a good move. There are probably a large number of things they could remove from every resort that wouldn't kill sales. Disney should be striving to go above and beyond, not just meet the bare minimum especially at one of its flagship monorail resorts.

Edit: actually DVC will be taking over 360 of the 847 rooms (42.5% of the rooms), leaving just 487 cash rooms. When you add the bungalows to the DVC studios it's going to be pretty close to a 50/50 mix.
 
Last edited:
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
GoofGoof said:
Agreed. I put the water feature in the same category as the monorail going through CR. It was a classic part of WDW that's gone. As far as the lobby feeling open or cramped I think that's a matter of opinion. You can't say people need to stop saying it if that's their true opinion. As someone who has been visiting the Poly since the 80s I loved that water feature and never felt it made the lobby feel cramped, but I can see how someone with less feelings of nostalgia could have felt that way. Either way the new design is more open. That's a fact, not an opinion. In my mind the extra space isn't worth what was lost.

No and no. For the hotel itself there are probably some fanboys who will swear it off now and maybe actually not stay there anymore, but those numbers will be relatively small and quickly absorbed by others. Keep in mind the overall hotel room capacity will be shrinking by 300 rooms which I think is about 1/3 of the resort. If they loose a few guests it won't be an issue from a purely business standpoint. The DVC is going to sell fast. I haven't seen this kind of buzz for a DVC resort. Removing the water feature won't hurt the DVC sales.

That being said, just because it won't hurt room or DVC sales now doesn't mean it's a good move. There are probably a large number of things they could remove from every resort that wouldn't kill sales. Disney should be striving to go above and beyond, not just meet the bare minimum especially at one of its flagship monorail resorts.

Edit: actually DVC will be taking over 360 of the 847 rooms (42.5% of the rooms), leaving just 487 cash rooms. When you add the bungalows to the DVC studios it's going to be pretty close to a 50/50 mix.
Click to expand...

Actually the underwhelming lobby MIGHT affect DVC sales, When you walk into SSR/AKL/WL the lobbies are simply WOW they scream I WANT TO STAY THERE... With the Poly that WOW factor is gone, The Lobby was the Poly's WOW factor because lets face it the rooms are nothing special in the Poly while expensive they have no unique theming etc.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
ford91exploder said:
Actually the underwhelming lobby MIGHT affect DVC sales, When you walk into SSR/AKL/WL the lobbies are simply WOW they scream I WANT TO STAY THERE... With the Poly that WOW factor is gone, The Lobby was the Poly's WOW factor because lets face it the rooms are nothing special in the Poly while expensive they have no unique theming etc.
Click to expand...
We'll have to wait to see. It should go on sale soon. I've followed the DVC construction pretty closely and the buzz around Poly DVC is significantly higher than when they added to GF. I even remember seeing a lot of people comment that they were going to wait on buying at GF since Poly was rumored to be coming. The primary draw is the monorail, but in addition you have good restaurants (O'Hanna, the Luaua, Kona Cafe and now Trader Sams). The Poly still has an overall solid theme that appeals to both families and adults, especially when compared to CR and GF. IMHO Poly is the most popular of the monorail resorts. I don't think that changes with the lobby change. The lobby and grounds (new pool, beach areas, etc..) are still pretty well done.

The rooms at Poly will be the largest studios available through DVC by a lot. They are all studios which is the most popular room type with DVC and will sleep 5. With the connecting room you will be able to make a 2 bedroom with 2 bathrooms that sleeps 10. The only drawback is they won't have a full kitchen. The only thing that will slow sales will be a really high per point price or high number of points per night. The price for all other resorts was just raised by between $5 and $25 with BLT being raised to $170 per point. I think that's the most likely comparison resort.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom