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

[morningstar]

At the moment we couldn't afford any stay at the Poly of more than one night but at least I hoped, that one day I would be able to pay even for a longer stay than our 5 days in 2010. But with the GCH gutted and the rainforest and waterfalls (there were FOUR, one on each side) removed I wouldn't even pay the money if I would be a millionaire. We just checked the prices of the WL for August/September, they are at a record low and the WL will become our new "WDW home". We loved our stay there in 2007 (our first stay on property) and with the Polynesian Resort gone it will be without cocompetitors, we are not interested in the new "Polynesian Village Resort" with it's Honolulu Airport Hotel lobby (don't know what they plan to do to the Nanea Pool but I am absolutely sure now, that it is NOT a good change).

I forgot about the Wilderness Lodge. Yeah that's on my new top list.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

Yes! The Contemporary Concourse has definitely been diminished over time. Unlike the Polynesian water feature, there was not really anything significant there, but there was space. Not only is a shop there probably unnecessary, but at least they should capitalize on the expansiveness of the Concourse by making it an "open air" shop instead of high shelves and a roof.

In their desire to expand, the WDW developers are looking at "unutilized" spaces as the solution to their problem. What they aren't seeing is that empty space has value. Hence Aladdin's carpets and the Contemporary Concourse. What's next, the floor space of the Grand Floridian lobby getting roped off into a queue for a counter service restaurant and shelving for vinylmation? The theme of the Grand Floridian is luxury, folks, and efficient utilization of space is not one of the hallmarks of luxury.

Although I still want to spend at least 2 nights at the CR, because it is the last resort on my "must-do-list" in WDW, it's more nostalgia because it was one of the two original resorts and the proximity to the MK because a "theme" is kind of non-existing. I always thought Disney should give the CR a major retheming to space and science fiction, with rooms looking like out a sci-fi-movie and a feeling of a space station or spaceport.

 

[morningstar]

Disney listened and responded when the changes were announced for MSB Starbucks conversion, and everyone addressed their concerns. I hope they hear us now. If the bottom line is $$ and decisions based on corporate desires, and not guest enjoyment, then there is no hope forfuture decision making in the creative dept.

I don't see any $$ in the new design. Maybe some frugality in neither maintaining the existing water feature or rebuilding a new modernized one. How will the "open" plan increase revenues unless guests like it more? Eventual addition of a cheap merchandise shop? Will that really make up for the $100 a night less value the Polynesian will have by not really being able to live up to deluxe resort standards? Not that they'll decrease prices, but they might have empty rooms or not be able to sustain future price increases.

Non-sequitur. Maybe this is a "New Coke" move. Maybe they eventually plan to demolish and rebuild the GCH entirely. If they transitioned directly, then there would be mixed reviews: some nostalgically preferring the original, some praising the new design. But if they just take out the water feature early, then when they build something actually good everyone will be relieved.

 

[morningstar]

They're trying for more of an Aulani look, But the problem is it's still the little 'ole Poly lobby (That's not a bad thing, but you cannot turn one into the other) With such a small centerpiece in the lobby, they need an upward draw to the view, as attempted by hanging glass(?) globes. It just doesn't work like Aulani's spectacular roof line does. Also note, Aulani has a water feature off to the side. I see no mention of one here. The 'birdbath' as others have called it seems to be all they are planning.

Yep. Do I remember correctly that Aulani, AK Lodge, and Wilderness Lodge were all designed by the same person / firm? They all have grand scale that the Polynesian will not have. I like both, but I always preferred the Polynesian's casual simplicity. They should play to its strengths, not try to make it something it's not.

 

[morningstar]

I know I'm in the minority, but I went to the Poly for the first time in March, and the fountain was nice looking, but for some reason made me think of the Brady Bunch. While Ohana was great (both dinner and breakfast), the whole place reminds me of the 70s. It doesn't feel like Polynesia to me, it feels like a 70s knock-off of Polynesia. Just my opinion, and I am sorry for all the people who feel devastated by this change.

I don't hear many people denying that it was dated. I have no objection to remodeling it with more current decor. Just don't replace something with nothing. Have they actually improved the datedness? Papasan chairs and buoys hanging in nets seem 70s enough to me.

Regardless of whether it smacks of any particular era, I don't agree with the idea that it should be like real Polynesia. It should always be an interpretation of the fantasy of Polynesia. Cinderella's castle isn't like the real middle ages either.

 

[morningstar]

Speaking for myself, I don't think the Poly feels like the 1970s, and I think if you went back and looked at some pictures of the resort as it appeared in the 1970s you would probably agree that's the case. Colors and patterns on materials, for example, are very different in the current Poly than what was common in the 70s. The probable reason that it feels dated to some people is that it's "tiki," and the tiki style itself may strike some as old-fashioned. But tiki wasn't really a 70s thing -- it got big in the 50s and early 60s, and was on the wane in the 70s.

For many Poly fans like myself, the tiki style contains two layers of exotic "cool." First, the faux-Polynesia cool of the tiki itself, and second, with the passage of time, the cool of the 50s tiki culture. The lobby style in the concept art doesn't look very tiki to these eyes -- more like a nice, reasonably upscale lobby with a few tiki touches -- and so I feel it's a downgrade.

Some people say the place looks "Brady Bunch" but what that really means is that the Brady house and the Poly both share a few influences. The 2014 Poly doesn't have carpet or any of that burnt orange from the Brady house. What it shares are elements like dark wood and riser-less staircases, which many people remember from the 1970s but which didn't originate then and isn't really a 70s thing.

Anyway, that's my take on it.

Well put. I notice nobody is complaining that the Wilderness Lodge is dated because it imitates the style of early 1900s lodges or the Grand Floridian because of its Victorianness. Maybe the 1950s tiki style is just passing through a tough phase. It's too old to be fashionable, but not old enough to be historical. The thing is, that era is intrinsically appropriate to a Polynesian resort, in the same way that the lodge style is appropriate to the Wilderness Lodge. The 1950s was when travel to Hawaii exploded. The Polynesian doesn't have the style it does because of the coincidence of being built in the 1970s; it has that style for a reason. Some elements are probably unintentional influences of the times and could be updated, but the overall concept is good.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

Maybe the 1950s tiki style is just passing through a tough phase. It's too old to be fashionable, but not old enough to be historical. The thing is, that era is intrinsically appropriate to a Polynesian resort, in the same way that the lodge style is appropriate to the Wilderness Lodge. The 1950s was when travel to Hawaii exploded. The Polynesian doesn't have the style it does because of the coincidence of being built in the 1970s; it has that style for a reason. Some elements are probably unintentional influences of the times and could be updated, but the overall concept is good.

Actually it is not. The tough times for Tiki Culture and Polynesian Pop were the 1970ies (so the Polynesian actually was a little late), 1980ies and early 1990ies, at the end of the 1990ies the Tiki revival was already in full speed ahead until today.

 

[morningstar]

Here's a thought we haven't considered- could there be something behind the Tiki man fountain?
Isn't there supposed to also be a major renovation to the pool area?
Assuming that the concept art is "accurate" to the current plan, what if the idea is for there to be some sort of larger water feature(s) forward of the main lobby space that connects to the pool in some way, similar to what's at the Animal Kingdom and Wilderness Lodges.

If that's the case, why not show us the concept art of the good stuff before the bad news? Again, New Coke strategy?

 

[morningstar]

When you think about it, it would be cheaper for Disney to leave the water feature than rip it out. There is a reason why they're doing this and I really think it's a probably a health/building issue. I know @tikiman mentioned something about hazard mat abatements in the GCH and longhouses, maybe he can add to this.

More expensive to take it out than leave it in, but more expensive still to fix it or take it out and then replace it. The last are what they should be doing.

 

[Slowjack]

Well put. I notice nobody is complaining that the Wilderness Lodge is dated because it imitates the style of early 1900s lodges or the Grand Floridian because of its Victorianness. Maybe the 1950s tiki style is just passing through a tough phase. It's too old to be fashionable, but not old enough to be historical. The thing is, that era is intrinsically appropriate to a Polynesian resort, in the same way that the lodge style is appropriate to the Wilderness Lodge. The 1950s was when travel to Hawaii exploded. The Polynesian doesn't have the style it does because of the coincidence of being built in the 1970s; it has that style for a reason. Some elements are probably unintentional influences of the times and could be updated, but the overall concept is good.

That reminds me, I saw one of those HGTV (or HGTV-ish) reality shows where someone has a building project and three designers pitch ideas, where the client wanted a tiki-style makeover of his backyard patio and pool area. And the thing was, two of the designers clearly didn't think much of tiki and offered designs with minimal tiki touches and foregrounding their modern aesthetic, while explaining that their tastes were better than the client's. (The other designer actually gave the client what he asked for, and got the job.) So that's what I think this lobby concept looks like, a design by someone who thinks tiki is in poor taste, but is obligated to provide some tiki elements.

 

[Communicore]

Back in 2007 or so I went around the World including MK taking pics of all the 70's remnants except for Amoeba Country but my comp got stolen so no more pics. That Poly stairs is the best!

 

[tikiman]

View attachment 53332

Thought you all might appreciate a view of the Poly lobby from 2008. This is on the first floor, facing diagonally across from the back left staircase area. The Kona Café is across the way on the second floor, above the gift shop you see here behind the water feature. Below is the Kona, on the second floor, with the tops of the palms in the water feature showing. View attachment 53334

And here is the beautiful view of the water feature, looking down from the ledge in front of the Kona Café on the second floor:

View attachment 53333

That was always so awe-inspiring. I hope someone will look at these photos and think twice. But at least I can share them with you.

Here are some more, also, of nearby parts of the Poly, which also help put it into perspective:
View attachment 53335
Kona Island coffee bar, on second floor, next to monorail entrance to hotel. Of course lush greenery separating monorail station from the Great Ceremonial House main building here.
View attachment 53336
Monorail station from the outside. Lush greenery.
View attachment 53337
View from Great Ceremonial House looking out back toward pool and Seven Seas Lagoon. No castles or "contemporary" things... Just tropical paradise. (A glimpse of Grand Floridian, but remember that was built later by Eisner.)
View attachment 53339

Back right staircase leading down. Water feature in view.View attachment 53340
Same staircase. Some might think it a little "Mike Brady" in style, but I think it clearly fits. Water feature again in view.
View attachment 53338
Final view of the Kona Island and the monorail station. Bananas for sale I think even add to the ambiance.

My main point here is how genuinely the lush greenery throughout, including the water feature, really make this resort the favorite that it is. Let's hope they will reconsider.

Every one of those areas shown in the photos will look totally different by next year.

 

[prberk]

Every one of those areas shown in the photos will look totally different by next year.

Sad, I think. Don't you?

It really was so lush and greeen. And should still be.

 

[Father Robinson]

For those who haven't seen these yet..

 

[dreamfinder]

For those who haven't seen these yet..

Just eww. I hope at a minimum they attempt to stick some of their fancy printed scrims on the front of that. Something....

 

[Communicore]

For those who haven't seen these yet..

Gross. Very, very sad.

 

[Bocabear]

I feel certain given the length of time it is going to take to complete the work, that they will dress the walls appropriately.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

I told my mom about the defurbishment and showed her the concept art and her official response was "wow, how very disappointing" and since she's my mom and she's never wrong, I have to agree.

I'm trying to make my peace with this. I really am. But it's tough. My first heartbreak didn't feel this bad. But probably because it didn't take approx. an entire year to complete, if not longer.

 

[ryguy]

For those who haven't seen these yet..

Thanks for the pics. Any pics of the bungalows?

 

[HiYa Pal]

Not wanting to read through 30 pages of this, is there any word on what's happening outside along the entrance walkway?