News Refurbishment coming soon to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort - Moana details to be included

[GimpYancIent]

LOL I wouldn't pay that kind of money to make it look like I was staying the night in the antiquity. Antiquity in this case being the 1970s.

The 1970's were not bad actually.

 

[LSLS]

So, I'm not huge on the rooms cause of all the Moana so prominent to me (was really hoping for the flour style wall without Maui/Moana and a color scheme like we see here), but I do find it hilarious people calling this a Hilton. I mean, I got it with the Riviera (and made the complaint myself), that was completely accurate. But I'm not seeing it here. Maybe I stay at strange Hilton's, but I don't recall seeing a Hilton with an Orange flour wall dedicated to Moana and a bright colored rooster overlooking my coffee maker.

 

[UNCgolf]

I think I am one of the few on here who agrees with you on supporting the recent updating of hotel rooms while really disliking the solution in this case to include cartoon characters in the design.

For me, the update of the Yacht Club rooms is a good example of how to keep the same atmosphere while moving from dated to more modern interiors that are evocative rather than literal representations of the theme:

I think I'm alone on that, though, as most seem to find the latter style too generic.

I agree with you. I think the newer rooms there look better and actually fit the overall theme of the resort better than the original rooms. Putting ship wheels on the headboards wasn't really a theme.

I also think the Beach/Yacht Club aren't so closely tied to a specific era/location in general, which definitely makes it easier.

 

[dreday3]

I wasn't talking about just hotel rooms with that but everything across the board. The hotels are a bit different because the strongly themed Disney resorts were really an 80s/90s thing. However, I'd disagree with you -- a lot of the hotels built in that time period did have themed rooms.

You only posted photos of rooms at the Polynesian, which was always its own weird tiki kitsch thing that wasn't rooted in any real era/place. Many of those 80s/90s resorts had furniture, wallpaper, and other furnishings that looked (at least to an extent) like they came from the appropriate time period. While I can absolutely accept someone thinking the original Grand Floridian rooms were ugly and that they would not want to stay there, I think it would be a lot harder to argue they weren't attempting to theme them to the overall resort.

I mentioned the similarity above, but in thinking more about it I believe a lot of my dislike of the new Polynesian rooms is that they remind me of a worse version of the rooms at the Royal Pacific (bathroom excluded).

Haven't stayed there, but watched some tours.

I think those are also pretty rooms, but I don't like the look of the headboards and I think the room is too small for so many patterns.

But it's nice.

 

[el_super]

Picture of Disneyland Hotel room with giant IP smothered all the way across the wall:

 

[GimpYancIent]

I'm thinking Aulani might be a good "theme". I do like the bathroom look of the new ones though.

Now that is class! Too bad WDW management did not get a clue from the Aulani.

 

[dreday3]

The Disneyland Hotel? It has towers devoted to Fantasyland, Adventureland and Frontierland. Mostly in the wall art surrounding the common areas on the ground floor. The rooms themselves were pretty generic "Disneyland" themed (except of course for the themed suites).

The rooms at the Disneyland Hotel are currently being re-modeled as well.

No. There is a hotel in California that's THEMED. Every room is different I think...

The Madonna Inn!

 

[JoeCamel]

Gotta get tested before you fly. Fingers crossed all comes back fine... Will be staying at Aulani as well for a few nights. Never been.

I see how it works now, I didn't get past the 10 day quarantine. Have a great time, I'm sure you will

 

[UNCgolf]

You people are insane. Honest to God, this was the Grand.

View attachment 537448

This actually proves the point we are making. You're helping our case with this photo.

That's a themed room. You may think it's ugly, and that's fine, but that's absolutely a room designed to evoke the era of the hotel. The furniture, the wallpaper, etc. is all nods towards a specific era in time. Those are not the furnishings that would be used in a standard hotel built in the late 1980s.

And no, I'm not arguing the rooms should still look exactly like that.

 

[GimpYancIent]

Picture of Disneyland Hotel room with giant IP smothered all the way across the wall:

View attachment 537453

It was not just myself that enjoyed staying there. Oh yea, the headboards had lights embedded in the image that could be turned on. Talk about slathering of I.P.

 

[el_super]

The Madonna Inn

LOL Oh yeah.... this:

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I tried to think back to the first time I entered the Polynesian and spent any time there - I thought the lobby was confusing. Where's the desk? Where's the boutique? Where can I sit my family and my bags? What now? The place was a sort of a maze. Not good. Just my opinion, of course.

I mean . . . when you walked in you had two options - go left or go right. That's about as intuitive as it gets.

EDITED To Add: I just realized how WAAAY behind this thread I am - thought I was responding to a post from today, not almost a month ago!

 

[TikibirdLand]

This actually proves the point we are making. You're helping our case with this photo.

That's a themed room. You may think it's ugly, and that's fine, but that's absolutely a room designed to look like the era of the hotel. The furniture, the wallpaper, etc. is all nods towards a specific era in time.

Well, I don't want to stay there unless it has a tube TV that only gets 3 channels and I have to make one of my kids get up to change the channel!

 

[Cruzin_PA]

Dude what I am getting at is if the idea is "theme" then do it! This is just a room at Hilton, Best Western, Hiatt etc, not what is looked for at the "Polynesian" at WDW.

This is literally a room at "The Brando" in the French Polynesia. Does not really scream Polynesian.

I like the new rooms, very nice, airy, bright, and well themed. Looking forward to staying at the Poly.

 

[MrPromey]

You people are insane. Honest to God, this was the Grand.

View attachment 537448

I've refrained from using words to describe you and believe me, with some of the things you say on these forums, I really, really want to, sometimes...

Again, to reiterate because you either can't understand it or are deliberately choosing to ignore it - I'm not saying the rooms didn't need updating. I'm not even saying that I'm totally against the look of the new rooms.

I just feel they could have done a much better job of being traditionally Disney with how they did it and that means, carrying a carefully crafted Polynesian motif into the rooms. The backboards to the beds - nailed it. The floor and the curtains? Perfectly fine. Same with the art on the closet space. The light fixtures are okay, too. I think the rest of the furniture could have been a little more interesting. Nothing crazy but just a little and yes, I think the full wall cover looks cheap.

Small touches would have been something like the symbol in the stone appearing as a part of something or having a lamp with Maui's hook "carved" into it (subtly) - not having the rooster from the movie staring at you from behind the coffee maker.

If that all sounds "insane" to you, I don't want to hazard a guess at what your idea of sane, looks like.

 

[FigmentFan82]

If people want bamboo walls maybe they should built a separate small boutique offshoot of the Poly - Trader Sam's Hawaiian Hotel. Throw all the kitsch at it!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

That's a themed room. You may think it's ugly, and that's fine, but that's absolutely a room designed to evoke the era of the hotel. The furniture, the wallpaper, etc. is all nods towards a specific era in time. Those are not the furnishings that would be used in a standard hotel built in the late 1980s.

I'm pretty sure my parents had exactly the bedspread and exactly those bedposts in our 1,300 square foot home in Rhode Island in the late 1980s.

I've refrained from using words to describe you and believe me, with some of the things you say on these forums, I really, really want to, sometimes...

Again, to reiterate because you either can't understand it or are deliberately choosing to ignore it - I'm not saying the rooms didn't need updating. I'm not even saying that I'm totally against the look of the new rooms.

I just feel they could have done a much better job of being traditionally Disney with how they did it and that means, carrying a carefully crafted Polynesian motif into the rooms. The backboards to the beds - nailed it. The floor and the curtains? Perfectly fine. Same with the art on the closet space. The light fixtures are okay, too. I think the rest of the furniture could have been a little more interesting. Nothing crazy but just a little and yes, I think the full wall cover looks cheap.

Small touches would have been something like the symbol in the stone appearing as a part of something or having a lamp with Maui's hook "carved" into it (subtly) - not having the rooster from the movie staring at you from behind the coffee maker.

If that all sounds "insane" to you, I don't want to hazard a guess at what your idea of sane, looks like.

Fair enough. I'm not arguing with you alone, I'm arguing with the larger contingent who throws the exact same temper tantrum every single time Disney rolls out a room refurb. Your position in this thread is very reasonable and I shouldn't have posted the picture of the Grand room as a quote-reply to you.

 

[UNCgolf]

I'm pretty sure my parents had exactly the bedspread and exactly those bedposts in our 1,300 square foot home in Rhode Island in the late 1980s.

They may have. If so, they were also copying an older era. That was definitely not a modern look in the late 1980s, speaking as someone who remembers those years.

 

[aliceismad]

Ab-so-lutely.

Since going to Aulani, I have zero desire to stay at the Poly, which is like Aulani except fake and just generally worse.

We've talked about Aulani, and DH says "But you're in Hawaii. Do we really need the Disney-fication of it?"

I'm staying at the Andaz in Maui next week. Does that count?

Nice! I've been to the Grand Wailea, but I haven't been to the new Andaz yet. I hope it's beautiful and you have a lovely time.

This is literally a room at "The Brando" in the French Polynesia. Does not really scream Polynesian.

View attachment 537456

I like the new rooms, very nice, airy, bright, and well themed. Looking forward to staying at the Poly.

I would say that the bungalows at the Poly look very much like the ones at The Brando and some of the other top-rated hotels in Tahiti and Bora Bora.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

We've talked about Aulani, and DH says "But you're in Hawaii. Do we really need the Disney-fication of it?"

Tell him to message me. I'll get him on board. It's barely Disneyfied at all. Just the right touch.