FigmentFan82
Well-Known Member
My liver can't wait
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
News Refurbishment coming soon to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort - Moana details to be included
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Parker in NYC
Well-Known Member
Sadly, it’ll be reopening as The Monkey Bar. Primates wreaking havoc with drinks like You Sunk My Banana Boat!
Beacon Joe
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty well versed in the whole mid-century / Polynesian Pop stuff, having grown up on Oahu when the great Poly Pop temples for tourists like the Tahitian Lanai, the original International Marketplace, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village were still around.
Rummaging through cultures, yes.
Cute? Not really. The whole Don Beach / Vic Bergeron / Stephen Crane / Thornton Brothers aesthetic wasn't about cuteness, but about exotica and mystery to create a certain atmosphere of escapism. Look at La Mariana in Honolulu, the Tonga Room in SF, the Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale, Munich's Trader Vic's, or new places like the Hale Pele or the False Idol and try to find any focus on "cute."
Pina coladas? No. Just no. That's modern Florida and Jimmy Buffet tiki bar stuff, and not the classic stuff.
Until this refurb, the Polynesian reflected the whole classic Poly Pop aesthetic pretty well, and was probably considered a lower top tier surviving example of a classic "tiki" space.
Even the recent lobby refurb held on to an extent, but also saw the removal of some wonderful pieces of art that really reflected the classic aesthetic that highlighted actual works of rummaged art: the large, intricately carved tauihu on the second floor overlooking the lobby, the beautiful and huge tapa cloths displayed on several walls, and a good amount of vintage Oceanic Arts carvings. I'll wait until I see it in person in a few weeks to see if the whole Moana-ization turns out to be a short-sighted replacement of exotica and artifacts with cuteness. The grog grotto proves that cuteness can coexist with classic tiki elements really well and still create a certain atmosphere, so I hold out some hope.
I just wish that awful Bou-tiki Florida-style tiki would go away.
I really would like to know where WDW's large collection of Oceanic Arts works ended up. And as an aside have the beach prints that used to adorn guest rooms gone up for sale anywhere?
dsinclair
Active Member
I believe they have popped up on ebay
Beacon Joe
Well-Known Member
Off to eBay!
Oh man, I was just going to ask about this. I made a reservation at Kona Cafe on our MK day hoping to take the monorail in late August.
CuteAsMinnie
Active Member
Anyone know what they are actually doing with the little disaster from the tree removal by CCooks? Are the just doing repair work or something additional. It’s taking quite a long time...
LOL I did the same!! I am in early August though, do hope it's back by then!
Tuvalu
Premium Member
If you arrive by personal car you will be turned away at the gate. Currently parking is extremely limited (due to construction) and is for resort guests or those with a Kona ADR only.
The beach itself is undisturbed.
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
Per chatter on Tikiman's FB page, supposedly they're replacing a buried grease trap system for Captain Cook's that was damaged by the tree that was removed early on. If that's the scope of the project, they sure are taking their sweet time.Anyone know what they are actually doing with the little disaster from the tree removal by CCooks? Are the just doing repair work or something additional. It’s taking quite a long time...
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
Well, after a lot of soul-searching and number-crunching, we have jumped ship! The e-mail from Disney confirming that there'd be no monorail service for our August stay ended up being the last straw. As much as I was looking forward to returning to the Polynesian and being among the first to enjoy the newly-refurbished standard rooms, we had a family meeting tonight and decided that paying a premium to stay at a "monorail resort... except without the monorail" just wasn't worth it. Even though we've only stayed at the Polynesian once before, it's my all-time favorite resort, and I'd hate to have my affections diminished by "seeing her without her makeup on," so we'll wait to go back until our best girl is gussied up and ready for prime time.
We priced out the alternatives (including an Airbnb we'd been holding in reserve, which was super-cheap, but almost as expensive as the onsite options after we added in the current cost of a rental car and parking). Instead of 4 nights in a standard room at the Polynesian with a Disney room-and-ticket package, we'll be spending 4 nights in a Premium Suite at the Dolphin (AAA rate). We'll have twice the square footage, more pools and restaurants to choose from, convenient access to 2 parks instead of 1, regular housekeeping services on request, and will save over $500 to boot, even after we factor in the extra money we'll have to pay to get towncar transportation to the airport. I think at the end of the day we'll be happy with our choice.
I'm waiting for confirmation numbers for the tickets I bought from an authorized reseller, so I can link them to MDE before canceling the Polynesian package. Until next time, pretty Poly!
We priced out the alternatives (including an Airbnb we'd been holding in reserve, which was super-cheap, but almost as expensive as the onsite options after we added in the current cost of a rental car and parking). Instead of 4 nights in a standard room at the Polynesian with a Disney room-and-ticket package, we'll be spending 4 nights in a Premium Suite at the Dolphin (AAA rate). We'll have twice the square footage, more pools and restaurants to choose from, convenient access to 2 parks instead of 1, regular housekeeping services on request, and will save over $500 to boot, even after we factor in the extra money we'll have to pay to get towncar transportation to the airport. I think at the end of the day we'll be happy with our choice.
I'm waiting for confirmation numbers for the tickets I bought from an authorized reseller, so I can link them to MDE before canceling the Polynesian package. Until next time, pretty Poly!
Last edited:
vikescaper
Well-Known Member
Have they always played music from Disney movies in the lobby? I’m currently sitting in a very quiet lobby of the Polynesian and they are playing the pop version of “A While New World”. It seems odd to me.
castlecake2.0
Well-Known Member
That’s the BGM from BouTiki
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
Disney can't get enough housekeepers to empty wastebaskets or servers to cover the tables in the open restaurants. They can't even afford enough Command strips to keep the bedazzled 50th decor stuck to Cinderella Castle! I guess we should be grateful that they have any construction workers at all. (I know, it's pathetic. Just trying -- really hard -- to see the glass half full.)