Moana Room Makeover at Polynesian Resort
Walt Disney World has shared a sneak peek at the newly reimagined guest rooms at Polynesian Village Resort. In this post, we’ll take a look at photos of the “Moana Makeover,” plus share a brief update on construction, and offer first impressions on how these compare to other refurbished rooms in WDW hotels.
Let’s start by quickly recapping what’s happening with Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Originally scheduled to reopen on October 4 of last year, Walt Disney World announced a last-minute Moana-Inspired Refurbishment Pushing Back Polynesian’s Reopening. This would feature a makeover to guest rooms and enhancements to the Great Ceremonial House that would keep the hotel closed until Summer 2021.
Details were vague at the time, but a couple of weeks later, Walt Disney Imagineering released concept art for a new porte-cochère and clarified that the Great Ceremonial House would remain open, but that the monorail station would close. Officially, that’s where things have stood since then, with this preview of the new Moana rooms being the first update from Walt Disney World in months…
We’ve visited the Polynesian several times since reopening. In case you haven’t been keeping track of this project, only the hotel side of the Polynesian is closed. Meaning that the longhouses with regular hotel rooms are the ones receiving this Moana-inspired makeover. Great Ceremonial House (minus the monorail, ‘Ohana, and Trader Sam’s) is still open, as are the Deluxe Villas and Bungalows.
Disney Vacation Club members can still book that ‘side’ of the Poly, which encompasses the Pago Pago, Tokelau, and Moorea Longhouses plus the Bora Bora Bungalows. The DVC rooms will receive a separate soft goods refurbishment this year, which is occurring one year ahead of schedule. That could be to coincide with this project, or because the DVC rooms are looking a bit worse for wear. Regardless, there’s no concept art or info for the refreshed Disney Vacation Club rooms, or any indication as to whether they’ll receive Moana artwork.
This can be a bit confusing, especially since Disney Vacation Club rooms can also be booked by regular guests. Basically, the Poly is open, albeit with a significantly reduced room inventory, no monorail, no ‘Ohana or Trader Sam’s, and lots of construction walls. Hope that makes sense, but regardless, let’s take a look at the new Moana rooms…
These reimagined guest rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort feature a new color palette inspired by the Pacific Ocean and its many islands.
This includes details, patterns and textures from the Walt Disney Animation Studios hit, Moana. Of course, there are even some hidden (and not-so-hidden) characters from the film.
You’ll also see all-new furnishings and fixtures.
In the bathrooms, Imagineers took inspiration from the sandy ocean floor for the tiles and carved details in the vanity. The colorful patterns found throughout the room bring a whole new energy to the space, evoking undulating ocean waves and tropical flowers.
Now let’s offer some commentary. For those who are new to the blog, Imagineering’s spotty track record with room redesigns has been an area of acute interest for us. We do dozens of Disney hotel stays every year, and have previously reviewed and scored all of the past room redesigns. Notable posts on the subject include the following:
- All Star Movies (B)
- Animal Kingdom Lodge (A-)
- Beach Club (D)
- Old Key West (C)
- Pop Century (B)
- Riviera Resort (A)
- Saratoga Springs Resort (A-)
- Yacht Club (B+)
(For other resorts, see our regularly-updated Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page.)
We’ll withhold final judgment until completing an actual stay, but our first impression of the new Moana-inspired rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort is very positive.
In the past, the Poly’s rooms have been visually busy and cluttered. These new rooms manage to balance an array of colors and textures without ever looking garish. That’s especially impressive given the wall pattern, which appears to borrow from Maui’s tattoos. Feature walls are very on-trend in the hotel industry, and we think it works well here. It’s clearly and prominently Moana-inspired, but also looks good and cool on its own, divorced of Moana context or knowledge.
Beyond that, the interior design is generally low-key, but offers subtle sophistication, clever and engaging uses of texture, an abundance of clean lines, and upgraded finishings throughout.
From the herringbone plank flooring to the lighting and furniture, the features have been plussed in a variety of ways. It all feels custom-made for Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, rather than being off-the-shelf furniture and styles that could be found at any hotel in the country.
For the sake of comparison, above is our most recent photo of the Poly’s previous rooms. As with just about anything Imagineering does that infuses intellectual property in old-school Walt Disney World “stuff,” this is bound to be controversial among fans. That’s simply the nature of the beast.
Our view is that these newly-reimagined rooms strike a perfect balance of luxury, themed design, and Disney characters. They look well-appointed but also something you’d find in the islands, and if you had zero knowledge of the movie Moana, you wouldn’t question the artwork choices. It all coalesces surprisingly well, with nothing feeling forced or out of place.
Above is a photo of the current rooms at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, which we panned earlier this week in our latest Resort Stay Report: Weak Rooms at Walt Disney World’s Flagship Resort. In that, we suggested more overt thematic flourishes (and even specifically-themed character rooms) to distinguish these rooms from a garden-variety Marriott or Hilton. To our surprise, the vast majority of readers agreed with us. (So perhaps our take on the new Poly rooms won’t be that controversial?)
Without question, the new Moana-inspired rooms at the Polynesian are an upgrade over these Grand Floridian rooms. I honestly don’t think there’s even any comparison. (Honestly, the old rooms at the Poly were also nicer…as were the rooms there one generation before that!)
We’ve also seen some comparisons between the new rooms at the Polynesian and those at Gran Destino Tower. That’s a sensible comparison, as many of the stylistic approaches are similar, but the Gran Destino rooms are typically less than half the cost of the Poly. (Gran Destino rooms are also significantly smaller, have weak bathrooms, and no balconies.)
We love Gran Destino Tower and think it’s one of the best bang-for-buck options among all Walt Disney World hotels. However, that comparison makes about as much sense as contrasting the price disparity of houses in Malibu to those in Milwaukee. No disrespect to Milwaukee–it’s a great city–but I think we all understand why Malibu is more expensive. Whether it’s proximity to and views of the Pacific Ocean or Cinderella Castle, the first three rules of real estate are location.
Walt Disney World still has not released an official reopening date for the Polynesian Village Resort. It was once booking beginning in early July 2021, but that’s now been pushed back to late July 2021. Our expectation is that date will hold, but there’s still a decent amount of work to be done around the Great Ceremonial House.
Speaking of which, the porte cochere is in the midst of a dramatic overhaul that will feature a high-pitched, open-truss roof covered in a thatch style with pops of color. The Monorail station is receiving new wooden screens with tropical colors, adding to the open and airy vibe befitting of the South Seas. Above is concept art, below is current construction progress.
Also included in the sneak peek of the Moana rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort was a teaser of more such updates in the weeks and months to come. Per Walt Disney World, this is “part of the overall evolution of our Disney Resort hotels, as we infuse even more Disney touches across our collection” just in time for the World’s Most Magical Celebration, beginning October 1, 2021, in honor of Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary.
Our guess is that the next update will concern Disney’s Contemporary Resort, which is taking most of its rooms in the A-Frame out of commission next month. Two years ago, Imagineering tested new rooms inspired by the Incredibles at that resort. It’s possible we’ll see something similar at that resort with that IP, or maybe Walt Disney World will go a different direction. We’re also still holding out hope on a Grand Floridian refresh. Now is the perfect time with occupancy rates low during the phased reopening! We’ll keep you posted as to what happens next.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your thoughts on the Moana-inspired rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort? Think this is a tasteful melding of luxury, themed design, and Disney characters? Concerned about the IP invasion at Walt Disney World? Are these better or worse than the Grand Floridian rooms? Think these rooms help justify Polynesian’s price-point, or is it still too expensive? Do you have any questions about the current resort experience at Walt Disney World? Will you be attempting to visit Walt Disney World this summer or fall, or are you waiting until 2022 or beyond? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Nice review Tom, a well-balanced and thoughtful opinion as always. The Poly has never been high on my list of must-do hotels at WDW but I must admit this theming looks great.
One request/suggestion that applies to many of your posts. I like to open your photos in a separate tab so I can look at some of the finer details. In the past you often published them at high resolution, but more recently it’s been closer too 800 x 500. Any chance you could revert to higher resolution embedded images?
You may have higher resolution versions published elsewhere, but it’s so convenient to drag an image to Chrome’s top bar.
Keep up the great work. No typos at all in this post!
…and the irony of my own post containing a typo is not lost on me.
We’re really happy that the poly rooms have been refurbished. Last stay there was in 2017 and after that we just couldn’t justify the high price for how worn looking the rooms were. We love the poly and have stayed there multiple times but it just lost the vibe. The cast members at this resort are always awesome and we were sad to have to stay elsewhere. We do like these new rooms a lot, however, just hoping the overall vibe stays Polynesian. Last years stay we also noticed when dining at the poly how the entire resort was quite rundown in the grand ceremonial area. So all in all the refurbishment was an absolute necessary thing. I’m positive we will try out these new rooms!
I don’t dislike it, but would have been wayyyy better if themed to Enchanted Tiki Room!
i agree
You need to remember that, most of the time, DVC reduces the theming in the villa each time there is a renovation, either soft goods or full renovation. I don’t see the Polynesian villas getting a Moana overlay during a soft goods replacement. They’ve done away with accent pillows and bed spreads, so that leaves very little to Moana-tize.
Although better than the most of the rehabs at other resorts, I prefer the style of the Poly DVC rooms over than Moana rooms. Currently, the Poly DVC rooms are my favorite decor of all the Disney resorts. I like the colors, light fixtures, furniture, Tiki decorations, Tiki Bird and Mary Blair style mermaid paintings in the DVC rooms.
Although I will miss the old style, I am looking forward to the new. We have reservations for mid November, hoping to switch to club level, if that is available by then. The ceiling light reminds me of the one in the room we had at the Riviera last week, which I liked. Also hoping the room is more functional with better storage and bathroom set up. These things really stood out at the Riviera. I do remember the Polynesian rooms being large.
The rooms look great! Theming is still true to original design and feel of resort. Nice pops of color while staying mostly neutral. I love the benches at the ends of the beds. Those will be very useful.
Love these rooms! Any idea if the bathrooms were restructured to make the toilet in a separate section. The lack of divided spaces within the bathroom is the reason my family doesn’t stay here. The other resorts having showers and or toilets separated from the sink area really helps our family to all be able to get ready at the same time.
Honestly this is the first time I would consider the Poly room design looking “upscale.” I say this as someone who has always wanted to stay at the Poly but never been able to pull the trigger because the rooms always erred slightly on the tacky side for me. This seems like a good mix of Disney theming and upscale hotel design.
I think this is a big upgrade over previous room iterations there (also the lack of carpet works especially well at the Poly since that is often the case at Hawaiian or other tropical resorts) and a massive upgrade from the Grand Floridian’s current rooms. I’ve always though the Contemporary and the new Yacht Club rooms were the nicest on Disney property, but these might edge them out. I mean they still aren’t as nice as I would expect for a room at the price point Disney gets for rooms at the Poly (even with the most aggressive discounts), but, based on the pictures it’s probably as good as Disney is ever going to get.
I love it! We are booked for August 19,2021 & I’m praying it is ready. We are so excited. We hope to look into DVC membership when we are there. Any tips for that?
We love your blog!
*sigh* I love heavily themed rooms, and love the degree of theming employed here. I also love Moana and Polynesian styles. I was very excited and pumped for these rooms.
Unfortunately I still don’t like them >.< lol. Just not to my personal taste. Bad luck I guess.
The patterns seem a bit busy in places, and the colors are too muted. Not digging the muted pastel browns, oranges and blues. It simultaneously loses the rich brown palette of the old rooms (which I love), and yet doesn't add in enough bright color to feel like stepping into Moana. Feels a bit like a modern version of 60s wallpaper pattern styles, which I dislike.
I was hoping they'd EITHER continue with the original brown color palette, but updated with a splash of bright Moana blue here and there, OR just lose that entire design and make it feel like stepping onto a beach from the Moana movie — go super bright and colorful. That shade of brown doesn't say polynesia or
Nevertheless, overall I'm happy to see a more themed room since that might bode well for future refurbishments. This is definitely the *kind* of thing I want to see from Disney. So I'll try not to look a gift horse in the mouth. :p
*to me.
(Submitted before finishing that sentence.)
One other comment: There’s a bit of a resurgence in Tiki bars right now (as culturally problematic as it may be), so I’m not entirely sure moving away from that theming was well-timed. What is tacky one decade can become popular the next.
These rooms look great! Polynesian is our home resort, just curious did they keep both bathrooms or go down to one? We loved having the double bathroom feature.
I believe you’re referring to the DVC rooms. These are rooms in the hotel section.
I’m a huge fan of Moana and the Poly has always been my favorite resort, I’m really pleasantly surprised by just how themed these rooms are! I was expecting at most a sad little picture on the wall the way they’ve done some of the newer refurbs. This is the perfect balance and not in your face about it. We are booked for the fall and I absolutely can’t wait. From a practical standpoint, I think my favorite new feature is the amazing showers they already use on the DVC side!
I’m also pleasantly surprised! I guess in hindsight I was worried they’d go overboard and make it tacky, but from the pictures it seems to me like they struck a good balance of definitely making it very “Moana” without losing the vibe of an upscale resort. The accent/feature wall is what makes it for me, and I think they balanced the intensity of that big graphic well by keeping the rest of the decor less busy and limiting the color palette. As someone who picks my resorts based on theming, this might be what finally gets me to book the second half of a split stay at the Poly instead of just dropping in to Trader Sam’s on a day visit. In contrast, I just cannot see myself booking the current rooms at the Grand Floridian; the room interior pictured looks like a generic Marriott, and I can always stop in and enjoy the lobby and so forth without paying top dollar for a bland room.
I am loving this refresh! Moana is a favorite in my family, but I’m mainly thrilled with how much cleaner a d brighter the rooms look. The resort’s charm, great dining, and placement sometimes causes it to feel like the 5th gate. Between lobby traffic feeding the dinner show, Trader Sams & ‘Ohana, and the nightly hoards visiting the beach for fireworks viewing, I’ve found myself longing for the secluded walkways of Riverside or the upstairs fireplaces of the Wilderness Lodge. Given how dark, stained and musty the Poly room was, I came away from my last stay thinking it would be better to save money staying somewhere else and join the day trippers for a Mai Tai. These refreshed rooms look a lot more welcoming and comfortable. I may have to keep my eye out for room discounts and give the Poly another chance.
One thing is for certain: These rooms aren’t going to be mistaken for a “garden-variety Marriott or Hilton” or Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, etc.
First, the rooms look good from what can be seen.
Second, and my one concern: Have they tossed tiki? It kinda looks like it. Vacation Kingdom 4EVER!
Lastly, looking around at booking dates for the DVC side, it looks like the 2nd week of August and go all the way up to the anniversary, or very late September, is when they’re going to to the soft goods refresh. I wasn’t able to find anything to book from August 8th until October 2nd (and I suspect that, for some reason, October 1st is booked solid, heh).
My wife and I are really impressed, the designs certainly look nice. Beautiful color palette, a subtle vibrancy (if there could be such a thing). Retains the 50 year old theme of the resort while modernizing the look and feel.
I’m a big fan of Moana and am happy to see its theming used more. The rooms are nice, but I did enjoy the warmer tones of the old Poly rooms. The whole hotel was sort of a 70’s-warm-tone-throwback anyway, and maybe that’s a major reason for the update. I wonder if they’ll replace the resort-wide music (especially the holiday Hawaiian soundtrack) with a Moana version. One concern about the new decor is that the colors (the blue tone and orange) and accent wall are a tad trendy, and may age quickly. And, I can feel the future scrapes on my lower legs from walking around those benches at the end of the beds. Also, I’ll miss the counter space in the bathroom.
We stayed at The Grand Floridian this past December and the shower supplies were still individual bottles. It looks like The Polynesian has joined the Moderate and Budget Disney hotels in offering the communal dispensers.
Really love the themeing in these new Poly rooms. The Moana touches are tasteful and it just looks well-appointed. The GF rooms of the 2000s was where it was at – the artwork, bedding, and wallpaper had just perfect subtle Disney touches (one painting depicted a bookcase with source material for Disney films). It’s a shame they abandoned those in their remodels.
LOVE it!!!
I hope they do the Moana theme to the DVC studio rooms.