Polynesian Resort Reopening Delay & Refurbishment Inspired by Moana
Walt Disney World has delayed the reopening of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort from October 4, 2020 until Summer 2021. This is to accommodate refurbishment work at the hotel, including a Moana-inspired makeover to guest rooms and enhancements to the Great Ceremonial House. In this post, we’ll cover all of the details and what you need to know.
For starters, the Villas and Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort will remain open during this refurbishment. This is the Disney Vacation Club ‘side’ of the hotel, which encompasses the Pago Pago, Tokelau, and Moorea Longhouses plus the over-the-water Bora Bora Bungalows.
Hotel guests who will be impacted by this delayed reopening should be receiving emails from Walt Disney World shortly indicating that Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort is “no longer planned to be open” during their vacation. Additionally, the correspondence will contain info about re-accommodating guests at a different hotel at no additional charge.
The big news here comes via a Walt Disney World spokeswoman who told the Orlando Sentinel that changes to the guest rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort “will include a move to a Pacific Ocean-inspired color palette as well as details, patterns and textures from Disney’s Moana, an animated film that takes place on the Polynesian island of Motunui.”
This relatively vague and simple statement is going to freak out a lot of Walt Disney World purists who are averse to the gratuitous injection of IP everywhere, especially at old school Vacation Kingdom-era vestiges of Walt Disney World. We are in that camp, and that was my initial reaction and worry.
However, it’s worth pointing out a couple of things. For one thing, Moana has already been “injected” into the Great Ceremonial House…and you probably didn’t even know it. Earlier this year, carpeting with “Hidden Moanas” was added to ‘Ohana in the same style as the previous carpet.
It was so subtle that we didn’t even notice it–twice–on visits to the Poly this spring, instead learning about it via social media. Even as a Vacation Kingdom purist, I think this carpet is a nice touch. It maintains the resort’s thematic integrity while adding some whimsy and a connection with a under-utilized animated film. It doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb, and is a fun detail for those who notice it. This is synergy done well.
In addition to this, the Polynesian’s guest rooms were redone not that long ago and already have a modernized appearance (see before/after photos in our Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort Review). While a soft goods refurbishment would make sense, it’s unlikely these rooms are going to undergo a radical–and expensive–overhaul.
Our expectation is that we’re see a new color palette on the walls and in the throw pillows and more of the Moana carpet in the hallways. In addition to that, maybe Moana-inspired curtains, a piece of concept art or two, and the removal of carpet in the guest rooms. We’d be shocked if much more happens than that. Calling this a “Moana Makeover” is thus probably a bit strong.
In short, adjust your expectations–whether it be hype or outrage–accordingly. This probably isn’t going to be some colossal reimagining of the guest rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
The next piece of big news with regard to the delayed reopening of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort comes via a note on DisneyWorld.com indicating transportation changes. Beginning in early October 2020, bus transportation will be available to Magic Kingdom.
Due to upcoming refurbishment work at the Great Ceremonial House, monorail service to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort will be temporarily suspended beginning in early October 2020. The walkway to the Transportation and Ticket Center will remain open, where guests may access the monorail and ferry boats to Magic Kingdom. Presumably, the Grand Floridian walkway will also open soon, meaning Poly guests can walk all the way to Magic Kingdom if they’d like.
What’s not clear is whether the monorail service is being discontinued because the Great Ceremonial House will be closed entirely. Given that the monorail is currently being operated only for Disney Vacation Club guests and nothing is changing in terms of those bookings, it stands to reason that this is happening because some or all of the Great Ceremonial House will be closed off to guests.
Prior to the resort’s overhaul, rumors swirled about a decade ago that the Great Ceremonial House had various issues (asbestos being the most common one tossed about), that would necessitate it being demolished and rebuilt. While the lobby’s water feature was removed during the resort reimagining, the rest of the rumor never came to fruition.
It remains doubtful that the Great Ceremonial House is going to be substantially rebuilt–we’re not trying to revive discredited rumors. However, we can’t help but wonder if there was a kernel of truth to some of that. It’s possible there are lingering or persisting issues that weren’t fully addressed a decade ago, and now require more urgent attention.
Timing-wise, now seems perfect. Demand is low and Walt Disney World can take down entire resorts, closing them to all but DVC guests rather than working around existing bookings. However, that’s not something supported by Disney’s recent public statements and goal of reducing capital expenditures by $900 million. Given that, it seems unlikely that Walt Disney World would willing undertake additional construction and refurbishment projects unless absolutely necessary.
The big issue is those Disney Vacation Club guests with reservations at the Villas and Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. This is not an insignificant number of bookings, and these guests will need alternative dining options if the Great Ceremonial House needs to close and, along with it, Kona Cafe and Tambu Lounge. (The giveaway will be if/when Disney starts cancelling ADRs for Kona Cafe, or closes it to new reservations.)
Depending upon the scope of the work, it’s possible that Captain Cook’s could remain open during an overhaul to the Great Ceremonial House. It’s also possible that Lilo’s Playhouse could be used as a temporary dining option–it’d be pretty awesome if Walt Disney World revived Tangaroa Terrace, even if on a temporary basis.
Ultimately, it seems like something is up with Disney’s Polynesian Resort and we still don’t have the full story. When we first heard this news (and reported on it in our Walt Disney World News Roundup), we assumed this was simply a matter of low demand and lack of bookings. While that’s probably part of the story here, it’s unlikely the full picture. For now, we’ll consider this ‘developing’ news. Our expectation is that Walt Disney World will release concept art and full details in the very near future–we’ll keep you posted!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this Walt Disney World news? Hyped or outraged by the Moana-inspired makeover to the guest rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort? Think something big is happening with Great Ceremonial House, or that just a convenient excuse for closing the hotel while demand is low? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? 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!
Tom, any idea when the DVC buildings will be completed?
We have been trying to book the Poly for a November 2021 stay and they are not accepting reservations – any guess when they might begin reserving the reopened resort?
It opened up today!!
I’m very concerned about our upcoming October 7-11 trip. We are booked at Poly studios but I don’t want to be stranded there with no dining options. I also don’t feel it’s fair not to inform on the website what exactly refurbishments at the Great Ceremonial House will entail. Part of the ambiance of staying there is enjoying the cool lobby as well as the shopping & restaurants. I knew Ohana would not be open but we have reservations at Kona one night & like to grab counter service for pool days. I’m on the fence about waitlisting somewhere else but we live the layout of the studios & convenience to MK.
I just asked the same questions
because we’re considering a studio there as well
from Oct 2-7
The lady on the phone confirmed every restaurant and bar was open except Ohana’s
how was the trip with the refurb? Did it work out ok ?
The trip turned out to be awesome! The monorail did not close while we were there and won’t until Nov 2. The pool was amazing and uncrowded. The interior of The Great Ceremonial House remained untouched while we were there. Shops were open. Bar was open.
The only evidence of any construction was in the parking lot.
My only complaint was that everything closes up at the resort early during the week.
The Poly was perfect the way it was.
@DebC: @Paul in no way mentioned that he thought the Tikis at the Poly were cultural appropriation… Cultural appropriation is defined as: the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society. This is definitely not the case here. In fact, if I walked into a resort claiming to be Polynesian-themed and did NOT see any Tikis, I would know they missed the mark and have not provided an authentic representation of the Polynesian spirit. I haven’t been to Hawaii but have been a few times to French Polynesia and the importance of Tikis in Polynesian culture cannot be disregarded.
I just asked a cast member yesterday about what would be open at the Poly, as we have dvc reservations there for November. They looked into it and said the shops and the restaurants that are currently open would remain open during our stay.
I got the same response but I worry that although the restaurant/food/bars might be open will there be partitions up everywhere? Hammering and carpet ripping? The fact that the monorail will not be running says there probably will be interruptions. It would be nice if they could give us a breakdown of the renovation plan timeline.
“…rumors swirled about a decade ago that the Great Ceremonial House had various issues (asbestos being the most common one tossed about), that would necessitate it being demolished and rebuilt.”
We went to Ohana a couple years ago during a huge rainstorm and the roof around Tambu Lounge was leaking in multiple places – there were buckets all over the place. Our server indicated to us that it had been an issue for a long time but had only been patched here and there up to that point. Seems to me they need an entirely new roof, at the very least.
Looking through the reservation possibilities due to the new deals available through Christmas, a thought occurred to me: In many areas, the virus is going back down after the recent resurgence and there seems to be a high demand for Deluxe Resorts. Here we now enter “If-Land”: If the virus keeps in decline/stabilizes without the feared fall resurgence, and if demand for the Deluxe Resorts is high, would WDW re-open one of the closed deluxe resorts, and if so, which one, now that the Poly is off the board until next summer? Currently closed: Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club, Animal Kingdom Lodge and Boardwalk Inn.
My own thinking is that the 2 most likely to open would be Wilderness Lodge and Beach Club, both due to them having 2 wings open already, and therefore being the easiest to re-open. AKL also has 2 wings open, but the transportation options are far superior for WL and BC. Boardwalk also has a wing open, but not 2, and, of course, Stormalong Bay FTW.
WL has the advantage of being close in location to the closed Poly Village Resort (Poly DVC is open), so it’s a swap of MK resorts. Plus Christmas is coming, prime time for the WL.
BC has Stormalong Bay, Skyliner accessibilty, and fewer rooms than the WL. Both resorts have more rooms than the Poly, which will have 492 closed rooms through summer; WL has 729 rooms, BC has 583 rooms. Would Disney want to have 237 more rooms available than the Poly would’ve allowed, or only 91 at the BC. Then there’s what’s open already: The DVC villas at WL have presently 366 rooms open. Opening the WL would add more than twice as many rooms as are presently open. The Yacht Club and BC VIllas have 630 and 282 rooms open, respectively. Adding 583 rooms isn’t even close to the population jump that would be seen at the WL.
All this might be moot, of course. I hope not. I’ve been wrong on every hopeful prediction so far; I hope that my pessimistic predictions are due for their turn to be wrong. But at some point the virus will be either gone or relegated to a non-economy gutting status.
So, I pick the WL or BC; I love both resorts. If It’s Christmas, the WL wins for me; warm weather and my wife would live in Stormalong Bay if they’d let her. I just don’t know what Disney’s priorities would be if they felt the need to have another Deluxe step in.
But if I’m forced to make a pick, it would be Beach Club. The reason is that BC, along with Boardwalk, previously had opening dates; WL did not. However, their re-opening dates were removed before the Poly’s closure was extended to “Summer, 2021.” So, BC is my pick. I pick WL over Boardwalk because of the extended closure of a MK resort, and the likelihood of needing to balance that loss. Should something like this happen, I wouldn’t look at a re-opening until mid-November.
Here’s hoping.
I share the first part of your optimism. The general trend thus far in places (and not just the US) that got hit hard is the relative lack of a resurgence. I hope this is the case in the Northeast, Sun Belt/South, and West Coast. (Although that leaves out the Midwest, which could have its wave ‘over’ by fall.)
However, the problem this still leaves is the lag. For this, I think there are two types: 1) the lag between booking and traveling, which is usually several months; 2) the lag between the wave of cases subsiding and comfort in travel.
As such, I don’t see WDW realistically needing more rooms by Christmas. February or even Easter seems more realistic, but I hope you’re right and I’m wrong. In which case, my money would be on Beach Club followed by BoardWalk. Good analysis, either way!
Outside of comfort level, I think there is also likely less flexibility for travel. For families, many districts have removed a lot of the days off, often to account for late starts but still meet state attendance requirements. Regardless of comfort level, that leaves little opportunity for a trip. And even as my kids are remote learning and can theoretically do it from anywhere, I sure as heck am not paying a hefty price tag to essentially do it in a hotel room and not visit the parks. It’s not just “work” based. To count for attendance, my kids have to be present at all 5 live class times every day. (As an aside, I m not complaining about this, just listing it as a complication.) Then if one adds in taking time off of work, that can also get tricky given current uncertainties in the employment arena. I’d imagine many people are hesitant to take vacation days if they are not feeling very secure in their jobs.
Well, the IP concerns (for me) are, essentially if they go overboard with Moana references to the detriment of the existing tiki designs. Or if they go too far on the room refurbishments and it’s hard to distinguish them from, say, a Hampton Inn. I first went to the Poly in 1974 or 75, and I was blown away by the resort, as was the rest of my family. So, yeah, Vacation Kingdom 1st gen fan here. And that Vacation Kingdom aspect is worth keeping and preserving. Those who’ve never experienced the rain forest volcanic rock waterfalls in all their glory don’t know what they’re missing (seeing on YouTube is NOT the same thing as EXPERIENCING it!).
These concerns are not terribly active right now, as there’s no preview up for the changes, whatever they might be. Slipping in some modest Moana additions: No Problem.
A rotating holographic of the male co-star of the film in the lobby with a constant recording of Dwayne Johnson yelling, “Can you smell what the Maui is cooking?” Problem.
So I have concerns, but they’re taking a nap until more info arises as to what’s going down at the Poly.
I, too, thought that all the tiki-stuff was cultural appropriation. Since Splash Mountain is racist, the Tiki Room and the Polynesian need to be scaled way back to meet the requirements of diversity.
I totally agree with your opinions. I wish they would just leave the poly as is.
They just refurbished 3 years ago.
It’s my favorite peaceful tranquil hawaian place!!
Too much MoAna will ruin the feeling!!!
It’s definitely one of the fan favs with a huge loyalty following—why change it again???
Has the Epcot monorail reopened to/from the Monorail loop resorts? If not, when do you anticipate this occurring?
The EPCOT monorail operates from the TTC; it has not reopened and I don’t anticipate a reopening date until 2021. Maybe Christmas of this year if we’re lucky.
What is the logic in closing it? Is it about repairs or something else? By the way, cast members are a bit confused on this one. I recently booked a trip in September and chat, guest services, the hotel all gave different responses. In the end and to my great disappointment (since I’m staying at the Poly Villas), I did confirm it (TTC to/from Epcot) is closed for now. Has anyone used the bus service from the Poly to Epcot? Any good?
@Mattie/Michael: the Epcot/TTC monorail loop remains closed. No word on when it will reopen, but you have to think it won’t be until after park hopping is reinstated. With park hopping on hold, VERY few guests have any need to travel between the TTC and Epcot; with crowd levels so low right now, it’s a lot easier for Disney to just run Epcot buses from GF/Poly/Contemporary and keep that monorail line closed.
Ugh. That’s one of the best perks for me in owning DVC/staying at Poly- the ability to walk out my door and walk to the TTC to get the monorail to Epcot. The more you can avoid the buses the better… This totally sucks! 🙁
Trying to put together a trip next May 2021, wanting to stay at the Poly but also for the Epcot Flower and Garden Show. So do I switch resort or hang on for Poly and flower show. This year the show was delayed. Now what?
This worries me for December and resort hopping for Christmas decorations, but I guess in the grand scheme of things this resort wouldn’t offer a huge loss on that…..but still would have been nice to visit and see their decorations. UGH
You will probably not see the holiday decorations this year as in the past. No gingerbread houses or castle lights. Disney does want congregations of people in one place. Very sad!