Polynesian Resort Report: Construction, Christmas & Cuisine
We’re back at Walt Disney World, this time at the Polynesian for a look at the resort during the Christmas season as the hotel undergoes construction. In this report, we’ll share breakfast, dinner, and dessert photos; a look at progress on the reimagining; and some of the Christmas decor.
Let’s start by recapping the current ‘status’ of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Although it was previously scheduled to be open by now, Walt Disney World announced a Moana-Inspired Refurbishment Pushing Back Polynesian’s Reopening earlier this fall. 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, leading to a lot of speculation about the scope of work to the Great Ceremonial House and whether the Poly would become a “character hotel.” A couple of weeks later, Disney 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. No new details have been released since then, but construction has begun…
Note that only the hotel side of the Poly is not operational. Meaning that the longhouses with regular hotel rooms are closed and their windows covered. Great Ceremonial House (minus the monorail, ‘Ohana, and Trader Sam’s) is still open, as are the Deluxe Villas and Bungalows.
In other words, 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 all remain open. This is a bit confusing, since DVC units can also be booked as regular hotel rooms. 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.
These may sound like huge problems and red flags to avoid Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort until Summer 2021.
Well, yes and no…
When it comes to the monorail, the walkway to the Transportation and Ticket Center is open, allowing for convenient access to the monorail and ferry boats to Magic Kingdom. That’s literally faster and more efficient for guests staying in the DVC longhouses than the Great Ceremonial House monorail. So no issue there.
The Grand Floridian walkway is also now open, so Poly guests can walk all the way to Magic Kingdom. It’s a long and sometimes confusing trek, so probably not recommended for most guests. We did it and found it to be quite pleasant in the 65º degree weather, but your mileage may vary.
All things considered, the transportation situation is a non-issue.
Dining is more of a mixed bag. No ‘Ohana or Trader Sam’s will be big blows for a lot of guests. Those are two Walt Disney World fan favorites, and it’s very unfortunate that they’re not open right now.
However, the upside of no ‘Ohana is no noise from ‘Ohana. Don’t get me wrong–I love it, but the restaurant is perpetually overbooked, meaning the waiting area is overcrowded. That plus Tambu Lounge and the open-air Kona Cafe, makes for a loud environment. That side of the upper floor normally has serious “mall food court” vibes and that sound echoes through the cavernous lobby, making it anything but tranquil.
Not so right now. With ‘Ohana closed, Kona Cafe operating at reduced capacity, and fewer than half the number of guests staying at the resort as compared to normal, the Great Ceremonial House is often devoid of people and downright serene. It feels like a different place entirely.
That is, when there isn’t intermittent construction noise. Depending upon the work scheduled and time of day, you might get unlucky and experience just as much–or more–noise than normal. Or none at all. It was pretty random for us. We found it delightfully peaceful in the morning and midday, but noisy at night when welding was occurring outside on the crossbeams. (Not what we guessed would’ve been the case.)
There are Cast Members at the front desk, but most arrivals and departures are not happening here since the porte-cochère is closed.
It’s not as empty as Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House, but the Great Ceremonial House is also not nearly as busy as it normally would be during Christmas. The resort is operating at less than half its normal occupancy, and is seeing far fewer day guests.
Above is a look at construction to the monorail station and new porte-cochère.
The most visible work that has happened thus far is the removal and replacement of the iconic crossbeams on the Great Ceremonial House. This is still in progress, but all of the ones you see above are new.
Here’s a wider look at the whole porte-cochère and monorail station. A good chunk of the parking lot is also walled off as a staging area and for construction vehicles.
We’re totally on board with the new porte-cochère. Disney has done a great job with these in recent years, including the DVC one at the Poly. Given that the old arrival experience here was nothing special, the end result can pretty much only be an improvement.
As for the longhouse construction, there’s a surprising amount of it.
When this was first announced, my cynical suspicion was that the “Moana makeover” was a pretense for shuttering a hotel because Walt Disney World realized occupancy rates were not going to justify it until at least next summer. I figured there’d be a light soft goods refurbishment to the rooms, but nothing major.
In walking around the resort, we observed a ton of construction workers and pretty much nonstop activity.
This isn’t simply an idle job site with minor tasks proceeding at a lethargic pace. There’s a ton simultaneously happening in multiple longhouses.
The good news is that all of this is currently happening on the side of the Great Ceremonial House closer to the Grand Floridian.
You cannot see or even hear this work from the DVC buildings. Of course, that could change if/when work starts on Hawaii and the other longhouses closer to the villas.
In walking around, it’s also patently obvious just how badly Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort needs a large scale refurbishment. The longhouses are looking pretty rough.
We haven’t stayed in the hotel rooms in a couple of years so I can’t speak to those, but the villas are already showing a lot of wear and tear.
This is all fairly remarkable given that the Poly received a top to bottom overhaul only a few years ago.
Yet, it’s in worse shape than resorts that have only received preventative maintenance during that time–not even something like a soft goods refurbishment.
It’s not our intention of making this a bleak update–a lot of Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort is looking good. Great Ceremonial House and the Disney Vacation Club side of the property still look fairly fresh.
That’s especially true as the resort is decked out for Christmas.
The Poly doesn’t do a ton for Christmas–it’s notably the highest profile Deluxe Resort that does not have an icon Christmas Tree–but it still looks nice.
I love the color choices and floral motif. It’d be nice if there were more, but what’s there is perfect for Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. It’s also nice to sit by the tree in relative solitude, which is often the case with so few guests around.
In other news, Duffy’s turtle friend has made his way to Walt Disney World due to the protracted closure of Aulani and need to move overstock merchandise. Fitting, since this turtle was created as a thinly-veiled merchandising initiative to get more Japanese guests to book trips to Hawaii and join Disney Vacation Club.
While we’re admittedly quite cynical about the turtle, we’ve really come around on the Duffy & Friends characters. We’ve adopted two plushes and our Christmas tree topper is Gelatoni (arguably the best Duffy Cinematic Universe character). This is all discussed in excruciating detail in our Duffy Phenomenon article.
In addition to a ton of turtle merchandise, there’s also this gift basket with a Santa hat.
Unfortunately, it features the two worst friends of Duffy embroidered on it. Hard pass.
Moving on to dining, which is presumably of greater interest to most of you.
Kona Cafe is open, both the seating area and the Mobile Order To-Go option in My Disney Experience.
Still avoiding indoor dining, we opted for Mobile Order To-Go and ate in our room.
(These photos were taken after Kona Cafe closed for the night. We would’ve done dinner there had it been this empty!)
Sarah ordered the Steak Salad: Sunny-side Up Egg, Kona House Vinaigrette, Sweet Bell Peppers, Kale and Arugula Blend. Hers was not noteworthy and not recommended.
I ordered the Lobster and Crab Macaroni & Cheese, which is “only” an appetizer. I had intended upon also ordering a poke bowl, but there was some confusion (between us–nothing to do with the restaurant), and this ended up being my entree.
That was fine as the Lobster and Crab Macaroni & Cheese was filling and fantastic.
Rich and heavy, with an abundance of lobster and crab meat and mix of quality cheeses. We both loved this, and would highly recommend it.
For dessert, we ordered the Holiday Elf Dome Cake: Vanilla Dome Cake with Egg Nog Spices and White Chocolate Ganache from Captain Cook’s.
When I first saw the stock photo for this in My Disney Experience, I was downright giddy. It instantly transported me to a simpler time, and reminded me of an old friend:
In case you’re unfamiliar with this little gem, it’s the Yoda cookie made by Disneyland Paris last year. That might look like an unmitigated disaster—a kindergarten art project gone horribly wrong. It’s also the stock photo–the best case scenario for how that Yoda cookie could look. In actuality, many had misplaced eyes, devilish grins, etc. Pure nightmare fuel. I loved it.
The Kindergarten Art Yoda Cookie brought me more unadulterated joy than anything else Disney did last year. Sure, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was nice, but its problems were headache rather than laugh-inducing. This was the highlight. Given how things have gone in 2020, I was hoping the real-world Elf Dome Cake would have similar energy to the Kindergarten Art Yoda Cookie. There was no way the Elf could look as good as the stock photo, and it was the win I needed.
Sadly, it is no Kindergarten Art Yoda Cookie. To my immense disappointment, the Elf Dome Cake looked great. I mean, it’s a bit of a conceptual odd ball, but the appearance is spot-on. It’s a quality cake with professional presentation and attention to detail.
The Elf Dome Cake was delicious, too. The egg nog flavor was on-point and the textures worked well together. It looked and tasted like something that could be served at Amorette’s Patisserie, which is the highest praise possible for a Disney dessert. What a colossal disappointment!
When it comes to delicious food, the Tonga Toast is never a disappointment. It’s one of the most iconic Walt Disney World foods for good reason.
This is served at both Kona Cafe and Captain Cook’s, but is cheaper at the latter. We ordered it from there, because you’ll never convince me that strawberry compote is worth $6.
Ultimately, it’s difficult to make a strong recommendation when it comes to booking Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort between now and Summer 2021. It’s undeniable that half of the resort is a construction zone, key dining is temporarily unavailable, and there’s no monorail service. Some of those losses are significant, and mean big compromises by any guests booking now.
However, some of those losses are totally insignificant, and there are also upsides to the compromises. Due to fewer than half the rooms being available, fewer than half the guests as normal are staying at the Poly. That means the pools and other amenities are underutilized. No ‘Ohana means that the Great Ceremonial House isn’t always busy and raucous at breakfast and dinner-time. We found the balance to be in our favor, but others could very easily reach a dramatically different conclusion.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your thoughts on visiting Walt Disney World right now? Are you eagerly awaiting your next vacation ‘escape’ to Walt Disney World, or still apprehensive about everything going on right now? Think Wilderness Lodge would be a good place to stay? 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 2021 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!
Debbie,
The well-publicized room checks were always daily checks, not random, and always included trash pickup since implementation.
You can stay offsite. It may not happen there. What you are so angry about will continue to happen at onsite resorts.
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After I saw your stock photo of the elf cake, I purposely scrolled down a tiny bit at a time while I was reading so that I wouldn’t spoil the “big reveal” of the real thing. Man, what a let down! LOL! Thank you for all your photos and reviews…you really are helping us cope with the winter/Covid blues here in Michigan! Keep up the great work!
I have a one night stay (part of a longer resort hopping trip) booked at the Poly in January. Having never stayed there before, this may be a dumb question. Since I can walk to the TTC, can I take the monorail from there to Epcot, or is that also not running? I know I can take it to Magic Kingdom, or walk. Thanks!
The monorail from TTC to EPCOT still isn’t running as far as I know.
I stayed at Poly in both Oct and Dec and the construction did not bother us at all. The GCH was so peaceful. We were initially worried about monorail closing at GCH because from prior trips we hated the long lines to get to or from TTC. But recently we were surprised how efficient transportation was at TTC especially the ferry boat. The new security scanning really speeds up the security line.
We are big fans of the Duffy & Friends characters. We were bummed when the domestic Disney Parks discontinued Duffy and Shellie May a few years back. Instead, we have to pay a premium to buy the new merchandise from Tokyo on Ebay. When we saw the Duffy and Friends merchandise recently at Poly, we were excited and we must’ve bought one of each item.
My family and I stayed at the Poly in early December 2019, and our happy memories from that stay have helped carry us through this horrible year. We’ve had the Hawaii’s Favorites Christmas Songs playing and the Poly scented candle burning and they take us right back to walking out of the Ceremonial House on a relatively chilly December evening to the beach area with the torches ablaze and sounds of the ferry sounding off while departing to the Magic Kingdom. Our stay was too short and with two rooms it was hella expensive. There were some areas of the rooms that needed some tic, but they were so spacious and overall very nice. Hoping that after this refurbishment the prices don’t increase.
Looking at availability for the fall of 2021 and I see some additional room types: Ambassador Vice Presidential Suite, King Kamehameha Suite, Honeymoon Room – Club Level. Are these new? Maybe being added as part of the refurbishment?
Tom
Thanks for the review. We are preparing for a visit to the Poly and feel better with your information. We were at Jambo house in July and loved the lack of people. We were concerned about the monorail station not being open. So I am glad there are options there and for restaurants that don’t require reservations.
Make sure you check before you leave on the restaurant vacancies. We were at OKW last week and couldn’t get a breakfast reservations other than 7:30AM on Friday morning when we tried on Tuesday.
Tom,
Many thanks for the info – we are arriving tomorrow night for a pre-Xmas trip (through 12/23) and love the advance knowledge! First time at Poly and was worried about the transportation situation (doing HS on Saturday per your rec, then AK, MK, EP, MK). Glad to hear the construction wasn’t overly intrusive despite the no monorail.
While sad to miss out on the full experience, we are really looking forward to trying the elf cake!
We have DVC booked to stay at Poly from July 16 to July 23. It says construction will be finished by Summer. Any clue what they mean by “summer.” That could be June, July, or August. Do you think it will be completely open by July 16?
As DVC members we have stayed at the Poly 3 times but never anywhere else. We are considering switching to Bay Lay Tower.
The internal target is reopening by early July 2021.
However, there’s a reason Disney hasn’t publicly announced that and are just going with Summer 2021–because they’re not sure if they can hit that date.
Tom,
I figured as much. Thought you might have some more insight. If they say they are shooting for early July I wouldn’t be shocked if it was actually later.
We just love the Polynesian. It is our home resort. I do want to try others. The only thing holding me back from Bay Lake is that it isn’t themed like the Poly. We love theming. Also, their rooms are smaller although I’m sure it will be fine. Lack of theme is the bigger issue for us. We love the Great Ceremonial House, Captain Cook’s, etc. Just a great atmosphere. We are inside of 7 months by a few days and Bay Lake is still open so if we are going to switch we will need to make a decision soon!
The rooms at BLT are *noticeably* smaller. It’s not an insignificant difference.
Personally, I would not make the switch, but that’s just me.
I agree with Tom about sticking with Poly. I stayed at Poly (Poga Poga section) in Oct plus last weekend and we didnt find the construction intrusive since most of the Great Ceremonial House is still open. TTC is very close to DVC rooms at Poly and we found the ferry at TTC reliable and manageable wait times.
If you want to try different DVC resort with more theming, I would consider Wilderness Lodge (my other favorite DVC resort in addition to Poly).
MaxBuffMelvin: Remember that there are two DVC resorts at Wilderness Lodge. The original one Boulder Ridge (formerly Villas at Wilderness Lodge) located in a separate building and Copper Creek Villas (located in the south wing of the lodge building). Entirely separate DVC resorts located at the same place.
With Bay Lake Tower, the studios are small, about the smallest in all of DVC except for the Value Studios at Jambo House and the Tower Studios at Riviera. But the one bedroom (especially on the outside ring of the building) are pretty big.
Poly is on my bucket list! I am super excited to stay here sometime in the next few years!! Great updates and my hubby would LOVE the lobster Mac and cheese!
I am here at Poly right now staying in Pago Pago facing the parking lot. Got the worst view we’ve ever had up here on the the 3rd floor. Just happy to be here though, so making the most of it. I don’t notice the construction here much. I’m loving the lack of people here more than anything! Everything is pretty much empty and you can take your pick of seats at the beach or pool areas. LOVE IT!
Transportation has been a breeze. Mostly have taken buses. Bus stop is small and at times difficult to social distance. We end up standing and waiting down the walkway.
I’m not a fan of the lady who harps at you at Captain Cook’s about using mobile ordering unless you have food allergies. There were only 3 of us in line, so what’s the big deal? I wanted to order the pulled pork nachos which are not on the app. She wasn’t listening. Kept saying, “well what’s your food allergy?” Ummm nothing! Can I please just order my pulled pork nachos….
Here’s my BIGGEST BEEF…. I signed up to NOT have my room serviced. During COVID I really don’t want anyone with their dirty gloves coming from others rooms to mine “cleaning” mine. Or just in here breathing for that matter. I Lysoled everything when I got here – figured I’m fine. Day 2 here notice our trash is dumped. WTH! Go downstairs and talk to cast member at desk – reserve the right to enter for safety…. yadda yadda yadda. Well I specifically opted out of housekeeping so nobody would enter. This is a pandemic. Would prefer random people don’t come in my room. Again spiel about safety check. So how often is this going to happen? Of course she has no idea. How do we make this NOT happen…. ? Same speil about safety. Ugh. She makes a note that if they are going to enter they need to do so when we are present. Guess what… the VERY NEXT DAY … they came in AGAIN and dumped trash! As you can tell, I’m pretty mad. I don’t want anyone in here. Don’t touch my light switches, trash cans, door nobs. If you need to enter for safety checks (apparently every day) just walk in, glance and get the heck out! This is ridiculous. They are so concerned about our safety with COVID- then don’t go into everyone’s rooms and spread germs between rooms. Hanging the sign on your door makes no difference. Apparently telling the front desk makes no difference. So if you think you are going to be “safe” in your own room… think again. Ugh! Not quite sure WHAT safety issues Disney is looking for on a daily basis. Possibly spreading Covid apparently is of less importance I guess. I hope they don’t go into my neighbor’s room before ours because she’s been coughing away for the past 2 days!
Since the shootings in Las Vegas, the trash in every Disney room is emptied every day! It is not connected to housekeeping at all. It is a security measure, not a housekeeping measure. I am sorry you were not aware of this but it has been widely published and often mentioned on Facebook.
That has been a Disney safety protocol ever since that man in Las Vegas holed up in a hotel with Do Not Disturb signs on his door for days in 2017. He was stockpiling weapons, then fired 1,000 rounds into a crowd at an outside concert, killing 60 people & injuring 411.
Since the shootings in Las Vegas, the trash in every Disney room is emptied every day! It is not connected to housekeeping at all. It is a security measure, not a housekeeping measure. I am sorry you were not aware of this but it has been widely published and often mentioned on Facebook.
They will only enter your room when you are not in the room. We had a few maintenance issues at OKW last week and even the maintenance people either caem when we were gone from the resort or we were out on the porch. They wore gloves and masks.
I know about their safety protocol. But once you’ve glanced in the room for a few seconds get out. And once you’ve already verified the people are normal, one would think you don’t need to look every day. And going from room to room wearing the same dirty gloves and emptying trash cans (one of the dirtiest things to touch in each room – especially the 2 cans in the bathrooms) isn’t exactly clean.
I don’t know what to say. If you go to a place like Disney World in the middle of a pandemic, I don’t understand why you’d be so upset about someone entering your room, while you’re not in there, & emptying your trash. You know the same housekeeping was in your room getting it ready for your arrival, right? And it’s not like they’re in there breathing on you. There’s way more than 6 feet of social distancing going on there. You know Disney cast members are handling the food you’re eating there, right? And you don’t want to use mobile ordering to make it safe? The woman in the next room coughing might have ridden a ride you’re going on right before you. They don’t sanitize the rides after every run. (and for the record, coughing doesn’t mean she has COVID. It means she has a cough). And the gift shops with everyone touching things. There are a lot more places at Disney that would be less sanitary than a room entered by someone when you’re not there.
Debbie, I can understand you being frustrated. However, since the safety protocol only happens when guests are out of the rooms, I’m not sure how they would be able to decide the guests in the room are “normal.” Actually, even if the guests are in the room, I don’t think they could conclude the guests are “normal” -so that the safety protocol could be skipped. People are not always who they appear to be. The safety protocol doesn’t conduct “normalcy” interviews…
By the normal I meant glancing in there and seeing regular vacation stuff. The example of the Vegas dude would’ve shown a bunch of artillery in there had someone entered. We go to Disney at least once a year… never had anyone come more than once.
Using the neighbor with a cough was an example of cross contamination of rooms if they are going into each one for safety checks. They don’t change gloves My husband has a cough all the time so I don’t think anything of it.
Ha ha mobile ordering is not really any different than ordering at a register. My point was the lady who didn’t want people to go to the cash register (that has plexiglass around it) wouldn’t just let people order. Yes people touch my food…. but they aren’t touching other people’s garbage cans, THEN touching my food with the same gloves. Yes someone was in my room before I checked in… I proceeded to take time and sanitize everything before I went in the room when I checked in. So at that point I felt “safe”. Now someone is coming in and touching who knows what? I don’t want to sanitize every single time! That’s why I opted out of them servicing my room.
I’m not going on rides – saving that for future. Plus I wash my hands or sanitize after I touch something anyway. No biggie. I just don’t want people in my room touching my stuff. Not too much to ask.
If you’re that worried about the spread of COVID, just stay home next time. Personally, after reading your many complaints & then attempts to justify the complaints, you seem to just want to complain…about anything. As I leave this thread, I’d ordinarily tell you to enjoy your vacation, but I doubt you would, no matter what Disney did or didn’t do. I feel sorry for the cast members who have to deal with you. They already have enough to deal with. And with that, I’m out of this thread.
Debbie: I think the daily check is even more for sex trafficking versus the Las Vegas garbage. Sex Trafficking is bad in Florida.
Dude, you are at DISNEY during a PANDEMIC. I ain’t judging you, in fact I admire your moxie. But you have 100% given up any right to carp about additional exposure. LOLOLOLOLOL.
We typically put the trash buckets near entry door before going to the parks for day to try to mitigate housekeeping from roaming through the room.
Just FYI here in Pago Pago they’ve come in every day. Safety check. I like the idea of putting trash cans by door! Will do tomorrow. I’m having a GREAT time enjoying the empty resort!
Well, I wish we’d had our trash taken out daily when we were at Riviera in September. I think with your concerns about Covid, you should probably stay home right now. Disney is doing a great job for guests right now. Would rather go there than the local grocery store.
The daily room checks has been well publicized and on the WDW website since it started. If you can’t abide it, don’t go.
It’s supposed to be random room checks not daily room checks. And a “room check” doesn’t mean they need to dump your trash daily – especially if you opted out of housekeeping services. I actually did the suggestion of putting the trash by the door and that worked.
We’re staying here for the first time the last week of January solely because we got a $10/point deal. Was questioning whether we’d run it for ourselves by staying during construction, but this review made me feel so much better. Thank you!
I can see how the long houses needed some love after watching, from the GF, hurricane Katrina bash them all night. It hit them really hard from across the lake, they had nothing to shelter them.
We rented points and stayed at the Poly for a week back in mid-November. We didn’t notice the construction at all. And quite frankly it was nice that the pools weren’t too crowded and that we didn’t feel like we were exposed to too many people without masks.
If you can get a deal (which we did, $13 a point!), it’s totally worth the “reduced” experience and still be at a Monorail resort.
We stayed in a regular room Jan 2020 and it was in need of a refresh for sure. I was of the mindset of “I’m just happy to be here” but my husband, who is not a Disney fan (?!?) was very disappointed to pay for a room at those prices that had broken bathroom tile and wet carpet.
Just an FYI on the turtle from Aulani. The reason Aulani would have them in their gift shop (and now at the Polynesian) is because the Honu (Hawaiian for turtle) is sacred in Hawaii. It is illegal in Hawaii to touch or harm a green sea turtle. Hawaiians believe that Honu symbolizes good luck & long life. It’s also believed that turtles represent a person’s guardian spirit, known as Aumakua. So they fit in with Hawaiian culture, and therefore Aulani and the Polynesian.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of more original characters at the parks and resorts–and I get why they’d introduce a turtle at Aulani and the Poly.
However, that’s not the reason why both Aulani and HKDL received their own friends of Duffy.
I guess I’m in the minority, because I don’t even know what a Duffy is. Just thought readers visiting the Poly would find the lore of Hawaiian culture connected to the turtle interesting. Didn’t mean anything against your post!
I really appreciate all of your information. This is so helpful in planning. We have reservations for mid April at Shades of Green and had planned to use the Polynesian monorail. Any suggestions for the best way to get around from SOG?
SOG has a shuttle from their resort to the Transfer & Ticket Center. You will need to go there to visit Magic Kingdom or Epcot. You’ll take the bus to Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Disney Springs. I don’t know how they’re running during the pandemic, but pre-COVID, they ran every half hour. You can find information on transportation on the SOG website.
“The Kindergarten Art Yoda Cookie brought me more unadulterated joy than anything else Disney did last year.”
Given how 2020 has been it’s the random funny stuff like this that has made this blog such a welcome source of fun escapism.
Glad you enjoyed that. Just remember that you’re laughing at me, not with me. That elf cake being beautiful and delicious was a colossal letdown. 😉
^This! I get so much joy from this kind of stuff and am also colossally disappointed that the elf cake didn’t live up to expectations 🙂