Disney Vacation Club (DVC) with TWO toddlers! Polynesian Studio Review
When I was a little girl whenever we stayed on property we always stayed at the Polynesian (affectionately called the Poly by everyone) so it was important to me that we stay there at least once now that we had kids and it was important to my husband that we stay there because he has a goal of staying in each resort property at least once (we're working on it)! Of course a lot has changed since I was little--the waterfall with the parrots is gone (yes, I know the parrots went first, that's how old I am!) which made me sad, but the water features right outside the doors are still as beautiful as ever.
Originally we had booked a room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a few days before we would transfer to our two bedroom at the Grand Floridian when our friends arrived. But we put ourselves on the waitlist for the Poly and kept our fingers crossed. Now, the Poly can be hard to get a reservation at because it's a little different from other DVC resorts in that it ONLY has studios and (expensive) bungalows on the water. As a result, anyone with a family of 6 can only stay in a bungalow and anyone that doesn't have a million points can only stay in a studio. That means studios are pretty coveted. But luckily our waitlist came through and we spent three days living it up in Pago Pago at the far end of the resort near the transportation and ticket center.
While at first I was a bit annoyed we were so far away, it ended up being the PERFECT location. And our room was absolutely beautiful! Ignore the big piles of shoes and children running around:
Pago Pago is a bit of a walk from the main building, but it's pretty close to the zero entry pool and with two small children, most of the reason we wanted to stay at the Poly was to be on the monorail. Luckily since we were a short walk away from the transportation and ticket center we were able to easily get to and from both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot without having to do transfers! We REALLY liked that considering our kids were just 1.5 and 3.5.
If you have never been to the Polynesian, it really is a magical setting. At night there are actual flaming torches that line the paths and they offer some great entertainment like movies out on the lawn. When we went walking around the first night they were aptly showing Lilo and Stitch and we stopped to sit and watch it awhile.
We greatly enjoyed Captain Cook's quick service (my husband recommends the nachos), the Tonga toast at Kona Cafe, and of course anything you can do at 'Ohana. We had breakfast there and while my youngest was scared of Stitch, they had a great time with all the characters and the games. It was a completely different experience being here with kids than it was when we went before we had children, so I would recommend trying it again if you didn't love it but now you have little ones that will get into all the singing, dancing, and coconut races!
While we enjoyed our stay there, my husband and I agreed we didn't need to do it again. The location is fantastic, the ambiance great, but the lack of one and two bedroom options and the difficulty of getting a studio just made it more trouble than it was worth. We also agreed that we liked other resorts better (Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge are our standouts!), so that's one less family in queue for those coveted rooms.
