We started the day bright and early with a 3:30am wake up call. Our car was coming at 5am for our 6:30am flight. Why so early? I had hoped to get a full day in at Disney’s Polynesian Villas and Bungalows that day and we had a noon reservation at Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary Resort.
Our flight was pretty uneventful and Disney’s Magical Express was unusually early. We were on a bus that was making 3 stops and our resort was the first!
Stepping in to the new Polynesian Village Resort’s lobby is very different than it once was. Before the re-imagination of the space it was quite dark- featuring a huge waterfall as the centerpiece. There was always music playing and I, personally, found it really relaxing. Now it is very bright, open, and airy. There was music- but not as loud as it once was (I assume bc it didn’t have to compete with the waterfall’s sounds). You can also see the castle very clearly from the lobby as well- which is just magical for me.
Check in was quite quick, noting all of our requests- which was just to have our 2 studios connect (yes, these are the only ones that can- making the total sleeping space for 10 guests- which is 2 more than their beach side bungalows) if possible. After everything was settled, we headed over to the monorail to check in to Chef Mickey’s early in hopes to start eating because now we were all starving. (For those who read the planning stages- yes- we could have made the original 10:55am reservation at Ohana, go figure!)
We arrived at Chef Mickey’s 45 minutes before our reservation time, but unfortunately they could not accommodate us early. Mike and I relaxed at the Outer Rim Lounge while the kids hit the shops with Nana. Not a hardship by any means. Soon enough, the buzzer was alerting us that our table was ready!
Brunch was new for us, only having opening in late Spring it offers everyone a mid day break option for a character lunch close to the Magic Kingdom. We all absolutely LOVED everything we ate- which was far more than usual as we are all quite hungry by the time we were seated. I will admit to eating more than any one person should of their cheesey potatoes…
Mickey and the gang all came by as the rain began to pour outside (we were seated by a window- whose shades were drawn as soon as the thunder started as to not distract us from our experience). We did not feel rushed at all to finish and we all made multiple trips to the buffet.
After we finished we hopped back on the monorail and eagerly rushed over to our studios- the weather now had cleared and it was a picture perfect day!
Personally, I LOVE the new rooms. We stayed in this same building during our last trip in September 2 years ago and the rooms were huge then and we loved them. This new re-imagination is just such a smarter use of every square inch of the room and beautifully decorated. We were able to have a connecting door between our studio villas and it just made the room massive. The balconies are fabulous (even if when you look one way you see the new pool construction, but if we looked right we saw Cinderella Castle!) with plenty of room and very comfortable chairs to relax on. I would not hesitate to stay here again and would highly recommend it!
Once we were done admiring the rooms, we changed and headed over to the Lava Pool. We would be meeting the Belfonti family around 5pm for some swimming, Dole Whips, and dinner at Cpt Cook’s. I was assuming the pool area would be crowded, as the resort is now without it’s quiet pool- but it certainly didn’t feel that way at all. We grabbed a few lounge chairs as the kids all headed into the pool- and Mike and I headed over to the Barefoot Pool Bar for some amazingly delicious Pina Coladas. Pretty soon the Belfonti’s made it to the pool and we let the relaxing begin!
The rest of the day and evening was spent enjoying this amazing resort. The kids thoroughly enjoyed their dinner from Captain Cook’s, Dole Whip dessert, swimming, and watching the Electrical Water Pageant, 101 Dalmations (the movie on the beach that night), and Wishes . The adults headed to the new Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto to sample some of their specialty drinks…. It is a tough job….
