M2: Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Sisters Sisters.

M1: Welcome back everyone and guys not to jump the gun but we're going to Disney so soon. So soon.

M2: We're going to Disney. That is not the topic of today's episode, though. I literally feel like I just got back kind of because I did, honestly. We're going to talk about that in a couple of weeks, but we did announce it on Instagram. feel like people might have been expecting us to talk about it. So let's acknowledge the fact that, we are going back to Disney. We're going on a full family trip and we're staying at the Grand Floridian, which is ⁓ well, actually, we're doing a split stay All-Star Music and the Grand Floridian. So.

M1: The Grand Floridian, it's a good segue into today's actual topic because, so as a child, I've said this many times, we would ride the monorail and pass the Grand Floridian and I always said like, this, not that I had ever set foot inside, but as we drove by it, I was like, ⁓ my gosh, like this is my like dream resort. I would love to be able to stay here for one night. I feel like it has always felt very special to me because it was such like a goal. But then as an adult, when I actually went to the Grand Floridian, because I realized, ⁓ I can get off the monorail and go here. And I visited the Polynesian. I also fell in love with the Polynesian. And those are the two. Like last week we did the Would You Rather of Would You, Mouselet too, rather stay at wilderness or Polynesian. For me, the Would You Rather is Glorén, Fleuradien or Polly. Like, it's so hard to decide.

M2: Mm-hmm. It's so weird to me that as kids, we never went there. We went to the Contemporary and that was like a place that we would go with our rental car. But we never ever, ever did we like the first time I went to Ohana was 2018 2018 lore. I like I don't think. Yeah, I don't know if I ever step. I must have.

M1: Yeah. We know because one of the things the first time I what?

M2: Oh, wait. I was going to say our 2017 2018 Christmas trip I did.

M1: Yes, but I was going to say the first time we went to the Polynesian, the lobby was already redone. And we'll talk about this later, but there's kind of like all this lore behind the Polynesian lobby. And we went to Disney for a million years when it was that old lobby, but we never saw it because we never went there. Despite that fact that we, yeah, we went to Contemporary every year because we went to Chef Mickey's. We were huge Chef Mickey's fans. So had a reason to go there. We knew the Contemporary super well, but we never went to the Poly or the Grand.

M2: It's so weird to think about. was going to say I am realizing something about myself, which is like I love to hop on the train with like old lore. I can't even remember what it was, but I saw some posts the other day and I was like, oh my God, I remember this. And then I was like, oh, I actually it was like I was like, remember Nate. Oh, it was the golfers where they Disney posted for the Masters, like a video of Goofy playing golf. And I was like, oh my God, this brings me back to like when the golf resort opened and like all the promos. I was like, wait, like I love to hop on some like lore, the the lobby lore like.

M1: Oui, oui.

M2: I love it. Any like old lore, I'm like, I was there. I get it.

M1: Even though you weren't. But there yeah, there were so many things at Disney that we never did as kids. Resorts are one thing, like we never went to the boardwalk area. We never went to the Polly and the Grand, like stuff like that for sure. But even random things in the parks, we, Spaceship Earth, never did.

M2: I wasn't I was not there. Yeah. Spacious birth. And yeah, a ton of a ton of things. We didn't even know they existed. We never saw the birthday cake castle. We never did the skyway. Like there's like a lot of things when we were there those early days.

M1: What year was the birthday cake hassle? I'm trying to do the math quickly.

M2: 1996 I mean I know because it was was my it's my birth year 25 years 71 plus 25 I But it let no it lasted until 97. I think like we were right in that realm ⁓ Anyway, so it is the perfect segue and also I'm wearing a Polynesian shirt if you're watching on video and I had Polynesian earrings on but They're bugging me with my headphones. We are talking all about the Polynesian today We have a series a resort deep dive series and we covered

M1: Ugh, we were so close to seeing it, but we missed it. The Grand Floridian.

M2: The Grand Floridian, that was me thinking if you're listening. We covered the Grand Floridian and now we are adding the Polynesian because it's one of the OG monorail resorts and it felt very, very fitting. So that is the topic of today's episode, but we're actually going to get into a little bit of news first.

M1: I feel like there's like kind of so much news happening. Yeah, the first one I wanted to say is, yay, clapping, the hat has been installed at Hollywood Studios. So if you didn't know, they are bringing a hat back to Hollywood Studios. It is not the same as like the OG Sorcerer's hat or anything, but in Animation Courtyard, they're basically making a remake of the actual

M2: Random sprinkles everywhere.

M1: animation building in what Glendale California which has a sorcerer's hat on it. So there's now a sorcerer's hat on that building, it's definitely smaller than the old one but like having a sorcerer's hat back in Disney in Hollywood Studios, having the anime like an animation experience back in animation courtyard, it's like ⁓ it just feels so right.

M2: And did you see that they did? They're having like signatures from like Disney characters. So Cinderella signed it and a bunch of different like characters I am linking. There was like a giant set of ⁓ Mufasa and Simba. I was like, that's a fun way to tie in what's in front of. I feel like Disney goes through these cycles and that they I love MGM guys ⁓ that they like love. They like were deep into the behind the scenes film. And then they were like, no. And they kind of jumped out and did all this stuff. And now they're like.

M1: That's cute.

M2: Let's bridge it all together and get back to our roots. And I feel like that this is bringing that like full circle, which I love. I'm so, so happy about that. ⁓ Other Hollywood City news, Muppets. So the new Muppet Rock and Roller Coaster, we are beginning to get previews of some of the music. So I actually have only really seen people posting that they're listening to it, but not actually playing it out loud. So I didn't know what the music was until you just said song two and Born to be Wild. What song to?

M1: Me too. You know Born to be Wild. I have no idea. It's a song apparently. Yes, 100%. I am 100 % sure it's song. I don't know the song, but I know Born to be Wild. As of the time of this recording, which is April 15th, they've only announced the two, but they're announcing all of them the day that this releases tomorrow, April 16th. So you guys will know what they all are if you go look at the news. They also...

M2: Is it? Are you shorts? I know that song.

M1: posted a pre, like a little clip of the Muppets actually performing a song, which presumably is going to be like recorded and played probably at the end of the ride, like as though you're arriving at the concert, the way that they have clips of Aerosmith playing like when you get off the ride now. Yeah, it might be. And then they put the scrim up to repaint the guitar.

M2: or the pre-show maybe. to be at the pre show. Repainting the guitar all in all I think that this is a fun overlay like I think that the Aerosmith was tired like I think we could all agree that ride felt dated and this is a fun refresh People are excited fans are getting together. There's new music It's gonna feel a lot like rock and roller coaster, but it's like a fun. It's like a little fun thing You know one of my top songs from what 2024 was a song by the electric mayhem

M1: The Electric Mayhem to me personally is so random. I only literally know who they are because of Taron. ⁓ But like, yeah, but I do love that they, yes, but I do love that this ride is now going to have Disney intellectual property in it. I think it makes way more sense than Aerosmith.

M2: That's probably why I know that song. Well, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. I think it's good because the Muppets are timeless. So that's our Hollywood Studios news. A little bit of Magic Kingdom news. Big Thunder Mountain is reopening. So, so, so excited. Opens on May 3rd. They made a lot of changes. It was closed for about a year and a half. It closed January of 2025 and they replaced all of the track. They replaced all of the ride vehicles. Both of those things surprised me. I like it did feel a little bit rough, but I'm like it wasn't that rickety like there's I think.

M1: It wasn't that rickety. Compared to Space Mountain.

M2: I was going say there's some other things that I guess replacing that track would be a little bit more involved, but they also are fixing certain effects, which I'm like as they should write like animatronics that weren't working effects that haven't been working in a while. They're adding some new animatronics and new storytelling elements. And then the rainbow cavern scene, which is at like the beginning launch where you're going through like a cave. They're adding like more story and lore to that. It looks like it's it's really good. It looks like it's just going to be a new and improved version. Would you say we're big Thunder Mountain people? Yeah, we're not. I like it.

M1: I Disney World, no. Also funny, because you said, would you say we're big Thunder Mountain people, would you say we're like double entendre on the word big? Yes, ⁓ we are not the hugest fans of Thunder Mountain. Not that we don't like it, it just never has been like, yeah.

M2: Big, big thunder mountain people. I see what you're saying. Okay. No, I like it. It's just we're not like passionate about it. Like our friend Michael is like passionate about it. We're passionate. I'm a space girl. You're nothing girl. I'm a space and splash in Tiana's. You don't like any of those really. Yeah, you're not, but you're not like, they're like integrated in my life.

M1: like them. They're not my favorites. anyways, Big Thunder in Walt Disney World is kind of like the worst of the Big Thunder's, at least that we've been on Disneyland and Disneyland Paris are better in various ways, partially because of the effects. So I'm very excited for Disney World to potentially receive some of those. OK, next piece of Magic Kingdom news. I saw this on TikTok, so I'm pretty sure that it's true. But, you know, take it with a grain of salt. Apparently the pirates game that you can play apparently

M2: Apparently.

M1: The Pirate Scheme that you can play in Adventureland pre-COVID, if you completed it, you got a fast pass to Pirates of the Caribbean. That went away in COVID and you got something else for completing it. I don't even know what it was. But apparently now the fast pass thing, lightning lane thing is back where if you complete the whole thing, you get a lightning lane to Pirates, which I think is cool and would give me more incentive to do it.

M2: Honestly, I was going to say that would be sort of something I thought that that has been gone since COVID. We've never done it, which is sort of weird because I love an interactive activity that might be a good thing to do while the baby is like taking a little nap, you know, baby naps like under the, whatever, whatever one of those little areas to sit in. I don't know, they close like all the places in there. Yes, the awnings. Other news, Castle Painting is almost done. I saw it in person, guys. It was it was beautiful. It looks way better.

M1: I Awning? Awning?

M2: Never liked the pink castle ever ever From day one when I saw our friend Greg from that Parklife podcast post a picture from the balcony of Bay Lake Tower And I said and Greg loved it to be clear. I said and I threw up and I never liked it So also Buzz Lightyear is open. So I'm excited about that

M1: I can't... Me neither. And I stood by that, I stood by that the whole entire time. So, yep. Okay, before we get to the next bullet that also chooses again in our spreadsheet, I wanna just say two other really quick pieces, not a spreadsheet, document. Two quick pieces of news. One is that there are massive layoffs happening at the Disney company right now. I think they said 1,000 employees across various divisions.

M2: our spreadsheet. No, okay, I read into it more though and it seems like a lot of them are from because they consolidated marketing across the entire company from these different segments. And so a lot of them are that and then from the Hulu Disney Plus merger. Still sad, still very sad.

M1: So very sad. And Josh Tamaro has made some comments about it recently. So look into that if you're interested. Yeah, ⁓ I don't know. It's just being like, we're sad that this is happening, I think, but it's necessary. I'm not actually sure. The other quick thing is there's a documentary coming out. This is not a Disney affiliated thing, but it's a documentary about the stealing of the buzzy animatronic.

M2: Good or bad? Okay.

M1: And I watched the trailer for it today, so the official trailer dropped. ⁓ my god, I'm so excited.

M2: My friend, shout out to Erica if she listens to Sister Sisters, which probably she does not, but my friend Erica saw it and I was like, I literally must see it. I don't know where she saw it, some film festival or something. Okay, that's where she saw it.

M1: Okay, it had it, it was at a film, it premiered at a film festival, yes. It had in the trailer like in theaters on whatever, I think it's like April 29 or something and I'm like is this gonna be in like all theaters because I really want to see it but like is this gonna be in like the AMC near me? I feel like it's so it's too niche for that. Yeah like is this gonna be in our local theaters?

M2: Hoyt Hoyt's Hoyt's closed like 10 years ago,

M1: but I really, really want to see it. It looks incredible. If you don't know the lore of the buzzy animatronic, look it up. We should do an episode about that one day.

M2: I well, I have a whole YouTube deep dive on it. So feel free to look up that it was the second YouTube video I ever made. So. Grain of salt, but ⁓ my God, it's like sold out everywhere. Holy crap, it's sold out like everywhere. OK, all right, guys. OK, the last thing. So Disneyland Paris, what we talk about a lot because we're Disneyland Paris people, we've been a bunch of times, we love it. And it's really cool to see that park kind of transform in real time.

M1: So yeah. ⁓ my God. need. Okay. We need to, I need to see it. Last thing.

M2: And as you probably have heard, because we've talked about it a couple of weeks now, they have redone their second park, which is their studio themed park, like a California Adventure or Hollywood Studios. It used to be called Walt Disney Studios, and now it's called Disney's Adventure World. And one of the things that they did was that they they tried to, I guess, tie in like a deeper theme to it. And so they're creating adventure worlds. Right. So they have a world of Pixar and a world of Marvel and a world of Frozen and then kind of a mishmash of other things. ⁓ A Lion King area. ⁓ They just announced another ride to the world of Pixar area. Do want to just talk quickly about what's in world of Pixar though for people who don't know?

M1: So World of Pixar has Toy Story Playland. This is not the same as Toy Story Land. It's kind of, you know, it's carnivally. It's like rinky dink a little bit. ⁓ It has a Ratatouille area, which is amazing. That was one of the first like expansions onto Walt Disney Studios because Walt Disney Studios was made on a budget and it feels like it was made on a budget. It is, it is kind of slapped together. Yeah, it's rinky-dink. It's like, it's not that, it's not that good. So.

M2: Carnivoli. Rinky Dink. Yeah.

M1: know Ratatouille was a was the first sort of more immersive area they added it is really good there's also a crash coaster in that area in in Worlds of Pixar but here's the thing the whole point of them transforming this park into Adventure World is to kind of move it away from this like you know tape and sticks little rinky-dink park and try and make it better because everyone knows it's not that good so they're investing

M2: because a lot of the stuff felt like they basically ordered it from like a carnival catalog. Just like Toy Story Playland, has like this thing used to be called like an Antarctica or something like Avalanche, whatever. It's like at a fair where you're like going in a circle. It's a slinky dog dash. You're going in a circle, just like up and down things where it has like just like a dropping ride from like parachutes and they theme them. But like, yeah, it's a little a ranky dank.

M1: Yeah, and so they're investing all this now, you know, they built Worlds of Frozen, which looks beautiful and like truly immersive and like they're adding new things. One of the things they added is a ride that's like a Rapun- Well, I was going to say the Rapunzel ride, which is like, it looks beautiful, but it's basically Alien Swirling Saucers, which is a sort of standard ride that Disney purchases and then themes. It's not like Disney didn't build that ride mechanism.

M2: A new up, a new upright, ⁓ I jumped the gun. Yeah.

M1: So that one already is a little bit like, ⁓ okay. I mean, this ride itself is not that good, although the theming looks beautiful. And now they announce a new upride.

M2: Yeah, they announced an up ride. Like if you think of the story of up and just like how incredible that could be and like they could integrate that into like even like Epcot or Animal Kingdom. So exciting. No, no, it's just swings. It's just a swing ride, a carnival swings that's themed to up. OK, had they done that overlay at the swings at California Adventure that exists right now adjacent to Pixar Pier, I would be supportive of that because that ride feels random over there.

M1: like swings that you have at carnivals.

M2: But to add a swing ride, and I get it, like they wanna add more offerings into the park, I understand, but it's just like, this is Ups first ride and you're buying a swings? I don't know, I don't know.

M1: You're in. It's like you're investing all this money to make the park not feel so rinky dink and yet you're adding in once again off the shelf rides. Like a swing ride is a ride that you can experience at your local carnival. Like, I don't know, it just is a bummer. I'm like...

M2: Yeah. I'm curious to see how they do it. I bet the cue will be incredible.

M1: sure to be really cute but you know what instead of the Rapunzel ride and the UP ride, I'd rather have one ride that uses the budget of both of those and is like a little bit more of like a unique Disney ride.

M2: Well, like, give me an up, ⁓ give me an up dark ride that would tell the story. Or there's got to be other Pixar rides that they could go and take from other places. I don't know. I feel like they could have done something else. So we'll see. We'll see. But that's the news. And now it is time to get into the main topic of the episode today. So I'm going to swap our main segment music and play a little little clip of this.

M1: That'd be amazing. Today we are heading over to one of the original Disney resorts, Disney's Polynesian Village Resort as it's called now, although we'll talk a little bit about how that name has transformed over time. This is a resort that as we talked about in the beginning, Mousa too and I did not visit as children, but now like really, really love.

M2: I very strongly feel like this. I've only stayed. I've stayed there twice for one night, one time, and then like another quick short trip. It feels like like home to me. And I think it just speaks to the ambiance and the vibe. It's so busy because of that reason. People love this resort for good reason. And if any Disney resort, this one has some of the most interesting history. Like there is so much to cover, so much.

M1: we're going to kind of go into some of that original history and like what brought the Polynesian to what it is now, how it sort of has transformed over time and then at the end we'll talk more about like current offerings and why you might want to stay here and sort of our own experiences staying here but ⁓ let's start yeah.

M2: can kick it off just because I proclaimed today that one of my favorite, probably my favorite website in the world right now, I said, other than maybe if Millsbury came back, if you know, you know, it was a really fun game, is this website called DisneyDocs.net. And it's just a website that someone, I have no idea who someone owns, not Disney, and they upload a bunch of old stuff to it. A bunch of just like old documents, one of which is the 1969 Disney Master Plan for Walt Disney World. and one of which is something called the Polynesian Handbook that they distributed to cast members in 1971 who are going to be working at the Polynesian when it opened. Basically to give them background information. And these have so much incredible information, things that like they had planned and they didn't build, things that like I feel like tie the theme even today. So we're gonna kind of start off covering that. Malice, I was gonna start with a little snippet from the 1969 Disney Master Plan.

M1: This was called Theme Resorts, Five Major Hotels Planned for Vacationers in Walt Disney World. And it read, five major hotels symbolizing the thematic concept of Walt Disney World are now being planned for development in phase one, the first five years of the project's growth. Conceived by WED Enterprises, the Disney Design Subsidiary, and Walton, Becket & Associates Architects, the hotel will be complete attractions individually, each with its own recreation activities, entertainment, dining facilities and resort atmosphere. Additionally, guests in any hotel will be able to enjoy the facilities of all others and the attractions of the entire vacation kingdom during their stay.

M2: That's just like the first two paragraphs, but I feel like already I'm like that is so true that it almost feels like like a miniature little like a theme park of its own. Continue though.

M1: The hotels are called theme resorts because everything from interior decor to employees costumes and dining or menus will carry out an overall theme. Two hotels, the contemporary style and the Polynesian will open in the first year. The Persian, Venetian and Asian theme resorts will follow later to meet the anticipated demand for accommodations. Yeah, yeah, and if you don't know what those are, we talked about them on our grain for Floridian episode.

M2: Mmm.

M1: With the broad appeal of its entertainment in mind, Walt Disney World will provide accommodations ranging from luxurious suites to wooded campsites. A large campsite and recreational vehicle area will be located along the lakefront, offering direct access to beaches and recreation activities. That of course is what was Fort Wilderness Campground. The atmosphere of Pacific Islands will be created in the graceful high rise structure and two story out buildings of the 700 room Polynesian style hotel. Entertainment, food, and decor will carry out the island's theme, and with all its rooms facing the water, guests will almost literally feel like they have traveled to the far Pacific. Like the other hotels, the Polynesian will provide a variety of recreation activities, boating will be almost at the doorstep of many rooms, and the Vacation Kingdom golf courses will be located close by. A special highlight for many visitors will be the scuba diving pool, where guests will be able to participate or watch through special underwater viewing ports for spectators.

M2: I feel like so many people don't realize that the Polynesian was supposed to be a tower originally. That was the original concept. And everyone who hates the new island tower that they built, that was what Disney originally wanted. This tiered different tower. And I think that's like a lost kind of piece of Disney history. There's a lot of cool concept art. I'll put some in stories just so everyone can see. But so interesting that that was their original concept. And then they ended up switching to do the like two story outbuildings as they called it in this summary.

M1: It's so interesting because I remember as a kid taking the monorail past the Polynesian and then getting to the Grand Floridian. I personally found, again as a child, the Polynesian to look very unimpressive compared to the Grand. Like the Grand is humongous, so tall and stuff and the Polynesian was these like smaller buildings. I was always just kind of like meh.

M2: For some reason that reminded me, like just the way you said that, I never ever ever thought that as a child. I don't think my like brain could even go there that I wasn't impressed. It reminded me of when we were driving on route 44, past Friendly's. guys, this was like clearly my seeding jealousy as like a little baby child. Because I was probably like two or three and you were like four or five. And I remember you sitting there and you said, you clearly just learned how to read.

M1: haha

M2: You said mom mom, it's so funny. I can't help but read all of the signs as we go past them I remember being like so pissed off about that because I obviously couldn't because I obviously couldn't read like

M1: Sorry that you were jealous that I could read. And I guess you were jealous of the fact that my brain was very complex thinking about how the Polynesian was unimpressive to me.

M2: But I'm just like, no. I just feel like that's so, like something about those tied those two memories together, like unimpressed by the Polynesian. I just remember the big brown pillars. Also, can we talk about that scuba diving pool? That's the second scuba diving pool that was supposed to be at Walt Disney World and does not exist. That would have been good.

M1: They had big dreams. They have it out at Elani. So.

M2: I'm excited for that. So that was an overview of the Polynesian. Again, not all of those things came to fruition. That was just their initial plan. The resort didn't open for two years after that was published. So the scuba diving pool didn't happen. The tower eventually did happen, but like not in the way that they had planned. But what actually did happen was the resort opened up in 1971, you know, when Magic Kingdom opened. And there was a lot of really, really, really interesting stuff there that sort of exists now. And there's just like a big story in history to it. So Disney published a Polynesian handbook. Again, this was for all Polynesian cast members. They were brand new. Walt Disney World had just opened. They didn't know anything about it. And so this handbook was distributed to all of these cast members. So they basically had the opportunity to learn about the resort that they were going to be working at. So I'm going to read the overview of it. There's a couple of Hawaiian words here, and I'm going to butcher this saying. Like, I'm sorry, I am. So just please prepare and feel free to correct me. I will accept it. Nestled in the luxuriant landscaping on the southern shores of the 70s Lagoon is the Polynesian Village Hotel. Its motto is Aita Pita, which means there will be another day tomorrow just like today. Maui, the god of vacations, slows the sun down to make the days longer so that our guests may enjoy the slower paced, more casual atmosphere of this delightful South Seas Resort. The hotel was designed by Walt Beckett and associates, same as M1 said. and constructed by the U.S. Steel Realty Development. Very, very important. Coming soon. The Polynesian Village Hotel offers our guests excellent accommodations in a peaceful village atmosphere. The Great Ceremonial House, which serves as the main lobby and the reception area, and the eight longhouses clustered around the peaceful green lagoon from a lazy setting, which our guests may relax and enter a more tranquil period. Despite the surface tranquility, this 500-room hotel is much like a small city. and that it provides service to our guests 24 hours a day. All right, that's a little overview. ⁓ This though, I think is my favorite part. And I'm sorry that this is at the beginning, because there's a lot of cool stuff, but you might've heard that the way that Disney built the contemporary resort was that they prefabricated the rooms and they slid them into the contemporary like you slide like a shoe box into a shelf, which is true. They literally built the rooms. didn't fully furnish them to be clear. but they did do a lot of the stuff inside, like furniture wasn't in them. And they hoisted them on a crane and they slid them into the contemporary. And there's a lot of really cool pictures. It's called unitized modular construction. Well, they did the same thing with the Polynesian. And I feel like no one talks about either of those things, but especially no one talks about at the Polynesian. So here's.

M1: Well, I think people do talk about the contemporary one just because there's the rumor that they're gonna, they can slide them back out, which is not true. You cannot slide them back out. Like think about all the plumbing and electric that was hooked up after and the way buildings settle. You can't slide them back out, but no one talks about the.

M2: Yes, which is not true. It also just like would not be cost effective to refurbish a run by sliding it out. We actually are talking about refurbished rooms a little bit later on in this, though. And so that'll tie back. But OK, so this special kind of type of construction, unitized modular construction, this was a really proprietary thing at the time. Like this was not really being done. Disney had a partnership with the US Steel Realty Development Company. I'm going to do a deep dive on this soon on YouTube because it is really cool like this.

M1: No. ⁓ yeah.

M2: the technology that Disney was trying to use. But it said that that company built a beautiful Polynesian village on the shores of the Seven Seas Lagoon. The method of construction consisted of forming a steel honeycomb substructure, superstructure, sorry, into which completely formed rooms that are fitted. The same construction was used at the Contemporary Resort. These individual guest rooms were manufactured in a special plant located on site and were formed on an assembly line. As the lightweight steel rooms passed through the construction plant on the way to completion, the electrical, mechanical, and plumbing facilities were added to each room. After completion, the nine-ton rooms were placed on trucks, transported to the Polynesian village site where each room was lifted in place with a crane. And then this is just like another fact, that was the modular part. To add to the authenticity of the Polynesian village area, the pitched roofs are covered with a special tin covering called core 10, which weathers to a rich natural earth tone patina. All steel structures are covered with wood and the eight long houses which house the guest rooms are no more than three stories tall. This keeps the silhouette long and low befitting a Polynesian village and very unimpressive to Mousseline when she was like seven.

M1: Correct. So that's sort of about the construction. Now we're up to the point when it's going to open. Again, things changed from what they originally thought, but this is the descriptor of what they sort of said when they were presenting what existed in the resort on opening day, which would be October 1st, 1971. The two-story great ceremonial house, which is the main hotel building, will serve as a reception area for all our guests. The color scheme is of green and orange, featuring a green quartz registration desk and white revolving ceiling fans. The Great Ceremonial House contains two levels, the lobby C-level and the Bayview Terrace.

M2: Obsessed with that. Why does no one call it that anymore? I'm gonna bring that back

M1: I know that's really yeah, that's really cute. It's interesting how like into the details they were at this time, like the color scheme being green and orange, a green quartz registration desk. I don't know things that they would like never talk about today. The lobby C level contains the lobby and registration areas, the executive offices, host and hostess locker rooms, a wardrobe issue area and a nursery for our guests convenience. Also included on this level are four banquet rooms which bear the thematic names. Melanesian, Polynesian, Micronesian, and the Oceana rooms. The Bayview Terrace level provides our guests with the Polynesian-style shops and dining areas. The eight longhouses, which provide guest rooms, lie in an area reminiscent of a Polynesian village. There are four room plans available that range in the cost from $22 to $40. Insane. Literally insane. The longhouses derive their names from the primary cultures of the South Seas, such as Tahiti, a place that I...

M2: crap.

M1: so that guests may easily identify the building in which they stay.

M2: Okay, $40 in what? Let's in November, October of 1971. Do we think that inflation it's kept up or do we think it's way more expensive? That would, okay, that would have the same buying power as $322.95 today, which would be really, really, really cheap for Roman Polynesian.

M1: It's way more expensive, I think. and $40 was the most expensive room, $22 was the cheapest room. it certainly, certainly has outpaced inflation. I actually literally just did a YouTube deep dive about DVC, which talked about how Disney room rates increased so much and outpaced inflation. And this would have been a great fact to have at that time.

M2: $177. That's crazy. This would have been a great back to have. Your baby is screaming bloody murder back there. I wonder if your mic is gonna pick it up. I can hear him. Okay, so that's kind of an intro to the Polynesian. If you've been to the Poly, you know that of like, of any resort or almost any resort, it has kind of the most like food variety and offerings, I feel like. Is there anything that really has more? I mean, some of the other...

M1: He is luckily, I don't think the audio listeners can hear him. Grand Flow. Grand Flow has more.

M2: little maybe I don't know because it has a lot of sit down it has a lot of sit down so anyway want to dive into a little bit about the restaurants some of these are gonna ring a bell some of these are not going to ring a bell we'll cover the present ones but this is just because the history of what's designed for gracious unhurried dinings the restaurant in the Polynesian Village Hotel provide island foods and international cuisine in new and exciting ways remember also as you're listening that like the 50s the 60s the 70s like

M1: Grid flow is more, but Polly has a lot. Yeah.

M2: Tikki culture, the Polynesian, like that whole like vibe was a big deal with people. People loved that. Okay, here's the first restaurant. Papit Bay Veranda. Ever heard of it? I hadn't. And also the theming we need to discuss. Our guests will find themselves transported back into the French colonial era in this elegantly designed restaurant. Already I'm like, huh?

M1: I had.

M2: They will be surrounded by peaked ceilings, elaborate colonial furniture, and large ceiling fans as they enjoy the Polynesian dining at its finest. The menu will feature tropical and continental food, as well as flaming desserts and imported island coffee. Aesthetic murals adorn the walls to add to our guests' dining pleasure. This spot also has breakfast and luncheon buffets. And then for many years, it was home to Minnie's Munhoon breakfast. Munhoonay? Probably breakfast. Manyhoonay? Breakfast.

M1: Many, many whoon.

M2: There was also the Polynesian review in the evening, which is separate from the luau. If you don't know what this is, it's because it closed in September of 1994 and eventually reopened as Ohana. All right. Polynesian themed hotel, but a French colonial era themed restaurant. Weird choice.

M1: I guess because, that this is the even after Tahiti, which I guess was a French colony. But like, I don't know, when you're thinking about tiki culture, it's not like, ⁓ yes, that was colonized by the French. So I would love to go to a restaurant celebrating that. I don't, I.

M2: with colonial, yeah, I'm like, why do I want to experience? You know what actually kind of does that? There's a restaurant in Disneyland Paris that's sort of like that vibe. What's that place called? I don't know what it, but it's about colonized. I support their change to Ohana. Do you? I mean, you also love Ohana. So, okay, so that was one. Some of these next ones you're gonna recognize are something similar. Tambu Lounge was located on the Bayview Terrace, so the second story. Exotic drinks and imported beer from Hawaii, Tahiti, and the Philippines. Tambu meet.

M1: I can't remember, but I know. For sure. I love Ohana, so. Shout out, Philippines. Maslisi is Filipino, to be clear.

M2: Shout out to the Philippines, Mouselet Sea! And your baby is half Filipino. Tamba literally means a native meeting place. And so it shall be. That's what they said. So Tamba Lounge is still there. I actually haven't really done much there before.

M1: No, it's like a small bar area outside of Ohana where you can get like, actually I think ⁓ our friend Michael was just there and he was eating noodles, the noodles from Ohana and they looked amazing and I was like, wow, we should go to Tambu Lounge and get those noodles.

M2: Kind of like tucked in the corner. I assume you'll be covering this later in the food section. So next up, the Coral Isle Coffee Shop, serving breakfast at any hour and featuring Hawaiian grown coffee. The Coral Isle Coffee Shop offers our guests casual family dining. ⁓ It closed in July 25th of 1998 and then reopened as the Kona Cafe. So you know this area. It's similar.

M1: I will be. That's interesting that prior, because Koda Cafe is like a full sit down restaurant. That's interesting to me that it used to just be like a coffee shop.

M2: Breakfast at any hour. All day breakfast. It is interesting. It's kind of odd. Captain Cook's Hideaway. Captain Cook's Hideaway serves Polynesian specialty drinks to our guests in a very cozy atmosphere. There was live entertainment by the Saltwater Express, more commonly known as Stratton and Christopher to some, not us. And it was offered at this lounge in 1993. It became known as Captain Cook's Snack and Ice Cream Co.

M1: Interesting. All day breakfast. ⁓ Hahaha.

M2: And then it was again remodeled in 2006 and became Captain Cook's, which is the quick service that we know of today.

M1: There's a lot of this where the poly has kind of like very nuanced name changes. Captain Cook's Hideaway to Captain Cook's Snack and Ice Cream Co. to Captain Cook's The Polynesian itself has had name changes like that. It's, they're always kind of like tweaking and refining at the poly in a way that like kind of feels unnecessary to me but

M2: Yeah, agreed. Like Captain Cook's Hideaway is a great vibe. I guess maybe because that was only drinks there. OK, a couple more. Barefoot Snack Bar, poolside snacks and beverages served between 10 and 6 p.m. OK, kind of early 6 p.m. Honestly, room service was available also at this resort. Again, this was, you know, like a deluxe resorts that we're going to offer that. And then my favorite thing, the Tengaroa Terrace. It was located in the building, not in the main Grand Ceremonial House.

M1: was fine. Yeah.

M2: with Moana's Mickey Fun Hut and Neverland Club. like this is, there's a long history about Mousel1's about to cover it. It closed in June of 1996 and it is now a It's abandoned.

M1: Also, I to go back for a second. One of my biggest gripes with Disney, probably my biggest gripe, is that they don't offer room service. I think it's crazy that you're paying like, at a deluxe resort especially, know, $600 a night and there's no room service. I find it very, very strange.

M2: think I'm learning that right now, although I do sort of remember someone telling us that the Grand Floridian is the only place that has room service or had. I isn't room service super expensive?

M1: Really? The Grand has? Does it? Mom and dad always implied to us that room service was super expensive. Room service like is not that expensive. Sometimes rooms...

M2: private dining at Disney's Grand Floridian Spa. Relax in the privacy of your room while you enjoy distinctive dining selections for breakfast or dinner.

M1: Okay, it's really funny that they're calling it private dining, not room service. Interesting. But yeah, I think all Disney resorts, at least the deluxe ones, should have room service. It's crazy to me that they don't. But back to the Polynesian. It would be convenient sometimes to be able to order breakfast to your room. ⁓ Because you're thinking that it would be super expensive, but it's like $12. Anyways.

M2: That is like something that I couldn't care less about, to be honest. That feels like a luxury that I could never afford.

M1: Back to the Polynesian, here's some miscellaneous offerings that they had. So starting in September 1998, they had a childcare facility called the Neverland Club. This was later, ⁓ sorry, no. It was called Mouseketeers Village Clubhouse, that opened in 1971. Then it was renamed to the Neverland Club in 1988. Then in 2014, it became known as Club Disney and had a Peter Pan theme. There was a little Golden Books theme. There was a Lilo's Playhouse theme. ⁓ transformed many a time but it was always like a kids club and it closed in 2018 which is a bummer. Disney doesn't really have kids clubs anymore but I know they used to and I feel like they were probably pretty popular. It's interesting to me they closed them. They also used to have luaus. So luaus are no longer held at the poly. The last most recent one was the Spirit of Aloha dinner show that was replaced by that new island tower. But prior to that, there was a show there called Mickey's Tropical Revue, which I think was interesting. That was from like the mid 80s until 1999. And then they also have had like starting in, starting in the 1971 and moving on various forms of luau's again, like a lot of name changes here, the Polynesian Revue, the Cow-o, Cow-pono, I don't know how to say that, Cow-we-pono Polynesian Revue, the South Seas Luau, the Polynesian Luau, many, many names, but they.

M2: The luau was like such a quintessential part of this, now that we ever saw it, but like they should have a luau here. They should 100 % have a luau here and they don't and it frustrates me. Like they, and they replaced the stage with the island tower, I believe.

M1: Yep, they did. It's, it's a bummer to me that they don't have one. I also wish that we'd seen the one that they did have before it went away. The Spirit of Aloha one. Out.

M2: I also just really feel like they should have had that luau in general. But like to this day. OK, there's one more thing I wanted to mention from miscellaneous offering the Kalama Kennel Club. This is very interesting to me because it was literally so cheap. costs 50 cents to bring your dog there and they would get one meal a day, which I'm like included a meal a day. So I'm like, wait, that doesn't feel like enough. ⁓ But it was a little tiny dog kennel that you had there. There was also a dog kennel.

M1: I agree.

M2: elsewhere and so this one didn't last very long and it's not very well documented. No one seemed to really share much experience. I found it in the Polynesian handbook about it. So just felt like that was worth noting in case anyone ever brought their dog to the Kalama kennel. You know that that is something that happened so.

M1: Does Disney still actually have a kennel on property? I could, we've driven past it. Yeah, we've driven past it. It's like 101 Dalmatians themed. I feel like nobody talks about that.

M2: The best best friends pet care, right? Now you can. Yeah, it does that still exist? I would love to bring.

M1: Melsitu is Googling. Again, as people who've rented a car, like we've driven past it a lot of times, or we used to, I can like picture it.

M2: Best friend's pet hotel. Wow. It does exist. It's 17,000 square feet of air conditioned indoor space, 10,000 square feet of outdoor areas and a $25,000 square foot dog park. OK, I looked at this or I found someone who used to work at the kennel in the early days. They said there'd be like 40 dogs there and like two people and it would just be like a literal madhouse. So they had no idea how to work at a kennel. And Disney just were like when Disney opened it was it was Disney World. It kind of like a ragtag team. They were like, hello, welcome.

M1: Does it exist?

M2: Also look, if you want to board your dog in a club suite, it includes, this is actually unhinged.

M1: Guys, to be clear, this is the kennel that exists today. Mousel 2 is talking about something you could do right now.

M2: Okay, you can do just general indoor boarding. Okay, then you can do indoor and outdoor boarding. Disney says two potty walks, a private outdoor patio. That's not a lot. A private outdoor patio, beddings and bowls. Then you can do a vacation villa, which includes a freely bone broth pop, one potty walk only for that, one playtime, a flat screen TV, a pet chats webcam, a private outdoor patio and premium bedding and bowls. I'm not done. A luxury suite includes all of that as well as two potty walks and two play times. Okay, but all the other same stuff. Then you can also have your dog go to the club suite. It includes a personal concierge, a welcome freely bone broth pop, two potty walks, still two play times, a flat screen TV, pet chats, webcam, private outdoor patio, premium bedding and bowls, a bedtime story. Is this joke? A bedtime story?

M1: You

M2: daily nightly updates with a photo, a go home fresh bath, a minimum of three nights to qualify and a best friends tote with seasonal gifts. Cats, yes, cats also have the option to stay in a two level condo or a four level townhome. Pocket small pets and you could also have your, small pocket pet.

M1: Is this on Disney's actual website? You a lizard? I'm going to bring my lizard to the club level hotel. How much does this cost? I've never seen even one person talk about this.

M2: Holy crap, here's other things that you can have for your cats and dogs. An ice cream break, a holiday meal, these are for dogs. Bedtime story, bottled water, cats, cookies and milk, tuna on a Ritz, activity toy, deluxe kitty bed. This is, there's no prices ever. Where is this place? This is right next to Porter Leans.

M1: How much does this cost? Why has no one ever talked about this on social media? Should we go? Like, we walk in there?

M2: Should I fly Winnie down there? Like there's a separate website for the best friends pet care. This is like bestfriendspetcare.com slash Disney. This is crazy. Who? I mean I like Avila. Wow. Okay choose your rum.

M1: This is Guys, Mouseletoo is going, this is crazy as I can see her thinking about bringing our dog to it, okay?

M2: Okay, if you wanna stay in a club room, this is per night, a club room, how much do you think it costs? No, the club includes, don't forget, lest you forget, a personal concierge, two potty walks, two play times, a flat screen TV, a bedtime story, $339.50. And it includes a 16 by 18 foot indoor bedroom and a four by 18 foot outdoor patio.

M1: $100. ⁓ I remember and I still think $100, $150. Okay, this is insane.

M2: That's crazy. Seriously, I'm s-

M1: If anyone has ever done this, please tell us in the comments. I am truly so curious. I've never seen anybody talk about it.

M2: They don't have any pictures also. Guys, this is a deep dive for another day. Once some of you chime in that you've brought your dogs here, you've paid for the club level, they want the bedtime story, tell us everything about it. I bet they just don't do the bedtime story. No one would ever know. We do have to get back. OK, let's go into the stores.

M1: The dog would know. Okay, we have to get back to the Polynesian. I am... Yes, I'm going to tell you about the opening day stores, okay? So there was the Robinson Crusoe Esquire. This was a men's store that featured sportswear and beachwear in addition to basic men's lines. Very interesting. Back in the day, Disney was definitely leaning into like being this like luxurious, trying to be this like luxurious resort. And so they had stores where people could buy like fancy ritzy things. ⁓

M2: And this was next to Captain Cook's FYI, because I have an old map up and then they ended up demolishing it to expand Captain Cook's.

M1: Then there was the Polynesian Princess located on the Bayview Terrace level. This women's shop will feature Polynesian women's sportswear and swimwear. A full range of specialty items will also be available. I assume that is where the shop that's up there, that's like a little souvenir toy shop is now. Again, fascinating that they were selling like sportswear and swimwear, again, trying to be very fancy.

M2: Yeah, I think so.

M1: ⁓ Trader Jack's Grog Shop, this liquor and gourmet shop within the Polynesian Hotel, will feature fruit drinks and Polynesian snacks, as well as an array of staple liqueurs and beverages.

M2: So why do you think they went from trader Jack to trader Sam? Yeah.

M1: I don't know, interesting, random. Village Drugs and Sundries, located adjacent to Trader Jacks, is the drug store, which offers gifts, souvenirs, fresh flowers, a candy shop, film and camera accessories, and men's and women's toiletries. And then News from Civilization. Located on a square overlooking a Polynesian-themed reflecting pool, this newsstand offers newspapers, magazines, and a broad selection of souvenirs and tobacco products. Fascinating.

M2: News from civilization to me just like speaks to the Polynesian vibe that I'm like they were really like they were in it. They were in it. None of those stores exist today for reference. I guess like the sundry store like sort of semi exists, but like not in that capacity at all. So those stores are all gone. Okay. Next up, I'm going to talk about the activities that they had there because the biggest thing, my obsession, one of my many obsessions, the vacation kingdom when Walt Disney World opened.

M1: They were in it. Not in the forum, yeah.

M2: They had one theme park, and so they were really, really focused on building this vacation kingdom out that had all of these amenities. That way you wouldn't just like stay for a night, go to Magic Kingdom. You'd stay for five nights, four nights. You'd go to Magic Kingdom. You do all these other activities. So like they were building this this culture of like the vacation culture, basically. So one of the biggest things that they had was boats. That was like mentioned in something else that one read. Cataman Corner near the Marina area provides all types of watercrafts for guests to use in the 70s Lagoon and Bay Lake. That includes outberger canoes, sunfish sailboats, capris, capris, catamens, catamarans, paddle wheel boats. don't know much about catamarans, paddle wheel boats and the iconic Bob arounds, which were these little circular boats that just kind of like bobbed back and forth. And they're in a lot of old Disney promo. You could rent all of these. You could also get instructions on how to operate each type of boat, which is more than we got when we rented a boat at Disney. ⁓

M1: ⁓ my god, catamarans, catamarans.

M2: Other things they had they had tennis four lighted courts together with the pro shop These courts are located at the contemporary resort hotel. Okay, so I guess you would walk over from the pollination to get there You actually couldn't walk so you take a boat ⁓ Psych bicycles they also had bicycles that were available at the equipment facility and you could go and ride bikes so like all sorts of different places and they had the surf machine the surf machine literally is one of

M1: Hahaha!

M2: Wow, I feel like I've said this like five times, but like clearly I'm passionate about this. Disney, when they created it, wanted to create a literal surfing machine. They wanted you to able to surf on the 70s Lagoon to compete with the beaches that were nearby. And they constructed it on Beachcomber Island, which is an island in the middle of 70s Lagoon manmade. They built this. was multiple millions of dollars. They built this insane system that would create these waves. And it just had so many issues. It broke down constantly. never really worked. was causing extreme erosion because this was a manmade lake and like it's not supposed to have waves. There is one documented picture of a cast member ever surfing on the lake and then they abandoned it in place and didn't remove all of the stuff for literally decades. It is known as one of the like biggest failures, but it's kind of funny because it it's kind of a cool story really because it shows that Disney was trying to do all these things. And if you want evidence of it, you can see a little retaining wall on Beachcomber Island. If you look very closely. And if you go to Disneyland and you find Dick Nunes's window, who was a Disney executive, you can see it says like something about a surfing machine on his window on Main Street, USA.

M1: Pools, this is you.

M2: Pools. ⁓ this is me. I was like, hello, ⁓ pools. OK, so obviously we talked about the special pool that they had, which was going to be a scuba diving pool. They did not end up doing that. The scuba diving pool didn't happen. Why? Probably it was expensive and it was like more difficult to do and like the implementation was difficult. Ended up only having one pool when it opened. The Naniya volcano pool. It was originally just known as the main pool, like the feature pool. The wasn't there. There was a slide with some rock work that's in a lot of like early promo videos. It was a little bit more of a basic pool. And the reason for that is because, yes, the pool was a part of it, but a huge part of the Polynesian was the beach that you could actually swim in the lakes and you relax on the beach. And like that was kind of where people went. They go in the pool, too. But like the Polynesian beaches used to be full of people. know because I was there. Just kidding. But I've seen pictures of it full of people and full of chairs and things. That was the only pool. The second pool, the Oasis Pool, which was originally known as the East Pool, that opened up in 1978. It was known as the East Pool because it was near the Eastern Longhouses and it wasn't like renamed and changed around until 2016.

M1: So that's sort of the history of the Polly. Now I'm going to take us a little bit to how we got to where we're at today. So obviously the Polly opened in 1971. Again, it was supposed to be that tall tower, but it wasn't. instead there were originally like the main building and then eight long houses. So it had about 500 rooms in it. And this was one of two resorts that opened at the time. It was the Polly and the Contemporary. In 1978 came the first expansion of the resort. So they added another longhouse, they added the Tangaroa Terrace area, and they added that second pool that Mouse Lutu just talked about. And then in 1985, they expanded again, they added more longhouses. And it was then that they rebranded from being named the Polynesian Village to Disney's Polynesian Resort. Again, a lot of kind of sort of massaging of names at this resort. Yes, in 1999, they didn't actually like physically expand.

M2: They're very, very subtle change.

M1: but they rethemed all or renamed rethemed all of the longhouses to better reflect, guess, the actual geography of the Polynesian islands. So it was, I guess they were more randomly named before and they sort of like moved everything around, renamed them to be more real, which is interesting. No one's thinking about.

M2: Things that like, it is interesting. No one is thinking, it's like the level of detail is cool, but it's.

M1: Like if you, yeah, if you read what they did, it's like they renamed Hawaii to Tahiti and Tahiti to blah blah blah and something else to Tahiti so that they would match like the east to west actual geographical order. Something that I'm sure literally nobody has ever thought about, but whatever. ⁓ In 2014 to 2015, they did a big DVC expansion. So that's when they added the overwater bungalows that you see. Those are called the Bora Bora bungalows. ⁓ And they are, you know, sort of now iconic to the Poly. They're one of the top, top, top tier rooms that Disney offers. And they also converted some of the existing long house buildings into Disney Vacation Club Villas. And I'll talk more about those rooms in a little bit. And then the resort at this time also reverted back to the name of Polynesian Village Resort. Again, so much like, so much massaging of that. In 2021 to 2022, they rethemed the non-DVC rooms to be Moana. that is also when they demolished the Spirit of Aloha, Luau area in order to make room for the new island tower which opened in 2024. So this was the first true like vertical expansion of the Poly, kind of harkening back to the fact that there was supposed to be a tower there all along and it added a ton of new DVC inventory and some other amenities that we'll talk about. But before we get to that, the one other sort of

M2: RIP.

M1: big change they made that I want to discuss, which we touched upon earlier, was this lobby re-theme.

M2: understand why they did this.

M1: Well, I'll tell you. So in 1971, when the Great Ceremonial House opened, which is that main building, it had a very specific vibe. had dark, moody lighting. There was lava rock. There were waterfalls, lush plants, like a tropical rainforest feel. It was supposed to. Yeah, it was supposed to feel like stepping into like a 70s fantasy version of the South Pacific. Very, very immersive. In 2014, as part of that DVC expansion, they completely redesigned the lobby.

M2: It looked amazing.

M1: removed the waterfall, they scaled back all that dense greenery, they got rid of a lot of that like dark and dramatic atmosphere and instead it's much brighter, it's open, it's airier, it's more of like the modern island resort aesthetic. ⁓ It's something I was reading said it went from Jungle Cruise Energy to Hawaii Luxury Resort Lobby. This was super super divisive.

M2: It was a terrible decision. Honestly, I think they did it just to let more people cram their way into that lobby who aren't staying at that resort. Like me, like me, but.

M1: Yeah, so it was supposed to. It was supposed to help improve traffic flow and capacity. It also was supposed to align more with Disney Vacation Club buyers. That's why it was done as part of the DVC expansion. You know, DVC people tend to skew more towards like luxury and modern, and it was just like bringing the resort more in line with newer properties like O'Lanee rather than that 70s aesthetic. But people people were really, really attached to that lobby and.

M2: I, I, I, me, me, I was attached to that lobby.

M1: And they say, you know, it was like iconic, iconic sound, iconic smell, iconic ambiance, and all of that was removed. So we have the lobby that we have now today. We never saw the original lobby, despite the fact that Mouseletou laments it being gone. But that's kind of, that's kind of where we're at now. And now Mouseletou is going to take us through some of the current amenities.

M2: Yeah, so you know in today's day and age there definitely has been a shift. They still have a lot of water type activities, but a lot of those boats like you're not going to be paddling on a little small boat. You're going to be kayaking whatever you're not going be on those boats because it's not safe anymore. You can no longer swim in the lake. I love to talk about the lakes. If you ever want to talk to me about the lakes, let me know guys. They still have the beaches, but they don't offer quite as much. You can play volleyball, breaking ball out there. They have some chairs for firework viewing, but. Really kind of the some of the key amenities here. Well, one of which is going to be the the pools, have the volcano pool, ⁓ which M1 despises that pool more than like any on property.

M1: It's so, it's so chaotic. It's so chaotic there.

M2: I will say I was in that hot tub with at least like 18 people.

M1: It's like so chaotic and you cannot find a chair and there's a ton of, I don't know, it's just.

M2: But they added a slide. They added a bigger and better side than what they had before. This like windy, windy pool. They have this volcano. I like the vibe of that pool. I feel like it works for Polynesian. It's just a little bit too busy.

M1: I like the vibe, I just wish it wasn't so busy.

M2: They also replaced the putting green again, as I mentioned in 1978, and they added that other pool, which they renamed to the Oasis Pool. And then there's also the Cove Pool, if I remember the name correctly. Is that the name of the Cove Pool?

M1: I don't know. It's the one over by the island tower. There's also like a little Moana splash pad there. I am so glad that when they built the island tower, they built that third pool. We'll talk about this more with our own experience at the Polynesian, but ⁓ they didn't.

M2: Yes. It's zero entry also, which is so nice, and it just takes some of the capacity and the overflow, which is just so nice. So those are the pools. What are the other things they have? A gym, because for the first 50 years, literally of that resort, they didn't have a gym. If you want to go to the gym, you have to go to the Grand Floridian gym. So, so, so, so, so odd. I tried to read about why and like there was nothing, but people in like old forums from like a million years ago were speculating that. Contemporary had a gym because it was meant more for like the businessman and the traveler and all this and that Polynesian was like a luxurious vibe and people Were supposed to do like water activities. So I don't know. That's what people say today They do not have the luau anymore, but they do still have kind of that vibe at nighttime They'll light up these I don't look fire posts these things of fires and they have this turf area where they do all these recreation activities They offer a lot of the same know, amenities other resorts do that they have the recreational activities. They have a movie under the stars or they'll play a movie out loud. They'll do like a Moana type yoga class sometimes in the morning. There are a lot of cool things like that, but mostly the amenities I feel like are the pools and the gym, which is the best gym on property. the stores, so they have two stores now. Mouse at one ran through like a bunch of other stores that they had they now only have two stores one on the first floor one on the second store the one on the first floor is called boutique. Love that this There's a big sign out front it's so funny So this was where the Robinson Crusoe and the Polynesian princess were the Polynesian princess had the women's clothes this store now has a selection of Specialty Polynesian things. There's a lamp I'm dying for but it's like literally $300 so I will never buy it

M1: I didn't know that was what was called. I didn't know that. No.

M2: but some poly specific things. have some like food and things. They have specialty, well, they have outfits. have clothing that's like not just necessarily Disney clothing. A lot of deluxe resorts have that. And then of course they have your typical Disney stuff. The other stores on the second floor, I don't really like this store as much. It's mostly Stitch themed and filled, but it's a Moana mercantile store. ⁓ And yeah, sure, they say they have Moana stuff in there, but honestly I was just in there the other day looking for a Stitch outfit for the baby and so, so, so, so, so much Stitch, so.

M1: Yeah, it's more like toys, that one. ⁓ As we mentioned, Polly also has some really great dining. So they have three sit down restaurants now. The most iconic is Ohana. Ohana is a character breakfast with Stitch and I don't even know who, we've never done it. Stitch, is it, who else? Is it Lilo? Okay, well it's character dining for breakfast. And then for dinner, it's just like all you can eat skillet style. It's one of my favorites. Okay.

M2: I think it's just stitch. I don't think so. Mickey and Lilo and Pluto.

M1: Okay, that's who that is who is at the breakfast. ⁓ Dinner is one of the most iconic. has an amazing view. They have a ukulele player that walks around. The food is, I think, so, good. I love Ohana. That's all you can eat. Then there's Kona Cafe, which is like Asian American fusion. They do breakfast, lunch and dinner. They're famous for their tango toast, which is like this giant super, super, super thick French toast. It's very good. ⁓ We really enjoy Kona too. I think Kona is underrated.

M2: For sure, agreed.

M1: And then at the Island Tower, they opened a brand new restaurant. It is called Wailulu. It is one of Melsitunae's favorite restaurants on property. It is incredible. It doesn't take reservations right now. So you have to walk up to it, but they have like, it's very Hawaiian inspired food. So they have an incredible burger, but they also have Melsit 3 was obsessed with this like fish that he had there. They have these shishito peppers that we love and I don't even really like shishito peppers.

M2: It feels like a little bit higher end. Like it just feels like everything's made fresh. They have an outdoor patio there. They have like indoor seating as well. It's a vibe. It's just honestly a vibe. So.

M1: It's so good. And then there are some smaller things as well. they have Captain's Cooks, which is the actual quick service. It's good. They have some unique things there. Nothing crazy, but one of the better ones, I would say. There's Kona Island, which is like a little stand outside of Kona Cafe that has coffee. It has pastries. Apparently it has sushi, to these. ⁓ yeah, Ohana bread pudding. But I like that it's a little coffee stand. Again, I think a lot of Disney resorts lack in terms of coffee.

M2: has the Ohana bread pudding.

M1: it's nice that the poly has that option. And then there's the iconic Pineapple Lanai, this is the Dole Whip stand, arguably like the most famous spot at the poly. They sell regular Dole Whip but they often will have like specialty flavored Dole Whips there too.

M2: That's like Mausolea's absolute favorite spot. There's also a couple of other bars and lounges at the Polynesian. So again, some of these have been here for a while. Some of these are new. So the Tambu Lounge, we talked about that one. Apparently you can get Ohana noodles there. That's tucked away by Ohana. It's a little bit less of like a formal vibe. It's more of just like a more open air and stuff, but they do have some pretty fun drinks there. Trader Sam's Grog Grotto. That's like the iconic Trader Sam's bar. Honestly, I'm shocked that Mausolea didn't want to cover this, I'll take it. It is so, so, so themed. I always for many, many, many years, I thought that this was like original to the Polynesian. No, it's very new. It opened up like 10 years ago. Yeah. The theming in there is incredible. There's a story. It's very hard to it's very hard to get into, honestly, like the wait can be like a couple of hours long. ⁓ Personally, as someone who goes there as a non-resort guest, I think it should only be for resort guests. That's like my biggest beef with the Poly. We'll get to that.

M1: which I didn't know that, yeah, I didn't know that either. It feels original, it's so cool.

M2: But if you go inside the cast members in there, the bar, the bartenders and things, if you order certain drinks, they'll do certain different like skits and things. They'll spritz you with water. They'll chant things like, ⁓ it's really fun. They fun, like unique drinks. I think it's just like a full service bar. Probably also you could get I assume you can get whatever you want there. I've never tried to be honest. I always get one of the fun drinks.

M1: should get a fun drink if you go. I would assume you can get anything but I don't actually know that for sure I guess but...

M2: It is really, really fun, though. It's if you're staying at the Poly, you should go there. If you can't get in there or you want to like hang out somewhere before they also have Trader Sam's Tiki Terrace. This is you can get some of the same drinks, but not in like the fun cups, not with the fun storyline. But there is usually like a ukulele player, a little like, you know, band playing out there. It's still like a really fun vibe. And we all I feel like we end up there a lot because we can't get into Trader Sam. Yeah.

M1: We have to wait like two hours for Trader Sam's.

M2: There's also couple pool bars barefoot pool bars at the lava pool the Oasis bar and grill is at the quiet pool and then newly opened adjacent to the you pool at the island tower but inside the island tower is the while Lulu bar kind of area this is Such a good little spot because you can go there and look more casual attire like swimsuits and stuff You can sit in these like chairs You can get all the same stuff and they also do have breakfast there that you can go and order a couple of things The breakfast smells a little clunky still they're still figuring it out. ⁓ It'll definitely get better You kind of like show up and it's a little confusing to know where to get it, but they do have.

M1: It's like, do you have breakfast here? And they're like, ⁓ I guess so. I guess we do.

M2: did you want some breakfast? like ⁓ but i feel like the bars and lounges here and just like if you're like we went here for mouse at one's bachelorette there's just so many different places you can try fun little unique drinks little like pockets and areas which again is why i think that this is so popular

M1: last thing we're gonna go over before we kind of talk about like our own experiences and pros and cons are the room types. So I hinted at this before but the regular rooms there, so the non-DVC rooms are now Moana themed. So if you want to stay in a Moana themed room you need to go through like the standard one but then they have DVC rooms as well. So there's the original DVC rooms which are located like within the long houses. Those are so I think underrated as rooms. I think they are so serene and beautiful. They have the like queen bed with a pull down Murphy if you're staying in a studio. They randomly have like two bathrooms. There's like two full bathrooms in them. Yeah.

M2: because they were like retrofitted. And so they ended up putting in like two yet no one talks about those rooms ever in my mind ever. I've never been in one, but I won't know. I in the Moana room. I stayed in the regular. I couldn't.

M1: They're so nice. They feel very secluded. ⁓ really? I thought that you stayed there when, ⁓ I've never stayed. Okay, well, share your thoughts in the Moana room. What was it? How was it?

M2: I really liked the water room. had a water view, which was so, so, so nice. We were on the first floor, which honestly, I think I actually prefer just like with how those are set up. ⁓ I think I know it was controversial, like integrating Moana. It's so subtle. There's there's like some artwork. I think the pillows had it on, but it does feel it still feels very like Polynesian. I think if anything, it feels maybe like just a tiny, tiny, tiny bit sterile, as in like I can tell that Disney has a certain approach they use in all of their rooms. And they did that. It doesn't feel like as unique from other ones, but the theming does. It's just like I'm picturing like the bed and like the foot of the bed. But I did really like it. And I have no issues with Moana. And I'm one who doesn't always like IP being integrated. think they did it really, really well.

M1: The DVC rooms do not have a specific character theme. Again, to me, they remind me a lot of the rooms at Olani. They're just like really beautiful, you know, Polynesian rooms. Yeah. The two bathroom thing is very interesting, but super nice if you happen to be staying in that room with family, I highly recommend. And then there is the, well, obviously they have also the bungalows, which I've never been in, but the bungalows are overwater bungalows.

M2: The shower is amazing. I'm looking at a virtual tour of it right now.

M1: You have like a private little plunge pool, multiple bedrooms. If you can stay in a bungalow, you should, they're amazing. But then they also have the new island tower. So the Polynesian did not have a ton of DVC inventory available prior to the island tower, and it only had studios and the bungalows. There weren't like one, two bedroom villas like most resorts have. The island tower changed that. It's more traditional DVC inventory with studio rooms, one, two, three bedroom villas. We got to stay there with David's Vacation Club Rentals and it is, it was probably the best day we've ever had. You've heard us talk about it. The rooms are stunning, gorgeous. The views from the tower are unreal. Wailulu, which is in the tower, is like absolutely amazing. But in general, just the rooms, like, I love, love, love, love, love the tower.

M2: It was so... It just feels new and fresh and light and airy. guess that's what we're trying to do with the lobby. The other really interesting thing that I don't think we touched on unless I completely glazed while you spoke about it, which is possible, but the Island Tower solves one of my biggest woes about the Polynesian, which is that it's such an amazing resort that so many people flock to it and experience it and want to go through the lobby of the Grand Great Ceremonial House, whatever. The Island Tower is key card access only to get up past the first lobby. So if you want to go into the four lounge, I wouldn't say lounges, viewing areas, terraces, there's two terraces facing the lakes and there's two terraces on the backside. They have unique special theming. They're incredible. You can only go up there if you are a guest of the tower specifically. So something super unique that they don't really do elsewhere.

M1: They're terraces, yeah. Island Hover. And if you are interested in staying deluxe, I would highly, highly, highly recommend looking at the Island Tower and booking it through David's Vacation Club Rentals. You can save a ton of money on those rooms and they are brand new and like some of Disney's best. I absolutely love them. But so to talk about our own experiences. So obviously, Mouselet too has stayed one night in a Moana room. I stayed one night in a standard DVC room. And then we both had our time in the Island Tower. If someone is looking to stay at the Poly, Would you recommend that they stay in the Island Tower or would you recommend that they stay in the standard poly?

M2: I think it's tough because I love the island tower, but if you've never been to the Polynesian, I do think you should stay in the main Polynesian village, whatever you want to call that area first, whether it's the DVC room or the Moana room, I would recommend the DVC room because you literally if you want to stay there, it's expensive. I've only stayed there one night because we did like one splurge night before me and Mouselette. But if you rent points with David, it's going to be so, so, so much cheaper just to stay in the DVC room. So that's why I recommend that to you if you can get it. ⁓ I love the Island Tower, but I do think the quintessential experience at the Poly is in the main rooms and your first time should be there.

M1: I agree. And I think the Polynesian on the island tower have different vibes. The island tower feels really, really new, which is amazing. But the sort of like there is still some of that 70s feel in the best way in the in the main area of the Poly. It's it's just got like a it's very unique compared to other resorts. We both absolutely love staying here. I think that the Polynesian has some of the most beautiful grounds, some of the most like it really feels like a vacation there.

M2: in the best way. Yeah.

M1: I don't know how to describe it. It's so serene in areas. Granted, there is a problem of a lot of traffic, but like, it just feels like you're truly in like a tropical retreat.

M2: Yes, it does. and you could just like slow down. And so one of the biggest tips if you're staying there, because not everyone takes this type of trip. If you're someone who wakes up, goes to the parks, goes back to sleep, like that's it. This might not be the resort for you. I mean, of course, if you want to stay here, you'll still have a great time. But like if you are staying here, like again, for us, it's a splurge trip. I stayed there one night with mouse a day is like a special, special thing. Do resort time like spend the resort time because this has so many amenities and the pools and even just like I went for a run in the morning like. It is so beautiful. There's so many places to eat. So you don't want to spend your entire trip again unless you can afford it, like go for it. But you want to spend resort time, carve out a day to spend here, I feel like.

M1: 100%. I think that this is one of the deluxe resorts that is really great for families because they have so many activities like Mouselet 2 said for kids. There's literally this lawn, this turf thing right outside the lobby, the back of the lobby that has kids doing cartwheels on it like 24 hours a day. It's who yeah.

M2: Agreed. hula hooping, like there's always something and they're like running around. They love it.

M1: They love it. They love it. I think the pool is very kid friendly. The Moana splash pad also like that pool over there, but like the main pool is very kid friendly. There's a lot of kids activities. There's a lot of places to like eat. There's fun things to do for adults that kids, kids can go into Trader Sam's Grotto up until like 8pm or something. So kids can tag along to that. A lot of good areas to walk to run around. I would

M2: So yeah. There's like cool hidden Mickey's. Also, it's on the monorail. feel like we like neglected to talk about that fully, but it is on the monorail and it's about to Magic Kingdom. So.

M1: Yeah, which is amazing. Yeah, I think of all deluxe resorts, this is one that I would pick the most for families. However, Mouselet 2 and I have also each done one special night as couples. She went with Mouselet A, I did one special night with Mouselet C because it also has such fun things for adults. It's really like a versatile resort in that way, I would say.

M2: And I think I was talking to my my coworker today about they were like, oh, I don't know if I would ever if I would like the Grand Floridian. And in my mind, no. And this coworker would really not. I'm just like, you would like it, of course. But I feel like the Polynesian is basically like a sure pit for everyone. Whereas I feel like I can see people being, oh, the grand. Here's a downfall like the contemporary. Here's some things I didn't like. I think the poly is like a 10 out of 10. Which is why they should have built the Asian resort, because it would have had like that same.

M1: I agree. The biggest con of the Polynesian, which Melsitu has alluded to quite a bit, is that it does have so much to do. Ohana is one of the most popular restaurants on property. Trader Sam's is definitely the most popular lounge on property. That people who are not staying at the Polynesian flock to the Polynesian. It's easy to get to if you're not staying there because of the monorail. It's easy to pop over to after Magic Kingdom. It has the best fireworks view of Magic Kingdom fireworks of any of those resorts. So, so many people go there. that it is very busy.

M2: And I think like just to be clear, we've said it to Polynesian twice, right? And we've been to Disney a ton of times. So like we would be people who would be impacted by this, you know, as people who are non Polynesian guests who are trying to visit. It does impact the guest experience. Not that significantly, but sometimes you fighting for space for the firework viewing. It's hard to get an Ohana reservation like they aren't prioritizing the guests staying there over and they don't need to. People pay the prices. People have a great time still. The lobby. when me and mouse that I just were there. ⁓ my God, the lobby was so busy. I was like, what's going on? It was crazy. It's just like, it's just, it gets a little bit too busy.

M1: I feel that way at the pool, which nobody can go in the pool if they're not staying there. So the pool is only resort guests. And like, thank God when they built the island tower, they built that third pool.

M2: to say you stayed there before they had the island tower as did I.

M1: Yes, the main pool and the Oasis pool were not enough pool space to cover everyone who wants to go to a pool at the Polynesian. So both pools have like every single chair fall and just feel really chaotic to me. Maybe it's better now that they have the third pool. I have not gone to the main pool since they built that one. But for me, that was the biggest con is like it just feeling super chaotic. It also is a bummer that when they built the bungalows, they cut off most of the beaches fireworks viewing. So can only see the fireworks from like a small section of the beach now, which makes it so crowded in that one section. If you could still see it from the whole beach, it would be like way, way, way less of a problem.

M2: going back to the pool quickly again. I was in that hot tub with mouse that I on our special fun couples trip and there were like I'm not even kidding. There were 18 people in the hot tub. Children, children like throwing a ball, which I'm like obviously have fun, but I'm like, is this is this the vibe that I wanted? No, there's not really like something that feels more like an adult pool like some of the other resort. Grand Floridian has the same problem because these resorts were built for people to swim in the lakes. It's just not enough space. So like the pools are fun, but they're busy. You have to kind of stake out stuff early and it is a little bit of a downside. But I mean, in general, this resort is amazing to be clear.

M1: gonna say yeah don't let that deter you like if you're having a resort day and you want to be at the pool you know wake up early get your chairs at the pool and like sleep by the pool or whatever you know rest by the pool but like

M2: No, no, it's not like a bloodbath like that. You're making me think it's like Olania I've heard is like a bloodbath. I'm going to be out there.

M1: Oh, a lot he is. But yeah, like, you know, get, there early and stuff. But like in general, the Polynesian is one again, it's one of my top two. It's one of my absolute favorite resorts on Disney property. It's beautiful. There's so much to do. There's so many fun, unique experiences. It feels very like, despite the crowds, it feels very like private. There's a lot of cool places to like explore. So any final thoughts on the Polynesian?

M2: No, I just think in general, because it's one of the original resorts, one of the two original resorts plus the campground, it just has so much history and so much lore. It has gone through a lot of changes in a way, but I love that it's kind of kept its true character and will definitely cover the contemporary soon as well, everybody. So.

M1: But for today's special segment, Melsa too hinted at this, we are going to be talking about room theming and we are going to be rating our top three and bottom three room themes across the Disney Resort. I'm so curious if ours are similar.

M2: Same also I have for each because I did have three deluxe for my top three. So I included an honorable mention for a moderate just honorable mention for a non deluxe. So I would like you to do the same in case you didn't have one.

M1: Okay, let's start. These are no particular order for me. My first of my top three is the Grand Floridian rooms. yeah, the, they recently rethemed the rooms to have like a Mary Poppins theme. It's very subtle. It's a, it's not a super crazy theme, but the rooms are beautiful. Like all the finishes are so gorgeous. They feel so deluxe, but not like I don't know the right word. I just love, love, love those rams.

M2: We also did have an amazingly giant room the first time we stayed there by chance. It was like a corner room, two balconies, but I agree. So like the boardwalk rooms, which did not make my top three, ⁓ they're nice. This just feels like elevated and special and just luxurious, but light and airy, not like weighty toity. I'm talking about the DVC rooms, because the regular rooms are, I do not like as much. It's the DVC, Mary Poppins rooms that also made my list for sure. It just...

M1: We did. Me neither. Me too. Yeah. They're amazing.

M2: clean and beautiful and yeah. Okay.

M1: I do think, speaking of the boardwalk rooms quickly, those rooms were recently redone. They're fine, but those are like, they're not my like bottom by any means, but I just don't think that they like hit with the theme. The boardwalk is such an amazing theme. They could have done better with the theme of those rooms. They're very similar. The themes are the same. I just looked at pictures of them for the video I made.

M2: Are you talking about the the in though or the regular rooms? Oh, yeah, they're OK. They didn't have a desk in there. That really irked me as I had to work on an ironing board. But I do like some things, but I think. It's OK, it didn't make my top three. I'll say that. OK, my next one is the Polynesian Tower. Is that on your list? No, wow, wow. I mean, it was it was close. I had a couple of ties. If I were in no order. I have like a four. Yeah, I'm kind of torn between a couple, but the Polynesian Tower for me feels like what I want.

M1: Yeah. I think as far as theme, maybe there. Okay, you name one in your top three. Interesting. No, it's not. That would probably be my like fourth, honestly.

M2: a lot of rooms to be because it is brand spaking new. feels there's nothing like I wish this was updated. It's beautiful. It was relaxing. We had an amazing time there. We stayed in a one bedroom. So like obviously that was amazing as well. But yeah, I just love the finishes. The bathroom, though, especially was just fantastic. The balcony, like everything about it was I loved it.

M1: My, I love the Island Tower, it's gorgeous. I wish that, I remember the lighting in there at night, not being like incredible. That was my like one thing with it. I also wish that it had a little bit more color. It's like a very like neutral palette, but.

M2: Hmm. I think could have brought in a little more. I do remember the lighting at night not being good because I was wearing like a tan dress and it was like you barely could see it. So, yeah.

M1: Okay, my next one is sort of in a similar vein because it's DBC is Riviera. I think the Riviera rooms are... Okay, I think the Riviera rooms are like so stunning. Again, they just feel so beautiful. I mentioned this in the last episode, I think, but we always say value resorts have like value style grounds, value style rooms. Moderate resorts to me have like deluxe grounds, but still sort of value style rooms and deluxe resorts have

M2: That's my third, but I'll say a different one, so I don't have the same as one.

M1: deluxe grounds, deluxe rooms. So I kind of feel like it's, I don't know, deluxe rooms, like I feel weird that we're only saying deluxe rooms, but like there's a reason that deluxe resorts are, yeah.

M2: Well, that's why I carried like a moderate, but of course the deluxe rooms are going to be the nicest. You're paying for that, you know, like.

M1: Yeah, but the Riviera rooms are just like, I love all the artwork in there. The bathrooms are incredible in there. They feel so like, it feels like a little apartment. That was, that's one of the ones that feels the most to me like a little apartment in the best way.

M2: I said to Mouse Lede when we were in there in the one bed, I was like, if we lived here, I think I could live here with her. Yeah, like actually, like that would be goals, honestly. OK, my third one, I'm kind of torn. I did have the Riviera down, but I had a couple two backups and I was like blank or blank blank or blank. I love the Saratoga Springs rooms. I really do. I think they're really nice. But I think the yacht something about the yacht club room. I really liked the yacht club room. never see we actually.

M1: Yeah, for sure. ⁓

M2: The only reason we stayed there is because there was not one single other resort except campsites available. Not a value, not a moderate, not a deluxe other than yacht club. So we stayed at yacht club. We had to stay at a Disney resort before our cruise to get like the Disney transportation. I really liked that room. I really enjoyed it.

M1: It's a big theme in a fun way.

M2: We did have, I think, probably the worst view you could ever have on Disney property. We had a view of like a dumpster. Like, honestly, they probably don't rent that room out most of the time. Like, it was bad. It was bad.

M1: worst view. It was a terrible view, but the room itself is a really fun, big, super, super nautical theme. I do love that room. I didn't actually think of that room. My third is the contemporary rooms, the incredible rooms, the incredible rooms.

M2: Yeah. Which, so do you like to stay in like maybe in the tower? There's another part of the resort you like more. The Garden Wing.

M1: I like to say the tower, not the garden wing. The garden wing does have the same room themes but they don't hit the same. The tower for me is, I just think it feels so contemporary. I think it's an amazing integration of IP. I love the like balcony there and how you look out over the contemporary. I love those rooms.

M2: I like those rooms a lot. That's like mouse lit. And I when she was driving, she was driving home. I we were talking on the phone. That was one of her. She's never even stayed there or been in those rooms. But she was like, that's definitely one of mine. I was like, OK, I get it, though. They are really, really well themed. That is another great integration of IP. My honorable is the Caribbean Beach refurbished Little Mermaid rooms. think that they're like. ⁓ look them up, look them up.

M1: Okay, what's your honorable non-deluxe mention? I don't even know what those look like. Okay, you talk about them while I do.

M2: I feel like they're like light and airy and Little Mermaid Caribbean Beach. I'm going to pull it up so I can reference it to. just feel like they're yeah, I think they did a really, really great job with them making it feel closer to deluxe level. Feels bright. It feels new. It doesn't feel dated, which I think a lot of times you are. It has that pull down like sleeper sofa. I feel like it's kind of close to a deluxe room in my mind. So. What's your honorable mention?

M1: Interesting, okay. Well, so they've redone a lot of moderate rooms recently. We have not stayed in like any of those refurbished moderate rooms. So all the rooms that we've actually stayed in are like the older version of the older version rooms that we've actually stayed in. Mine would be the Alligator Bayou Porter-Lean's room. Malsa too and I first stayed in the Magnolia Bend version of Porter-Lean's, which is fine. it's more it's like a more of like a royal princess themed room. I don't know the room is okay but we didn't like love it, it has since been redone and then the next time we stayed there we stayed in the alligator bayou section and I just really liked that theme a lot more. It's very rustic, it's gives alligator bayou but to me it felt like cozy. We happened to have a room with two windows, we were in like a corner which was super super nice but I just love that theme and I wonder, I don't know if they've redone those rooms. I know they redid the Magnolia Bend section.

M2: Yeah. I don't know if they've redone them. I'm not seeing them necessarily be redone because I'm looking at that curtain and all these pictures, which is my biggest beef with that room is that the bathroom, not the part with the toilet, but the bathroom with like the sink had a curtain and it just wasn't my favorite thing. OK, bottom three. I'm sorry. ⁓ the.

M1: bottom three. Okay, ⁓ go ahead. I was gonna say I'll start with the deluxe. I'll start with two deluxes actually. Okay, I put these deluxes together into one because to me the problem with them is like exactly the same. No, you'll see, I think. It is the old Key West rooms and the old Beach Club rooms. I think they've been refurbished. I think they've been refurbished now. Both of those to me have the same problem in that like,

M2: ⁓ I also have two deluxes. bet we have the same. That feels like a cheat. OK. Those are both of my I have both of those. Yeah, they have.

M1: It's hard to do like Beach and Florida as a as like a true theme, but therefore the rooms just sort of like were theme-less hotel rooms. Yeah, theme-less hotel rooms that at the time that we stayed there were like a little bit dated because again, they needed to be redone. They have since been redone. But like I was just actually Old Key West. I don't know if they've been redone. I know Beach Club has.

M2: Yeah, they were seamless. I think they redid we'd in the studio at Old QS. I know they've redone the like the one bedroom villas and up, but I agree.

M1: Okay, they were just meh. they were completely fine. There's nothing wrong with them. But in terms of the theme, there was not really a theme.

M2: They literally were on theme to me. I felt like I was at like a convention center in like Pennsylvania

M1: Because it, well because the theme is like just beach or Florida. I mean, yeah.

M2: wasn't even really beach. Here's the thing, Saratoga Springs is like bright and airy. I, both of those rooms also the beach club had a sofa bed, which was like a true sofa bed, which was not ideal. But yeah, both of those rooms to me did not really do with the old QS one also had like the world's at a very ill, like weird ill contrived. So it had a minuscule television and it had a table with this.

M1: Odd, very odd shape.

M2: freaking chandelier over it that I hit my head on like 100 times.

M1: actually I remember when we stayed in that room being like what are they ever going to do about this tv because the room is so ill-contrived that you cannot fit a larger tv. So I'm curious if they redid those rooms but okay what is your next what is your next one?

M2: Yeah. Yep. Okay, well I had both of those so I'm gonna go to my next room and this is gonna get me some booze and that's where I was nervous. But they were just redone. I hated the Royal, the Portolines Royal guest room. At first I thought I liked it and I walked in and I was like, yes. The television was minuscule and it was like pitch black and yellow in there. I'm sorry, like I thought I liked it a lot at first when I walked in there but then after I was like, no. And it's very controversial because they rethemed them and I understand. that they're geared towards children. And I probably would have liked it when I was a child. But when I was walked in there, I was like, this room is 2004 in the worst way.

M1: They were very sort of dingy, very yellowy, like not bright and fresh and beautiful ⁓ at all. They were very kind of like, I don't know. I did not love them either. I think that my next one is also going to be controversial. don't think you're gonna agree with me and I think other people won't. mine is the, I didn't know they refurbished the rooms, the room that we stayed in at Caribbean Beach.

M2: Yeah, not a fan. I think I might. I think I might.

M1: hated, hated the theme of that room and I said it at the time, it felt so discombobulated to me. Like the walls were light blue and then there was like this table with like primary colors. I think it made no sense. It did not remind me of like like a fun Caribbean vacation at all. I didn't think it fit the outside of the buildings at all. I thought that that theme was so it was like a light theme. I just hated it. I really did not like it. Apparently they've since redone them to these little mermaid rooms so

M2: What? some of them I just remember because Michael stayed in one of those rooms. They said the pirate terms of Caribbean Beach and those were fun. I have an issue with them stripping away identity of resort rooms. So I guess I can get into my third one. I liked that Caribbean Beach room. I thought it was completely fine. But my third room and this is specific. Well, let me actually preface this in 2018. I believe we stayed at the All-Star Music Resort in one of the old crusty ancient rooms and it felt

M1: ⁓ fuck.

M2: It felt crusty and it felt ancient and it needed an update, but it felt music as did movies, as did sports, and they rethemed it to look exactly like all of the all stars and all of pop century.

M1: This was my third one. It just says values.

M2: And for and for that, they are my least favorite because I'm like, you know what? And I get it why they were doing it, right? It's a value. They're not spending the money. They're trying to keep the prices low by whatever. But like pop century, all star music, whatever it is. ⁓ my God. At least ⁓ like theme the room ever so slightly around that theme. It just stinks. It's like the grounds are in some ways the most themed on property. And then you go into the room and it's just I mean, they're cute, but it's just like it could be anywhere at Disney.

M1: when we were staying and that we stayed in one of those rooms like on one of my most recent trips, we stayed in one and we were looking around and I understand those rooms need to be more budgeted but there were things that they could have done that would not have cost any extra money that would have made them more themes, the themed like color, ⁓ like the way they did like the paint and like the pictures that they added I was like, they just like, I don't know, they really stripped the character out of those rooms.

M2: Like, literally. They have the mini, the Pluto, the Donald above the bed, and it's cute. But I'm like, OK, I'm at All Star Music. Could they be playing like an instrument? Like do something. And I think they literally did it because they can swap it out at any time. And they're the same. They don't do any design. I do get it. I think that actually All Star Music, they may have a little like piece of art on the drop down bed as I'm looking at a picture I like I'm seeing. But it doesn't look like it's music themed. Looks like it's Huey, Dewey and Louie sleeping on a couch.

M1: They do, they do. I think it's different. Yeah, it's not anything crazy. And like the value resorts are resorts that kids love because they have all the huge props and stuff. And so like that is a place where you could go like huge in your face theme, more like they have it like art of animation and they didn't. And I just think they, they're, the rooms are meh. They don't feel that Disney-ish.

M2: Like I'm looking at the old room right now and yes, obviously it was dated. I mean, when we stayed in there, I remember the outlet was like falling out of the wall. OK, but they had these like this like border around the top of the room that had like either sports or like music stuff. The bedspread was covered in stars for like all stars, so they had the little like thing. The table was themed like I don't know. I just feel like that's the vibe I want. I think the rooms are nice actually. Like I do like the rooms. OK, I'm going to give it like an ever so slight break. I am seeing.

M1: Yeah

M2: that the family suite might have a little touch of music. So we'll be staying there soon and I'll let you guys know. But I just feel like they could have done more. I understand they're keeping it on a budget, but they could have done more. And while I like the rooms for the theming, no.

M1: Alright, we're going to get into our pit and peach of the week. Let's start with our pits. What's your pit?

M2: I am having like in the most insane allergy attack of my life. My eyes are like so itchy, like beyond belief. My nose is running, which you could maybe tell if you're looking on camera that like my nose is like rubbed raw. It's annoying. That's my pet.

M1: My pit is that Mels is seeing I have a lot of like very small projects in progress and our house is like kind of a mess because of it. And like we just need to go through and like finish up all these projects and then the house will be fine. But I hate when my house is a mess. What is your peach?

M2: Your pet isn't that your baby accidentally pooped on your leg.

M1: Nope, my baby did poop on my leg today though for the first time. ⁓ what's your peach?

M2: My peach is that it was Mouselet A's birthday on the 14th and I got her this present literally so long ago, this Anastasia music box that her and her sister have wanted for like 20 plus years and I found it on whatnot and I got it for her and I've been so excited to surprise her with it and she loved it. That was my peach, it was so fun.

M1: and Malsit C posted a video of it on Instagram if you want to see. My peach is that today Malsit C and I cleaned out our entire garage and we never organized the garage when we moved in, so it was just kind of like a big dumping ground of things and we organized the whole thing and I love things being organized and it just felt amazing.

M2: It's a Pigs time. All right. Fact of the day. I will give a fact of the day. If you're at the Polynesian and you walk up the staircase on the second kind of like level, you look over, there is a very, tiny hidden Mickey made out of like a little nail. And it's so, so, so small. It's very hard to see, but it's very cool.

M1: It's supposedly one of the smallest, not the smallest, but it's one of the smallest. I love Hidden Mickey's. ⁓ My Hidden Mickey, my fact of the day was going to be that I learned when I was making my YouTube video for this week, little plug, it's all about Mels Lutu and I buying a $100,000 DVC contract, and if you should too. But. ⁓

M2: Okay, Hidden Mickey Queen. I thought you were gonna yell at me for doing Hidden Mickey. To be clear, be clear, Mouselet A was like, I was like, you know what? We bought it in two separate pieces and it wasn't quite that actually that much. was slightly less and we brought it within like separate years of each other and. It sounds way crazier than it is, you just made it seem like we're insane, so.

M1: I Anyways. Anyways, my fact about this is that when you do the math on DBC over time, like if you look, you know, our DBC contract is 42 years long. If you look 42 years into the future, it says that like a room at the Grand Floridian or whatever is going to be like $30,000 a night. number that just seems so beyond outrageous it seems impossible but then I saw something that said this is a reminder that when Disney World first released annual passes they were $100 and 42 years later they were $1,500 which far outpaced the rate of inflation um $22.

M2: I mean, when the Polynesian opened rooms were 20 to $44 and now they're like a thousand dollars. So inflation, they're gonna have to do something about it.

M1: Disney, yeah, Disney outpaces that. Anyways.

M2: So anyway, that was our episode. If you guys are liking these resort deep dives, let us know. We will hopefully have more coming coming soon next week. Mouselet A will be on the podcast. That might be news to M1, but Mouselet A will be back. We're going to be breaking down and talking about our favorite Disney roller coasters. Surprise. ⁓ thank you, everyone who left us. Reviews also on Apple Spotify. Again, if you leave a review, it really helps us.

M1: Wow, guys, this is complete news to me. Who knew? Not moi!

M2: Get noticed, get found by more people. So please, as you're kind of listening to this, pop there, give us a quick five star review. If you're watching on YouTube or listening, a thumbs up, subscribe to our channel. We have deep dives every single Monday. And if you want even more Sister Sisters podcast before every podcast, I mean, it should be quicker, but we keep dragging them out. It's like 20, 25 minutes, because we're just chatting all things Disney behind the scenes looks. That's our Patreon segment sitting on the ground talking. So you can take a look at that on our Patreon. But that's basically any closing thoughts.

M1: No, thanks guys, see you next week.

M2: Bye!