Disney's Polynesian Resort, Orlando, FL (hotel) - Locating Tiki

E EnchantedTikiGoth Member Calgary, Canada Joined: Dec 31, 2003 Posts: 355	E EnchantedTikiGoth Posted posted on Thu, Dec 25, 2014 10:25 PM My new wife and I went to Walt Disney World for the first time for our honeymoon this past September, and the underwhelming nature of a lot of hotel lobbies was something I noticed. The absolute best hotel we saw (but sadly didn't stay at) was Wilderness Lodge, which nailed the National Parks Rustic aesthetic and had lots of interesting spaces and amenities. It actually helped inspire us to finally go to Yellowstone for our vacation next year. The second best was where we stayed, at the Port Orleans French Quarter. The theming and atmosphere was fantastic. The Grand Floridian was gorgeous, but a bit sterile. I love Victoriana even more than Tiki, and get what they were doing, but after the initial "WOW" wore off it seemed like a rather overpriced and underwhelming hotel. The Contemporary was... what it was. I assume the main appeal is location and nostalgia. The Polynesian we saw mid-construction, so we couldn't make a fair assessment of it at the time. Seeing this new lobby, though, doesn't surprise me one bit... Attractive, nice textures and fabrics and art on the walls, but not a lot of thematic depth. I'd expect to see something similar in any relatively nice hotel. It would still be worth visiting to go to Spirit of Aloha and Trader Sam's, but I still wouldn't be able to justify the expense of staying there when something like French Quarter is much more affordable and more successful as a themed space.

My new wife and I went to Walt Disney World for the first time for our honeymoon this past September, and the underwhelming nature of a lot of hotel lobbies was something I noticed.

The absolute best hotel we saw (but sadly didn't stay at) was Wilderness Lodge, which nailed the National Parks Rustic aesthetic and had lots of interesting spaces and amenities. It actually helped inspire us to finally go to Yellowstone for our vacation next year. The second best was where we stayed, at the Port Orleans French Quarter. The theming and atmosphere was fantastic.

The Grand Floridian was gorgeous, but a bit sterile. I love Victoriana even more than Tiki, and get what they were doing, but after the initial "WOW" wore off it seemed like a rather overpriced and underwhelming hotel. The Contemporary was... what it was. I assume the main appeal is location and nostalgia.

The Polynesian we saw mid-construction, so we couldn't make a fair assessment of it at the time. Seeing this new lobby, though, doesn't surprise me one bit... Attractive, nice textures and fabrics and art on the walls, but not a lot of thematic depth. I'd expect to see something similar in any relatively nice hotel. It would still be worth visiting to go to Spirit of Aloha and Trader Sam's, but I still wouldn't be able to justify the expense of staying there when something like French Quarter is much more affordable and more successful as a themed space.

Post #733758 by EnchantedTikiGoth on Thu, Dec 25, 2014 10:25 PM