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 Fri, Dec 26, 2014 9:21 AM Thanks for the gorgeous photos! On 2014-12-26 01:14, Hurricane Hayward wrote: EnchantedTikiGoth, you have some good points, especially about the Grand Floridian. I too consider it somewhat sterile, at least the lobby. The grounds are well-done and the restaurants stellar. That was one of the things for us: besides the lovely Queen Anne-style architecture and Victorian beachfront resort idea, it didn't seem to have a whole lot of "there" there, especially after we had already been staying at French Quarter and seen Wilderness Lodge. We didn't try the restaurants, because slapping the words "fine dining" on something does not, in itself, make us want to eat there. But you can see that the intent of the new Great Ceremonial House design is to open up the space much like the two lodges. And that makes a lot of sense. If Disney's emphasis is on open, hotel-like spaces rather than thematically rich spaces, then the renovations fit in well with that. I just happen to prefer the thematically rich spaces. I think the blend works best at Wilderness Lodge, whose real-life models have lobbies like that (i.e.: Old Faithful Lodge, Many Glacier and Glacier Park Lodges) as an intrinsic part of their architectural statement, then filled with interesting smaller spaces and artifact replicas, then complimented by well-done exterior spaces. French Quarter doesn't even need much of a lobby to speak of, because of what is in keeping with the theme. That said, I'm not exactly sure what you WOULD do with the Polynesian then. I haven't been inside a whole lot of Tahitian royal assembly halls. And I've heard that you can now clearly see the castle in the Magic Kingdom from inside the GCH, which I'm sure is no accident. A large part of the premium price you pay for those deluxe resorts, besides the larger rooms and amenities, is the close proximity to the parks. I'm a fan of Port Orleans, and the price is certainly much better, but it's quite a haul from the parks. That makes sense too, though I honestly didn't feel it was THAT far from French Quarter to three of the four parks (the outlier being Animal Kingdom). WDW had better bus service than my city :) Yay Disney! One of my favourite subjects :D [ Edited by: EnchantedTikiGoth 2014-12-26 09:22 ]

Thanks for the gorgeous photos!

On 2014-12-26 01:14, Hurricane Hayward wrote:
EnchantedTikiGoth, you have some good points, especially about the Grand Floridian. I too consider it somewhat sterile, at least the lobby. The grounds are well-done and the restaurants stellar.

That was one of the things for us: besides the lovely Queen Anne-style architecture and Victorian beachfront resort idea, it didn't seem to have a whole lot of "there" there, especially after we had already been staying at French Quarter and seen Wilderness Lodge. We didn't try the restaurants, because slapping the words "fine dining" on something does not, in itself, make us want to eat there.

But you can see that the intent of the new Great Ceremonial House design is to open up the space much like the two lodges.

And that makes a lot of sense. If Disney's emphasis is on open, hotel-like spaces rather than thematically rich spaces, then the renovations fit in well with that. I just happen to prefer the thematically rich spaces. I think the blend works best at Wilderness Lodge, whose real-life models have lobbies like that (i.e.: Old Faithful Lodge, Many Glacier and Glacier Park Lodges) as an intrinsic part of their architectural statement, then filled with interesting smaller spaces and artifact replicas, then complimented by well-done exterior spaces. French Quarter doesn't even need much of a lobby to speak of, because of what is in keeping with the theme. That said, I'm not exactly sure what you WOULD do with the Polynesian then. I haven't been inside a whole lot of Tahitian royal assembly halls.

And I've heard that you can now clearly see the castle in the Magic Kingdom from inside the GCH, which I'm sure is no accident. A large part of the premium price you pay for those deluxe resorts, besides the larger rooms and amenities, is the close proximity to the parks. I'm a fan of Port Orleans, and the price is certainly much better, but it's quite a haul from the parks.

That makes sense too, though I honestly didn't feel it was THAT far from French Quarter to three of the four parks (the outlier being Animal Kingdom). WDW had better bus service than my city :)

Yay Disney! One of my favourite subjects :D

[ Edited by: EnchantedTikiGoth 2014-12-26 09:22 ]

Post #733768 by EnchantedTikiGoth on Fri, Dec 26, 2014 9:21 AM