Day 7: Going Home / WDW-40, 2016
Home » Everything Disney » Day 7: Going Home / WDW-40, 2016 »We had requested a ground floor room due to me needing to use an ECV this visit, but they had allocated us the 2nd floor, as a ground floor room wasn’t available. I got on fine with the lift at Vero Beach and the scooter, so wasn’t too concerned. It was more a nuisance than anything, but we had to accept it.
We reached the longhouse called Tokelau, and I scooted forth to use the elevator. The only problem was, my scooter wouldn’t fit! The lifts were narrow (and really claustrophobic), I was really surprised how small they were. So Steve and Mapuhi left me with all the bags, and went back to the front desk to see what we could do. Lo and behold, a ground floor room was suddenly available. It did mean a move to a different longhouse – Moorea, but this wasn’t an issue for us.
As it turned out, we found Moorea to be a great location – it’s the longhouse with the laundry room, it’s very close to the path to the Transportation & Ticket Center, and to that other parking lot I mentioned earlier. (That all said, Tokelau is great for close proximity to the Polynesian East Pool.)
By the time we had checked-in, got to our original room, moved rooms, unpacked our suitcases, waited for our Garden Grocer delivery to be dropped to our room, unpacked the groceries, discovered that a bag was missing, chased that up with Bell Services, waited for the missing groceries, waited for another delivery (from Disney Floral & Gifts, which Steve had organised for my birthday!), and took photos of the room for the trip report, we were left with only an hour or so before our ADR at ‘Ohana! We both wanted to freshen up, so we didn’t actually see much of Poly on this first day!
Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows Studio Room Tour
I do find it weird that they’ve described this resort as Villas and Bungalows – the rooms are Studios, not one, two, or three bedroom villas like some of the other DVC Resorts at all. You of course have the Bungalows, but they cost about a weeks worth of points for one night!! That all aside, I can only comment on the DVC longhouses – I don’t know if the rooms in the rest of the resort are the same/similar.
The rooms are spread over 3 floors – with elevators and stairs to get to the different levels. I am pretty sure there was an ice-machine and a vending machine in the longhouse too. Moorea is the only DVC longhouse with the laundry room, which is free for DVC Members to use.
There are lots of plants, flowers and trees surrounding the longhouses, so it has a lovely tropical feel. Hanging outside the entrance is a huge glass (?) ball light – same as the style in the Great Ceremonial House. The corridor looks like your standard hotel corridor!
At the main/front entrance of the longhouse is a small lobby area with some lovely artwork on the walls, a sofa, telephone (random!) and two basket bucket seats, which I totally wanted to sneak into my suitcase and bring home with me. I could have totally got away with that right?! There was also some lights on the ceiling that were a Hidden Mickey – my photo is of the lights, which had a turtle design on them, from Tokelau. I can’t remember though if they were a different design in Moorea.
Moorea – Room 1003
I really loved the size and style of the Studio Room at Poly. It felt very spacious – although, there were of course only the two of us staying, so we had no need to set up the sofa bed, or pull down the Murphy bed, which would take up space. That said, I did end up using the sofa bed a couple of times when I wasn’t feeling well, and it didn’t feel cramped in the room. It’s all good!
The bedding was simple – plain white with a pretty bed throw at the foot of the bed, and an orange bolster cushion. The bedside tables were the invisible hanging type, with a little drawer, and a space underneath with USB points to charge phones – very handy! It was also awesome to actually have one on each side of the bed – well done Disney – it’s not that hard to do is it?! There was also two bedside lamps mounted on the wall, as you can see in the photo below.
Unlike most of the beds we’ve slept in at Disney Resorts, this one didn’t have a solid base. There was a drawer at the top end of the bed, and it was empty at the foot of the bed – which is where we were able to stowaway a couple of suitcases. Another handy feature.
The Murphy Bed is hidden underneath the (huge) television. I don’t have any photos of it pulled down unfortunately, but it is literally just a plain bed. The wonderful bonus though, is the Lilo & Stitch artwork next to the bed itself. The panel above the bed was a handy sideboard. The ice bucket is to the right on the telly.
Now, usually, the space under the TV is where a dresser would go, and I know we were a bit concerned about where all our clothes and stuff would go when we stayed here. But coupled with the under-the-bed drawers, drawers in the bathroom, the chest table, and the closet, there was plenty of storage space.
I really loved the artwork on the walls – I wonder if you can buy these prints in the BouTiki…? I want them for my house! The sofa was really comfy. I loved the colour, and the mismatched throw cushions. I mentioned that we did pull out the sofabed for me to use when I wasn’t feeling very well. There were some nights that I was tossing and turning, and I didn’t want to keep Steve awake all night. Comfort level – okay, a bit on the hard side compared with the bed which was soft.
I don’t seem to have a photo of the chest table that sat in front of the sofa. This was a great piece of furniture, as you could lift the table lid and store stuff inside. This is where we stashed souvenirs for the duration of our stay to save having to keep digging out our suitcases.
Opposite the sofa, against the other wall, was a mirror above a table, a couple of chairs, and a Maui TikiGod lamp. I NEED that lamp! I am obsessed with the Polynesian style and want to recreate it at home!
As we were on the ground floor, we had a little patio area which could be reached through the sliding doors. There were a couple of chairs and a table, and we often had little lizard visitors out there – so keep that door shut! There was lovely orange voile curtains for some privacy – but of course, at night don’t have the light on and just those curtains drawn – you can see right in! Then there were the heavier blackout curtains on top.
The kitchenette area was compact, and I think could do with being a touch bigger – especially if the room is full to capacity. There is a microwave above, with a cupboard for keeping groceries in, as well as the provision of some Disney paper plates, bowls, and cups, and plastic cutlery. There was also some regular glasses, and coffee mugs, as well as a can opener and corkscrew.
There was a roll of kitchen paper – I’m not sure if this was leftover from previous guests, or is provided. I had ordered a roll of it in our grocery shopping, but it wasn’t needed. A tea-towel, dish sponge and washing up liquid are provided.
You also have a toaster and coffee maker (but no kettle, so if you like your tea, bring your own!) and some packets of coffee. We really enjoy the Jofrrey’s coffee at the Disney Resorts. We may or may not acquire extras to bring home to the UK…
Under the counter is a fridge – but no freezer compartment which was REALLY annoying! We’ve had freezer sections in Disney fridges before, so I had ordered some frozen breakfast items with our shop – so we just had to keep them at the top of the fridge and hope we didn’t poison ourselves – bwahahahah. There is additional cupboard space next to the fridge.
The closet is next to the kitchenette. I didn’t take any photos of this, but inside is a large safe, a few hangers, laundry basket, iron, and ironing board, and also a baby’s fold up crib. Just past the closet was the interconnecting door to the other room, which was of course locked. This space is perfect for storing your suitcases, pushchair, wheelchair, and even ECV, which is where I would park mine at the end of the day.
And finally, the bathrooms. Yes, plural! One is a full bathroom with toilet, bath/shower, and sink; and the other is a sink and walk-in shower. The full bathroom is really big and spacious – almost unnecessarily so. I do wish I’d take a photo from the other angle so you could see how huge this room was!
There are a couple of drawers under the sink, and some shelves for your toiletries. We got the usual Disney H2O stuff – I nab the little hand soaps to bring home to the UK – I LOVE them, they’re such good bars of soap! We also had a complimentary can of bug spray, thanks to the Zika virus that was happening in 2016.
I wasn’t too keen on the yellow walls, didn’t seem to go well with everything else in the room. I did like the design on the shower curtain though, and the blue accent tiles. And there was a cute piece of mermaid artwork on the wall opposite the loo.
The walk-in shower was awesome. As well as a regular shower head, there was also a rainfall one on the ceiling. There was a seat in the shower too, which was not only handy for sitting on if you needed to, but also for placing your toiletries. I do wish they would provide a bathmat for when you step out of the bath or shower – I tend to use a towel, but it’s not ideal. Sink again has drawers and shelves, as well as more complimentary Disney H2O toiletries and another can of bug spray.
And that’s about it for the room tour! Overall we were very happy with the room for the two of us. The three of us will be staying here in our next trip, so it will be interesting to see how the space works out for that. For a family of 5, I personally think it might be pushing it a bit for space, it’s a shame that the resort doesn’t have more room configurations like other DVC Resorts.