Polynesian Party
Back in 2007 Magical Vacation and my site wanted to get fans of the Polynesian together in one place to enjoy a nice party. Some of you might remember the first Tikifest or maybe were even there. As I have discovered from my site there are so many fans of the Polynesian Village and it is such a great group of people that it is nice to meet up and discuss the resort and meet other fans.
For 2016 Magical Vacations Travel has set up an awesome themed dessert party with a Polynesian theme and will conclude with an awesome view of the castle and fireworks.
On July 24, 2016 from 8:00 PM to 10:30 PM located at the Contemporary Resort Porte Cochere, the party will include desserts, beverages and entertainment with the feel of Polynesia.
The entertainment will include hula dancers, an ukulele player and a magician to entertain the little ones. There will also be a cash bar to entertain the adults.
At the end of the evening the location provides a very close up view of the castle and fireworks without fighting the crowds of the park. Just grab a seat with some of the tasty tropical treats and enjoy the show.
The items available at the party include:
Milk Chocolate Macadamia nut mousse
Pineapple upside-down cake
Tropical Fruit display with coconut lime yogurt
Banana chocolate bread pudding w/ Kona coffee anglaise
Ice cream treats including Mickey Bars and Ice Cream Sandwiches
Drinks included in the ticket price include water, fruit punch, coffee and hot teas
Dessert Specialty drinks available at the cash bar.
This event is open to anyone that wants to attend. Just go to the link at Magical Vacations Travel and fill out the registration form. http://files.ctctcdn.com/a7adac63201/b72478b8-4b35-4648-9332-93d3ef715256.pdf
If you are interested in getting a room at a discounted rate for the Polynesian Village or Coronado Springs you can get a quote from Magical Vacations Travel to get their Magical Deal rooms before they are all booked up. You won’t find a better deal.
Visit to Mai Kai
My fascination for the Polynesian came from my time spent in Hawaii as a kid. My love for Tikis was more from my exposure to island culture than from Tiki bars. I was not old enough to enjoy the delisious creations these bars produced but a favorite place of mine as a kid was Lanai in San Mateo (http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=38104&forum=2 ). Most of my interest for all things bamboo came from spending weeks during the summer in Maui. Well I guess that watching Gilligan’s Island and visiting the Tiki Room left an impression on me also.
Once the Lanai was gone I had lost my local oasis that I could visit and feel like I was in the islands. Most of the Tiki Bars were closing down. Then in the 90’s I remembered seeing a place in Walt Disney World that seemed like Hawaii as I past by it on the monorail. I was going to be taking a vacation without my parents and I was considering Hawaii but then I thought I could have a little bit of Hawaii with my Disney. It was almost like the person that got chocolate in their peanut butter (what you don’t remember those Reese’s commercials?). I decided to book the Polynesian and shortly after my site was born to share my Polynesian Resort experience on this new thing called the World Wide Web.
My interest in Tiki Bars and Tiki drinks came on later and mostly because of a book I was given (The Book of Tiki). I had not been exposed to Tikibars or the drinks other than a quick sip of my dad’s Sidewinder Fang at the Lanai because I was too young to be in a bar back in the 80’s.
Having a website dedicated to a place like the Polynesian has introduced me to people very well known in the Tiki culture. One thing that has come from meeting these people is their passion for everything Tiki. For me early on it was just about the carvings, art and culture of the Pacific Islands. Now I have a rum collection and bottles of things like Orgeat, Falernum, Pernod and Fassionola….and I’m not afraid to use them.
Over the last few years the people I have met have inspired me to make my own Tiki Drinks (my new guide to living happily is Beachbum Berry Remixed http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Bum-Berry-Remixed-Jeff/dp/1593621396 ) and I have visited some amazing places. In just a few years I have been to 2 Trader Sam’s bars (multiple times), Oceanic Arts to meet Bob and Leroy and Smuggler’s Cove. I also watched the Polynesian Resort transform into the Polynesian Village Resort and many of the retro Adventureland themes be reintroduced around the resort and the Disney Vacation Club expansion.
After all these new experiences some of my new friends have been pushing me to go visit the Mai Kai. It was not hard to convince me that I needed to see this place but it was not easy for me to get to. It is 3073 miles away and usually when I am out in Florida I am at Disney. While it is not impossible to get there from Disney, it is not that close so your best bet is a flight into Ft. Lauderdale. All I can say is it is well worth the trip.
My friend Scott told me I needed to come out and go to Mai Kai. After having Jim “Hurricane” Hayward ( http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/ ) and Christie “Tiki Kiliki” White convince me that this was the center of the Tiki universe I decided to visit. I knew the place would be amazing but I had no idea how amazing the place really was.
I’ve been to some well themed places that include the original Trader Vic’s, the Tonga room, Smuggler’s cove, and the Lanai and I have seen the details in the decor and the authenticity of the props. Even both Trader Sam’s have a great collection of items throughout the bar that were not ordered from Oriental Trading Company. Considering places like Trader Sam’s and Smuggler’s Cove have put their collections together more recently than some of the Iconic locations that have been around 60 years, I think they did a nice job selecting items that don’t make you feel they were just put together in the last few years.
Mai Kai not only has a collection that has been around long enough that real shrunken heads are part of the display, but it has an amazing feel and history to it. I hesitated to write about it because I will never do it justice but I felt I needed to share my impressions. There are plenty of great articles out there about Mai Kai that are full of the facts about the place but I want to walk you through what I experienced.
It started with a greeting from Christie and some amazing drinks in the Molokai Bar (added in the 70’s). The appetizers were perfect to go along with the liquid goodness that kept on coming to the table. There are about 50 different drinks on the menu and I tried as many as I could. I want to say thank you to Roxanna for the great service and making us feel welcome.
I met the manager Kern Mattei and he gave us an amazing tour of the entire place. It is rare to find a place that has amazing food, creative and delicious drinks, incredible theming and entertainment. It is the type of place you need to get to early to have plenty of time to enjoy.
Thanks to my friend Scott for working with Pia Dahlquist (Mai-Kai Driector of Sales and Marketing) we had a great table set for us at the dinner show. Along with Jim Hayward and and Kim making the trip with me it was a perfect evening. This place was as close as you can get to taking a time machine back to the days when Tiki Bars and Supper Clubs were the most popular way to spend your evenings. I hope to be able to visit again because once is not enough.
For more information about Mai Kai go to http://maikai.com/
2015 Year in review
2015 was a year full of many new things at the Polynesian. The construction that started a few years ago with the closing of the East side of the resort as well as the removal of the Waterfall inside the lobby of the Great Ceremonial House had been completed and opened up in Spring of 2015. We saw the walls comedown in the lobby towards the end of 2014 but the pool area and the East side of the resort that has become the Disney Vacation Club side had its grand opening April 1, 2015. This was the completing of the major part of the construction that has been going on since 2014. The changes are still debated on how much of an improvement it has been to the resort but I still believe the resort has a lot to offer its guests with a tropical Adventureland feel that is found nowhere else.
The biggest question is “When will all the construction be done?” The last big project in this phase is the East Pool being transformed into the Oasis Pool. This had a late start but looks to be done maybe in time for Spring Break. That is all I am going to give you so don’t ask for a specific date…..like March 1st. For some great photos of the Oasis pool go to http://www.mousesteps.com/extra-features-mainmenu-64/parkresort-updates-mainmenu-65/1890-oasis-pool-at-disney-s-polynesian-village-resort-readies-for-opening
This does not mean that all construction will be done. They are still woring on the supports around the original longhouses and have been since last Fall. They have completed Samoa and Niue but last time I checked they were working on Rarotongs and not too long ago started Hawaii (as seen in the photo). People want to know how long it takes but there is no schedule and even going by how long Samoa took (a couple of months) that is no indication on how long other buildings will take because they are different sizes and weather can be a factor. This leaves Fiji, Aotearoa and Tuvalu to still be started. There are always minor projects going on around the resort and there will always be repair, repainting and just over all replacing of things almost every year. I also believe that when the pool and supports around the longhouses are done it will be the calm before the storm.
Typically the Hotel rooms (not DVC) have a renovation every so many years. Going back we have seen the last room renovation in 2013 and before that was one that went from 2005-2007. Prior to the renovation that started in 2005 we had one from 1996-1998. It seems like they are about 7 years or so apart. That would put us around 2020. Besides the things I have seen and heard about the future of the resort it seems that there are even more rumors out there about changes that will hit around the year 2020. I would take a lot of the rumors with a grain of salt and even some that are based on facts could drastically change before then. If you were keeping up with my past news reports since I found out about DVC coming in 2011 then you have seen how the plans changed over the years. I have heard of many plans for adding to the Polynesian and many of the rumors out there do not fit the facts but I think it is inevitable that more will be coming. It is too early to get into what that may be and I couldn’t share it anyway.
Seeing the changes and knowing what changes there may still be I still felt comfortable purchasing Polynesian DVC. I can’t say that I am impressed with the benefits of being a DVC member and it seems to be treated as the ugly stepchild at the resort but with that said it was a way for me to save money on staying at the resort. I also think they did a nice job on the Deluxe Studios and the Bungalows. I actually prefer the Studios over the Hotel rooms at the Polynesian Village Resort. The only other perk for DVC members at the resort seems to be the DVC only laundry room and the amount of times I have done laundry at the Polynesian is equal to the amount of times I have ridden a Space Shuttle. My advice is that if you want to purchase the DVC at the Polynesian then do it because you love the resort and the DVC Studios. While it is possible that an expansion of DVC at the resort will bring One Bedroom units, there is no guarantee.
Food options at the resort
While we all know that the food opitons at the resort are very popular there is some new things going on all around the resort.
Something not totally new but I found a nice option was if you go up to the Kona Cafe Coffee Bar in the evening you can sit around it and order any of the food from Kona Cafe or any drinks from Tambu Lounge. If you don’t want to stay and you arn’t in the mood for bringing Captain Cook’s back to your room then you can order from the To-Go menu from Kona at the same place you would order coffee in the morning. I did this and it took about 20 minutes. It worked out well but they need to give you a number or something because it was not obvious that your order was ready and they had no way to call our your name or number.
Other changes are ‘Ohana is now open until noon for breakfast. This extends breakfast by an hour. Also to help with the popularity of dinner, they are conisdering opening at 3:30 PM instead of 5:00 PM for dinner. If that still does not get you in then remember you can order the ‘Ohana dinner to your room but I suggest ordering for less people than you have. For two people order for one and you will have plenty. We had 6 and I think ordered for 4 and there was a ton of food left over.
During the winter months they are not serving food out at the pool but once it gets warmer they should start that back up. They will also have food servers at the new Oasis pool but I hear the food served pool side will be different than what you will be able to order from the new Oasis Grill. Also it is possible the Bar and Grill may not open as early as the new pool area. The food from the new Grill will only be served at the Oasis pool and there is no access to the Bar and Grill unless you have access to the gate with a resort reservation.
Tiki news
For those of you insterested in the Tiki community here is Jim “Hurricane” Hayward’s year in review. His page is my goto place for news and drink recipes.
For an amazing event that people from all over the world will be attending, check out the Hukilau event for 2016. They will also be celebrating 60 years of the Mai Kai on June 8-12 in Ft. Lauderdale.
New Requirements
So I have been thinking with some of the complaints about the Polynesian and why people don’t like it I think we need to have a few requirements before they can book at the resort.
1. Love all things Tiki
2. Be able to drink a Lapu Lapu and still remember how to get back to your room.
3. Be able to accomplish number 2 without taking any time to sober up.
4. Treat the staff as you want them to treat you.
5. Be able to clean your plate at ‘Ohana….including the bread pudding.
6. Know the real name of the boozy Dole Whip
7. Love all things Tiki…yes again.
8. Be able to name all 3 islands in the Seven Seas Lagoon.
9. Never call the GCH the Grand Ceremonial House
10. Understand how to spell Fiji
11. Know how to say Samoa
12. Think that the Polynesian was the best place to stay before it had a hot tub…well it only works half the time anyway.
13. Never even say the words Brady Bunch when describing the resort.
14. And last but most important…agree to number one and number 7.
