Staying in a Polynesian Deluxe Studio Standard View

Are you looking for a review of a deluxe studio at Disney’s Polynesian Villas and Bungalows? The pictures and information below are from my family’s most recent visit to Disney World. On this trip, we reserved one of the deluxe villas at the Hawaiian themed Polynesian Resort. 

Although our studio room was classified as having a standard view, we were AMAZED at what we could actually see from our balcony! I’ll explain more about this below. In this post, I will also provide our honest review of the deluxe studio standard view room at Disney’s Polynesian Villas and Bungalows.  

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Disney’s Polynesian Villas and Bungalows

Before I get into the actual review of our deluxe studio room, I want to explain the layout of the Polynesian Resort. This deluxe Disney hotel actually consists of two different properties:

• Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort 
• Disney’s Polynesian Villas and Bungalows

Walt Disney World classifies the Polynesian Village Resort as a deluxe hotel; whereas, the Polynesian Villas and Bungalows are considered deluxe villas.

Basically this means there are two separate resorts on property at the Polynesian. Although, you don’t really notice this while you are there. Guests in both the hotel side and the villas side share the amenities like the pools, restaurants, entertainment, etc.

You can read more about the fun activities you will find at the Polynesian in our post on Things to Do with Kids at Disney’s Polynesian Resort. The main differences between the hotel and villas are the building locations and the rooms.

If you have looked into staying at the Polynesian Resort, I’m sure you’ve noticed the prices are a bit expensive. The trick to finding an affordable deal on one of the rooms is to reserve a studio in the VILLAS side of the resort. I will explain how this works below.

Staying in a DVC Studio Cheap

If you look on the Disney World website, you will notice the Polynesian Villas and Bungalows are quite pricey. In order to book one of these rooms at a cheaper rate, you just rent vacation club points.

Disney’s Polynesian Villas and Bungalows is part of the Disney Vacation Club (DVC for short) timeshare program. Members who own timeshares often look to rent their points out when they don’t plan to use them. David’s Vacation Club Rentals is the most fair and reliable company we have found to rent points.

You can EASILY see the upfront pricing for your trip on the cost calculator on David’s website. If you are able to find availability for your travel dates, you can save HUNDREDS of dollars a night on your vacation. This is our number 1 way to save money at Disney World as you can stay in a deluxe studio for cheap!

Map

Disney’s Polynesian Resort consists of several different buildings, or longhouses, spread throughout the property. This layout is really similar to the moderate level hotels at Disney World. If you look at a map of the Polynesian, you can see the longhouses that belong to the resort and those that are part of the DVC villas. (I circled the DVC Villas in black in the photo below.)

When you complete online check in before your trip, you can request the building in which you would like to stay. This is not a guarantee, but Disney usually does a great job of trying to meet your request. Each of these DVC buildings holds rooms that are considered standard view and others that are lake view. I used a star above to show the location of our standard view deluxe studio.

Polynesian Deluxe Studio Floor Plan

When comparing the hotel rooms on the resort side to the deluxe studio rooms on the villas side, I prefer the floor plan of the rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Villas and Bungalows. The studios have two bathrooms, which is super helpful for families trying to get ready at the same time. As you walk in the door to the studio villa, you will see a small hallway with a kitchenette area.

The kitchenette holds the coffee maker, mini refrigerator, microwave, and paper products (bowls, utensils, etc.) The 2 bathrooms are to your right on this hallway. The first bathroom holds a toilet, sink, and combination tub/shower. The second bathroom contains a walk in shower with rain shower head and a sink area.

Once you come to the end of the hallway, you will notice the sleeping area complete with a queen size bed and a full size pullout sofa.

If you are looking for sleeping arrangements for a family of 5, the deluxe studio villas also offer a pullout daybed from the TV console. This bed is on the small side, but it works really well for young kids.

The studios also include a small table with chairs near the balcony. On the balcony, you will find seating for two along with a small console table. (If you are looking for tips on choosing the right Disney World hotel, join our Facebook group for personalized help on finding the best resort for your family!)

Amenities

The Polynesian Villas and Bungalows offer several different amenities for guests. Some of our favorites include:

• views of the Electrical Water Pageant
• small boat transportation from the hotel’s marina
• easy walking distance to Transportation and Ticket Center (monorail and ferry boat access here)
• monorail access from resort
• bus access to parks
• views of Magic Kingdom fireworks

The amenities listed above make the Polynesian a super convenient hotel for those wanting easy access to the parks, especially to Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Even though the layout of the resort is similar to a moderate level hotel, the location definitely puts the Polynesian in the deluxe category.

Best DVC Building at Polynesian

Before our recent visit, I read that Tokelau was the best Disney Vacation Club building for those with a standard view reservation. So, I requested this building on our check in form. Luckily Disney granted our request, and we were placed in a room with a balcony overlooking the gardens near the Oasis Pool. We really felt like Tokelau was the best building for us because it is the DVC building closest to the main pool and quick service restaurant.

Surprisingly, our “standard” view room also had an AMAZING view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks! You could stand on the balcony and watch the elaborate fireworks show AND hear the accompanying music from the Polynesian gardens. This was a huge perk for us since our three year old goes to sleep too early to watch the fireworks show.

With this amazing view, I was able to put our little one to bed and still enjoy the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the balcony. If you are looking for a standard view room in a similar location to ours, you can use the Touring Plan’s room finder feature to easily find one. Just filter your search results by standard view, and look for a room at the northern side of Tokelau facing the Oasis Pool.

DVC Studio Review

Overall, we really liked our room at the Polynesian Villas and Bungalows. The beds were really comfortable, and it was nice to have access to a refrigerator and a microwave. The double bathrooms were a really convenient feature, and we loved the rain shower head in the walk in shower!

My main complaint about the deluxe studios at the Polynesian is that they are pretty dark. Even with all of the lights turned on in the room, our bedroom area looked dreary. The bathrooms also utilize a lot of dark colors, which make them less bright as well.

One other feature of the room which we found odd was the balcony railing. If you are sitting on the balcony, you cannot see over the railing. Basically you only get a view of the gardens, water, or pool if you are standing up.

My husband is 6 foot 2 and just laughed every time he sat outside to take in the view since it was like having a fence right in front of your face. That being said, neither of those complaints were deal breakers for us. If I was basing our review just on the deluxe studio villa, we would not hesitate to stay there again.

Do you enjoy staying in a deluxe studio villa at the Polynesian? Comment below and tell us your pros and cons!