Polynesian Concierge

    
      The Polynesian's concierge lounge had been located at the Great Ceremonial House in the King Kamehameha room since it's inception in the early 1990's.  This was the first Disney resort to offer concierge services to it's guests.  The room was fairly small, and included a few desks with cast members there to make dinner reservations and cater to the guests needs.  There were a couple couches and chairs to rest your tired feet.  The food options were minimal with pastries and coffees and such during the morning, cookies as well as various sweets and beverages available throughout the day.  This service was available to all the Lagoon view rooms at the resort. The King Kamehameha lounge does not exist anymore as it was swallowed up by the sprawling Boutiki gift shop.

    In July of 1994 the concierge lounge was relocated to the Tonga (now called Hawaii) longhouse, which required major modifications to the building.   The west end of the building was remodeled to include a three level "wing" with desks on the lower level for guest services.

  
    A second level that housed the kitchen area and main seating area as well as a big screen tv,  before big screens were the norm.  I watched many a Super Bowls here as that was the time of year that we would head down.  My family would usually stay in some other longhouse and my grandfather would somehow get us access every time we went.  A smooth talking son of a gun.

I swear there used to be a bigger tv than this

   The third level was a more quaint area that included a seating area with books to read and a couple of tables with checker games set up that used shells as chips.

     This area also had a single men's and women's bathroom located upstairs, which was very useful when you had a family of five and only one bathroom in the room.

     The food options were vast throughout the day.  Breakfast included many pastries, muffins, breads,  cold cereals, fruits, juices, and coffees.  Lunch was more snack like options and small sandwiches.  And for dinner they expanded to include many different options that varied day to day.  Sometimes there was sushi other times there was chicken wings.  Foods that were pretty filling and you could substitute for a meal if need be.

      In the evening there were also adult beverage options for a little night cap.  Or come down and have a drink before you head out for the night.  Maybe off to Pleasure Island to celebrate the New Year?  Options included beer, wine, and various liquors.

Dick, the famous personality of many years.On the left.

    I feel like the concierge experience used to be an added bonus to your stay at a nice resort.  Now it seems like people are trying to "get their monies worth" when it comes to this offering, which has lead to more of a cafeteria experience than a "lounge" experience. There have been many changes to this area since these pictures were taken, and I hope to document them on my upcoming trip for reference.  Disney has added more table seating and removed the couches to allow for more families to eat their breakfast and get to the parks and spend more money.  The food offerings seem comprable to what they used to be, but the atmosphere is definitely lacking compared back in the late '90's when I actually used to hang out here and watch old Donald Duck shorts.  Or the great programming that used to be shown on the Disney Channel.  I am glad I got to enjoy these offerings when it was in its prime.    Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope to get a lot more of my WDW info and pics out to the masses soon. 

 

PHOTO REPORT:2001 Polynesian pool refurbishment

    The Polynesian Resort Volcano pool has been a staple of Walt Disney World since the opening of the resort.  With a volcanic rock mountain formation, a waterfall cascading down the face, as well as encompassing a water slide that was carved out of the rock work, this pool was different than most pools available to guests staying at hotels around this time. This pool featured a deep end (9' 10") with a diving board.  The diving board was eventually removed by the early 1980's, but the deep end remained.

Removal of old volcano pool

     The public consensus towards pools changed around the mid 90's when deep pools were deemed too dangerous, as well as the fact that a lifeguard would have to be on duty at all times. In the beginning of  2001, a refurbishment of the original volcano pool was in order, to rid itself of a deep end and make a zero entry element, to better conform to government regulations as well as a money saver in the long run. With the zero entry element eliminating the requirement of permanent structures that lower physically disabled guests into the pool, this is the direction that WDW pools will be heading in the future. (Grand Floridian pool being
converted as of this post)

   These photos were taken over the course of the month of January of 2001.  I have many pictures from this portion of the refurbishment, and I am posting them all here, so I apologize for the amount of pictures in this article.  As a fan of the history of the resort, I believe every picture that documents a period of time in the evolution of Walt Disney World is important, and worth sharing.

 







      What is very interesting is how much area was torn up.  As a guest at this time, having this entire area behind construction walls had to put a damper on your resort experience.  In the grand scheme of things, this was a plus for many reasons.  The addition of cabana areas and an updated dry play area for children, even though I do lament the loss of the deep end of the pool; especially since the remodel of the "quiet" pool that took place semi recently, which used to be 8' deep.  The ability to actually "swim" in a pool has been lost these days.  Even though I do know that my kids will enjoy the new pool as much as I enjoyed the former, as the theming is still top notch; I will still hold fond memories of the original even though it is history.
     I do hope you enjoy these many photographs and many thanks for taking time to read this. Please visit again, as I will continue to post pictures from WDW's past.