Not too many substantive changes this week, but here we go.

Cabanas

The cabanas are coming along quickly, and every time I go back I have to make the shot wider to get all of the action.

Walls Around the Water Feature

More walls are sprouting up around the central water feature. It seems Disney is trying to acclimate people to the idea that the feature will soon be entirely obscured gradually.

The view from the upper level is now entirely walled off.

And there is now one wall on the lower level, obstructing the view from the rear entrance.

At the moment, this is the only wall blocking the water feature on the lobby level. You can still see it from the other three sides.

And, as you probably noticed, lighting fixtures have been installed on the walls.

Wall at former Captain Cook’s site decorated

The wall that obstructs the former Moana Mickey Arcade and Captain Cook’s has been decorated with a red pattern, a Lilo and Stitch cutout, and images of Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto, announced earlier this month. Presumably, this will be the site of the new lounge.

Club Disney sign revealed, walkway opened.

The walkway in front of the former Neverland Club, now Club Disney, has been reopened and the new signage has been uncovered. The Neverland Club, now Club Disney, is expected to reopen in mid-June. A walkway adjacent has been closed and is being repaved.

Misc.

Images not otherwise categorized, most of which do not represent significant change.

Map

Just a slight change this week as far as the map is concerned: the opening of the Club Disney walkway and closure of its adjacent walkway.

I’ve decided to make the Poly construction updates a weekly series. Since we established a baseline with our first construction update, we’ll only have to cover the deltas in these weekly installments, which should make it slightly less onerous. This article reflects status as of May 13 unless otherwise noted, although some photos were taken on May 7 or earlier.

This is also the first update since Disney’s new concept renderings for the Poly were released. These renderings confirmed the widespread rumors that the lobby’s central water feature would be removed.

Progress on Cabanas

The Cabanas are taking shape quickly. Included are two panoramas of the cabanas, one from May 7, and one from May 13. The previous article also includes a panoramic image of the cabanas.

Additional cabanas on the far right have been framed out.

Here’s a panorama taken from a different angle. It has a less direct view inside the cabanas, but shows more of the construction site.

You see that the crane is hard at work on something behind that tarp. Here’s the best image I could get behind the tarp.

Changes in the Great Ceremonial House

The Great Ceremonial House has seen a few changes, though they’re mostly tucked away. There is one highly-visible bombshell that we’ll address after the mundane stuff.

These things are not that surprising, as the services in the rear of the GCH have already been closed, and the partial closure of the entry way doesn’t have a major impact on service.

But then, on May 8, two walls were placed on the upper floor of the lobby.

This is a pretty big deal, and Disney undoubtedly left some view of the water feature open so that people could have time to adjust to the concept of not seeing it anymore. Any way you slice it, the water feature’s days are numbered, and it will soon be removed — hence the two walls that are already up.

Tokelau Closed and Tarped

A third longhouse has been vacated and tarped for transformation into a DVC property.

Neverland Club Walkway Closed; Sign Covered

The Neverland Club Walkway is now closed off and the sign has been covered with a blanket.

Map

Here’s an updated map.

This post is from April. Check out the latest version here: https://www.wdwtools.com/blog/polynesian-village-resort-construction-update-october-27-2014

Correction, Apr. 28, 2014: The Nanea Volcano Pool is not closed for refurbishment. This article originally contained pictures of the closed pool under the assumption it was closed for refurbishment. The closure we saw was simply a brief maintenance closure. The refurbishment is not due until later in the summer.

Aloha! Many vacationers with reservations at the Polynesian have been unsettled by recent news of aggressive construction. This is an overview of the construction ongoing at the resort as of this week, April 21-25, 2014.

We start at the walkway from the TTC to the Poly. Almost the entire thing is tarped.

What’s behind all this tarp? Take a look, as seen from the TTC->Poly monorail.

As you can probably tell, this section of the Poly is pretty noisy right now between the big machinery and the renovation of Tahiti.

Someone might suggest that you get a room on the other side of the resort to avoid that noise. We’ll get to that later.

Fortunately, the resort’s interior walkways are minimally impacted:

One of the big controversies in this renovation is the refurbishment of the Great Ceremonial House, home to major dining attractions like ‘Ohana and an unassuming but widely-loved water feature in the center of the lobby. At the moment, the majority of the GCH remains intact:

Construction is beginning to encroach from the rear of the GCH, however. Moana Mickey’s Arcade is closed.

Worse, Captain Cook’s, the Polynesian’s 24-hour counter service restaurant, has been shuttered and relocated into a cast break area underneath the staircase:

The rest of the GCH remains intact for now.

Earlier we discussed the possibility of locating a room on the opposite side of the resort to avoid construction noise. That’d be a neat idea, except…

the legendary beach on Seven Seas Lagoon is also experiencing heavy construction. Most of it is being consumed by new DVC villas, some of which even jut into the water. There is not much room left for viewing fireworks. It seems inevitable that this beach will be hard to access unless you’re staying in the DVC properties being raised up.

Not pictured here is construction on the parking lot or construction on the Neverland Club. The parking lot construction is mostly a big tarp around the lot and the Neverland Club was closed but did not have externally visible signs of construction when I swung by.

Here’s a map showing current closures and construction areas. You’ll have to click to blow it up and see the detail.

Lots of people have been unhappy about the construction and asking to be moved to another deluxe resort after check-in. From what I’ve heard, most people have had success with this approach. Disney does not seem to be accommodating requests to move prior to check-in, so just plan to ask after you’ve checked in and gone to your room for a few short minutes.

… Mahalo everyone.