The Polynesian Village Resort Lobby

A statue of Maui stands at the center of the Great Ceremonial House, which serves as the main lobby for the Polynesian Village Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Even though I had seen several photos of the newly-renovated Great Ceremonial House, I was interested to see it for myself in person. And overall, I thought the changes were pretty good. I have always liked their graphical use of Maui throughout the resort, and I like that he is included in three-dimensional form as well. Glad to see that he isn’t going anywhere. And I liked the colorful glass lighting fixtures up above him as well. I had hated to see the large fountain leave, but the area really does seem more open and big now, and it works well.

However, we weren’t quite as impressed with some of the other changes around the Polynesian Village Resort. The biggest complaint was that they took out the stream that used to run through the middle of the resort, starting from near the Great Ceremonial House and running toward Seven Seas Lagoon. It has been replaced with a large, flat grass area that still had fresh sod on it when we were there. Maybe they still aren’t finished yet and something better will be there soon, but I really missed the stream. And Laura said the same thing, too. It just looks too plain without it.

And as they expanded the pool, they took out some other planting areas that we enjoyed as well, including one near the boat dock that had a statue of Ngendei that I had photographed on previous visits. I’m sure those who use the pool appreciate what they did there, but it did come at a price, although probably most people would think that price was pretty small. Oh well.

Some changes to the Polynesian were good, and some were otherwise. But I guess I can’t really complain all that much until I actually pay to stay there.

_Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe. - Proverbs 28:2_6

About the photo:
This one was a little difficult to process, because the natural light coming in was pretty strong when compared to the lower light levels inside. It took a bit of work to get the lighting on Maui to look somewhat even. But don’t worry, I have some better, closer photos of him for later on.
A single RAW exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about the photo software and gear I use at the camera gear page.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus M.Zukio 25mm f1.8