906: Resort Wars Showdown: Polynesian vs. Animal Kingdom Lodge

Main Street Magic - A Walt Disney World Podcast

Hosts Jeremy and Rhonda engage in a 'Resort Wars Showdown' to compare Disney's Polynesian Village Resort and Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Key takeaways

• The hosts reached a stalemate with a 3-3 tie across the competitive rounds.
• Animal Kingdom Lodge was recognized for having superior food quality at restaurants like Boma and Sanaa.

Main topics

• Disney's Polynesian Village Resort
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

Notable quotes

Polynesian feels like home and Animal Kingdom Lodge feels like you're on vacation.

Conclusion

This episode serves as a helpful guide for Disney travelers weighing t

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) On this episode, Resort Wars Showdown continues as two heavyweight Disney resorts step into the ring. Disney's Polynesian Village Resort and Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. Today's September 22nd, 2026, and this is episode 906 of the Main Street Magic podcast. Speaker 3 (0:15) Jeremy and Rhonda are more than a little fond of Disney World, so they made this podcast to share it all with you. Reports and resorts, top ten lists of all sorts. Main Street Magic's bringing it home for you. Speaker 1 (0:32) Hello and welcome to another episode of Main Street Magic. I'm your host, Jeremy Stein, and as always, I'm joined by my lovely wife, Rhonda. Hey, guys. Don't forget to follow us on all your favorite social platforms at MainSTMagic. And be sure to sign up for our free email newsletter at MainSTMagic.com so you never miss the latest Disney news, podcast episodes, vacation tips, and more. Looking for your next favorite Disney shirt? Check out our newest designs and collections at MainStreetShirts.com. And if you're planning your next Disney vacation, Our friends at MEI Travel offer completely free vacation planning services so you can focus on making magical memories. Visit mainstmagic.com forward slash travel for a fee-free, no obligation quote today. If you need help snagging that hard-to-get dining reservation, Mouse Dining keeps watch and alerts you when your reservation becomes available. You can start for free at msmfriends.com. And if you want even more Main Street Magic, Join Wonderland Crew on Patreon for bonus episodes, exclusive content, live streams, discounts, and an amazing Disney community. Join today at wonderlandcrew.com. Now before we jump in, don't forget to hit that subscribe or follow button so you never miss a brand new episode every Tuesday and Friday. Speaker 2 (1:46) Well, hey guys, how's everybody doing? Jeremy, how are you specifically? I'm Speaker 1 (1:52) good. Pacific, specific, specific. Yeah, that word. Uh-huh. I am still having my coffee, man. Yeah, I'm good. How Speaker 2 (1:58) was your weekend? I worked. You left on a plane. I Speaker 1 (2:04) did leave on a plane. I did. Yeah. I went to New Jersey and Philadelphia. How was that? It was wonderful. I had not been to Philly in a very long time. Yeah, my dad is from the Philadelphia area. So we would go back. We wouldn't really visit family because they were all, I feel like, gone by then. But we'd go back up there and check it out. Philly's a cool city. My best friend, Matt, lives right across the river. there in New Jersey. And so I flew into Philly. We immediately went to John's Roast Pork and got a Philly cheesesteak and a roast pork sandwich, which they're both obviously well known for. And how was it? The size of a baby. And I'm like, you say that sometimes and you're joking. This is the biggest sandwiches I've ever seen. So we did that. That was awesome. and then went to see Resident Evil that night, which was shockingly a very, very good movie. If you're a horror comedy fan, it was outstanding. But the main reason I went up is The Offspring was playing at Asbury Park in New Jersey over on the shore. They're doing the See Here Now Festival this weekend. So Friday night, they're already going to be in town. So they were playing this private little show at the Stone Pony. which has been made famous by Bruce Springsteen. This really small 800-person club, and they were doing this Just the Punk Stuff show. So they're only playing non-radio hits. So they're playing all their old stuff. What made it super cool is the first concert that Matt and I ever went to in 1995 was to see The Offspring back up in Virginia at George Mason University. So we were 15 years old. Speaker 2 (3:47) Wow. We are now Speaker 1 (3:47) 47 years old. Ooh Speaker 2 (3:49) wee. Speaker 1 (3:50) Going to see the same band, which was super cool. The average age was probably our age. Okay. Speaker 2 (3:57) But Speaker 1 (3:57) they all acted like they were still in their 20s because there was moshing and circle pits and crowd surfing and all kinds of stuff. You would not have had a good time. No. There was this. I Speaker 2 (4:07) don't like that kind of stuff. I wanted to go to Ella Langley last night. Yeah, I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to. And I've seen stuff on Facebook and I'm literally like kind of had Speaker 1 (4:17) FOMO. Speaker 2 (4:18) Well, Speaker 1 (4:18) here's Speaker 2 (4:18) a Speaker 1 (4:18) good thing about that. First of all, if Matt and I had not seen The Offspring in 1995, there's been one billion chances to see them since. And Ella Langley's new. She's going to tour again. Like, you'll get a chance to see her. We'll make sure of it. But it was a lot of fun. Flew back yesterday, Saturday. So, yeah, getting ready for a week. And then you and I fly to Atlanta on Friday for less than 24 hours, I think, to go to the Tabernacle and see Cameron Whitcomb. I'm excited Speaker 2 (4:46) about that. So Speaker 1 (4:47) I'm very pumped. But we are. back with another Resort Wars showdown. Okay. If you remember the last one, Saratoga and Riviera, we're going to try and get this one right the first time. Okay. Right? So this is going to be Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. It is going up against Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, Gut Check, Polynesian. Polynesian. I would say the same thing. I don't know that it's going to turn out that way. Speaker 2 (5:11) I would say that, and I think this is awful to say it like this, but... The only reason is based on if you get a room in Animal Kingdom Lodge, it's always about a mile away. Speaker 1 (5:26) Sometimes. Yeah. So. But if that's all you're basing. That's Speaker 2 (5:30) what I mean. Your resort pick Speaker 1 (5:31) on, then that's why we need this episode. Yeah. Because that's Speaker 2 (5:34) a Speaker 1 (5:34) silly criteria. Yeah. So team. Polynesian Village Resort. This opened in 1971 along with the Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney World. Themed after the South Pacific Islands. Of course, you've got your, it's a Disney Deluxe Resort. You have DVC there. You do have the Polynesian Tower now, you know, that opened a little over a year or so ago. You have those duo studios in there. Of course, you have your regular deluxe studios. You have one and two bedroom villas. You have the overwater. bungalows. Speaker 3 (6:08) It Speaker 1 (6:09) is tropical. It's nostalgic. It is right there next to Magic Kingdom on the Seven Seas Lagoon, which is pretty awesome. Animal Kingdom Lodge opened in 2001. Of course, the theme is an African lodge. You have the savannas. You have Jumbo. You have Kidani buildings and sections. The art, the architecture, there's cultural storytelling throughout. This is also a deluxe resort with DVC accommodations. You have your standard rooms. You've got deluxe studios, one and two bedroom villas. They've got the three bedroom grand villa. That is that two story that we toured Speaker 2 (6:45) the Speaker 1 (6:45) one time that is literally two stories tall. It's very immersive. If the vibe of Polly. is very lively and exciting i feel like the vibe often of animal kingdom lodge is kind of the opposite it's very chill relax right it's very peaceful um what was Speaker 2 (7:02) your Speaker 1 (7:02) gut Speaker 2 (7:02) check by the way mine Speaker 1 (7:03) was poly as well okay uh major advantage here i mean you're you're on the savannah it's got animals yeah right if you book i just started to say the right side out of your room but even if you don't then we'll i'm sure get into that all right round one we're going to start with the theming and atmosphere Again, Polynesian is all tropical. It really immerses you right into the middle of Polynesian islands of Hawaii, right? Yes, it does. It's the exterior theming. What's great is both of these are still in a time where I think Disney focused so much on exterior theming. Okay. Where... With things like, I know that Grand Destino, I know that the Riviera, I know that the Pali Towers, they still have exterior theming to fit the overall theming of where they sit, Speaker 2 (7:50) but Speaker 1 (7:50) I don't feel like they've gone the length that they used to, right? Yeah. You have those long houses, you know, the great ceremonial house. I love the indoor outdoor space. Oh, yeah. You know, where it kind of stinks when it's raining, but much like an open air Hawaiian style. Yeah. It is built just like that. Yeah. At Animal Kingdom, you've got the Jumbo House, which is the big, huge, you know, I guess, heyday of Disney resort design. Joe Rohde designed this resort. You have the big, gorgeous lobby in Kidani. It's much more of that homey feel. Right. So when you're looking at tropical versus African savanna, which one do you think? Takes the takes the win for theming and atmosphere. Speaker 2 (8:40) I feel like this is really hard. Extremely. But I think I'm going to pick Polly. Speaker 1 (8:47) Okay. Why would you select