Disney's Polynesian Resort at Walt Disney World Florida is one of the company's flagship hotels. Themed with a South Seas feel it has 11 longhouses that contain the 847 guest rooms on the property.

Situated within the Magic Kingdom area of Walt Disney World the resort is only two monorail stops from the Magic Kingdom park. This equates to approximately a 10-15 minute journey time from your hotel room to the park gates. Similarly a monorail to Epcot operates from the ticketing and transportation hub which is also directly adjacent to the resort.

The hotel has a fantastic kids club (open from 4.30pm -midnight during the period of my stay), two swimming pools, one of which has a volcano slide and sloped entry, boat rental, water play area, man made beaches, and a phenomenal view of the nightly magic kingdom fireworks and water parade. It also has a number of onsite restaurants.

Aimed directly at the family market the hotel has a relaxed upmarket feel, which both children and adults alike will enjoy. 

Firstly, Location, Location, Location. Really, it couldn't be better for the Magic Kingdom. The resort sits on the edge of the lake and is directly opposite the Cinderella Castle. There are monorails every seven minutes to both MK and Epcot as well as buses that run to all of the other parks.

Secondly, the rooms are large. They comprise two Queen size beds as well as a sofa that converts into an additional single bed with a proper mattress. This is ideal for families and makes an excellent option for families with two children who find that their children are unable to share a double bed comfortably. As a family with small children we found that the rooms were of ample size even for an extended stay.

The landscaping on the resort is attractive and well kept with torches placed strategically throughout that give the whole hotel a lush tropical feel.

There are two excellent swimming pools onsite. One is a zero entry landscaped pool complete with volcano slide, the other is a "quiet pool" a simple, basic pool designed for swimming.

The resort has several manmade beaches that are great fun and very well kept. They have hammocks, sun loungers and even chair swings and are a great place to relax when taking a break from the parks. They also have a perfect view over the lake to Cinderella's castle and so are the ideal spot from which to watch the fireworks.

Some rooms have views of the the Cinderella castle. However there are ample other spots to get a view if your room doesn't have one. We found that the wooden staircases at the end of the Tokelau building gave fantastic views of the fireworks and across the lake although you can't hear the music from there. Luckily it is piped onto the beach just below. 

There are several restaurants and a number of shops. Ohana's the main restaurant offers a character breakfast. There is also an evening Laua meal and show on offer. 

Firstly, despite being in the deluxe category, the resort is fairly old and is showing it's age. The theming is South Seas which involves lots of dark wood and heavy fabrics. This can make the rooms appear dark. However, there are also a considerable number of maintenance issues. The back of our bathroom door had paint which was half peeled away, and the double sliding doors to our balcony were filthy. Really, really filthy with dust and cobwebs that looked like it hadn't been cleaned for years rather than just months. At a deluxe resort Disney should do better than this as it made me feel a little squemish. Not all of the rooms have balconies, in fact many of the rooms on level 2 don't. We requested a balcony on booking and were given one. However we were disappointed to find that there was no light on it. We had planned to sit out on it in the evening whilst our children slept, however as we couldn't read or even see each other in the pitch black this didn't work. 

The service is truly terrible. That isn't to say that it is uniformly so- when everything was going well the staff were both friendly and helpful. However if we ever mentioned a problem the service suddenly became "unhelpfulness with a smile". It seemed to me that the staff had been trained to believe that as long as they kept smiling and using a singsong voice they could actually be as rude as they pleased as long as they followed it with a " have a magical day" I have never stayed in a hotel in this (or in fact any other) price bracket where the staff were as unhelpful. There simply isn't any flexibility within the Disney system for individuals to make any decisions other than the corporate line. This makes it frustrating and frequently unworkable. 

There is only one quick service restaurant at the hotel and the menu is unchanging. This is fine if you are staying for only a couple of days but becomes much less interesting after a few days. There are also too few healthy options to maintain a good diet. 

• Research which room will suit you best. There is a great summary on http://www.tikimanpages.com about which longhouses offer which views and facilities. You can request a room at the time of booking and then refax your request a few days before you arrived.
• I don't believe that it is worth paying any additional money for a view of the Magic Kingdom. The castle from the rooms is so small that you can block it by putting your thumb at arms length. Better to spend the money elsewhere.
• We didn't take the meal plan but wish that we had as we would have saved money. At many times of year it is now included in the room rate. However, if you take the meal plan you need to make restaurant reservations NOW. The best way to do that is online at the Disney website. We tried to do it by phone and it was torture and slower than the website.
• There is a resort cup that you can purchase that allows unlimited free refills throughout your stay. However many staff seem not to know about it. The reception staff and concierge claimed that there was no such thing. However, fortunately we spied them in Captain Cooks and bought one. They are approx $14 and are situated behind the tills in Captain Cooks.
• Book your kids club reservations before you go.
• We bought the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and it was our bible. It saved us hours of queueing and was worth several times its cover price.
• Even if you stay at the Polynesian I recommend getting a car particularly if you have children. Epcot and MK are easy to access by monorail, but with tired children using a car to get to Hollywood studios and Animal Kingdom was much easier. It also meant that we could eat and shop off site.
• Have a look at my guide to planning your Disney Vacation http://hubpages.com/hub/Disneyworld-Planning-your-vacation

Despite the negatives listed above I would still consider staying at the Polynesian again as long as I could get a reasonable room rate. (http://www.mousesavers.com/ tells you of all the special promotions and offers on rooms) The convenience of the location did outweigh the other negative factors and the hotel was fantastic for children whilst being sufficiently nice that adults could enjoy it too.