Disney World’s NEW Island Tower at the Polynesian Village Resort hotel is officially OPEN!

As of December 17th, this hotel expansion is now welcoming guests so you know we had to be there to check it all out. The Island Tower is home to brand-new hotel rooms, a new pool and splash pad, gorgeous terrace gardens, and an all-new restaurant — Wailulu Bar & Grill. We had our sights set on this menu for a while, and now it’s time to finally dig in!

Atmosphere

Wailulu Bar & Grill boasts gorgeous views of Seven Seas Lagoon and Cinderella’s Castle at Magic Kingdom. This casual walk-up pool bar and grill features an all-day menu for lunch and dinner, but specialty coffee and on-the-go morning pastries are also available during breakfast. You’ll find it located just off of the new Cove Pool, and the vibes are immaculate.

The restaurant’s space is adorned with Polynesian-inspired artwork with much of it crafted using recycled materials and reclaimed fishing nets. Fish swim overhead once you walk inside. It’s like stepping into the ocean.

You’ll even find a Manta Ray swimming above your head when you sit down to dine. This is a quick service location and seating includes tables, chairs, and longer padded benches.

Booth seating is also available.

There’s also an outdoor patio.

Some seating is available at the bar.

The view of Seven Seas Lagoon is stunning. You can also see Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom from the restaurant.

So, what’s on the menu at Wailulu Bar & Grill? We thought you’d never ask!

Menu

Appetizers like Sweet Potato Hummus and Spiced Ham Musubi are on the menu with more substantial eats including Sticky Pork Ribs, Poke Bowls, and a Wayfinder Burger. A signature Polynesian Resort treat — a DOLE Whip Sundae — is also available! There are plenty of Starters to choose from…

…along with delicious-sounding Main Entrées like Teriyaki Chicken Sliders and Short Rib Loco Moco.

Kiddos will be able to choose from a variety of appetizers, entrées, and sides…

…and of course, there will also be DESSERT including a DOLE Whip Sundae, chocolate cake, and crème brûlée.

There are non-alcoholic specialty beverages and plenty of tropical-inspired cocktails…

…a pretty wide selection of beer…

…and a decent wine list as well.

If you’re craving coffees or tea, along with specialty coffees, you can grab those here as well!

And now, on to the main event!

Eats

Let’s dig into some Starters. The Ahi Tuna Crisps are made with Marinated Ahi Tuna, Crispy Fried Wontons, Avocado Crema, Sriracha-Aïoli, for Soy Glaze for $17. First, these are nachos, and we LOVE THAT. We also loved how big the portion size was, meaning it’s shareable. The wonton chips are super crispy and don’t get soggy, even under all those toppings. The toppings and dressings tie all the flavors together. The Ahi tuna melts in your mouth and we like how it has just enough heat to detect it, but it’s not hot.

The Sticky Pork Ribs are $15 and made with Salt-cured Green Cabbage, Furikake, Jicama Slaw, and Pineapple Chips. They are DELICIOUS. It’s like they’re glazed in a teriyaki sauce, but you also get a nice sesame flavor in it. The meat is SO well cooked, too: they’re crispy on the inside, but inside is a nice fatty piece of meat — yep, the meat is mostly fat, and at times, the aesthetic of the ribs made us feel like we were chewing on a burnt piece of meat…but kinda’ like in a good way, right?

The Crispy Chicken Wings are Adobo-marinated with a Soy Glaze and served with a Tomato-Fresno Pepper Relish for $15. These are SO good, but the main reason they are good is the sauce and toppings. The wings are cooked nice and crispy on the outside, but tender on the inside. The toppings are so FRESH and we get a nice savory flavor from the glaze, as well as the additional flavor of the toppings. However, like we said, the TOPPINGS are what makes this sing — the chicken wings are just basic chicken wings.

The Grilled Shrimp is $16 and is made with Smoked Paprika, Black Garlic Emulsion, Garlic-Lemon Butter, and Crispy Garlic. Okay, so you only get three pieces of shrimp, but these shrimp are HUGE. The sauce itself had a bit of a kick, thanks to that paprika, and there was tons of garlic flavor (vampires beware!). It’s also nice that it comes with some greens on the side to balance out the smokey garlic flavor. It’s an appetizer, but it could also be a light lunch!

The Musubi is Glazed Spam, Crispy Rice Pearls, Furikake, and Sriracha-Honey for $12. Let’s just start singing the Monty Python “Spam” song, okay? This is so unique and savory with a nice crunch from the rice pearls. Spam can be AMAZING, y’all, and this is proof.

The Grilled Shishito Peppers for $11 come with Eggplant-Tahini Purée and they are YUM. Okay, so it’s hard to mess up blistered shishito peppers, but these were well-cooked. Now, we don’t normally expect heat from these kind of peppers, but the thing with Shishito peppers it that about every one in 10 is spicy. Well, we had two spicy ones on our plate, so you’ve been warned. The tahine purée is good, and it doesn’t smother the pepper.

Okay, let’s head into Main Courses — yes, we’re not even halfway done with the review yet. Thanks to Moana, we had to get the Wayfinder Burger for $23, made with Two Pressed Patties, American Cheese, Onion Jam, and Volcano Sauce on a Sweet Bun served with Mac Salad or Sweet Potato Fries (we went for the fries because we love sweet potatoes). The beef is SO fresh and it has that homemade burger taste (you know the kind you can’t get from a pre-made patty). Honestly, we were getting flashbacks to the Steakhouse 71 Stack Burger that we love so much. The sauce on it has a bit of a kick, and it’s SO nice. We also loved the caramelized onion jam that offers a hint of sweetness.

The Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Poke Bowl is made with Sushi-style Rice, Pickled Cucumbers, Vegetables, Spicy Poke Sauce, and Macadamia Nuts with Grilled Teriyaki Chicken for $22. SO much good stuff here. It’s just a standard poke bowl, but IT IS SO GOOD. The chicken was well-cooked, juicy, and tender (dare we say MOIST even though we know some people hate that word?). It also had a great flavor and the poke sauce was FIRE, y’all. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with a good poke bowl.

The Grilled Fish of the Day was Hamachi, and it’s served with Green Curry Broth, Jasmine Rice, Chickpeas, and Sweet Potato for $32. It’s such a well-cooked fish and what makes it good is that it’s a white fish, so you don’t get a super fishy flavor from it. It’s nice and meaty and went well with the accompaniments. Our only complaint about it? WE WANTED MORE (but don’t we always?).

We also ordered the Teriyaki Chicken Sliders for $19, made with Kimchi Slaw on a Sweet Bun served with Mac Salad or Sweet Potato Fries. These sliders are HUGE — they’re only like 10% smaller than a full sandwich. There’s a lovely teriyaki flavor mixed in, and the slaw offers a nice extra flavor and crunch.

We love that you can choose a side, and we went with Mac Salad and this could be the best we’ve ever had. It’s made with purple sweet potato, which is a common Hawaiian ingredient. Then there’s the mayo base with the zingy vinegar — INCREDIBLE. We want to get a pint of this and just eat it on the beach ALL DAY LONG.

The Sautéed Shrimp Chow Mein Salad has Charred Cabbage, Shishito Peppers, Hearts of Palm, Pickled Sweet Potato, Sunflower Butter Dressing for $22. Color us IMPRESSED. Now we think some folks might think this salad is overdressed with how much sunflower butter dressing is on it, but we thought it was just very flavorful. You get three MASSIVE shrimp, and the salad itself is well-portioned and hardy. This a very filling salad.

Speaking of impressed, our favorite thing EVER could be the Beef Short Rib Loco Moco with Shiitake Mushroom Gravy, Crispy Rice Cake, and Fried Egg for $33. This is the one the servers recommend, and for good reason. The short rib is tender. The mushroom gravy is flavorful (and we could’ve ordered a bowl of it like soup). The egg is perfectly cooked — that yolk just drips down and adds extra-ness to everything. The crunchy rice is nice, too, for texture (although it’s soft on the inside).

We also checked out the Kid’s White Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese for $10.50. It’s served with a choice of two selections and choice of Small Lowfat Milk, Small DASAN Bottled Water, or Small Minute Maid Apple Juice. So, this was disappointing. We get that picky kids might prefer bland, but this just wasn’t great. The pasta was overcooked and the cheese sauce was watery. Honestly, we’d rather have boxed mac and cheese over this. The broccoli we got as a side also had like ZERO flavor.

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Let’s talk about the DOLE Whip Sundae. It comes with Hibiscus Meringue, and Macerated Pineapple and Berries for $8. First, Wailulu Bar & Grill is the ONLY sitdown location in Disney World where you can order a DOLE Whip. NO, REALLY. This baby is TALL and its sitting in a bed of fresh fruit and their juices. Then you’ve got a cute little flower on top with the meringue bits. So it’s pretty! And there’s a little Mickey on top. ❤️❤️❤️

BUT…this sundae isn’t all presentation. It’s also delicious. When you take a bite, you get the cold DOLE Whip, the meringue just crumbles in your mouth. You can’t detect much of the hibiscus flavor of it, though — it’s overwhelmed by the pineapple. So this is a solid DOLE Whip with some fruity extras. DAY MADE.

We never thought we’d say this about Chocolate Cake, but the chocolate cake here is probably our new favorite dessert in Disney World. Forget paying $23 for a slice of cake…come here and get this $11 slice with Salted Caramel Ganache and Coffee-infused Chantilly Cream. First, this isn’t a basic chocolate cake and you can tell just by looking at it. This baby is EXTRA.

That salted caramel ganache just takes it up SEVERAL levels. Then there are these little salted pieces IN The cake that are just CHEF’S KISS. It’s also served with Caramelized Banana, and that just added to the flavor. Seriously, we would tell you to leave Magic Kingdom for this cake.

Drinks

You know we HAD to try the Passion Fruit and Pineapple Daiquiri for $15.50. It’s made with Ten to One Caribbean White Rum, Minute Maid Passion Fruit Orange Guava Juice, Pineapple, and Lime. Man, oh, man, we wanted to like this but something just didn’t work. It taste great on the tongue when you first take a sip, but then it has this odd aftertaste we didn’t like. Maybe it’s because we’re used to traditional POG juice and the pineapple knocks the balance off? We just thought it was wonky…yep, that’s the word we’re using here.

The Kula Strawberry Sake is made with Wildflowers Junmai Sake, Campari Liqueur, Rockey’s Botanical Liqueur, and Wild Strawberry for $16.50. Okay, so we’re just going to tell you NOT to order this. You DO get a strawberry taste on the front, and it’s nice and fruity, but then it’s SO bitter like you just swallowed cough medicine. That bitterness stays on the tongue, too. For you Club Cool fans, imagine the aftertaste of Beverly, and you’re close to imagining what this was like.

The Lili’uokalani Mai Tai for $16.50 is made withLili’uoakalani Tea-infused Vodka, Jamaican Rum, Passion Fruit, Guava, Lime, Orgeat (Almond) andFalernum. Honestly, this drink was a little lackluster. You can taste a bit of the guava, but it’s not as fruity as you would think it should be with all those ingredients.

BUT The Banana Old Fashioned is good, although it’s not a particular standout for us. For $17.50, it’s made with Michter’s Single Barrel Rye Whiskey, Tempus Fugit Spirits Crème de Banane, Appleton Estate 8 yr Reserve Rum, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram Liqueur, and Angostura Bitters. It’s not particularly like a standard old-fashioned, so if that’s your thing, you’ve been warned. It isn’t super sweet, though, and the banana isn’t overpowering, so it’s well-balanced. Is it the best drink we’ve ever had? Well, not really. Would we order it again? Probably.

However, the Hibiscus Margarita is pretty tasty. For $17.50, you get a drink with Teremana Blanco Tequila, Sorel Liqueur, Cinnamon Syrup, Hibiscus, and Agave. It’s well-balanced, although you can taste the tequila. The hibiscus tea in it is steeped for 15 minutes for maximum taste.

You can get a non-alcoholic version of the tea, and we slightly prefer that version, but this is still a solid margarita you want to drink by the pool (technically, you ARE drinking it by the pool in this restaurant).

Nosh or Not

You should stop by Wailulu Bar & Grill if…

• You want a unique dining experience you can’t find anywhere else in Disney World. This restaurant has really thought out its menu to showcase Polynesian ingredients and flavors.
• You’re staying at Island Tower or the Polynesian. It only makes sense that if you’re staying here, you make your way over to this dining spot.
• You want to dine with a view. Wailulu Bar & Grill has one of the best views in Disney World right now of Seven Seas Lagoon and Magic Kingdom — and you don’t even need a reservation to dine there.

You should skip Wailulu Bar & Grill if…

• You have picky eaters. The flavors here are very unique and picky eaters might be turned off. There is a kid’s menu with basics like a Cheeseburger and Macaroni & Cheese, but that might not be enough for those who are super picky.
• You’re not staying at the Polynesian. Although the Polynesian Village Resort is on Disney World’s Monorail system, you’ll still have to hike over to Island Tower from the Monorail station in the main part of the resort if you want to eat here.
• You want a dedicated restaurant reservation. For all intents and purposes, this is a quick-service dining location, and the restaurant is not currently taking reservations. So we can imagine it could get a little busy here, especially during the more crowded parts of the year.

Overall

It’s kind of interesting that it took THIS long for Disney to finally put in a Polynesian dining experience that feels this authentic at the Polynesian Village Resort Hotel. The menu is something you won’t find anywhere else in Disney World, and if you’re looking for that kind of unique dining spot, Wailulu Bar & Grill is for you. It’s authentic. It’s unique. It’s real.

We’ll be bringing you a FULL TOUR of the new Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, so check back here for more! In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for the latest news from Disney World. Stay tuned for more updates and so you don’t miss a thing!

Check Out the FULL MENU for Wailulu Bar & Grill at the NEW Island Tower Here

Will you be checking out this new restaurant? Tell us in the comments.