Island Tower at Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

[mkatsy]

Whaaaat?!? After months and months of speculation, the news drops and I miss the whole thing Story of my life

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

Whaaaat?!? After months and months of speculation, the news drops and I miss the whole thing Story of my life

Have fun catching up- can’t wait to hear your thoughts! I’m sure it’s too soon but have you had a chance to see if there’s been any new documents uploaded on the comptroller site? You’re so good at sleuthing documents and information

 

[Aussie RJ]

Poly is already too busy. This will make Grand Central Station feel like a Picnic spot. Looks nice though!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I don't think there's any reason to think the point chart would exceed that of VGF. I wouldn't even expect it to match it.

I don't think the demand is currently there to try to squeeze people on either price or point charts. They will want to get the points moved.

I would wager a good deal that the point chart exceeds VGF— the one and two bedroom point charts at VGF were set over a decade ago. My current thinking is that standard view will probably be close and then the theme park view categories will significantly higher than “lake view” at VGF. Not sure where pool/lake/garden view rooms will come out. At VDH they weren’t shy about labeling rooms as “preferred” and we might see something like that here too.

DVC doesn’t need to sell marginal buyers on the theme park view (or other preferred view) charts, they’ll point to much lower standard view rooms and people will buy accordingly and either take shorter trips or purchase additional points (direct/resale/SAP) later if they can’t get the lower category views. Plus, the more points they cram into the tower, the lower dues are for everyone.

 

[MinnieSueB]

As someone who is not a fan of the Riviera, I will say that I strongly agree with three of your items:

Primo Piatto is the best quick service at a DVC.
Topolino's is the best signature dining (maybe along with Jiko) at a DVC.
And an actual espresso maker (not one of the push-button computerized units found at AKV and elsewhere) in Petit Cafe is a very nice addition and should be in every last DVC.

Can you say Blueberry-Lemon pancakes? THE BEST!!!

 

[MarkNC2Disney]

Poly is already too busy. This will make Grand Central Station feel like a Picnic spot. Looks nice though!

It’ll bleed over to VGF too.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

It’ll bleed over to VGF too.

This is my concern as a VGF owner (and pool enthusiast).

 

[Mikey15]

I already got a marketing email from Disney Destinations re: Island Tower today. That was fast.

Hoping it takes a few years to sell out because I’d love to have a FW here. Based on other resorts it’s probably not going to be necessary to FW a 1BD, but to me FW seems like the most flexible way to buy.

 

[hockeydad21]

I will say I’m a bit disappointed they only mentioned 1 restaurant today. Poly desperately needs 2 new places added for a sit down meal.

 

[T00dles]

It’ll bleed over to VGF too.

This is my concern as a VGF owner (and pool enthusiast).

It will be a shorter walk from the Poly tower to GF Main Building than it is to GC House.

So, yes will likely be a bit more traffic at VGF and the corresponding amenities.

 

[Mikey15]

It will be a shorter walk from the Poly tower to GF Main Building than it is to GC House.

So, yes will likely be a bit more traffic at VGF and the corresponding amenities.

That’s actually not true. It’ll be a shorter walk to the original VGF building, but not the GF main building.

Tower to Captain Cook’s, Trader Sam’s, or Ohana actually looks like it will be closer than Moorea and Pago Pago are.

 

[T00dles]

That’s actually not true. It’ll be a shorter walk to the original VGF building, but not the GF main building.

Tower to Captain Cook’s, Trader Sam’s, or Ohana actually looks like it will be closer than Moorea and Pago Pago are.

I was just going by Google maps. You certainly could be right.

 

[DisneyOutsider]

That’s actually not true. It’ll be a shorter walk to the original VGF building, but not the GF main building.

Tower to Captain Cook’s, Trader Sam’s, or Ohana actually looks like it will be closer than Moorea and Pago Pago are.

Yeah, I really wouldn't expect this tower to affect crowd levels at the VGF pools. It will have its own pool plus be fairly close to the lava pool area outside GCH. I know I wouldn't bother with the VGF pool.

 

[Genie+]

I’m just reading the statement put out on the Disney Parks Blog

“Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows will feature a variety of room types that will sleep from two to nine guests, such as duo studios, spacious one- and two-bedroom villas and brand-new two-bedroom penthouse villas. Many rooms will feature spectacular views”

So there’s going to be standard 2-bedrooms, as we’ve always had, but the penthouse 2-bedrooms are a new type of accommodation? What do we think will make these different?

Swanky. Could they possibly be swankier than the standard 2BR?

The highest category view is hard at Poly, they can’t quite call it theme park view like BLT and VGF because of the distance (PVB1 only calls it lake view). And I think they all avoid calling them fireworks view to ward off pricing complaints from people who miss the fireworks due to storms or operational hiccup.

So maybe Island Tower is leaning on a combo of best view and best room for the premium category.

Swankiest room and swankiest view = penthouse

 

[aka Charles]

Island Tower....
I was hoping for a better name, or at least one without the word "tower."
Yes, I know that we all have been calling it the "Poly Tower," but I had hoped that would have stopped when the actual name came out.
And I kinda feel sorry for the cast members who will be working there, as they will be stuck having to say "I work in I.T."
.

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

Swanky. Could they possibly be swankier than the standard 2BR?

The highest category view is hard at Poly, they can’t quite call it theme park view like BLT and VGF because of the distance (PVB1 only calls it lake view). And I think they all avoid calling them fireworks view to ward off pricing complaints from people who miss the fireworks due to storms or operational hiccup.

So maybe Island Tower is leaning on a combo of best view and best room for the premium category.

Swankiest room and swankiest view = penthouse

Let’s start a speculation thread about what swanky additions they’ll have. I’m going to say the main bedroom will have infinity pool/bathtubs that can look out towards the lake. Also access to a special menu from the restaurant downstairs. And maybe 2 king beds in place of the queen beds for the second room!

 

[BilLisa]

The existing PVB Studios already cost more than VGF studios for most seasons. There are a few where it's reversed (Sep 1-30 and Oct 1-Nov 30, but overall PVB already has a higher point chart than VGF.

Feb 1 to Feb 15, June 11 to Aug 31

• A standard view is 146/week at PVB vs 132 at VGF
• A lake view is 174 at PVB vs 164 at VGF

Mar 24 to Mar 31, Dec 24 to Dec 31

• A standard view is 242/week at PVB vs 234 at VGF
• A lake view is 291 at PVB vs 278 at VGF

If they just take the existing PVB rates and multiply them out for higher room types, it would result in a higher point chart than VGF.

Now, they might price tower deluxe studios at a discount vs existing longhouse studios, and they might apply a smaller multiple to 1BR and 2BRs than they usually do when setting point charts.

But it's not insane to think that PVB will have a higher point chart than VGF -- it already does

Bear in mind that the studios at PVB are significantly larger than studios at VGF and they are both monorail resorts. Since there are no other room types to compare at this time, it will definitely be interesting to see how the two match up.

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

Island Tower....
I was hoping for a better name, or at least one without the word "tower."
Yes, I know that we all have been calling it the "Poly Tower," but I had hoped that would have stopped when the actual name came out.
And I kinda feel sorry for the cast members who will be working there, as they will be stuck having to say "I work in I.T."
.

lol the name is definitely underwhelming but I feel like no one outside this online DVC community calls the resorts by their abbreviations. I doubt people will even call it the island tower, they’ll likely just call it the poly tower like we have all this time.

 

[intamin]

lol the name is definitely underwhelming but I feel like no one outside this online DVC community calls the resorts by their abbreviations. I doubt people will even call it the island tower, they’ll likely just call it the poly tower like we have all this time.

This will be one interesting with what we end up calling it..

IPVB?
ITPVB?
PVB-I?
Poly 2 like we have been?

 

[kungaloosh22]

It may be a hot take here, but I personally could not care less what the name is for the new tower. I'm just so darn happy to finally be able to get 1- and 2-bedrooms at my beloved Polynesian resort.

I also love other Disney resorts, especially my 2 other home resorts (GF and CC), Animal Kingdom, and Aulani. Every DVC resort has at least something that I really like about it. But the Poly was our first and most special resort since we started going to WDW over 30 years ago, and I'm thrilled that my Poly points will include this beautiful new tower. Maybe I'll change my mind when more info comes out, but right now I'm like Paul Krieger: ready to pop some champagne!