Polynesian Room Categories

[aleh021]

I might be opening a can of worms with this topic but...

Do you think Poly could have a room category reallocation in the near future now that it’s sold out?

I see a lot of frustrations with those who get lake view rooms but end up first floor views of bungalows. And those who get Pago Pago with views of a parking lot.

Maybe it should happen where DVC chooses to create new room categories and lower points on those standard parking lot views and increase points for the theme park/lake views and keep the garden/pool views in the middle.

Thoughts?

 

[The Jackal]

I wonder how many points a Bungalow view room would be?

 

[Frederic Civish]

Doubtful that Disney will create a ‘Parking Lot View’ category. (The Value rooms at Jambo House are ‘Value’ because they are smaller, since they were the small rooms before the conversion from a hotel.) Too many categories can just make things harder and more complex. And Disney has shown with BLT that they will call many things a “Lake View” even when it has a poor view of the lake.

For Lake View, I would suggest that people ask for an upper floor.

Now, will Disney reallocate points, raising all the Studio categories by one point, and consequently lowering the Bungalows by 18 points? Possibly. Should they do this? I’m not sure what benefits there might be, for them, or for the DVC owners.

 

[Cyberc1978]

IMO Disney should reallocate the points and increase the points for at least the October - December timeframe but not only for Poly this should be for all resorts. They then should lower the points for jan - sep timeframe.

There is a reason why the fall is called fall frenzy and that’s the lower points requirements.

Problem is also if Disney lowers the point requirement for the bungalows at poly then the studios needs to go up, and IMO they are already really expensive point wise and increasing the points could shut a lot of owners out.

As long as Disney is selling a resort which matches the other resorts point wise then it’s not gonna happen. MAYBE and only MAYBE when they are done selling CCV and if Rivera have a higher point requirement during fall then we should expect Disney to reallocate but not before.

Put another way, as long as the current setup works for Disney then nothing changes - even if they are required to.

 

[The Jackal]

IMO Disney should reallocate the points and increase the points for at least the October - December timeframe but not only for Poly this should be for all resorts. They then should lower the points for jan - sep timeframe.

There is a reason why the fall is called fall frenzy and that’s the lower points requirements.

Problem is also if Disney lowers the point requirement for the bungalows at poly then the studios needs to go up, and IMO they are already really expensive point wise and increasing the points could shut a lot of owners out.

As long as Disney is selling a resort which matches the other resorts point wise then it’s not gonna happen. MAYBE and only MAYBE when they are done selling CCV and if Rivera have a higher point requirement during fall then we should expect Disney to reallocate but not before.

Put another way, as long as the current setup works for Disney then nothing changes - even if they are required to.

I think Disney keeps fall points low due to slower time in the parks. Lower point levels means more DVC usage. More DVC usage = steady flow of people in parks. If you look at crowd calendars for September they are low. There are some days where the crowds are going to be a 1 out of 10. Most of September the parks are under a 5. Granted these are predictions, but you can look at previous years to compare. October and November have a couple of busy weekends and thanksgiving, December looks very light until a week of Christmas. Just my opinion. But when I look at the RAT there never appears to be a lot of rooms available 60 days out. Most DVC resorts are booked.

 

[Cyberc1978]

I think Disney keeps fall points low due to slower time in the parks. Lower point levels means more DVC usage. More DVC usage = steady flow of people in parks. If you look at crowd calendars for September they are low. There are some days where the crowds are going to be a 1 out of 10. Most of September the parks are under a 5. Granted these are predictions, but you can look at previous years to compare. October and November have a couple of busy weekends and thanksgiving, December looks very light until a week of Christmas. Just my opinion. But when I look at the RAT there never appears to be a lot of rooms available 60 days out. Most DVC resorts are booked.

We visited last September and IMO the Parks felt crowded with high wait times for popular attractions.

IMO I don’t think Disney have any slow times anymore. But Disney will do whatever makes them the most money.

The Dvc resorts have been build to have a 100% occupancy year around just as any other timeshare. Only difference is that the Dvc resorts have close to a 100% whereas most other timeshares do not.

 

[Ben E N]

Now, will Disney reallocate points, raising all the Studio categories by one point, and consequently lowering the Bungalows by 18 points? Possibly. Should they do this? I’m not sure what benefits there might be, for them, or for the DVC owners.

I could see them not wanting to do this, as both the per point cost and point cost for each studio type is in line with VGF. I'm not sure how that affects their sales, but I'm sure it plays some sort of role.

 

[Frederic Civish]

I could see them not wanting to do this, as both the per point cost and point cost for each studio type is in line with VGF. I'm not sure how that affects their sales, but I'm sure it plays some sort of role.

Considering that they aren’t selling much of either one, and the cost for Poly points, Direct, is very close to the cost for VGF points, then I don’t think it would make much difference if they raised Poly a bit. I’m not advocating that. I just don’t think it would matter much. AND, DVC Poly STUDIO units would still book out 100%.

 

[zavandor]

I have read a lot of posts complaining about the first floor lake view and no one saying "how lovely was my lake view from the first floor". I think it is a problem to charge more for a view of bungalows. Some theme park views at BLT have been recategorized as standard, some savannah views at AKV have been changed to standard, I think the issue here is similar and I expect it to change at some point, if enough people complain. Personally, I'm not a view person, I prefer to stretch my points for longer stays, I am booked in VGF standard, AKV standard and BCV (which is all standard by definition ), but if I decided to splurge and get the bungalow view I'd be very upset.

 

[CarolMN]

If they have to lower the 1st floor lake view studios, it might make more sense (and be easier) to just raise the 3rd floor lake view studios. So reduce 1st floor by one point per night, leave the 2nd floor alone and raise the 3rd floor studios by 1 point per night. Done!

 

[DenLo]

I cannot see DVC changing the point cost for 12 rooms. You can still see the fireworks and the lake from the first floor lake view in Moorea, even if the view is between the bungalows. Those rooms are elevated above the bungalows as you go down hill from the patios to the sidewalk below. DVC Members that get the partial lake views in a standard view Tokelau room think they have great views. So even lowering the Moorea patios by one point will not stop the complaints. Members staying in those rooms would want them to be standard view and IMO they are not standard view.

 

[Ben E N]

If they were to make any change, it would have to affect a large number of rooms in order to make booking easier. I could see them potentially setting up three categories. 1. Lake View - for the top two floors that are presently lake view, keeping the point value the same. 2. "Preferred View" - Floor one of lake view, plus Tokelau. That building always seems to be the most requested anyway, due to its views and location. The point value for that would not need to greatly rise, just enough to balance out the loss of lake view points for that first floor. Then 3 - Standard view, which would be the back side of Moorea and Pago Pago. They could make a few select rooms in Tokelau preferred view if they wanted, in order to balance everything out just right.
I doubt they do it, though. While the first floor rooms are disappointing, they are technically lake view. Their bigger issue is the bungalows. Now that the resort is sold out and many people will not want to stay in them, I am sure they will be happy to just be able to get a studio, even if they are paying more to get a view of a bungalow.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Disney have never called any of them TPV. At Poly main these days, there is TPV, Lagoon, Water and Standard. I do not see them moving 12 units out of LV unless it is part of a greater move to create a category between Lake and Standard.

Moving those 12 to Standard just means the people not asking for those 6 specific units in Tokelau will ask for those.

Given that the new cash catgeories were based on the most frequent requests, I would guess a reallocation on the DVC side will be based on number of desk tantrums.

 

[CarolynFH]

....Given that the new cash catgeories were based on the most frequent requests, I would guess a reallocation on the DVC side will be based on number of desk tantrums.

I think desk tantrums (great term, @_auroraborealis_ !) are what caused the single BWV Preferred booking category to be split into Boardwalk and Pool/Garden categories. Points were not reallocated, though.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I think desk tantrums (great term, @_auroraborealis_ !) are what caused the single BWV Preferred booking category to be split into Boardwalk and Pool/Garden categories. Points were not reallocated, though.

Yeah. Where I think things get weird at Poly vs. Boardwalk is that the P/G and Boardwalk options are both good options, and both noticeable upgrades from 90% of the Standard Views at BWV. While people wanted certain areas in particular, I don't think there was the same noticeable quality range as occurs at Poly.

At Poly, everyone asks for ~6 rooms in Tokelau, and get upset when they get anything but their request. On the LV side, people do get upset about those ground units, even though they absolutely meet the definition of LV, which is not TPV, which is not Fireworks View. They see water, it is a Lake.

I don't think Lake View goes up in points at any point, but there seem to be a few points of wiggle in between SV and LV pricing by season. The math, obviously, is a hot big mess and I am not doing the calc on what it would take to add something in between, but in theory it should be mathematically possible because it's all real numbers and stuff. Call it Preferred View. Call it Water View (the Tokelau rooms facing the pool and those with the side-on castle get filed there). Call it Shut Up At the Desk View. Whatever. But I have a suspicion that sometime in the next 40 years, it happens. Or you demote the front side of Pago Pago to "Meh View" somehow, and remove a few points. DVC members are notorious for their love of bargains. People will shiv each other for that Pago Pago view if it's cheap.

 

[Frederic Civish]

You can still see the fireworks and the lake from the first floor lake view in Moorea, even if the view is between the bungalows. Those rooms are elevated above the bungalows as you go down hill from the patios to the sidewalk below. So even lowering the Moorea patios by one point will not stop the complaints. Members staying in those rooms would want them to be standard view and IMO they are not standard view.

I agree. Bungalows are not “lake” but they are partial lake, and picturesque. So I wouldn’t even call the view ‘obstrcted.’ And you are right next to the lake and can see large parts of the lake.

 

[BillPA]

They are listed as LAKE VIEW, not Magic Kingdom View, so I don't see a problem you do get a lake view. And you get to see alligators and snakes for no extra points.