DVC tour AT the Polynesian - experiences?

[slashfemme]

Hello!

My family and I are staying at the Polynesian for the third time in three years (along with a stay at Wilderness Lodge and Grand Californian in the same three years ) - and I've finally talked my husband into taking a DVC tour after showing him the literal thousands we've already spent and how the prices for our rooms keep rising. I called to make a DVC tour appointment for our first day and was told we'd be doing it AT the Poly, which I'm thrilled about, since that is the resort we all love and we don't have to take extra time in transport.

TLDR: Has anyone else done the tour at the Poly? Was the experience different? Faster? Any known waitlist for Poly points?

As for incentives, we had received a few emails leading up to our trip. The first was for a $25 gift card if we did a phone pitch, and two weeks later there was an email offering a $50 gift card per household (not per adult) for an in person tour. Also really hoping for fast passes!

Thanks for any advice/info.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Take the tour, but do a lot of research. Poly is a resort where you will save $50+ per point resale. The direct pricing for Poly is outright insane.

 

[The Jackal]

Take the tour, but do a lot of research. Poly is a resort where you will save $50+ per point resale. The direct pricing for Poly is outright insane.

More like $80-$100 resale in savings. I think Poly is $235 direct and you can get it resale $135-155 usually. It can’t hurt to do the tour. Poly is a great resort for studios, if you need 1 or 2 bedroom units they do not have any. The Bungalows are technically a 2 bedroom but cost more in points than 3 bedroom grand villas.

 

[Ruttangel]

If you want more inecentives then DVC tours in the parks can have incentives of $150 gift card plus 3FPs for each person in the party. They will probably take you to Saratoga to view the villas and then drop you off wherever you want.
You can then view the Poly studio on DISUnplugged YouTube channel

 

[OtherFigment]

We stayed at the poly a couple weeks ago and did the tour there. The guide came and got us from the lobby and brought us to a dvc studio that had been converted to an office and pointed stuff out to us on the way - laundry, etc. We ended up actually going to see the model rooms at SSR rather than a staged poly room. Based on that tour, I don't think it would really matter where you do your tour at. Granted, we had done all our research in advance so were pretty knowledgeable already.

 

[OtherFigment]

Oh also, we got 4 FP and $75 gift card each, they said it was because we were staying deluxe. We just made the appointment when we got to the hotel.

 

[Yinn]

More like $80-$100 resale in savings. I think Poly is $235 direct and you can get it resale $135-155 usually. It can’t hurt to do the tour. Poly is a great resort for studios, if you need 1 or 2 bedroom units they do not have any. The Bungalows are technically a 2 bedroom but cost more in points than 3 bedroom grand villas.

More than that. PVB is $235, I just passed ROFR at $128 on a guranteed week contract (guaranteed weeks cost 10% more direct)

Hello!

My family and I are staying at the Polynesian for the third time in three years (along with a stay at Wilderness Lodge and Grand Californian in the same three years ) - and I've finally talked my husband into taking a DVC tour after showing him the literal thousands we've already spent and how the prices for our rooms keep rising. I called to make a DVC tour appointment for our first day and was told we'd be doing it AT the Poly, which I'm thrilled about, since that is the resort we all love and we don't have to take extra time in transport.

TLDR: Has anyone else done the tour at the Poly? Was the experience different? Faster? Any known waitlist for Poly points?

As for incentives, we had received a few emails leading up to our trip. The first was for a $25 gift card if we did a phone pitch, and two weeks later there was an email offering a $50 gift card per household (not per adult) for an in person tour. Also really hoping for fast passes!

Thanks for any advice/info.

We did the tour at BWV and our guide didn't show us anything but a DVD. It was rather disapointing. We did get a gift card out of it, same offer as you got for $50. You have to ask about the fastpasses - ask before you go.

As for the pitch, be honest with the person. As great as it is, there are games being played occasionally. Be honest about your price points, your knowledge of this board, and all your avialable options. Remember, it's not an either or. You don't have to do just a direct, you don't have to do just a resale, you can do both. There's a LOT of information they throw at you, research on here about what you want/need before you go in so you don't get overloaded. They will be selling Aulani and Riviera and tell you the rest are sold out. That's true, but it does not mean you can't buy the rest. They have a lot of Poly contracts on hand at $235/point.

The Poly costs 118-227/week for a standard studio. 148-269 for a lake view studio. The points charts are available online if you want to get an idea of how many points you may want/need.

I went with 75 points direct at AKV to get membership benefits, and 200 PVB points resale. Doing that gave me direct benefits, 11 months priority at PVB and AKV, plus all the points I needed at a combined $140/pt. Comparitively, Riveria which they will be selling you on comes out to $175/pt after their incentives (not before) The only negative is I can only use my 75 points at future resorts, I can't use my 200 at future resorts. But do your research to determine what you need/want before you go in.

 

[slashfemme]

More like $80-$100 resale in savings. I think Poly is $235 direct and you can get it resale $135-155 usually. It can’t hurt to do the tour. Poly is a great resort for studios, if you need 1 or 2 bedroom units they do not have any. The Bungalows are technically a 2 bedroom but cost more in points than 3 bedroom grand villas.

Thank you both! I already have my spreadsheet ready with price comparisons between resale and direct between Poly, Copper Creek, and Riviera (well, only direct on Riv). I'm happy to go with resale for Poly, and just think my husband needs the fairy dust of someone other than me telling him what DVC is about and how it works. We are a family of 3 with no plans for more kids, so studios are perfect for us.

I'm a little bummed about the incentives, but our schedule is so packed this trip that I wanted to make sure we got the right time for a tour.

Thank you all so far for the input! We are excited to (hopefully) make DVC a reality for us soon.

 

[slashfemme]

More than that. PVB is $235, I just passed ROFR at $128 on a guranteed week contract (guaranteed weeks cost 10% more direct)



We did the tour at BWV and our guide didn't show us anything but a DVD. It was rather disapointing. We did get a gift card out of it, same offer as you got for $50. You have to ask about the fastpasses - ask before you go.

As for the pitch, be honest with the person. As great as it is, there are games being played occasionally. Be honest about your price points, your knowledge of this board, and all your avialable options. Remember, it's not an either or. You don't have to do just a direct, you don't have to do just a resale, you can do both. There's a LOT of information they throw at you, research on here about what you want/need before you go in so you don't get overloaded. They will be selling Aulani and Riviera and tell you the rest are sold out. That's true, but it does not mean you can't buy the rest. They have a lot of Poly contracts on hand at $235/point.

The Poly costs 118-227/week for a standard studio. 148-269 for a lake view studio. The points charts are available online if you want to get an idea of how many points you may want/need.

I went with 75 points direct at AKV to get membership benefits, and 200 PVB points resale. Doing that gave me direct benefits, 11 months priority at PVB and AKV, plus all the points I needed at a combined $140/pt. Comparitively, Riveria which they will be selling you on comes out to $175/pt after their incentives (not before) The only negative is I can only use my 75 points at future resorts, I can't use my 200 at future resorts. But do your research to determine what you need/want before you go in.

This was really helpful, thank you! I have my list of Q's, and will add on there to ask to see the direct prices of all resorts. My husband is in love with the Poly AND the idea of buying from Disney and being a "full member". I love the Poly, but would honestly love staying anywhere deluxe on Disney property. Maybe I can do the math on a split between AKV or SSR at 100 points and 100 points at PVB resale. We usually PLAN on going once a year for about 4 nights (we are in Jacksonville FL, so a fairly quick trip), but seem to be going twice a year for a total of 6 or 7 nights... I had planned on 100 points initially, but may need to add on...

 

[_auroraborealis_]

More than that. PVB is $235, I just passed ROFR at $128 on a guranteed week contract (guaranteed weeks cost 10% more direct)

Worth a mention for anyone who finds this: Disney cannot/will not sell Guaranteed Weeks for a resort that is sold out. This means Poly.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

We usually PLAN on going once a year for about 4 nights (we are in Jacksonville FL, so a fairly quick trip), but seem to be going twice a year for a total of 6 or 7 nights... I had planned on 100 points initially, but may need to add on...

FWIW, if you are a Florida resident, there is basically no economic benefit of "full membership" that is worth $10,000. You already qualify for the Gold Pass. Moonlight Magic, which may not exist long term, is not worth $10k.

 

[Yinn]

Thank you both! I already have my spreadsheet ready with price comparisons between resale and direct between Poly, Copper Creek, and Riviera (well, only direct on Riv). I'm happy to go with resale for Poly, and just think my husband needs the fairy dust of someone other than me telling him what DVC is about and how it works. We are a family of 3 with no plans for more kids, so studios are perfect for us.

This was really helpful, thank you! I have my list of Q's, and will add on there to ask to see the direct prices of all resorts. My husband is in love with the Poly AND the idea of buying from Disney and being a "full member". I love the Poly, but would honestly love staying anywhere deluxe on Disney property. Maybe I can do the math on a split between AKV or SSR at 100 points and 100 points at PVB resale. We usually PLAN on going once a year for about 4 nights (we are in Jacksonville FL, so a fairly quick trip), but seem to be going twice a year for a total of 6 or 7 nights... I had planned on 100 points initially, but may need to add on...

PVB:
Direct Pricing: $235
Average Resale: $130-$145
Annual Dues: $6.76
Historical Increase of Dues: 3.00%

CCV:
Direct Pricing: $210
Average Resale: $135-155
Annual Dues: $7.43
Historical Increase of Dues: 2.30%
*These are still pretty rare on the resale market
**Copper Creek just got their property values reassessed at full value resulting in a 150% increase in taxes, which may affect the dues.

Riviera:
Direct Pricing: $188/pt ($175 after incentives)
Average Resale: N/A
Annual Dues: $8.31
Historical Increase of Dues: N/A
*Riviera has restrictions on resale. A resale buyer would not be able to use the contract anywhere but Riviera.

Mathwise, it's hard to beat SSR. For us, we knew we'd never stay at SSR so we paid the little bit extra for AKV since we do like it quite a bit. If you buy the whole thing direct, it will be tens of thousands more - my PVB would've been $30,000 more.. But if you buy only the minimum direct, the upgrade cost is much less and can be had for as little as $3,000 more. But I do agree as a FL resident the perks aren't as great for you.

Based on your travel habits, I don't think 100 points will be enough for you. I travel in August and it's 153 points for a standard studio for the week at PVB. PVB is 16-36 points a night for an average of 104 for a 4 night stay. It'd be fine if I went every other year, but it may not be enough for every year at PVB (buy you can stay elsewhere) and definitely not enough for 6-7 nights total. You could also add on later though.

One thing to be concerned about aside from point pricing is annual dues and contract expiration dates. The cheapest points you can buy on resale is probably Hilton Head and Vero Beach. You can find those from at about $50/point, but Vero beach carries $9.48/point in dues compared to a resale PVB at $130/point but $6.76/point in dues. Which means on 100 points, it's an extra $272/year in maintenance fees. But at that price point, it's $5000 for Vero Beach vs $13,000 for PVB to buy; it would take 29 years for you to break even on those costs. So it seem like Vero Beach is a good buy, BUT. Vero Beach expires in 2042 vs 2066 for Poly. Which means there's only 22 years left on Vero Beach anyway. In 23 years Vero beach will be worth $0. In 23 years, Poly may be worth an unknown amount; but most likely more than $0 as it will have 24 years remaining. We can also get into opportunity cost, inflation, etc. In the end, the numbers support what you actually want to do. It's still fresh for me as I'm still in the process, but feel free to ask away!

 

[crvetter]

**Copper Creek just got their property values reassessed at full value resulting in a 150% increase in taxes, which may affect the dues.

I want to highlight this is the assessment for the entire resort, whereas last year's assessment was based on a small amount of the association declared. So when normalizing the cost against each point we likely won't see a 150% increase as that number was charge against the entire resort, which is now much larger.

Historical Increase of Dues: 2.30%

Also CCV dues were $7.33 in 2017 and 7.42 in 2019 which is a 0.61% average yearly increase since inception. This actually isn't enough to really know how the dues will increase in the future so I'd personally go by the average of all DVC resorts, which your number is much more conservative than the historical which is a good thing.

So here are the dues history:

https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-p...content/2494-historical-annual-dues-by-resort

And here is an idea for the average annual YOY due increase for each resort for 2017 to 2019 (only the copper creek timeline):

View attachment 401225

For fun here is the average yearly increase in dues since inception for each resort

View attachment 401236

 

[Yinn]

I want to highlight this is the assessment for the entire resort, whereas last year's assessment was based on a small amount of the association declared. So when normalizing the cost against each point we likely won't see a 150% increase as that number was charge against the entire resort, which is now much larger.

Correct, I didn't mean to imply dues were going up 150%. I've been told that CCV had already compensated for it previously, but felt it was worth the asterisk. For comparison, some of the established resorts went up 8-10%. Some others stayed at 0%. For the purpose of OP's listed resorts, PVB stayed flat. Riviera's assessment will likely change over time as it sells.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

FWIW, if you are a Florida resident, there is basically no economic benefit of "full membership" that is worth $10,000. You already qualify for the Gold Pass. Moonlight Magic, which may not exist long term, is not worth $10k.

I think it's important to note that while the "economic" benefit is not there as you mentioned, there are still intangible reasons for paying the premium on direct pricing. The biggest being that resale points cannot be used at Riviera, Reflections, or any other resorts that are built in the next 47 years. For example, if they ever add new 1 and 2 BR options at Poly and classify it as a new resort (similar to Copper Creek vs Boulder Ridge), you likely would not have access to these with resale points.

Also to note, that while the economic benefit may not be there based on the current "benefits", who knows that future benefits will be introduced over the next 47 years. I'm not suggesting that they should buy direct, but they should atleast weigh these things into their decision making.

 

[Brianstl]

Correct, I didn't mean to imply dues were going up 150%. I've been told that CCV had already compensated for it previously, but felt it was worth the asterisk. For comparison, some of the established resorts went up 8-10%. Some others stayed at 0%. For the purpose of OP's listed resorts, PVB stayed flat. Riviera's assessment will likely change over time as it sells.

I, also, read that while the values went up that the tax rates on those values have gone down.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

For example, if they ever add new 1 and 2 BR options at Poly and classify it as a new resort (similar to Copper Creek vs Boulder Ridge), you likely would not have access to these with resale points.

But you could invest $10k today and use the proceeds if a new resort were to matter to you.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

But you could invest $10k today and use the proceeds if a new resort were to matter to you.

You could, but I don't think 10K+ growth is likely to buy you very much at a new resort.... Again, I'm not suggesting someone should pay a large premium to buy direct for the possibility of one day staying at a resort that they may/may not like..... but it is a factor to be considered.

 

[Yinn]

But you could invest $10k today and use the proceeds if a new resort were to matter to you.

I keep seeing statements like these and they're pretty blanket statements. I heard them when I stocked up on no-expiration tickets and I'm hearing them with DVC. So I decided to do some calculations. You don't need the full $10k if you just do the minimum. Assuming you're buying 100 points anyway, you're only paying the premium to upgrade from resale to direct which is closer to $4000. You could get more; but if you bank/borrow appropriately that's 300 points to spent at any future resort. That's enough for a week at Riviera in a 2 bedroom during Premier season.

The statement you made assumes a consistent growth, and ignores Disney's price increases, taxes, fees, etc. So let's factor all that in. Back in Summer of 2015 PVB cost $160 direct. A 100 point contract would have cost $16,000. BLT resale was about $120/point at the time, a $4000 savings - about the same of buying AKV direct vs PVB resale that OP is considering. That $4000 invested in the S&P as per Mr. Buffet's advice would have seen a gain of 38% for a total of $5520 - and the last 5 years have been kind. After paying Uncle Sam his capital gains tax, trading fees, etc. You would have a total of $5292 in your pocket. The proceeds would only be $1292 of it. Asusming PVB was locked off for you and the desire, you would have to buy direct at $235 of today's prices or $130 resale. That's enough for 5 points direct, or 10 points resale. As CanadaDisney05 stated not nearly enough as it is a stay at PVB for even one night.

So let's use the full amount of principle plus gains of $5292. But let's first acknowledge that we're now using all of the money we would have spent anyway. So in this situation, there is no monetary benefit. The full amount buys 22 points at direct pricing, 40 points at resale at today's prices $235 direct/$130 resale. If you used a 3 year travel strategy to bank/borrow; that's still not enough for a full week at PVB - nor Riviera. Plus, now you have the restriction of only being able to use the PVB points at Poly if you went resale; and completely ignores any incidental membership benefits along the way.

It reminds me of the statements that were made when I stocked up on 10 day no expiration tickets when Disney got rid of them. I still have some from 2009 that I bought for $500, and yes I did the calcualtion and they're outpacing the S&P by a LOT. The scary part that Disney prices are raising faster than the market.

*There aren’t any restrictions on PVB. I’m using the current restrictions on Riviera as IF they were applied to demonstrate financials.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

You could get more; but if you bank/borrow appropriately that's 300 points to spent at any future resort. That's enough for a week at Riviera in a 2 bedroom during Premier season.

I agree with your post. Just thought I'd correct this statement. A week in Premier season in a 2 BR is 551 points for a standard view & 625 points for a preferred view. 300 points however could easily get you a studio at Riviera during Premier season at 204 & 243 points respectively. If your looking for 2 BR, even in Adventure Season its 296 & 361 points respectively.

FWIW, in my personal analysis, it was important for us to not be blocked off from the new resorts. We bought the 75 direct just before the change a couple of weeks ago, and the rest resale. We did this exact analysis. 75 points was enough to get the benefits & still be able to stay at new resorts through banking and borrowing (we travel during Magic Season, so 225 < 160 & 190). We didn't need to be able to stay at the new resorts every year, but didn't want to not have access once in awhile. The difference in cost was about $5700 CAD less the $1700 CAD we'll be saving up front on annual passes.