Island Tower at Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

The latest room count estimates I’m seeing are:
Duos - 34
Studios Dedicated - 97
1 Bedroom Dedicated - 24
Studio side of 2BLO - 46
1 Bedroom side of 2BLO - 46
2 Bedroom Dedicated - 17
Penthouse - 4
https://dvcnews.com/wdw-resorts/pol...egories-confirmed-speculation-on-villa-makeup

Granted this is only as good as the accuracy of that breakdown, but ~MAX~ occupancy of the tower based on those numbers is only 1,179 people. Without anything at the Island Tower to attract people not staying there (e.g. no Topolinos or Ohana or California Grille), are <1,200 people (probably more like ~1,000 people, since not every room will be full) really going to have that big a transportation impact?

How many people can get on a monorail each time around rope drop and park close—50? 100? I feel like boat is usually 10-30? I would assume that 20-30% of guests are all trying to get to and leave the park at the same peak times…so if my numbers are correct that might be an extra few monorails you wait for and/or another boat or two?

 

[SugarSweetLee]

How many people can get on a monorail each time around rope drop and park close—50? 100? I feel like boat is usually 10-30? I would assume that 20-30% of guests are all trying to get to and leave the park at the same peak times…so if my numbers are correct that might be an extra few monorails you wait for and/or another boat or two?

The internet sez each monorail train capacity is 360, and that the whole system can move 7000 people per hour in each direction!

 

[Cabius]

How many people can get on a monorail each time around rope drop and park close—50? 100? I feel like boat is usually 10-30? I would assume that 20-30% of guests are all trying to get to and leave the park at the same peak times…so if my numbers are correct that might be an extra few monorails you wait for and/or another boat or two?

Theoretically (according to Wikipedia), each monorail has a maximum capacity of 360. I imagine it's more like 200-240 even at peak times, factoring in strollers, etc.

The tower will add some 1,000 souls to the resort, increasing the total resort population by about 1/3rd. On any given day, some of those people will be going to resorts other than MK, or go to MK via other methods (walking through GF, or over to the TTC). Maybe that's 400-500 more people per day on the PVB monorail platform? Or perhaps the right way to think about it is just, 'absent any adjustment on the part of guests, monorail lines at the Poly will be 1/3rd longer'.

Thinking about all the traffic on the resort monorail line on a given day -- from all three resorts, plus folks from the TTC choosing that line -- I don't really know how noticeable it will be. I suspect the variance in TTC-parking patrons is greater than that from day to day.

I do think that the Poly and the GF both deserve dedicated boats and busses, at those price points, and that the added traffic will still be painful at peak times. But I don't expect it to be catastrophic. I worry more about the pools and dining!

 

[Cabius]

The internet sez each monorail train capacity is 360, and that the whole system can move 7000 people per hour in each direction!

That's assumes 20 people sitting and 40 people standing in each car, or since each car is broken into two compartments, 10 + 20 per compartment.

Those are NYC subway jam-them-in-cram-them-in numbers. All it takes is a few strollers and ECVs to bring those down. I suspect actual operational capacity is more like 200-240?

 

[StarCruzer]

You know what they should be doing? Taking the parking trams and put them on the Magic Kingdom walking loop. I know that's not what the loop was intended for, but imagine it would be a pleasant ride.

I'd say bikes/scooters, but with so many kids I can only imagine what a mess that would become (an not a great option for those with toddlers/babies)

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

That's assumes 20 people sitting and 40 people standing in each car, or since each car is broken into two compartments, 10 + 20 per compartment.

Those are NYC subway jam-them-in-cram-them-in numbers. All it takes is a few strollers and ECVs to bring those down. I suspect actual operational capacity is more like 200-240?

Right, and then you have to figure out how crowded it is leaving TTC, right? I would be surprised if more than 50 people actually make it on at Poly during busy periods.

We aren’t rope droppers anymore and we haven’t had to wait more than 1 monorail at Poly or GF, but I’d bet it’s pretty ugly for the 60-90 minutes before park opening. Leaving the parks at night is already a nightmare, so we try to make sure we leave before close and not right after fireworks.

My guess is that it won’t be too noticeable if you avoid peak hours, but will make the peak hours pretty unpleasant.

 

[maui22]

I have been at the Poly bus stop waiting and seen MK buses. I recall it wasn't storming, so other modes of transportation should have been running. However, it's possible there was an issue with one of them that I wasn't aware of (after all, I wasn't going to MK that day).

Still, think about the ferry and boats will stop operating in a storm. I believe the monorail keeps running, but that can go down at times too. This is why buses will run at times.

NOTE: I have also been at Epcot when the Epcot monorail went down. They had everyone needing to go to MK, TTC, and MK resorts board buses.

Just like those who stay at skyliner resorts may need to ride a bus, so do guests staying at GF, Poly, and CR.

 

[Cybertruck]

You know what they should be doing? Taking the parking trams and put them on the Magic Kingdom walking loop. I know that's not what the loop was intended for, but imagine it would be a pleasant ride.

I'd say bikes/scooters, but with so many kids I can only imagine what a mess that would become (an not a great option for those with toddlers/babies)

EPCOT Double Decker Busess (yes I am that old) or Walt’s vision the People Mover!

 

[BamaGuy44]

Pool, sure. Monorail restrictions, absolutely not. Disney makes a lot of money off people who dine and shop at the resorts without staying there, and they wouldn't spend the money on the staff needed to try to limit or monitor that access.

Exactly, they would literally have to spend money to keep paying customers away. Cynicism aside, being able to freely use the transport around to different resorts, etc is one of the cool things about being in the "bubble". I'd never want to lose that.

 

[Cfabar1]

I do think that the Poly and the GF both deserve dedicated boats and busses, at those price points, and that the added traffic will still be painful at peak times. But I don't expect it to be catastrophic. I worry more about the pools and dining!

I do think it will exacerbate a lot of problems at the Poly, and I will be very surprised if they don't add both a QS, TS, and a Bar... They really do need all of these as well as a little shop in the building!

This tower will be roughly the size of Riviera (about 30 rooms smaller), which has all of those things... I worry they are building something the size of RIV and offering the amenities of the original VGF, which was fine given the small size of that resort, but this really does demand more! And the pools at Poly are already a disaster! But then again, Disney has always done pools terribly... I think they want you to go to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon so they don't invest in making the pools good.

 

[Jwaire]

Exactly, they would literally have to spend money to keep paying customers away. Cynicism aside, being able to freely use the transport around to different resorts, etc is one of the cool things about being in the "bubble". I'd never want to lose that.

Me either. I love to journey out to AKL and eat at the restaurants, but I don't take my swimsuit. There's a line.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

The only thing that I despise walking from GF to MK is walking by the smokers.

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

Could they start limiting the amount of people boarding the monorail at the TTC at peak hours and push more people to the ferry? Just have an extra ferry during those hours too. And for anyone who has a reservation at a hotel it’s an easy check.

 

[Cabius]

Could they start limiting the amount of people boarding the monorail at the TTC at peak hours and push more people to the ferry? Just have an extra ferry during those hours too. And for anyone who has a reservation at a hotel it’s an easy check.

Logistically, I think restricting access to the resort monorail line at the TTC would be a nightmare. You'd have to verify each person was either a guest at the resort or had a dining reservation at a monorail resort, and given monorail capacity you're talking about doing that for hundreds of people every few minutes.

If it really becomes a nightmare at the Poly/GF the best solution is probably to only load 4 cars at the TTC, leaving 1 empty for the Poly and one empty for GF.

It's always going to be a nightmare at peak times during peak seasons, but I just don't think it will be catastrophic for most regular visitors. Most likely, a 10-minute wait will turn into a 15-minute wait. But we'll see!

 

[Cfabar1]

The only thing that I despise walking from GF to MK is walking by the smokers.

Yes, I wish they would relocate that... Not sure to where, but it really is problematic.

 

[tjkraz]

This tower will be roughly the size of Riviera (about 30 rooms smaller), which has all of those things... I worry they are building something the size of RIV and offering the amenities of the original VGF, which was fine given the small size of that resort, but this really does demand more!

Island Tower is much smaller than Riviera. Riviera has a maximum guest capacity of 2669. For Island Tower it's about 1175 if room makeup estimate proves to be accurate. IT is much smaller than 30 room difference (341 vs 222), more 2-person villas, lower max occupancy on Deluxe Studios and no Grand Villas.

And the pools at Poly are already a disaster! But then again, Disney has always done pools terribly... I think they want you to go to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon so they don't invest in making the pools good.

In 25 years of frequenting WDW, we have never been unable to find chairs at a Disney pool. Never. Not once.

That said, the pools themselves can certainly get crowded at times. You can't count on having space to swim laps or toss a football back and forth at 2pm on a Saturday in July. But no hotel builds pools for that.

I keep going back to the phrase "you don't build a church for Easter Sunday." There's all this concern about not getting on the next monorail for an hour-long span on the busiest days, and what the pools will look like mid-afternoon during the hottest days of the summer. Frankly these are minor inconveniences in the grand scheme, which guests are forced to deal with at both Disney and non-Disney hotels on the busiest days of the year. We're talking about millions and millions of dollars to not just build but also operate and maintain additional resources which may only benefit guests a tiny percentage of the time.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

Yes, I wish they would relocate that... Not sure to where, but it really is problematic.

The wind carries that smoke so you smell it even before you walk past. Plus they also have a couple of benches so it spreads out the smokers. And some people can't be "bothered" to walk all the way so they set up shop right past the queue for the boats.

 

[Stormalong Smiths]

You know what they should be doing? Taking the parking trams and put them on the Magic Kingdom walking loop. I know that's not what the loop was intended for, but imagine it would be a pleasant ride.

I'd say bikes/scooters, but with so many kids I can only imagine what a mess that would become (an not a great option for those with toddlers/babies)

In addition to more/larger boats, I'd be perfectly happy if they added a handful of parking lot trams to shuttle guests on the walkway from Poly around to Contemporary (or at least to the MK) and back. Not sure how difficult this would be to accommodate, but the more transportation options the better, IMO.

I like the way you think!

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

Logistically, I think restricting access to the resort monorail line at the TTC would be a nightmare. You'd have to verify each person was either a guest at the resort or had a dining reservation at a monorail resort, and given monorail capacity you're talking about doing that for hundreds of people every few minutes.

If it really becomes a nightmare at the Poly/GF the best solution is probably to only load 4 cars at the TTC, leaving 1 empty for the Poly and one empty for GF.

It's always going to be a nightmare at peak times during peak seasons, but I just don't think it will be catastrophic for most regular visitors. Most likely, a 10-minute wait will turn into a 15-minute wait. But we'll see!

Yeah that makes sense. I was mostly thinking if they just have signs out that indicate that the monorail is closed for those going to MK and to use the ferry unless you have a reservation, most would abide those rules and not bother trying to sneak their way on. For the smaller group that either do have a reservation or want to try and bypass it, it wouldn’t be terribly long to check? A bit like what they do for EEH for deluxe resorts? But yeah, might still end up being a mess, even if it’s only for busier times, best to wait and we what the actual impact is.

 

[Sandisw]

Just in case anyone is interested… no declarations of tower units on the OCC website this week.