Island Tower at Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

[Spinster Travel]

Probably just lack of coordination between the Marketing team and the Sales team? There should've been a heads-up, but email like this don't actually get sent by the guides.

Totally agree - I work for a very large organization and this happens routinely - hell, I've even had emails go out to my client/prospect base where my marketing team had it sent FROM ME and they didn't bother to tell me it was going out. My guide thanked me for sharing the email with her - she had no idea either

 

[Genie+]

Wow

View attachment 888395

Is that a ‘sofa cage’?

"And remember folks, the Magic Kingdom is a family park, not a park for making families."

 

[TexasJedi]

I called about a cash stay since the Disney Parks Blog said that DVC members could book it through member services now, but they had no availability for the dates I was interested in. They offered me a Deluxe Studio at the main Poly at rack rate as an alternative.

There are rack rate Tower rooms available on the Disney World site, so I thought that was interesting that it's different availability when there's nothing declared yet.

 

[hockeydad21]

I think it helps that most of the folks in lagoon-facing rooms would rather watch from their own balconies?

But yeah, depending on how line-of-site and how they control access, it could get ugly. Even without monorail hoppers, the first few rows of the two park-facing terraces will only hold a few dozen people each, right?

I don’t know if these gardens will be so popular with fireworks that it’ll cause it to get ugly. Ultimately, I think you’re gonna have plenty of really good spots to view them down by the pool and along the path, which will take away the need for tower guests to go up to the gardens. Then factor in the number of tower guests who will be at the parks, and I think the numbers utilizing the gardens for fireworks viewing will be relatively small.

 

[maui22]

I called about a cash stay since the Disney Parks Blog said that DVC members could book it through member services now, but they had no availability for the dates I was interested in. They offered me a Deluxe Studio at the main Poly at rack rate as an alternative.

There are rack rate Tower rooms available on the Disney World site, so I thought that was interesting that it's different availability when there's nothing declared yet.

We are booked on cash via Member Services for the opening three nights. IIRC it was a 30% discount compared to booking through non-DVC hotel booking.

 

[CastAStone]

Email says minimum buy in is $23,500. Can you infer anything about point price from that?

That’s been the disclaimer of every piece for every resort including the $225 ones since March.

 

[maui22]

I don’t know if these gardens will be so popular with fireworks that it’ll cause it to get ugly. Ultimately, I think you’re gonna have plenty of really good spots to view them down by the pool and along the path, which will take away the need for tower guests to go up to the gardens. Then factor in the number of tower guests who will be at the parks, and I think the numbers utilizing the gardens for fireworks viewing will be relatively small.

I agree. Roughly half the rooms will have similar or better views of the fireworks from their own balcony.

 

[mom2elle]

I heard back from my guide - same story, no details yet:

Welcome Home KATE,

We don't have any information just yet except from the coming soon email that was sent out to us members. I do have you on my interest list & will reach out to you once I know more. Fell free to reach out to me if you have nay more questions.

Have a magical day!

 

[Disney_escape]

Email says minimum buy in is $23,500. Can you infer anything about point price from that?

My guess is - base price going up at end of current promo to $235 for Disney World DVCs.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I don’t know if these gardens will be so popular with fireworks that it’ll cause it to get ugly. Ultimately, I think you’re gonna have plenty of really good spots to view them down by the pool and along the path, which will take away the need for tower guests to go up to the gardens. Then factor in the number of tower guests who will be at the parks, and I think the numbers utilizing the gardens for fireworks viewing will be relatively small.

I agree.

Not exactly apples to apples, but I stay Poly CL more than I should admit, which is in the Hawaii building with a lounge that looks towards the fireworks. It’s a popular viewing spot and eventually at some point in the evening people start squatting in the chairs along the window, but it’s not some crazy camp out for hours situation. If there aren’t seats you just head outside, most guests wouldn’t think twice about it. Between those watching from their rooms, those in the lounge, those that head to the beach, it all just sort of works itself out with minimal to no concern/drama. The beauty of Poly (in my opinion) is the abundant viewing options all around property.

Not to mention these could easily be pretty warm/muggy during certain parts of the year (hoping those fans in the renderings are larger in real life) and one isn’t exactly an ideal angle unless up front.

In my humble opinion!

 

[Genie+]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/new-vgf-rooms-are-now-available-online.3883138/

^Here’s the board from when VGF2 booking opened.

I wasn’t paying close attention back then. How did they handle home priority vs trading in?

 

[tjkraz]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/new-vgf-rooms-are-now-available-online.3883138/

^Here’s the board from when VGF2 booking opened.

I wasn’t paying close attention back then. How did they handle home priority vs trading in?

All VGF owners were given a couple weeks to book before anything opened up to non-owners. They could book any dates 11 months out.

The balance was much different with VGF though. You had past owners of the ~100 original DVC villas gaining access to 202 additional rooms. (All Big Pine Key rooms were declared into the association very early.)

With Poly, you're going to have owners of the 360 studio rooms all gaining access to the 40 tower rooms at the same time as new buyers. Things will disappear very, very quickly.

Giving early Island Tower buyers any sort of priority booking (over legacy PVB owners) doesn't seem like it would be kosher since they're all collectively part of the same association.

 

[Genie+]

All VGF owners were given a couple weeks to book before anything opened up to non-owners. They could book any dates 11 months out.

Thank you.

The balance was much different with VGF though. You had past owners of the ~100 original DVC villas gaining access to 202 additional rooms. (All Big Pine Key rooms were declared into the association very early.)

With Poly, you're going to have owners of the 360 studio rooms all gaining access to the 40 tower rooms at the same time as new buyers. Things will disappear very, very quickly.

Giving early Island Tower buyers any sort of priority booking (over legacy PVB owners) doesn't seem like it would be kosher since they're all collectively part of the same association.

VGF1 had ~2.5m points and VGF2 added another ~2m. PVB1 was 4m and I think PVB2 adds about 3.5m?

VGF2 put 50% in the first declaration. I’m not sure what percent is PVB2’s first declaration.

I think that will matter too. It’s not just the number of rooms, but the room sizes and points. VGF1 had more points than VGF2 even though VGF2 had twice as many rooms.

 

[mkatsy]

All VGF owners were given a couple weeks to book before anything opened up to non-owners. They could book any dates 11 months out.

The balance was much different with VGF though. You had past owners of the ~100 original DVC villas gaining access to 202 additional rooms. (All Big Pine Key rooms were declared into the association very early.)

With Poly, you're going to have owners of the 360 studio rooms all gaining access to the 40 tower rooms at the same time as new buyers. Things will disappear very, very quickly.

Giving early Island Tower buyers any sort of priority booking (over legacy PVB owners) doesn't seem like it would be kosher since they're all collectively part of the same association.

I think I read somewhere that they can give early Island Tower buyers a “welcome home” booking out of their own cash inventory. They just can’t give them preferential access to the declared inventory. Does that sound right?

 

[AstroBlasters]

Maybe, but I am reminded of this classic bit:

Princeton's rivals are Yale and Harvard.
Yale's rival is Harvard.
...
...
...
Harvard doesn't have a rival.

I feel like all of the east coast status stuff is on a different planet from the west coast…

 

[AstroBlasters]

"And remember folks, the Magic Kingdom is a family park, not a park for making families."

IMO, @Brian Noble won DisBoards today.

 

[gmi3804]

Many have early flights and arrive at Poly before checkin time. Many parents with toddlers ask about a quiet space their toddler can nap in while waiting for their room to be ready. With longhouses, people frequently suggest the longhouse areas by the elevators, where each floor has a sitting area. I don’t recommend the first floor in the longhouses, but floors 2-3 are usually good options.

At Island Tower, these spaces are perfect for the same reason.

So this will be filled with cranky people waiting for their room assignments. Nice!

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

Many have early flights and arrive at Poly before checkin time. Many parents with toddlers ask about a quiet space their toddler can nap in while waiting for their room to be ready. With longhouses, people frequently suggest the longhouse areas by the elevators, where each floor has a sitting area. I don’t recommend the first floor in the longhouses, but floors 2-3 are usually good options.

At Island Tower, these spaces are perfect for the same reason.

Was thinking the same...Also maybe to take some crowding away from GCH.

 

[disneylandtour]

All VGF owners were given a couple weeks to book before anything opened up to non-owners. They could book any dates 11 months out.

The balance was much different with VGF though. You had past owners of the ~100 original DVC villas gaining access to 202 additional rooms. (All Big Pine Key rooms were declared into the association very early.)

With Poly, you're going to have owners of the 360 studio rooms all gaining access to the 40 tower rooms at the same time as new buyers. Things will disappear very, very quickly.

Giving early Island Tower buyers any sort of priority booking (over legacy PVB owners) doesn't seem like it would be kosher since they're all collectively part of the same association.

I'm betting a chunk of that 40 room inventory will be set aside as "Welcome Home" bookings for new members. It's going to be hard to sell those contracts if new buyers don't have reasonably quick access to those rooms.

 

[SL6827]

Disney parks blog has a bit more info on dining:

“This casual walk-up pool bar will feature an all-day menu for lunch and dinner that is influenced by the Polynesian Islands’ local and indigenous ingredients. Specialty coffee and on-the-go morning pastries will be available for breakfast.

The dining room will be adorned with dazzling Polynesian-inspired artwork, created exclusively for the space, including floating tropical fish sculptures crafted from recycled materials and reclaimed fishing nets. The fish will be “swimming” throughout the space, leading to a grand textile piece featured in the bar area, representing a colorful coral reef”

So breakfast is just specialty coffee and pastries (like Le Petit Café!) no hot breakfast though so probably have to go to GCH for that. Also maybe breakfast is just in the pool bar area? Not sure if that’s what that’s saying.

I wonder if there will be different menus for the indoor (dining room) v outdoor (pool bar) sections of the restaurant. Probably a bit too complicated but it would be great to have multiple options and areas to eat, if so.

Captain Cooks will possibly be absolutely slammed in the mornings now for breakfast, right? Kona Cafe too?