Island Tower at Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

[Einstein509]

I took this train recently to catch the Disney Magic in FLL and it was a very nice experience!

We did the same and it was a good experience. Free wifi and they have a table setup with the seats, so a family of four can sit together facing each other. The family next us was playing cards to pass the time.

The terminal at MCO is nice and new, plus you can drop off rental car right there, which we didn't know.

Our tickets for a family of four came out to be around $270, but had I got them earlier, they would've been about ~$40 per ticket.

 

[Einstein509]

I can't remember if it was this thread or another, but a while back someone came across a Disney job announcement for a senior position in DVC/DVD. The interesting part of that announcement was that the position would oversee future DVC plans and develop a plan for DVC 2.0.

There was a lot of speculation about restrictions on resorts moving forward and what that would look like with DVC moving into a new phase with DVC 2.0. I know the tower is part of the old Poly association, but I wonder how this fits into the DVC 2.0 model or if it does at all.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

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

$235 per point, 100 point buy in?

 

[Hubalorian]

I can't remember if it was this thread or another, but a while back someone came across a Disney job announcement for a senior position in DVC/DVD. The interesting part of that announcement was that the position would oversee future DVC plans and develop a plan for DVC 2.0.

There was a lot of speculation about restrictions on resorts moving forward and what that would look like with DVC moving into a new phase with DVC 2.0. I know the tower is part of the old Poly association, but I wonder how this fits into the DVC 2.0 model or if it does at all.

I believe PolyTower will likely be the last new build into an existing association without resale restrictions. My rationale is that the only one left with more than 40 years is CCV. I could see them renovating more hotel rooms into DVC rooms, but I can’t see them adding another building to the association.

My prediction is that DVC 2.0 has to be a more clear concise strategy and structure. This is either continue their tried and true method of land deeds or move to the trust model with the Cabins.

 

[Einstein509]

I believe PolyTower will likely be the last new build into an existing association without resale restrictions. My rationale is that the only one left with more than 40 years is CCV. I could see them renovating more hotel rooms into DVC rooms, but I can’t see them adding another building to the association.

My prediction is that DVC 2.0 has to be a more clear concise strategy and structure. This is either continue their tried and true method of land deeds or move to the trust model with the Cabins.

I tend to agree, but then again, a clear concise strategy and structure is hard as there are variables which impact plans such as the economy tanking. They will have to succumb to realities to whatever they lay out and Disney management overall is generally reactionary to outside variables.

Remember Reflections?

 

[Hubalorian]

I tend to agree, but then again, a clear concise strategy and structure is hard as there are variables which impact plans such as the economy tanking. They will have to succumb to realities to whatever they lay and Disney management overall is generally reactionary to outside variables.

Remember Reflections?

I believe Reflections will be revived under a new name and be rolled into the bombing cabins at FW.

Yes, I get your general idea, but they will be facing decisions soon. They are running out of current associations with more than 40 years left. They introduced a trust timeshare model with the Cabins and are still actively selling RIV which introduced the resale restrictions under the land deed model. This all could be Disney collecting data on the different model structures or are simply throwing “stuff” at the wall and hoping something sticks

 

[hockeydad21]

If you want to stay at Poly1+2 why would you want to swap?

Also if the incentives are good or really good the resale value of Poly will decrease. The better incentives the more the resale value will decrease.

Unless you suffers from FOMO on new resorts I’d just stick with what I have. Maybe you could add on instead?

It’s a few things. I’d love to break up my points into three separate contracts for my three kids, so they all have an equal amount 30+ years down the road. I’d also love to have direct points so we can have access to future resorts like the Riviera and whatever else may come. But at the end of the day, it financially has to make sense for me to “upgrade” to direct points.

 

[disneylandtour]

It’s a few things. I’d love to break up my points into three separate contracts for my three kids, so they all have an equal amount 30+ years down the road. I’d also love to have direct points so we can have access to future resorts like the Riviera and whatever else may come. But at the end of the day, it financially has to make sense for me to “upgrade” to direct points.

This is also my plan. If the incentives are decent--which is a very large if, I know--I'll sell one or two of my seven re-sale contracts and use that toward 150 Poly points to get a blue card. Point-wise, I'll just swap out 150 (or thereabouts) resale points for the same at the Poly. If the incentives are a lot better at 200 points, I'd probably do that. It's not so much about the lounges, it's about being locked out of the new resorts. I've spent some nights at RIV (by renting points), but if there's another wave of new DVCs with restrictions (and yes, I think that's coming), I at least want to try them. Plus, I have a couple of OWKe contracts that I bought very, very cheap during the pandemic, which are now worth a lot more than I paid--and I'd like to lower my yearly MF bill as well. The separate buildings, all the roads, all the grounds tell me that OWK will keep going up in therms of MF, as that is a lot to upkeep. OWK will almost surely be over $10 in 2025. I bet it will be over $11 by 2027. I also have a chunk of points at the second highest MF resort--AKV--but the extra money there is more than worth it for the value rooms and--on the other end--the club rooms. (Side note: I have two contracts at BTL--and I still believe that, ten years from now, that resort will have the lowest MFs at WDW, as there's so little to maintain.)

 

[OKW Lover]

I wonder if all this pent up demand going to prompt DVC to keep the incentives low.

 

[Cyberc1978]

It’s a few things. I’d love to break up my points into three separate contracts for my three kids, so they all have an equal amount 30+ years down the road. I’d also love to have direct points so we can have access to future resorts like the Riviera and whatever else may come. But at the end of the day, it financially has to make sense for me to “upgrade” to direct points.

This is also my plan. If the incentives are decent--which is a very large if, I know--I'll sell one or two of my seven re-sale contracts and use that toward 150 Poly points to get a blue card. Point-wise, I'll just swap out 150 (or thereabouts) resale points for the same at the Poly. If the incentives are a lot better at 200 points, I'd probably do that. It's not so much about the lounges, it's about being locked out of the new resorts. I've spent some nights at RIV (by renting points), but if there's another wave of new DVCs with restrictions (and yes, I think that's coming), I at least want to try them. Plus, I have a couple of OWKe contracts that I bought very, very cheap during the pandemic, which are now worth a lot more than I paid--and I'd like to lower my yearly MF bill as well. The separate buildings, all the roads, all the grounds tell me that OWK will keep going up in therms of MF, as that is a lot to upkeep. OWK will almost surely be over $10 in 2025. I bet it will be over $11 by 2027. I also have a chunk of points at the second highest MF resort--AKV--but the extra money there is more than worth it for the value rooms and--on the other end--the club rooms. (Side note: I have two contracts at BTL--and I still believe that, ten years from now, that resort will have the lowest MFs at WDW, as there's so little to maintain.)

If we assume that the incentives are good like $180 after that will also hurt the resale prices. Maybe they will drop to like $130 ish or lower. Is it then really worth buying direct just because of blue card and FOMO at new resorts?

 

[Mikey15]

If we assume that the incentives are good like $180 after that will also hurt the resale prices. Maybe they will drop to like $130 ish or lower. Is it then really worth buying direct just because of blue card and FOMO at new resorts?

For someone like me without blue card, that becomes a notch in the belt for buying 150 direct as we could buy the cheaper AP instead of Hopper tickets each trip.

If you already have blue card, then it becomes more of a question on if you’d use those points to stay at Riv, VDH, Cabins (Reflections?) or not. Is that flexibility alone worth ~$4,500-7,500 price difference? That part’s a harder sell to me, at least until we’re closer to 2042.

 

[MartyParty]

This is also my plan. If the incentives are decent--which is a very large if, I know--I'll sell one or two of my seven re-sale contracts and use that toward 150 Poly points to get a blue card. Point-wise, I'll just swap out 150 (or thereabouts) resale points for the same at the Poly. If the incentives are a lot better at 200 points, I'd probably do that. It's not so much about the lounges, it's about being locked out of the new resorts. I've spent some nights at RIV (by renting points), but if there's another wave of new DVCs with restrictions (and yes, I think that's coming), I at least want to try them. Plus, I have a couple of OWKe contracts that I bought very, very cheap during the pandemic, which are now worth a lot more than I paid--and I'd like to lower my yearly MF bill as well. The separate buildings, all the roads, all the grounds tell me that OWK will keep going up in therms of MF, as that is a lot to upkeep. OWK will almost surely be over $10 in 2025. I bet it will be over $11 by 2027. I also have a chunk of points at the second highest MF resort--AKV--but the extra money there is more than worth it for the value rooms and--on the other end--the club rooms. (Side note: I have two contracts at BTL--and I still believe that, ten years from now, that resort will have the lowest MFs at WDW, as there's so little to maintain.)

Sounds like a good plan.

 

[disneylandtour]

For someone like me without blue card, that becomes a notch in the belt for buying 150 direct as we could buy the cheaper AP instead of Hopper tickets each trip.

If you already have blue card, then it becomes more of a question on if you’d use those points to stay at Riv, VDH, Cabins (Reflections?) or not. Is that flexibility alone worth ~$4,500-7,500 price difference? That part’s a harder sell to me, at least until we’re closer to 2042.

Just in financials, the difference between a sorcerer's pass and an incredipass for a family of four is nearly $2k per year.

 

[disneylandtour]

If we assume that the incentives are good like $180 after that will also hurt the resale prices. Maybe they will drop to like $130 ish or lower. Is it then really worth buying direct just because of blue card and FOMO at new resorts?

Factor in the difference in price for an AP.

 

[disneylandtour]

They didn’t need to send out a dog whistle email to know that interest is extremely high. There’s 3 years of evidence to that effect—including this 171 page message thread.

We know there's interest. But after the disaster with the Cabins and the Trust, DVD may not trust its instincts or more likely may need to justify to higher-ups what actual interest is with some datapoints before announcing price points and incentives.

 

[Mikey15]

Just in financials, the difference between a sorcerer's pass and an incredipass for a family of four is nearly $2k per year.

Big savings! But worth noting that the savings start and end at exactly 150pts direct. If you wanted, say, 300 points total, it could be worthwhile to get that 150 direct and then find same-use-year resale for the rest.

 

[disneylandtour]

Big savings! But worth noting that the savings start and end at exactly 150pts direct. If you wanted, say, 300 points total, it could be worthwhile to get that 150 direct and then find same-use-year resale for the rest.

I completely agree with this, unless there are some amazing incentives at the 200 point mark that then are applied to the entire purchase.

 

[SL6827]

Remember though, the nice discounts on the APs are a guaranteed perk forever. They could be, but they might also not be.

 

[TinkAgainU]

$235 per point, 100 point buy in?

Someone mentioned the email wording about minimum investment has been stock terminology for a while, so might not be a sure thing to read too much into it. We love to interpret what they send out, but honestly, a lot of their correspondence and marketing has noticeable errors. They cut and paste like the rest of us lol.

Poly Direct was at $250 before they stopped direct sales a while ago. Someone might know better than me, but it seems they rarely go down on price, just add incentives?

 

[CastAStone]

Factor in the difference in price for an AP.

Only a small % of people go the 3X per year that makes an AP make sense.

And that benefit could disappear tomorrow, poof. It’s already been suspended once and worsened twice. It shouldn’t factor into financial decisions except for year 1 unless it’s heavily risk adjusted.