Points lower on Poly Bungalows

[thepops]

The way they were trying to spin it on the Fantasy in June was that you could stay somewhere else, and then finish your trip with an amazing bungalow stay on the water for your last day or two.
I wasn't buying that line.

 

[disneynutz]

right, some have more than enough points that they really don't care the nightly rate. I wish we were in that boat, but we have to make every point last as long as it can... lol

We owned a ton of points a few years ago, had plenty for several vacations per year with our yearly stay around 32 nights. That was fun for awhile but then the dues bills kept coming every year and paying over $10,000 each year got to be too much. If the rooms and resorts were exceptional it might be worth it but they had too many issues.

Bill

 

[Disn3yVision]

I think the thing people don't take into consideration with the high point cost of the bungalows is they are essentially single family homes with private decks and private plunge pools in the best location and with the best views on Disney property. They are stand alone structures over the water. People keep comparing them to grand villas but grand villas share walls. Having your own "home" on premiere real estate in Disney is worth A LOT. Maybe not always for DVC but definitely for people paying cash. The only comparable examples I can think of are the THV's, which are practically in the worst location on property, and those little one bedroom honeymoon homes at BCV (I believe) that are tiny as hell.

I will say l'm all for adding 2 points to the studios to drop the bungalows by 36 points but I just don't think that's going to happen. I don't think 79 points a night is a high enough price to charge for the most unique and well appointed and private rooms on property with private decks and the best view possible. I do think we will have a really good idea of what dvc's intentions are when the point charts for CCV are released. If the cabins point costs are comparable then you know Disney has no intention of lowering the points requirement for the bungalows.

 

[Brian Noble]

Conversely, the CCV cabins could well be less, because they are in what most would consider a less desirable location than the Poly beach. But, that still would not necessarily mean a reallocation is coming for the bungalows.

 

[disneynutz]

I think the thing people don't take into consideration with the high point cost of the bungalows is they are essentially single family homes with private decks and private plunge pools in the best location and with the best views on Disney property. They are stand alone structures over the water. People keep comparing them to grand villas but grand villas share walls. Having your own "home" on premiere real estate in Disney is worth A LOT. Maybe not always for DVC but definitely for people paying cash. The only comparable examples I can think of are the THV's, which are practically in the worst location on property, and those little one bedroom honeymoon homes at BCV (I believe) that are tiny as hell.

I will say l'm all for adding 2 points to the studios to drop the bungalows by 36 points but I just don't think that's going to happen. I don't think 79 points a night is a high enough price to charge for the most unique and well appointed and private rooms on property with private decks and the best view possible. I do think we will have a really good idea of what dvc's intentions are when the point charts for CCV are released. If the cabins point costs are comparable then you know Disney has no intention of lowering the points requirement for the bungalows.

If there is a point adjustment it won't happen until after sell out and they will say that the studios were too popular so they have to raise the studio point requirement.

Bill

 

[bobbiwoz]

The way they were trying to spin it on the Fantasy in June was that you could stay somewhere else, and then finish your trip with an amazing bungalow stay on the water for your last day or two.
I wasn't buying that line.

That's what they were pitching on our Wonder cruise. I'm not buying it either.

 

[RRB]

I think the thing people don't take into consideration with the high point cost of the bungalows is they are essentially single family homes with private decks and private plunge pools in the best location and with the best views on Disney property. They are stand alone structures over the water. People keep comparing them to grand villas but grand villas share walls. Having your own "home" on premiere real estate in Disney is worth A LOT. Maybe not always for DVC but definitely for people paying cash. The only comparable examples I can think of are the THV's, which are practically in the worst location on property, and those little one bedroom honeymoon homes at BCV (I believe) that are tiny as hell.

I will say l'm all for adding 2 points to the studios to drop the bungalows by 36 points but I just don't think that's going to happen. I don't think 79 points a night is a high enough price to charge for the most unique and well appointed and private rooms on property with private decks and the best view possible. I do think we will have a really good idea of what dvc's intentions are when the point charts for CCV are released. If the cabins point costs are comparable then you know Disney has no intention of lowering the points requirement for the bungalows.

100% correct and well put. I agree with everything. Don't get me wrong, I love the 3 BR Villas and yes, they are bigger but you are surrounded by other rooms on each side, above and below with only one wall of outside windows. The Bungalows are unique, not only to Disney but unique to all hotels except a few super high end resorts.

 

[freediverdude]

I don't really get the angst over the bungalow points. There didn't seem to be any pushback on the VGF grand villa points, and that's the same points chart. The bungalows are just a different type of accommodation with different pluses and minuses than the grand villas. Grand villas sleep 12 and are larger, but don't have a perfect castle view with private sound system on the deck with Wishes piped in, or are your own private house with deck in the front and back over water. And the two hotels have similar amenities. They're just different that's all. If you want maximum space go with VGF. If you want that perfect view and deck and Poly feel, go with the bungalow.

 

[Dean]

I don't really get the angst over the bungalow points. There didn't seem to be any pushback on the VGF grand villa points, and that's the same points chart. The bungalows are just a different type of accommodation with different pluses and minuses than the grand villas. Grand villas sleep 12 and are larger, but don't have a perfect castle view with private sound system on the deck with Wishes piped in, or are your own private house with deck in the front and back over water. And the two hotels have similar amenities. They're just different that's all. If you want maximum space go with VGF. If you want that perfect view and deck and Poly feel, go with the bungalow.

IMO they're too high. I'll bet we eventually see a reallocation increasing studios and decreasing the bungalows in some way.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed in a lake view studio 2 weeks ago. We did not see much activity at the bungalows.

 

[Disn3yVision]

IMO they're too high. I'll bet we eventually see a reallocation increasing studios and decreasing the bungalows in some way.

As one of the most informed people on this site I would love to hear why you think that is so Dean?

I personally hope you're right. As an owner I would love to actually be able to stay in a bungalow every once in a while, especially since they make up 20 percent of the resort I bought into. With the point cost as it is now I might stay there one time ever... If even that. Obviously, the ideal situation for us owners is that they do like BWV and lower the bungalows by selling less points overall rather than raising the points requirement of the studios but sadly I think that's extremely unlikely :/

 

[Dean]

As one of the most informed people on this site I would love to hear why you think that is so Dean?

I personally hope you're right. As an owner I would love to actually be able to stay in a bungalow every once in a while, especially since they make up 20 percent of the resort I bought into. With the point cost as it is now I might stay there one time ever... If even that. Obviously, the ideal situation for us owners is that they do like BWV and lower the bungalows by selling less points overall rather than raising the points requirement of the studios but sadly I think that's extremely unlikely :/

The main reason that timeshares have gone to the points system is because they can make more money. It allows them to sell every point like it's prime time. Then they have 2 options to increase profits, increase the price and increase the points for similar options. Some would call this point creep. Early DVC didn't increase points for similar options, some would say DVC started with SSR or VWL, others would say it started with BLT. Others might say those were all sufficiently different resorts/circumstances to justify the increase based on the underlying value. Certainly VGF was a big jump though it is the flagship and the most expensive hotel. Over the water or not, I don't think anyone could make the argument that the 2 BR bungalows are the equal of the 3 BR VGF which are also overpriced IMO. With the studios the same as VGF it will present a dilemma though. As I've said before, I think they missed a golden opportunity with the Poly given the size of the rooms they had to work with. They could easily have created a super studio or smaller 1 BR type unit and easily justified the points.

 

[Disn3yVision]

I moreso meant why you think there will be a point reallocation but thanks for the insight Dean.

 

[Disn3yVision]

The Bungalows are unique, not only to Disney but unique to all hotels except a few super high end resorts.

Agreed. While it's true VGF is the flagship resort, I would say the bungalows are Disneys flagship accommodation at the moment. They market much better than a VGF Grand Villa and that's why they are front and center on all of Disneys marketing materials and media. Not much separates a BLT GV from a VGF GV, and BLT even has better views.... But A LOT separates the bungalows. They sell the vacation dream and that's worth something.

 

[Dean]

I moreso meant why you think there will be a point reallocation but thanks for the insight Dean.

Because I think the bungalows are too high, will go open until later in the course most of the time and they can change them a fair amount by simply changing studios 1 pt.

 

[davidl81]

I do wonder what the DVC occupancy rate is on the Bungalows? How many of the DVC declared units are going to cash sales since they are not getting rented out ahead of time? Just doing a quick look online and June/July is sold out most weekdays, but weekends are open every weekend in July. Maybe people are just booking one or two days in the Bungalows to "try them out". Since the points go up 27 points on the weekends I could see that maybe being one thing.

Long term how would the Bungalows not booking out fully affect the points based model for this resort? Since DVC is set up for 95+% of the rooms being booked if the trend of all of these rooms not being booked would DVC not have a responsibility to lower Bungalow points (thus raising studio points) in order to maximize capacity?

Looking a little deeper December is almost totally open and everything past Dec 8th into 2017 is open in Bungalows. Oddly almost all of Octomber/November is booked though.

 

[drusba]

I do not believe the low demand for the bungalows was something Disney did not expect. When a week in magic season in a bungalow costs close to $200,000 to a new purchaser and your usual purchaser is not "the upper 1%," you have to know that the vast majority will not be purchasing to get those. Moreover, when you set the minimum purchase requirement at 100 points, you know your real target purchasers are those buying to get studios.

Disney gets to sell those bungalow points to studio purchasers and thus make a huge profit selling them. Low demand for the bungalows means Disney gets to rent them often when they are unreserved at 60 days out. And the rental iwill almost be pure profit once the points are sold out because it is the members who will pay for the maintenance and rehabs of the bungalows through dues. In other words, the bungalows are a win win for Disney, particularly if the members make minimum use of them.

Thus, Disney lacks any desire to lower points needed for the bungalows and I seriously doubt any point shifting will occur due to low bungalow demand. The issue will be studio demand. If Disney guessed correctly, the sheer number of studios may minimize its intentional oversell of the studios and prevent issues of unavailability other than possible usual seasonal issues when you have extremely high demand like during the times in the last quarter of the year. Even then, as long as the issue of reserving studios does not become an 11 month out problem, Disney will not have a reason to change the current point structure for Poly. So far, Poly studios have had better availability than many other near park resort rooms. From mid January to late September, they have been open beyond the 7 month window. In fact, for that period their fill pattern has been close to that for studios at OKW, a resort usually easy to get even well beyond 7 months out during that period. For the high demand late Sep to marathon weekend in January period, they have been open well beyond the 11 month window and have only been an issue at 7 months, and even then they have been open much of the time at 7 months out, although they often disappear within moments after the 7 month window opens. As Poly approaches sell-out, studios reservations will get tighter but if they do not become a serious problem, there will be no reason to do any point shifting from bungalows to studios.

Someone mentioned above that there may be some barrier to doing point shifting when you have part of the resort sold as set weeks like Poly. That does not appear to be true since there has already been major point shifting done at Aulani, e.g., late June to mid Aug went from being magic season to premier season, while lowering points elsewhere.

As far as actual occupancy goes, the bungalows have been disappearing for very high demand times but even then it is usually well after the 7 month window. For mid January through March of this year, they were open at 60 days out for more than 70% of the days. April and May were tighter with only 8 days total open at 60 days out (all days were open at 7 months out). June and July generally have seen about 25% of the nights still open at 60 days out. For a few extremely high demand periods like early Dec, some days actually disappeared before 7 monthe out.

 

[RRB]

We are fortunate to have a fair amount of points. I added on at the Poly specifically for the bungalows. I thought that they would be easier to reserve because of the point values are high. So far, that is the case. I make ressies at 11 months to get the start date I want then add days at 7 months (using points from my BWV contract points). If I didn't have as many points as I do, I would not stay there. Just my opinion but it is really great having a special and unique place to stay. We have stayed twice so far and I can tell you that the experience is unlike all other resorts. No walking down long hallways to get to you room, exterior windows in every room. every window looks out over water, the back patio is in the middle of the lake, the view of the MK and fireworks and of course the solitude.

 

[Dean]

I do not believe the low demand for the bungalows was something Disney did not expect.

Maybe but I find they're often overly optimistic when it comes to sales, certainly this was the case with HH and VB early on and with SSR plus likely HI as well.