What's so bad about Poly?

[drusba]

Those point comparisons do not stand up that well when you go through all the seasons and also compare Poly lake view and not just its standard view. For example, in Magic season a standard Poly studio is 23/27/169 (per week night/per weekend night/per week) and lake view is 27/32/199, while BCV is 18/22/134, 20% less than standard view at Poly. One can argue about whether you should compare Poly standard view or lake view to BCV but there can be no argument at BWV where its standard view is 14/19/108 in Magic season, 38% less than Poly standard, and 18/21/132 for preferred view, including boardwalk view, which is about 34% less than Poly lake view, and those BWV and BCV owners paid half or less what the Poly owners have been paying per point. When you compare Poly standard to BLT standard you get about a 20% difference. When you compare its lake view to BLT's lake view, you get about a 23% difference. And most of those BLT owners paid $120 or less per point, rather than Poly's $160 or more. In essence, though Poly may compare somewhat closely in points per night and price per point with VGF, which is the other modern Disney creation that cost so much in combination of points per night and price per point that vast majority could only buy enough to get studios, it compares closely not at all to any other WDW resorts which look like Dollar Stores in comparison to Poly's Neiman Marcus.

 

[Dean]

I don't think the poly std point cost is too crazy.

For adventure season:
Poly std studio wkdy- 16pts
BCV/BWV/WLV wkdy- 15pts
BLT lake view wkdy: 17pts
GFV std: 17pts

At least for wkdys, it's pretty reasonable imo

Here are the weekend points per resort.
BLT: 19
GFV: 20
Poly: 19
BWV/WLV/BCV: 16

The big difference is the weekends, but for the monorail resorts it's in line with the others.

Then again, SSR is 12/15, Okw is 10/13, AKL is 11/13 or 14/16, depending on the view. So I guess I understand the sticker shock. However, for a near park resort, the point expectations are not unreasonable.

The assumptions I made were a full week in a standard view studio during magic season, retail purchase for the Poly but resale for BLT, that one only stays in that unit therefore you have to buy more points for the Poly and that the Poly dues are mature and will increase at the same rate for simplicity. I used inflation of 4% and also assumed full payment up front. At 20 yrs the Poly was almost double the price of BLT and that ignores the earnings on the upfront difference, something I would include personally. I suspect the dues will rise faster just like BLT has the first few years. Obviously every specific variation will alter the exact numbers. If you compare 2 BR obviously the numbers are even more dramatic. The actual numbers for purchase price plus 20 yrs of dues were $38K vs $58K without TMV, add $40K to the difference when you calculate the FV of the $11K up front difference.

 

[disneynutz]

Those point comparisons do not stand up that well when you go through all the seasons and also compare Poly lake view and not just its standard view. For example, in Magic season a standard Poly studio is 23/27/169 (per week night/per weekend night/per week) and lake view is 27/32/199, while BCV is 18/22/134, 20% less than standard view at Poly. One can argue about whether you should compare Poly standard view or lake view to BCV but there can be no argument at BWV where its standard view is 14/19/108 in Magic season, 38% less than Poly standard, and 18/21/132 for preferred view, including boardwalk view, which is about 34% less than Poly lake view, and those BWV and BCV owners paid half or less what the Poly owners have been paying per point. When you compare Poly standard to BLT standard you get about a 20% difference. When you compare its lake view to BLT's lake view, you get about a 23% difference. And most of those BLT owners paid $120 or less per point, rather than Poly's $160 or more. In essence, though Poly may compare somewhat closely in points per night and price per point with VGF, which is the other modern Disney creation that cost so much in combination of points per night and price per point that vast majority could only buy enough to get studios, it compares closely not at all to any other WDW resorts which look like Dollar Stores in comparison to Poly's Neiman Marcus.

When we bought BLT direct we paid $112 per point, no closing costs, and we got a free 7 night Disney cruise. Things have changed.

Bill

 

[MountainMouse]

When we bought BLT direct we paid $112 per point, no closing costs, and we got a free 7 night Disney cruise. Things have changed.

Bill

The great recession provided some excellent deals. Timing means a lot.

 

[Savagekids]

When we bought BLT direct we paid $112 per point, no closing costs, and we got a free 7 night Disney cruise. Things have changed.

Bill

Wow! That is a great deal Bill. I just paid $111 per point plus closing at BLT and didn't get a cruise.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The great recession provided some excellent deals. Timing means a lot.

I'm not so certain I'd only classify it as due to the Great Recession. It's not that the overall price was reduced from where it had been, it's just that it has risen so much, especially in the past 4 years or so. DVC was dealing in much more volume back then vs now. High volume, lower price vs low volume higher price. But Disney has not been afraid in the past few years to push pricing up on everything, including DVC.

 

[McCrae]

The resort was overpriced compared to others and the choice of accomadations is poor.

Don't see any advantage in buying at the Poly. Think DVC wasted the opportunity to create a really nice resort.

 

[Kaigler]

We bought at Poly and are perfectly happy with that decision. the lack of room categories is a problem for some families but not for ours. Our opinion is the location and theme at Poly are second to none. The atmosphere is second to none. For those reasons, we chose Poly. The price point was not a factor.

 

[gdrj]

We recently added on at Poly. I had no interest in buying there for a number of reasons that are posted here. My wife on the other hand loves the resort. We stayed there and absolutely loved the tranquil feel of the Resort. Our kids are now grown so if we do vacation with them studios work or our BWV points will give us a 1 or 2 bedroom. We now vacation more by ourselves so studios work for us, and we are visiting on avg 3 times a year at his point. With BWV ending in 2042 Poly gives our family an extra 25 years of use, and I don't see sale prices dropping. The other resort we looked at buying was BLT but we were having trouble finding a contract that worked for us and after doing a split Poly/BLT stay realized that for us BLT studio size was just too tight for us.

Poly is not for everyone, just like Saratoga due to location, layout, and styling is not for us (but others love). It will be interesting see what happens with Wilderness Lodge from accommodations, to price per point. We may have been interested in that but wanted to buy now vs 2 yrs from now.

 

[djohn06]

We bought at Poly and are perfectly happy with that decision. the lack of room categories is a problem for some families but not for ours. Our opinion is the location and theme at Poly are second to none. The atmosphere is second to none. For those reasons, we chose Poly. The price point was not a factor.

And you should be happy with your decision. Poly is a great resort to make wonderful family memories. Probably everyone on this thread will stay at the Poly at some point in their DVC careers, and will enjoy it.

What I see people debating is, is the Poly worth it ..... Financially? To many like myself that can get a studio for 12 nights at AKV or BWV vs 7 for the Poly, the Poly is simply too expensive for what i am buying. What if I want to bring extended family? Am I going to pluck down $38k to make that happen at the Poly for 2 studios during low season, or stare at the 16k to make that happen at AKV or maybe 19k to have that 2 bedroom at BWV. Again, for many the Poly is not twice as nice. This is what most are saying.

Sure, BWV and AKV are not monorail resorts, but even when compared to BLT, the Poly Studio only concept is limiting.

I like the concept of a timeshare feeling like a home with a kitchen, laundry and separate rooms. Hopefully DVC will circle back to the Poly and make 1 and legitimate 2 bedrooms happen. Poly would still be expensive, but it would at least have what many are expecting in the timeshare world.

 

[coastalhh]

And you should be happy with your decision. Poly is a great resort to make wonderful family memories. Probably everyone on this thread will stay at the Poly at some point in their DVC careers, and will enjoy it.

What I see people debating is, is the Poly worth it ..... Financially? To many like myself that can get a studio for 12 nights at AKV or BWV vs 7 for the Poly, the Poly is simply too expensive for what i am buying. What if I want to bring extended family? Am I going to pluck down $38k to make that happen at the Poly for 2 studios during low season, or stare at the 16k to make that happen at AKV or maybe 19k to have that 2 bedroom at BWV. Again, for many the Poly is not twice as nice. This is what most are saying.

Sure, BWV and AKV are not monorail resorts, but even when compared to BLT, the Poly Studio only concept is limiting.

I like the concept of a timeshare feeling like a home with a kitchen, laundry and separate rooms. Hopefully DVC will circle back to the Poly and make 1 and legitimate 2 bedrooms happen. Poly would still be expensive, but it would at least have what many are expecting in the timeshare world.

They will never ever make 2 bedrooms there. The 2 bedrooms are the bungalows and people just ignore they exist in regards to two bedrooms because of just how overpriced they are. Spending $1000 per night in annual fees alone is absolutely ridiculous. .what exactly did owners buy into if it's still 1000 a night in fees after owning points? Also... if you really did want the bungalows you have cheaper options to buy in as they will never be sold out outside of 7 months because most poly contracts are 100 points or less.

The bungalows are a epic mess

 

[McCrae]

They will never ever make 2 bedrooms there. The 2 bedrooms are the bungalows and people just ignore they exist in regards to two bedrooms because of just how overpriced they are. Spending $1000 per night in annual fees alone is absolutely ridiculous. .what exactly did owners buy into if it's still 1000 a night in fees after owning points? Also... if you really did what the bungalows you have cheaper options to buy in as they will never be sold out outside of 7 months because most poly contracts are 100 points or less.

The bungalows are a epic mess

What odds would you give on a massive reshuffling of the points charts at the Poly?

it looks increasingly likely that the numbers of points needed to stay at the bungalows will be reduced due to poor uptake and to keep the charts in balance the cost of staying in the studios will go up.

Poly looks a potential disaster.

 

[Kaigler]

Not going to happen. They will never be more than VGF.

 

[MountainMouse]

Not going to happen. They will never be more than VGF.

I would guess VGF would remain the top end but you never know. Also, they could adjust VGF but I highly doubt anything at Poly would influence it. My guess is that they leave the bungalows priced right where they are.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

What odds would you give on a massive reshuffling of the points charts at the Poly?

it looks increasingly likely that the numbers of points needed to stay at the bungalows will be reduced due to poor uptake and to keep the charts in balance the cost of staying in the studios will go up.

Poly looks a potential disaster.

If bungalows are consistently not being booked and studios are booking up quickly they will have to. (They will not care where the points fall in comparison to any other resort). But if studios are staying available too I'm doubtful they'll be too quick to adjust.

 

[Kaigler]

They absolutely will care where the points fall. VGF will always be more or equal. thats their crown jewel. If the points are less it would diminish that.

 

[Caren]

We bought DVC to get extra space, kitchen, and washer/dryer. I've booked a studio when I've traveled solo, but lately decided I'd rather book a value resort with an AP discount for those trips and save the points for family trips in larger villas. The bungalows are not only too expensive but unappealing to me--I don't want to stay over lake water and the plunge pool looks like a toddler hazard for the grand babies. We'll probably never stay at the Poly, which is a shame because I love the place.

 

[Dean]

DVC will not be looking at the points and saying they don't want to have anything higher than VGF but even if they were, it wouldn't affect their ulltimate decisions. They have a responsibility to the members at the Poly to manage the resort as a stand alone entity and IF there is lack of usage for the 2 BR, eventually they won't have any choice. They could lower them without affecting the rest of the resort before everything is declared like they did for BWV. If it happens, it'll likely be fairly quickly without affecting studios or it'll be a few years and the studios would have to rise. Members there really wouldn't have a valid argument against it and other DVC members would have no say at all.

 

[disneynutz]

I wonder if DVD's performance is bad enough for Iger to consider a DVD/DVC management change?

Bill

 

[Dean]

I wonder if DVD's performance is bad enough for Iger to consider a DVD/DVC management change?

Bill

Whether they will or not would be beyond us. We don't have enough information to really discuss that intelligently I don't believe. I would suspect he had some input into the project up front but how much of the specifics he was involved in would be beyond us. My gut reaction is no, not at this point. But given the turnover there one has to wonder what the internal culture is at DVD anyway. OTOH, I do feel they've made some mistakes with the Poly though I'm hoping it's that I don't have all the info and a later expansion will include some additional villas sizes with 1 & normal 2 BR options.