Why are Poly fees higher than VGF?

[DVC Doctor]

I predict Poly dues will be $7pp within 4 years

 

[Dean]

I predict Poly dues will be $7pp within 4 years

I suspect it'll take a little longer than that but I agree with the principle for both VGF and Poly.

 

[MountainMouse]

It's one of 3 dates that determine when dues start. The contract date if one has points from the get go, the UY if the points start with the UY or the points availability date if it's later than the UY. Then they are prorated for the remainder of the calendar year in question.

That is a little strange but I believe it. So I guess you would be best off to buy a direct contract in December and have it fully loaded.

 

[Dean]

That is a little strange but I believe it. So I guess you would be best off to buy a direct contract in December and have it fully loaded.

I don't recommend timing for this purpose because you'll have less time to use points and might suffer a price increase. the cheapest option would be buying iin Nov for a Dec UY with banked points but you give up potential time you could have used and saved. Legally they can't charge you for a time you can't use the points, the fact they prorate them from the signing date is a sales incentive. I only recall one time when units were available later than the UY date but there may have been others I'm not thinking of.

 

[MountainMouse]

I don't recommend timing for this purpose because you'll have less time to use points and might suffer a price increase. the cheapest option would be buying iin Nov for a Dec UY with banked points but you give up potential time you could have used and saved. Legally they can't charge you for a time you can't use the points, the fact they prorate them from the signing date is a sales incentive. I only recall one time when units were available later than the UY date but there may have been others I'm not thinking of.

Agree with the potential for a point cost increase, but I'm not sure about the usability. I can see it being an issue if you wanted to go before November and it does creep out your 11 month window. Isn't it fairly common for DVD to make your first reservation and "find" availability if it's showing unavailable?

 

[wdrl]

Isn't it fairly common for DVD to make your first reservation and "find" availability if it's showing unavailable?

There are mixed postings about that. I have seen posts in which people say their Guide could not get them the exact dates and accommodation they wanted. I've also seen posts in which people said their Guide made their first reservation for them, but it wasn't clear if they couldn't have made the reservation themselves without the Guide.

I would not advise anyone to plan on a Guide miraculously finding availability. Asking a Guide to find a one-bedroom at VGF for nine months in the future is much different than asking a Guide to find a studio at VGF for the first week of December.

 

[rlovew]

Since the GFV has check in services in the lobby that is an expense that should be more than the Poly front desk amount but the grounds at the Poly as well as the maintenance on the buildings and bungalows should be higher at the Poly and this may balance them out a bit more. Also the shared amount at the resort is based on the occupancy of the resort so the higher the percentage of rooms and people staying in them the higher the percentage of shared costs are paid by the DVC rooms so the Poly will have a much higher percentage on shared costs. Some of things may balance each other out but overall the dues at one have no bearing on the dues at another resort.

 

[DebbieB]

If I buy a brand new house I don't expect maintenance issues to arise for several years. If I buy an old house, even an 'updated' 'refurbished' old house I expect to have maintenance issues sooner. The VGF are all in a brand new purpose built building whereas the Poly studios were slotted into exsisting very old Poly buildings. I don't know if that has anything to do w/it - but I'm betting it does. Plus those overwater bungalows can't be cheap to maintain compared to land based villas. The one thing I hadn't thought about is why w/ the point creep the MF shouldn't be lower for both of these resorts compared to other less point expensive resorts, there's more points to spread the cost among, so theoretically it seems to me each point should have a lower per rata share of the cost.

The biggest items on the dues chart are housekeeping and front desk. Those have nothing to do with property age. There is also property taxes. I bought a home in 2012 and my property taxes have gone up significantly.

 

[dizfan]

Maintaining a beach may be more expensive. If that is the case, look at a satellite image and Poly/PVB has a significantly larger beach space to maintain. With the beach/sand area, erosion occurs. I believe Tikiman mentioned Disney dredged the weeds and brought in fresh sand prior to PVB opening. When we were there in May, every morning they has someone with a leaf blower on the sidewalks to get the sand off the walks.

It is also conceivable that PVB dues includes money for the $350 million roadway changes recently announced. Other WDW resorts may see an increase in the transportation portion of dues in 2016. Additionally, aren't there reports of monorail upgrades coming. At one point, I read they were going to make them more automated like DL.

Infinite number of possibilities. 2016 dues will provide a better picture.

 

[DenLo]

IMO the big difference in maintenance cost is still the number of buildings, three 3-story buildings plus 20 bungalows versus one building with 6 stories. Both have the same monorail costs and probably the same cost for any future road work. The only factor that is different is the Tiki torches at PVB. The cost of the natural gas could raise the maintenance costs some, but not that much. Everything else is pretty much the same as there is a beach at GF that VGF would have a share of the cost of maintaining it. You do have more tropical plants so that could be more pruning involved, but VGF/GF has lots of shrubs too. I still think it is strictly the cost of maintaining the buildings and the area surrounding them and that includes the shallow water under the bungalows--dredging and weeding--that will have to be done regularly.

 

[DenLo]

To me the MFs everyone should be questioning is BWVs why is it always so expensive?

 

[sndral]

The biggest items on the dues chart are housekeeping and front desk. Those have nothing to do with property age. There is also property taxes. I bought a home in 2012 and my property taxes have gone up significantly.

Thank you for the info. - I'll need to look at the breakdown at some pt. I tend to forget about property taxes taking huge jumps as I'm a California native and our property tax increases are strictly regulated (and limited) by law, so if I buy a house in 2012 my taxes can be no more than 1% of what I paid for it and going forward the assessed value of my property for tax purposes cannot increase by more than 2% per annum from that original amount (or state's inflation rate - whichever is lower.)

 

[DebbieB]

To me the MFs everyone should be questioning is BWVs why is it always so expensive?

One thing to keep in mind is the newer resorts have lower dues per point because they charge more points per night per room, so the budget items are spread out over a larger number of points. For example, a standard studio at BWV during dream season is 104 per week (125 preferred view) vs 153 at Poly. If you compared the dues for those points for home resort owners, BWV would be $631 ($759), Poly would be $921.

BWV used to be alot more than the other 2042 resorts. It's pretty close now. AKV is the highest on property WDW resort.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/history-of-dvc-annual-dues.3442597/

 

[DebbieB]

Thank you for the info. - I'll need to look at the breakdown at some pt. I tend to forget about property taxes taking huge jumps as I'm a California native and our property tax increases are strictly regulated (and limited) by law, so if I buy a house in 2012 my taxes can be no more than 1% of what I paid for it and going forward the assessed value of my property for tax purposes cannot increase by more than 2% per annum from that original amount (or state's inflation rate - whichever is lower.)

From what I've heard, property taxes at the newer resorts have been going up because of the increased resale prices. They are being reassessed for higher property values.

 

[disneynutz]

To me the MFs everyone should be questioning is BWVs why is it always so expensive?

Maybe BWV is high because they pressure wash the boardwalk every morning???

Bill

 

[Dean]

Agree with the potential for a point cost increase, but I'm not sure about the usability. I can see it being an issue if you wanted to go before November and it does creep out your 11 month window. Isn't it fairly common for DVD to make your first reservation and "find" availability if it's showing unavailable?

IF you buy in November with a Dec UY and get banked points, you could potentially only have access to a limited time of year to use the points. As a minimum you've limited the time in the UY you have access to and can plan. It's essentially the same thought process as whether to buy an earlier UY vs later one and the inherent value involved. IMO a UY that's 6 months earlier is worth 1/2 a years points compared to one that's 6 months later, say $5-6 per point all else equal.

 

[MountainMouse]

IF you buy in November with a Dec UY and get banked points, you could potentially only have access to a limited time of year to use the points. As a minimum you've limited the time in the UY you have access to and can plan. It's essentially the same thought process as whether to buy an earlier UY vs later one and the inherent value involved. IMO a UY that's 6 months earlier is worth 1/2 a years points compared to one that's 6 months later, say $5-6 per point all else equal.

Maybe this is my never bought direct ignorance showing through, but won't DVD bank the points even if your past the window. For example, buy a December UY in November and 2014 points are banked with 2015 coming in a month. So I guess you have lost 11 months of potential use but you still have 12-13 months to use those points and you don't lose any points only gain maintenance fees back. This all hangs on my assumption that the 2014 points get banked for 2015 use.

 

[Dean]

Maybe this is my never bought direct ignorance showing through, but won't DVD bank the points even if your past the window. For example, buy a December UY in November and 2014 points are banked with 2015 coming in a month. So I guess you have lost 11 months of potential use but you still have 12-13 months to use those points and you don't lose any points only gain maintenance fees back. This all hangs on my assumption that the 2014 points get banked for 2015 use.

They will bank them up until the last day on a retail purchase but you still only have but 12 months to both reserve and travel where had you bought 12 months earlier on day 1 of that same UY, you'd have an additional 12 months to use those points. Technically that time has value, how much is variable from one person to another. In part it's the same thinking as buying a good UY compared to a bad one, it's essentially insurance. Depending on the home resort and one's flexibility, planned travel time, that might be very limiting or not at all. IMO the time to use is more valuable than the savings on dues. Plus some resorts can be a difficulty in reserving when you want. And that in order to get that benefit you've got to pay retail prices which usually means you'll also need to buy more points for the higher end newer resorts.

 

[tjkraz]

From what I've heard, property taxes at the newer resorts have been going up because of the increased resale prices. They are being reassessed for higher property values.

Not just resale but direct sale prices, too.

Taxes are based upon property's value and the higher the selling price, the higher the calculated value.

 

[MountainMouse]

They will bank them up until the last day on a retail purchase but you still only have but 12 months to both reserve and travel where had you bought 12 months earlier on day 1 of that same UY, you'd have an additional 12 months to use those points. Technically that time has value, how much is variable from one person to another. In part it's the same thinking as buying a good UY compared to a bad one, it's essentially insurance. Depending on the home resort and one's flexibility, planned travel time, that might be very limiting or not at all. IMO the time to use is more valuable than the savings on dues. Plus some resorts can be a difficulty in reserving when you want. And that in order to get that benefit you've got to pay retail prices which usually means you'll also need to buy more points for the higher end newer resorts.

Ok, we're on the same page. I just fall into the category of folks that would take the discounted maintenance over scheduling flexibility. This year for instance if I were to buy Poly I would probably wait until November and get a December use year since December use years work best for us and we don't need another vacation until next year.