Why is Poly so expensive

[gottalovepluto]

Okay, help a novice here… So, I rent the points from someone who isn't going to use them and wants the cash and then I use those points to book a room? Is that how it works?…

That’s not how it works. They arrange your room and have control over your booking. There’s a good amount of trust involved. You don’t get daily Housekeeping and you’ll be in the DVC portion of the property. If something happens prior to your trip Disney will communicate with the owner, not you as it is not your reservation.

Please, do thorough research first. I stick to hotels at WDW because I cannot deal with the inflexible nature of DVC rentals. Trip insurance might cover that non-refundable hiccup, but not uncommonly doesn’t so you need to be very careful with your trip insurance.

Personally I start by booking the Disney hotel that is in my budget and then when discounts are released I see if any aspirational hotels meet the budget. When people or websites brag about how much money they save renting points it’s always vs rack rate, not discounts. Do be aware, WDW discounts aren’t like DL. They only release a limited amount of rooms instead of all available rooms for booking on the discounts so you need to book asap when you see they’ve dropped or work with a TA who will take care of that probably before you even wake up if you’re on the west coast.

 

[LKing]

That’s not how it works. They arrange your room and have control over your booking. There’s a good amount of trust involved. You don’t get daily Housekeeping and you’ll be in the DVC portion of the property. If something happens prior to your trip Disney will communicate with the owner, not you as it is not your reservation.

Please, do thorough research first. I stick to hotels at WDW because I cannot deal with the inflexible nature of DVC rentals. Trip insurance might cover that non-refundable hiccup, but not uncommonly doesn’t so you need to be very careful with your trip insurance.

Personally I start by booking the Disney hotel that is in my budget and then when discounts are released I see if any aspirational hotels meet the budget. When people or websites brag about how much money they save renting points it’s always vs rack rate, not discounts. Do be aware, WDW discounts aren’t like DL. They only release a limited amount of rooms instead of all available rooms for booking on the discounts so you need to book asap when you see they’ve dropped or work with a TA who will take care of that probably before you even wake up if you’re on the west coast.

Thank you! That sounds like a good approach. I will look for the hotels that are at the price I want to pay and then work up from there.

I really appreciate you taking the time to explain it to me.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Yeah, CBR has a great pool! Last stayed there over 5 years ago, paid about $170/nt and it showed us a deal for Poly at $330/nt. We spend much more resort time nowadays so the differences make the upgrade more valuable to us.

I enjoy the Crescent Lake resorts over the MK resorts so if I can find a good deal on those I jump on it and justify the cost since we also spend more time at the resort since we do 9-10 day trips.

If a magical deal ever came out again and it only included the Poly I would not turn it down though!! I would also like to try GF one day and my bucket list is a MK view room at the contemporary.

 

[sponica]

The only way we swing the Poly was using our refund from a 2020 trip that didn't happen and rolling it into the Poly stay. Maybe not the most financially sound decision I've ever made, but the vacation ranks as one of my favorites. The Moana refurb was very well done and probably feeds into its higher prices post reopening.

 

[DisneyGuy]

I would like to try the Polynesian once but can’t usually pull myself away from the Yacht Club/Boardwalk Epcot resort area. I’ve done GF and Contemporary but never for the full stay. It is very expensive and the discount is usually 10% if anything.

 

[Chuck96]

I point-rented to stay there in early (pre-COVID) 2020. It was a great decision, as I do think the Polynesian is a really special Disney Resort.

Disney resort rack rates are completely and utterly bananas. Supply and demand, I guess.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Stayed there last year and found the resort to be way too crowded for me. Everything was crowded. The lobby, the walkways, the pool, the restaurants. I found it to be very overwhelming but that's just my take.

Also this isn't exclusive to the Polynesian but the walls are made with toilet paper because I could hear EVERYTHING the people in the room next to me were saying. I could hear their TV too.

Agreed that the rack rates are ridiculous. Not a single Disney owned hotel is even remotely worth $800/night.

 

[DVCjj]

To me the only perks for the poly are the theming and the proximity to MK. Having to walk around in the weather to get to and from my room and walk around the resort to QS or other dining options is laughable to me for $800+ a night. Its so bizarre to that GF and poly can have their rooms spread out across the resort in all these individual buildings. Thats something I would expect with a motel not a luxury priced resort.

That’s exactly why we really don’t use our Poly points and switch at 7 months. I especially don’t like walking around at night because it’s pitch black. (And raining a lot so a pain). Everything there is a walk. Only bought DVC there due to nostalgia, as stated numerous times, when it literally opened. It was Special. And Lovely.

Back to point…Poly is a lovely resort, just a few quirky things to make us prefer elsewhere. Of course numerous other resorts are very spread out too….though brighter at night.

The OP should rent points. Perfect solution.

 

[LKing]

Stayed there last year and found the resort to be way too crowded for me. Everything was crowded. The lobby, the walkways, the pool, the restaurants. I found it to be very overwhelming but that's just my take.

Also this isn't exclusive to the Polynesian but the walls are made with toilet paper because I could hear EVERYTHING the people in the room next to me were saying. I could hear their TV too.

Super helpful. Thank you!

 

[Smugpugmug]

Super helpful. Thank you!

Please don't let my opinion sway you away from staying there. It's a popular resort for a reason! I just found it to be very busy with people visiting especially in the evening hours.

 

[Genie+]

Thank you! That sounds like a good approach. I will look for the hotels that are at the price I want to pay and then work up from there

The common advice I give is to find a room and cash deal you like, then compare what is possible DVC. It is true cash reservations are much less risky due to generous cancellation policies DVC rentals generally do not have.

It’s not hard to do DVC rentals, just small details that could make a difference in the best way to go about it.

I see you’d like to rent around April 2025. Next you’ll need to decide what resort(s) and room view/category interest you. The best advantage comes from one of these 2 options:

Book right at 11 months with home resort priority. There is a premium of a few dollars per point for this usually.

Book right at 7 months when resort trading opens. Saves money but less choice because much is already booked. This still works well if your target is one of big resorts (like AKV, SSR, OKW, and even BLT). The 1BR category also has a good chance at most resorts. Trading availability is much tighter during lower point seasons.

 

[Genie+]

Super helpful. Thank you!

We stayed 5 days the week before Christmas last year and had neither issue. Both sure can happen at Poly. So far I’ve only had the noisy neighbor thing happen at OKW and BC, and busy resort at VGF (week before Christmas) and PORR.

 

[kylenne]

I have never paid $800 to stay at the Poly and it's my favorite resort on property. I don't rent DVC points either (I don't like the lack of flexibility). We started staying there on the "magical" deals and while those are sadly gone, we have always gotten discounts. tbf it is still expensive even with those, and we are paying an eye watering sum for a single CL night there in September but CLs everywhere were excluded from discounts, and it is a post-cruise splurge we are fine with as a one off. But we also tend to take our longer trips during shoulder season, which helps.

Why do we spend the money? Because it's worth it to us. What people like or dislike in a resort is highly subjective and a matter of personal taste and preference. We all have different experiences. We have never found the Poly to be too busy or crowded for us, we don't think it's too dark at night and enjoy the ambience of the torches and the Hawaiian music. The Oasis pool is my favorite on property, no joke. Being able to walk to the TTC to get the Epcot monorail direct is fantastic as is the resort launch. But there's just a lot of little things that make it so special to us--that first night getting a dole whip and wandering over to the beach to watch HEA and the EWP. No crowds to fight or transportation to worry about, just turn around and walk back to the room. Taking the resort launch over to MK while the sun sets over Seven Seas Lagoon is breathtaking. I could go on and on. Some of what made the resort so special to us is gone now; most of all Auntie (RIP), but also the torch lighting ceremony, the Twilight Feast. But we keep coming back because it still gives us warm fuzzies like nowhere else. I can't explain it. So we keep paying because we can.

On paper we should be Crescent Lake people as hashtag childless millennial DINKs, and while I love the convenience of the area and being able to just pop into Epcot, we just prefer the kinetic energy of the monorail loop. Folk swear by Yacht and Beach but I don't like SAB and I think they're incredibly samey looking resorts that I would get stir crazy at longer than maybe 3 or 4 nights before splitting with Poly or GF. (I know because I did start to get stir crazy when I spent 5 at YC). They are nice resorts, don't get me wrong, I have generally enjoyed staying at both, but for your average week long stay over there I would much rather save the money and get Bonvoy points staying next door. The great thing though is that there is a resort for just about every preference. What is a deal breaker for us may not be for you and vice-versa.

 

[Genie+]

The Oasis pool is my favorite on property, no joke. Being able to walk to the TTC to get the Epcot monorail direct is fantastic as is the resort launch. But there's just a lot of little things that make it so special to us--that first night getting a dole whip and wandering over to the beach to watch HEA and the EWP. No crowds to fight or transportation to worry about, just turn around and walk back to the room. Taking the resort launch over to MK while the sun sets over Seven Seas Lagoon is breathtaking. I could go on and on.

Totally, including being able to go on and on

We weren’t expecting a big difference in experience. Turned out details big and small were +1, +1, +1 at Poly.

Like BC/YC pool often ranked #1. Poly wins hands down for us. The kid’s splash pad, the choice of 2 great pools, the Oasis pool accessible 24hrs (ha ha, yeah!), chill in a hot tub with a mimosa in your Yeti cup looking over the lake at MK.

 

[VeeHam]

That’s exactly why we really don’t use our Poly points and switch at 7 months. I especially don’t like walking around at night because it’s pitch black. (And raining a lot so a pain). Everything there is a walk. Only bought DVC there due to nostalgia, as stated numerous times, when it literally opened. It was Special. And Lovely.

Back to point…Poly is a lovely resort, just a few quirky things to make us prefer elsewhere. Of course numerous other resorts are very spread out too….though brighter at night.

The OP should rent points. Perfect solution.

I will be checking into this. Thanks!

 

[DizneyFamof4]

If people pay the rates why would WDW lower them. We stayed at deluxes years ago, but have not stayed there in a long time, we just cannot find the value in it anymore.

 

[Tatebeck]

Doing a VGF and Poly split stay next week to see if we like it enough to buy in direct when the new tower points go on sale. It's that vs RIV to get our direct benefits right now... (or maybe both...)

 

[saraheliz]

We staying at a one bedroom villa at BLT this summer, a regular old cash reservation through Disney, rack rate was something like $915/night and we got it with a discount I think $580? $585? a night.
Is that expensive? Yes, it is very expensive. But for a family of 5 plenty of places would be that expensive and they aren't plop in the middle of Disney world. With the right discount you can dvc rooms cash through Disney just as inexpensive as renting points (and with a lot more flexibility than point rental allows for).
We've never paid anything close to rack rate.

 

[Genie+]

We staying at a one bedroom villa at BLT this summer, a regular old cash reservation through Disney, rack rate was something like $915/night and we got it with a discount I think $580? $585? a night.
Is that expensive? Yes, it is very expensive. But for a family of 5 plenty of places would be that expensive and they aren't plop in the middle of Disney world. With the right discount you can dvc rooms cash through Disney just as inexpensive as renting points (and with a lot more flexibility than point rental allows for).
We've never paid anything close to rack rate.

1BR is a category where cash is strong against DVC. Typically in the DVC point charts, 1BR is anywhere from twice the cost (points needed) to 2.5 times the cost of studio (regular room, no separate sleep are). Cash rack rate, the 1BRs are only a 30 to 50% price increase over the studio.

Like if a DVC studio is 16pts and goes for $400 rack rate, the equivalent 1BR might be 34pts yet just $590 rack rate.

Another thing is DVC point charts do not follow the same exact flow as WDW rack rates. Sometimes they can be quite different in price season on the same date.

 

[yaksack]

Because people pay for it. If occupancy went down so price.