Island Tower at Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

[MartyParty]

Those are current existing rooms, not part of the tower. It’s not even part of DVC actually, just the hotel-side. PVB doesn’t have club level (yet). I don’t believe they’ve released any information or photos of room renderings yet.

Perfect! Thanks for the correction.

 

[Sandisw]

So no real information yet?

What makes you believe that they are the same association?

The official announcement yesterday by Disney named as part of PVB…so did the Disney files magazine.

All previous official statements made in print by Disney use Poly resort, which I why we spent two years wondering.

Unless they do some gymnastics to add to PVB, but with different vacation plan rules,,,,which I think it’s pretty slim this late in the game…its good bet safe current PVB points will be eligible for home resort booking.

One interesting part though is the booking for cash first…which they did with VDH…at least that will give us some level of expectation for cash rates…

 

[MarkNC2Disney]

Interesting to look at the earlier concept art to now… https://dvcnews.com/resorts/polynesian/news/5255-early-look-at-polynesian-villas-expansion

 

[Sandisw]

How are these new Poly2 points going to effect PVB dues for the original owners?

That will be something to watch. The way it currently works, for those things that are shared expenses, a formula is used to determine the hotel share and the condo share…one method is occupancy.

Now, PVB will have a much larger share of occupancy so conceivable, the association will be on the hook for a much larger share. However, their are points in play as well that will help to spread out that larger share.

The other part is the pool….we don’t know for sure if it will be declared a common element of PVB…my assumption is it will…which means the hotel side will have to pay a share of its expenses like current PVB owners do to use their pools.

What we can assume, because of way that the developer guarantee works, is that no change will happen, even if it does open in 2024, until the 2025 budget…

 

[Sandisw]

Point are based on use year, not calendar year, so yes, even if you couldn't book until 2025, everyone would get 2024 points (no January use year, if I'm not mistaken).

This is not accurate. When BPK opened in 2022, regardless of UY, the first points were 20222 because the units did not exist in 2021.

So, once the calendar year of opening is over, then UY matters for first points, it does not for those just opening as new condos.

So, if they did indeed push opening of condos back to 2025, it would be interesting. However, since the resort is actually opening in. 2024, even for cash, it’s likely we will see some UYs get 2024.

RIv opened in late 2019 and Feb UY…maybe even March UY..did not start with points until their 2020 UY.

 

[Sandisw]

I hate to say it, but it's most likely going to remain PVB. The PVB name previous to the tower made little sense since they didn't really have any "villas" as they were just studios and bungalows. Now with the tower they do have villas, so why would they change it? The PVB name finally makes sense!

There really is no need to rename it because if it’s all the same in terms of home resort, then it’s PVB.

Obviously, everyone is free to refer to it anyway they want, but for purposes of say, the ROFR thread, it will still remain PVB.

I think, until it opens, and we have all the details, as I mentioned, I am just going to use PVB tower!

 

[mkatsy]

To be fair, a lot of the backstage of Tokyo Disneyland is visible due to the uniqueness of the monorail being a part of transit system. What's in the berm is heavily themed even if they slightly under-themed the more affordable tower exterior.

Nothing is going to compare to Hotel Miracosta, whose history goes all the way back to the Westcot project.

View attachment 858482

Explorer's Lodge is a great example though. Aulani is nothing but towers and even Animal Kingdom Lodge, so it's not like there aren't other examples of modern towers that are heavily themed.

Ultimately, I don't think Island Tower is bad. People are going to love it, but I just think they could have done better given the proper budget and support.

Some of the legacy Imagineers are commenting on this subject.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1788970814312009902

Regarding Island Tower's theming,

https://twitter.com/x/status/1789022700729758059

Their card is likely going to be the point chart for the larger units.

And the point chart may very well be the reason for the delay. It has to be submitted, and as we all know it’s fixed for life. Sure they can shuffle, but not add. In theory, that’s the hedge against inflation. Once the point chart is published and you buy in (except for dues) you’ve pre purchased a few decades of vacation at today’s price. Maybe they are still playing with the point chart options

 

[njcoach24]

Lava Pool (+ monorail, buses, food) will be slammed when the tower opens. So I’m going to Poly for the first time in July lol. We’ve had DVC for 5 years, PVB was my home resort until I sold it this year…but I had never stayed there - used pool once and ate at ‘Ohana. We really LOVE GFV and BLT which I own contracts at both now.

Figured let me get PVB in now before the vibe changes completely.

New tower looks beautiful though, that can’t be argued. Maybe they could have done more to blend but otherwise looks like a really nice modern hotel.

 

[hockeydad21]

Lava Pool (+ monorail, buses, food) will be slammed when the tower opens. So I’m going to Poly for the first time in July lol. We’ve had DVC for 5 years, PVB was my home resort until I sold it this year…but I had never stayed there - used pool once and ate at ‘Ohana. We really LOVE GFV and BLT which I own contracts at both now.

Figured let me get PVB in now before the vibe changes completely.

New tower looks beautiful though, that can’t be argued. Maybe they could have done more to blend but otherwise looks like a really nice modern hotel.

I really don’t mind the tower idea, I just wish they had changed the roof to be more similar to that of the grand ceremonial house and longhouse look. I feel like that could have made it blend in so much more with the existing poly infrastructure. Otherwise it looks beautiful.

 

[Mikey15]

Lava Pool (+ monorail, buses, food) will be slammed when the tower opens. So I’m going to Poly for the first time in July lol. We’ve had DVC for 5 years, PVB was my home resort until I sold it this year…but I had never stayed there - used pool once and ate at ‘Ohana. We really LOVE GFV and BLT which I own contracts at both now.

Figured let me get PVB in now before the vibe changes completely.

I wonder what the net impact will really be. Poly is crowded with visitors not staying there now... I ADR at Ohana or Kona, visit, and then partake of Poly's bus, monorail, or boat transportation to wherever I'm going next.

I forget what the number of "keys" people were estimating was, but the tower max occupancy might be 2,000 people? Average occupancy less? Maybe it won't actually wag the dog too much. BLT looks imposing on the Seven Seas skyline but how many owners are actually there versus daily visitors to Chef Mickey's, Steakhouse 71, and California Grille?

 

[BayTower2010]

One of the big complaints of RIV is the very small lobby. The concept images show a larger and immersive lobby. This is big in my book. To walk in and immediate feel that full Disney effect with plenty of room to sit and soak it all in. I cannot wait for this to open to go and check it out.

 

[Cfabar1]

To me the pool situation is the big potential problem.... Disney pools are already undersized for resorts of their caliber and very limited in my opinion... That's what we will see if the capacity can handle... Maybe if it is bad enough they will be guilted into a pool enhancement project a la Aulani....

 

[Genie+]

The green hanging columns with wildlife - could be live grass. Very interesting and may hold more surprises.

There’s also glass balcony on left. Wonder what the full view will be.

 

[njcoach24]

To me the pool situation is the big potential problem.... Disney pools are already undersized for resorts of their caliber and very limited in my opinion... That's what we will see if the capacity can handle... Maybe if it is bad enough they will be guilted into a pool enhancement project a la Aulani....

If Lava Pool wasn’t such a big draw, especially compared to the other monorail pools…I think they should have made the tower pool more along the lines of what’s at Kidani with some of the Moana Exhibit at Epcot.

For me personally, the pool options make a difference.

And I think stressing a small feature pool with possibly another 1,000+ guests is the biggest negative to this project.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I was all-in on this new tower until I saw the lobby art. There's one spot on one of the walls, sort of behind a column, where there are two adjacent shades of beige, desert sand and khaki within what looks like about 6 feet of each other. After seeing that, I'm now unfortunately out on this and won't be adding on any Poly points. This has completely ruined it for me.

Do better Disney!!!

 

[Genie+]

I was all-in on this new tower until I saw the lobby art. There's one spot on one of the walls, sort of behind a column, where there are two adjacent shades of beige, desert sand and khaki within what looks like about 6 feet of each other. After seeing that, I'm now unfortunately out on this and won't be adding on any Poly points. This has completely ruined it for me.

Do better Disney!!!

In pictures of the BWV refurb last December the neutral colors seemed disjointed in some lighting. Looked so much better in person.

 

[DonMacGregor]

In pictures of the BWV refurb last December the neutral colors seemed disjointed in some lighting. Looked so much better in person.

Guess it needed the sarcasm emoji after all...

 

[njcoach24]

Guess it needed the sarcasm emoji after all...

I couldn’t tell at first but it was slightly over the top lol.

 

[MarkNC2Disney]

To me the pool situation is the big potential problem.... Disney pools are already undersized for resorts of their caliber and very limited in my opinion... That's what we will see if the capacity can handle... Maybe if it is bad enough they will be guilted into a pool enhancement project a la Aulani....

Yup.

My mindset if I were buying this is I get 2 resorts for 1 price. Gasparilla Grill and all the nice dining options at VGF are an easy waltz away. It wouldn’t be hard to crash the very lovely Courtyard Pool either. And of course I’m walking through to get to MK.

I think it’ll be about 200-250 rooms which is probably around 1000 guests. The pool will probably be of similar size and appeal as BLT, minus the slide. It seems as though they did away with the infinity edge as shown in original concept art, unfortunately.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I couldn’t tell at first but it was slightly over the top lol.

I was going for the authentic inane complaint vibe. Guess I nailed it.