News New Polynesian Resort DVC villas building to open 2024

[SpaceMountain77]

Congratulations…and enjoy. More power to you.

I’m a bit of a “classic” DVC philosopher. I have no interest in set rooms/weeks. Moving around was the whole design of the thing (I worked with some early “architects”)…so that’s just my thing.

Nor do I want to be in that compound with its collapsing capacity management when you have to book at 11 or 7 months out. No thanks.

And I’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and say that the luggage had NOTHING to do with the purchase.

Yes, the luggage had nothing to do with purchase. Prior to the luggage announcement, I had already sent an email to my guide with the fixed week request.

There is nothing exciting, magical, or pleasurable about booking through Member Services or the DVC website. As of late, you are lucky if you are able to call into Member Services and wait less than 30 minutes. The IT of this mass media conglomerate is nothing short of absurd. The website is regularly down, with a "We're Working on It" page accompanied by the Seven Dwarfs on a log, and, if you are fortunate enough to get through toward the end of a booking, the session may timeout.

Stay anywhere! Enjoy the flexibility! Sure, if you are booking resorts and villa categories that are less popular because of outrageously point-priced rooms.

The posts from pixie dusted, newly minted members that cannot understand why they paid $255+ per point for a premium resort and can only book AKV, OKW, or SSR at peak travel times are commonplace.

Should I have a honest DVC page? Yes. Would anyone want to hear the truth from 10 years of membership? No.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Finally.
Someone besides myself thinks the same way in regards to DVC being the 'cancer' that has helped destroy the WDW Property so many love / loved.

I have felt this way since it first started 'infecting' the property.
I watched as the focus of the Company and funds that should have been invested in the Parks was funneled away to focus on exploiting this time share racket cash grab.
It was frustrating as a Parks fan at the time...seeing this misplaced focus.
Overbuilding ( at the time ) these sprawling 'DVC resorts' that were really just ' condos' or 'apartment complexes' in thinly veiled themed buildings.
I was furious when they built the eyesore and visual intrusion next to the Contemporary....Bay Lake Tower.
Then the gigantic tower over at Cornorando...

Now, this.


-

I don’t disagree with the “rot”…or even DVC’s role in it…

But the primary culprits are truly awful park management (and I’m talking about the “twins”) and the shift in customer demographics/focus where the goal is to just “be there”…not to get a good value out of it. Indeed…peruse this and other boards and you’ll see the unmistakable tone of people who believe being overcharged is a “status” symbol.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There’s a Gigantic first floor indoor-outdoor restaurant in the concept art. And another restaurant on the second floor.

So a mixed cafeteria and a sit down?

What if Kona goes as part of this? A very real possibility.

But I’ll believe only what I see. Have you been to the “deluxe” dining at the bon bini tower?

 

[SpaceMountain77]

Those moves were all predictable if you know where to look…

The next target (guess): yacht club. A lot of that hinges on the longterm Impact to business travel.


But let’s look at where rooms have been “taken”…

Dakl
Contemporary
Poly
Wilderness (huge)
Caribbean (just stupid)
GF


…almost like a “trend” or something?

When the Riviera was announced, I was surprised that it was not themed to the Riviera Maya. Thematically, a better fit with a neighboring Caribbean-themed resort.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes, the luggage had nothing to do with purchase. Prior to the luggage announcement, I had already sent an email to my guide with the fixed week request.

There is nothing exciting, magical, or pleasurable about booking through Member Services or the DVC website. As of late, you are lucky if you are able to call into Member Services and wait less than 30 minutes. The IT of this mass media conglomerate is nothing short of absurd. The website is regularly down, with a "We're Working on It" page accompanied by the Seven Dwarfs on a log, and, if you are fortunate enough to get through toward the end of a booking, the session may timeout.

Stay anywhere! Enjoy the flexibility! Sure, if you are booking resorts and villa categories that are less popular because of outrageously point-priced rooms.

The posts from pixie dusted, newly minted members that cannot understand why they paid $255+ per point for a premium resort and can only book AKV, OKW, or SSR at peak travel times are commonplace.

Should I have a honest DVC page? Yes. Would anyone want to hear the truth from 10 years of membership? No.

That’s how the pool was gonna work as they overfilled it.

Since you’ve been around a while (but not as long as me)…you can probably remember seeing beach club “available” in the early days of the website.
Try it now…seriously…give it a roll.

As far as those silly buyers…they should take the 15 minutes to do some research. Or read their contract.
Like when is says that I have a “3.5% ownership of unit 27A at _____”… the warning bells should blast right there.

Whatever 27A is..:who has the other 97.5% of it…if I can stay several weeks a year without breaking a sweat?

The tub was gonna fill over. Every “new development” just adds more liquid.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

When the Riviera was announced, I was surprised that it was not themed to the Riviera Maya. Thematically, a better fit with a neighboring Caribbean-themed resort.

It’s not themed to anything other than what you would expect people from New York to want when they show up at Atlantis or Miami…

And it’s in caribbean. That dog don’t hunt with a ski lift or without.

I was on the “other” site when that was announced (along with the canal to connect it to Germany in the world showcase ) and i was “a tad” critical of the concept. There’s a witness or two around here.

You don’t cross “that line”. Hotels where built with a specific set of characteristics for specific price points. Nothing has changed. You don’t slap one in the lake at caribbean and call it “deluxe”.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

LOL. I’m sure he’s talking about Tom Bricker. And I’m pretty sure we’re allowed to link out to his site. https://www.disneytouristblog.com/dvc-tower-expansion-polynesian-village-resort/

What’s funny is that I have roundly ASSURED by many of the experts on these threads that the bungholos do not flood points into the system and are always booked by DVC magical members to reclaim the points at the bargain of 676 points a week…

…seems to be some disagreement here. Hmmm?

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

I cant help but think the long term goal is to make all their parks and resorts dvc exclusive just about...sounds far fetched I know but a lot of other things I thought were far fetched about Disney have sure come to fruition.

Yep, you’ll have to be DVC in order to buy park tickets or even step on property. But they’ll gladly sell you a daily DVC pass.

 

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

So the concept art looks horrible, and the Spirit of Aloha show is going away…along with the tranquil palm tree area that separates it from the Grand Flo…

But look at it from the C-Suite perspective: they show up everyday to work and make dreadful decisions that ruin every aesthetic/theme/idea that the parks were built on. Bet yet the more they do so, the more people throw money at them. They must be gleeful knowing they can do no apparent wrong.

 

[SpaceMountain77]

That’s how the pool was gonna work as they overfilled it.

Since you’ve been around a while (but not as long as me)…you can probably remember seeing beach club “available” in the early days of the website.
Try it now…seriously…give it a roll.

As far as those silly buyers…they should take the 15 minutes to do some research. Or read their contract.
Like when is says that I have a “3.5% ownership of unit 27A at _____”… the warning bells should blast right there.

Whatever 27A is..:who has the other 97.5% of it…if I can stay several weeks a year without breaking a sweat?

The tub was gonna fill over. Every “new development” just adds more liquid.

Seven years ago, I was able to book a deluxe studio at Disney's Beach Club Villas for a full week at the end of September during Food & Wine! No walking, no multiple attempts. Woke up, went online, booked the room. Good luck with that in 2022.

I now have two fixed weeks. When VGF went on sale in 2013, I purchased a fixed week for Week #49/first week of December because there are only 17 Deluxe Studios with a Lake View and I knew it would be impossible to book with thousands of other members all vying for the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have used my week every year since my purchase, so thousands of owners may be competing for one of 16 Deluxe Studios with a Lake View that week.

Personally, I suspect that the sale of Big Pine Key points is going to put further pressure on the studios in the Villas because of the kitchenette. Yes, two dedicated queen beds is a plus, but the advantage of a villa over a resort room is the sink, microwave, and ability to have breakfast in the room. No I am not a studio Crockpot dinners person; those DVC members are another breed.

It was my hope to purchase a second fixed week for a Deluxe Studio Lake View because of this, but DVC is either pausing the sale or has completely ended fixed week sales in the original building. Knowing the demand, my second fixed week is for a Resort Studio Theme Park View during the September lull.

When VGF tops 20,000 members, some seeking a fireworks view of Cinderella Castle from Big Pine Key at the end of September, they will be competing for one of 27 or fewer studios.

 

[Joe]

I know of at least 4 different DVC projects being examined.

Would that be in addition to the 3 that have already been announced, Poly-Grand Floridian-Disneyland Hotel?

 

[UNCgolf]

Rumor is Port Orleans is next. WDW kept it closed and watched closely to see if tower rooms at Cornardo or skyliner transportation CBR was bigger seller for similar rooms in the same moderate category. The standard WDW room of two queen beds is super outdated especially compared to the rooms at Universal Orlando which are cheaper and bigger. Majority have theme parkviews and roof top bars. Disney seems to be on this trend too now

Yuck. Port Orleans is the best value anywhere at Disney (still overpriced, of course) and a beautiful resort. Building a tower there would ruin it.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Yuck. Port Orleans is the best value anywhere at Disney (still overpriced, of course) and a beautiful resort. Building a tower there would ruin it.

Totally agree. Basically, towers ruin the best-themed Disney resorts. I wasn't that upset when they built Bay Lake Tower because it was next to another tower. Coronado Springs was a very well-themed resort, and now there's a tower plopped in the middle. Same now with Polynesian. Why did they design resorts like Port Orleans in the first place? To place you in that location. A tower reminds you that you're not actually in the Bayou or on a Polynesian isle, but in a half-effort substitute that is built to squeeze as much money out of you as possible. Just an awful trend in Disney resorts.

 

[mysto]

This is tragic.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

LOL. I’m sure he’s talking about Tom Bricker. And I’m pretty sure we’re allowed to link out to his site. https://www.disneytouristblog.com/dvc-tower-expansion-polynesian-village-resort/

I'm never sure what we can and can't link. I miss Tom on here!

 

[Tom Morrow]

Tired of these massive tall structures. They completely defeat the purpose of having as much land as they do and yes, they still have plenty of usable land. Especially at a place like the Polynesian where smaller, more quaint buildings are entirely the point.

Bay Lake Tower - okay, fine, it's about the same size as the main tower. The Grand Floridian DVC tower? Fine, it's only a little taller than the existing buildings. This, and the other recently built structures though? They completely defeat the purpose and kill the vibe of these resorts. I'm not sure how they don't get that the charm of the WDW resorts is that they're NOT supposed to feel like Vegas hotels.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Yuck. Port Orleans is the best value anywhere at Disney (still overpriced, of course) and a beautiful resort. Building a tower there would ruin it.

Yeah… I’ve mostly reacted to these ugly, intrusive DVC towers with resigned and slightly bemused disgust - I know what modern WDW is, and even though I’ve stayed at every Disney resort built before AoA, I’m extremely happy now giving my hotel dollars to the nice folks over at Universal. But when it comes time for the idiots to ruin Port Orleans I will be genuinely upset - even though it’s grossly overpriced now, I still have a real emotional connection to the place, one of the best themed and most charming resorts WDW ever built.

Stop. Buying. DVC. It’s counter-productive conspicuous consumption that ONLY benefits the worst execs at WDW. I remember going in to hear the DVC sales pitch in the early 90s, back in the golden days when WDW was still the benchmark for customer service and Horizons, WoM, and Imagination were still several years away from thoughtless destruction. I was just a kid, but my whole family could see that, despite our then-uncritical love of WDW, DVC was a scam that had the potential to snowball into something very destructive.

 

[Richie248]

The contrast between this tower and the existing buildings of Poly and GF is jarring. The other issue I foresee is adding even more traffic to the already overtaxed monorail. Last time I stayed at GF, the monorail seemed to be down more than it was up. I don't mind walking....so I took advantage of the walkway BUT most people are paying a premium for monorail access and if they continue to run it into the ground....doesn't that defeat the purpose? I'll really miss my morning runs between GF and Poly!

 

[seascape]

I expect this to be added to the existing DVC. Until DVC decides to remove the restrictions to new resorts they need to expand the old ones and that leaves only the Grand, Poly and Copper Creek due to their length of time left. Reflections will be built but it is going to take time. Personally, I think DVC made a big mistake with the restrictions as have other timeshare companies. Restrictions on resale contracts lower the value of timeshares and the price the timeshare at retail.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Would that be in addition to the 3 that have already been announced, Poly-Grand Floridian-Disneyland Hotel?

Yes.