My prelim take on this tower is 10/10. Tremendously excited. I think the points for the rooms and views will match the Grand Floridian's next door, with the exception of the "Theme Park" views ... which will be more. Additionally, the "2BR Penthouse Villa" room has so much potential. I'm hoping that ... in addition to it being on the top floor of the tower (and thus, a "theme park" view), they will actually add some significant "non-bedroom" space ... like a big patio or extra capacious living room. From the pictures, though, it looks like there will be two of these ... one on the 10th floor and one on the 9th floor ... and that the space looks pretty equal to that of a standard 2BR. We'll see.
Ooohhh points at VGF levels?! I could see it. I haven't really thought about it deeply yet but yeah you make good points. I'm definitely very intrigued by the 2bed penthouse situation. It would be awesome if there was living/shared space, but I just have a hard time imagining they wouldn't shove sleeper chairs/couches in there to claim it could sleep more than 9? I hope you're right though, that would be truly wonderful.
@@PixieDustPhD the reason I suspect the villa costs will match VGF is that the current PVB deluxe studios are costed between [-2 … +2] under or over their VGF counterparts (varies by season).
I agree I think the concept art for the lobby looks beautiful and I love that it looks light and airy and different--even though I love the original Poly too! Can't wait to hear more info about amenities and other details! We don't *need* new points but are definitely going to add on here as long as it is the same association!
Hahahaha oh our minds are so similar in the don't need new points, might buy new points. I'm actually going to try really hard not to though. Really hard hahaha
I’m very interested in staying at the tower. We want a small contract at a monorail resort for when we’re visiting Magic Kingdom. This could be the one.
I've been off RU-vid for a while but had to come back to hear your (extended) thoughts & info on the new Tower! I'll be pretty surprised if they don't add a separate boat dock for the Tower to MK, or atleast a new bus stop. No added transportation at all would definitely be a tough strain on the current transpo for traditional Poly. But I'm sure they've got something planned. I'll be wishing for like a Dec. 4th-ish opening, but it'll probably be later in the month as you predicted. Atleast it didn't get pushed to 2025!!!
I guess my comment of not being surprised if they didn't add a dedicated Tower stop is just like... its easy imo to see them cheaping out and being like 'yep head to the ceremonial house!' and maybe just increasing bus frequency at peak times to accommodate for more bodies. Or like direct people to walk to TTC to catch that MK ferry. I HOPE they do something for the Tower specifically, but I am just not holding my breath. Go in with low expectations means I'll be neutral to pleasantly surprised no matter what haha Early December would be so nice but we'll just have to see. I figure they'll do whatever it takes to have it open for that week leading into Christmas, but anything before that is a big who knows haha. But yes, yay it's still 2024!! Nice to see ya back around here :)
It’s essentially confirmed that the tower is part of the same association. Yvonne Chang (DVC Director) confirmed it at the Association meeting, and the Island Tower is being considered an “addition” to the existing Polynesian Resort Villas and Bungalows.
Yeah for sure, Im absolutely under the assumption it is. Just until we actually see it in writing, that's when it becomes 100% fact. And while of course her saying it at the condo association meeting is a HUGE signal, it was also a very carefully crafted statement with wiggle room ala "our current plan..." so yeah like I said, in agreement but I always wanna see it for real confirmed before reporting it as such.
That's an interesting thought. There don't seem to be enough of them though...? And they don't seem high enough to be part of the penthouse ones. Would love to hear you expand on this more!
Ahhh very nice! So happy for everyone who already has a home contract, assuming the tower stays in the same association which I really think it will. Really awesome to see folks' investment in PVB expand so greatly with the tower!!
Disney seems right on schedule with the tower. I'm excited to finally have a name (although it never occured to me that it wouldn't be called the Polynesian Tower!) and I love the logo and interior concept art. As I've said before, the tower format is all we're likely to ever get going forward (I could see a Fort Wilderness Cabins tower in the near future!) so let's just get on board. This is far more interesting to me than BLT, and the color makes a lot more sense than Riv's gray, which is not a Mediterrean hue at all! This is, as you said, consistent with the longhouses and the whole Poly esthetic. I don't think it will seem too close to GF and I don't understand people's fixation with the wedding pavilion. I think this will create a bustling Poly resort area which may disperse some of the foot traffic at GF. Or not. Maybe the monorail resorts are just going to be extremely crowded most of the time. I don't get the complaints about the extra people ruining the tropical paradise feel of the resort. This resort is noisy and crowded most of the time. It's not about a secluded island getaway. It's a nostalgic journey to the end of the mod-century tiki trend. It's beautiful and it's an authentic piece of Disney history, but it's camp, kitsch and pastiche. The tower may actually balance this with its symbolism and art. They seem to taking a cue from Aulani? The transportation does concern me. I don't think I'd bring my mother here if she'd have to walk the length of the tower and over to the Ceremonial House to get the monorail or bus. My guess is transportation is going to be the major gripe with the tower except for people who are going to MK and have no issues walking. I was thinking about how they no longer let people enter the Disneyland Paris Hotel without a reservation. Do you think they might do this at Poly to alleviate the predicted pressure on the monorail? Also, do you think Trader Sam's could become for resort guests only? Once the tower is open I can not imagine they wouldn't have more than enough customers with reservations to fill it at all times.
Ya know I really hadn't thought about the name before, but I guess since all the long houses have names it makes sense for the tower to have its own name too! Oh have you seen a lot of complaints about it being too close to the wedding pavilion? I feel like the only people who care about that must be the people who plan to use it... haha I think we're on the same page. Poly is already so crowded, all the monorail resorts are really. And yes sure adding capacity to hotels without adding capacity to parks isn't great, but I do think they're slowly but surely building out the parks. It's not as fast as slapping up a hotel which can be frustrating, but it is happening at least. I think crowding on transportation and yeah potential lack of transport from the tower are valid concerns. I feel like forever ago I saw some construction plans that indicated a small parking lot by the tower, but I could be absolutely making that up in my head so don't take my word for it haha. The DLP Hotel reservation system I think is gone now! And given its proximity to the theme park, and its grandeur, I don't really think a new poly tower will compare? I mean the first bit there will absolutely be the bum rush of everyone having to be first so it'll be crowded, but that'll thin out. The same thing happens with everything shiny and new at Disney. I can't really imagine them using any sort of system like DLP's hotel, but I could be wrong. And I higghhllyy doubt they'll ever lock down Trader Sam's fully. It makes them so much money, and so much of that is coming from folks who aren't staying. Maybe I could see a shift in the future where resort guests get reservations and everyone else is day of walk up? But not allowing resort guests to go would just be lost revenue. I do sometimes wonder if they'd ever check magic bands for the resort monorail on like the BUSIEST days like Christmas. But even that seems like a logistical nightmare and probably not worth the hassle? Maybe it's happened in the past though and I'm just uninformed!
Anyone going to Disney World thinking it won't be crowded though needs to spend a tiny morsel of time researching their trip (something folks should do for any destination, not just Disney), and work on their media literacy. Ad campaigns are the most sparkly version of anything always.
@@PixieDustPhD Yeah, I've seen a lot of posts complaining about the proximity of the tower to GF, and the wedding pavillion is usually named because it's the closest point. No chance I'll ever use it! I think the beach separating the resorts was nice, but there was room for a new resort, so what can you do? You mean the DLP Hotel dropped the reservstion requirement? That's great. I'm going back next February. Hoping to get to Trader Sam's soon. Our wonderful, very historic Fort Lauderdale tiki restaurant, the Mai-Kai, has been closed for repairs for two years after a flood, and I really miss it.
@@PixieDustPhD LOL I think this was a reply to someone's reply to me that was deleted? There's a stub in my notifications, but I can't see the person's entire post. Yeah, not sure 1) why I should base my opinion on an ad campaign and not my own lived experiences and 2) what being from New York has to do with it.
Funny about the wedding pavilion. I get it to an extent, but there's so many picturesque places to get event photos... you don't have to have the Poly Tower in the background. And even a lot of ceremonies don't happen in the pavilion itself. IDK. everything about weddings is so fussy and stressful, Disney or not haha Re: DLP hotel, I'm super * not * sure so don't take my word for it. But I thought I saw a blog post that they reduced the restrictions. It might be that there's still an online queue? Im not too sure. But as hype dies down, I am pretty sure you dont need like a dining reservation or hotel reservation anymore to go in (but yeah might still be an online queue you join). If there is still a queue system, I hope it's dropped overall soon! Oh man two years is a long time to miss a bar. My favorite bartender moved from DC to Maine a couple years ago, and I mean it's weird to say but yeah I just miss him and his immaculate drinks lol Also yeah sorry for the confusion. A user was being kind of rude to me, which I mean to me only then whatever fine (accused me of clickbait and not reporting factually correct information... ? lol). And then I saw they also replied on your thread, and that post was like... borderline. Like maybe not quite rude enough for me to straight up censor (I'll email you their comment in case you're curious... I know if I were you, I'd need to know haha). But THEN I saw that this person was also replying to other peoples posts just really rudely, trying to "correct" people's understanding of DVC ("you need 150 points to be a full member) - but this person is not part of our community so has no clue for example that a commentor I have rapport with already has 100 direct points so only needs 50 more to get the blue card. etc. IDK. I just had enough. So I hid them from the channel LOL.
It’s a dang hike to the monorail. These Magic Kingdom resorts have horrible bus service. We used DVC points for the contemporary tower and found busses we late. Overpacked. And undependable. .
I think it’s closer to the Great Ceremonial Hall than the Moorea building, though. I’m a Poly owner so I know it’s a bit of hike to grab my coffee at Kona Island every morning 😂
I found Moorea to be pretty close to the TTC at least! But this is definitely super subjective. I live in a very walkable city so walk a ton and walk at pace in my daily life, so this type of stuff doesn't really bother me but I get how it'd be a pain for folks with limited mobility, or strollers/kids with little legs, etc.
Ooohh congrats on very soon finishing out your points to get the blue card! But if it is part of the same association, as we expect (though is not just yet fact, as in December 2023 a verbal statement was given that certainly provided DVC wiggle room to change their minds) then it would be the current expiration year. This is exactly what happened with the VGF expansion - same association, so same expiration year.
Ha! Oh boy uh as a pure, sheer, uninformed guess, my initial thought is in the $232-$240 range. Riviera is selling for $225 right now, I expect we'll see that go up at least once before Poly goes back on sale. But like I said, pure guess here, please don't quote me hahah
