In light of recent rumors going around regarding the fate of the new Polynesian Tower’s association, I thought it would be fun to play the other side of the field. Besides, I always like a good DVC debate. I remember when everyone was trying to decide on the Grand Floridian Villas restrictions. I said I might eat my words then. Luckily, that was not the case. With that said, these are my reasons why I think the new tower could belong to the existing association of Polynesian owners.
Disclaimer: Please treat this article for exactly what it is, pure (thoroughly thought out) guesses, and do not use the information below to make any rash financial decisions. Selling off your firstborn to cure your add-on-itis may not be frowned upon here, but it surely is somewhere.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about why the new tower could and should be in the existing condo association with the Polynesian Villas & Bungalows.
Polynesian’s Savior
The Polynesian Villas & Bungalows is a wonderful resort, and it’s no doubt people love it. But time after time, many who love it find it’s not a contender as their home resort. This is because the only room options (right now) are studios that sleep five or two-bedroom Bungalows with per-point costs befitting a minority of owners. Most of us would wipe out an entire year’s worth of points with a single night or two in a bungalow. Because of this, anyone who travels with more people or wishes for more space immediately disregards the Polynesian as a viable option to buy in. You can see that the Polynesian has never held up to the value on the resale market as Grand Floridan has. Even despite Grand Floridan’s drop in price with the opening of Big Pine Key, Polynesian average resale prices still lag behind.
This could all change with a tower full of new room categories coming into the association. The possibilities are all there to add one, two, and three-bedroom villas within reasonable (non-bungalow) point costs. And this, can be the savior the Polynesian needs.
The “ROFR Monster”
I know the “ROFR monster” has been sleeping the last few months, but when it comes to the Polynesian, it’s been downright hibernating since April 2021. That’s two full years! News of the tower was released March 15, 2022, and plans have obviously been in the works for a while prior to this announcement. Even through one of the craziest buyback seasons we ever saw last year, the Polynesian was well protected from ROFR, and this all seems very interesting.
Once bitten, Twice Shy
It feels weird to still be left in the dark on this association, waiting to see which way the wind will blow. With the Grand Floridan Villas, the association status was announced right away. The result is why I think DVC decided to adjust its sails this time. Once the Grand Floridian was announced as the existing association, the DVC community rushed to buy resale Grand Floridan contracts knowing they would equate to ownership of both the new and existing villas. Since we didn’t know what to expect from pricing, it seemed like a good idea to get your contract while you could on the resale market ahead of time. Once new points went on sale, half of the market for DVC direct had already bought the points they wanted through resale. It’s possible this was a lesson hard learned for DVC.
It’s Not Too Late
It seemed strange at first that the Grand Floridan Villas would be part of the same association. Almost like the anomaly when compared to Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge. However, Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge almost seem like the exception when you think about it. It was simply too late. There weren’t enough years left on the Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (now Boulder Ridge) to make selling more points under the same association worth it. They were going to expire in 2042, which would be a huge deterrent. But that’s not the case with the Polynesian. Like Grand Floridan, which doesn’t expire until 2064, Polynesian still has lots of time left as well at a 2066 expiration. And looking back on it, you realize additions to most existing DVC resorts have always been part of the same associations. Examples include Jambo House (2007) and Kidani Village (2009), Saratoga Springs (2004) and the Treehouses at Saratoga Springs (2009), and now Grand Floridan Villas (2013) and Big Pine Key (2022).
Grammar & Proofreading
Most of the current speculation revolves around a guess that the current Public Offerings Statement intentionally used the resort name in one particular way for a reason. I’m no stranger to the POS, as I’ve combed through it many times, particularly when I wrote DVC Rules You Might Not Know About. The document notates potential upcoming DVC resorts like Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort are component sites that may never be built, and no one should purchase a timeshare interest anticipating it will be. While some parts of the document have been updated, it seems likely this section has continued to use the language they have stuck with from the beginning for the new tower, acknowledging it will sit on Polynesian Village Resort property but not acknowledging it under the full name of the existing association.
Might I go so far as to speculate a simple editing mistake? Of course, we will always hold Disney to a high standard of grammar, proofreading, and fact-checking, so it would be surprising to see them mess something up. It would surely be off-brand if they were to misquote one of Walt’s most famous lines “…that it was all started by a mouse”.
Or misspell a road sign, resort theming, or merchandise, perhaps…
We are all only humans and mistakes are inevitable, even from large companies. I taught grammar for 11 years and still make mistakes. So it’s not unreasonable to suggest the name written without the term “Villas” as a mistake.
Or maybe they did it to throw you off their scent… if so, well played, DVC.
Nonetheless, I’m certainly interested in your thoughts and always love a healthy debate. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, or join in the conversation over in the DVC Fan Facebook Group or on DISboards!
Interesting article however, here is a difference of opinion: https://dvcnews.com/wdw-resorts/polynesian/5602-new-document-suggests-polynesian-tower-will-be-separate-association
I love how peaceful Poly is and I attribute it to the fact that larger groups don’t stay there. We are studio stayers. We want all our points for more or longer stays so Poly works well for us. I am not sure it matters to me what happens with the contracts as my beloved Poly will still exist as all studios.
Why would DVC care about being a “Polynesian savior”? The resort is sold out. Apart from a few points they pick up in foreclosure and through ROFR (which as you noted hasn’t happened in 2 years) they have nothing left to sell. There is simply no need for them to attract more buyers to Poly1. I also don’t think the lack of ROFR tells us anything. They want to sell Poly2 points, not regurgitated Poly1 points. I have no clue what they are going to do, but I really don’t see anything that actually points me in the same association direction.
The only reason I’m leaning toward it being a separate association is because otherwise, RIV remains the only property at WDW with restrictions. I think the end game for DVC is to force people to buy direct to be able to stay at the newest and shiniest resorts. By creating “haves” and “have nots” they create FOMO and have a better chance at selling more direct contracts. When we bought RIV direct (we did NOT do enough research before and we’ve since purchased several resale contracts) it was sold to us with the idea that the ONLY way to stay at new properties down the line was to be a direct owner. I agree, the debate is fun, now we just wait and see!
VDH have the resale restrictions.
Not just newest and shiniest, it could truly be a numbers game by 2042. When those four 2042 WDW DVC resorts drop off (plus HH and VB), that only leaves six WDW resorts for resale owners to book at. It’s not unrealistic to think by then there could be a greater number of restricted resorts by then.
I agree with Amy Krieger’s reasoning, and I think I’ll add one more reason. If the new Poly building is a separate association, the new building will need to be at least half made up of Studios. So in a resort that already has over 300 Studios, they would be building more. The room size that already exists in abundance would grow larger, and the room sizes that don’t currently exist would be crowded out.
This is a:
A) Wish
B) Fantasy
C) Dream
You forgot Wonder, Magic, and Treasure
I think we all loose too much time speculating on things. Speculations are just that and aren’t anything that can be acted upon. Let’s just wait for an announcement.
While the points about the Poly being flawed with only studios are on-target, the new building is an eyesore and much too tall compared to the existing resort. Nothing should have stood taller than the Grand Ceremonial House. It’s actually disrespectful.