Walt Disney World has announced when sales start, prices & point charts, as well as booking dates for the Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. This post shares the timeline and everything else you need to know about the newest DVC resort rising along the monorail loop across from Magic Kingdom.
As always, we’ll begin with (quick) basic background for those who haven’t heard about (or seen) the new 10-story Island Tower. Disney Vacation Club claims the architecture pulls inspiration from early concept art of the iconic property by Imagineering. The expansion features interior design inspired by the South Pacific Islands and showcasing a variety of native wildlife, thrill of exploration, and the beauty of the natural world.
The Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows will offer a variety of guest room types that will sleep from two to nine guests, such as duo studios, spacious one and two-bedroom villas, and brand-new two-bedroom penthouse villas. The tower will also include deluxe studio rooms, adding to the deluxe studio rooms already available at the Poly Villas.
The Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows is projected to open on December 17, 2024, which is 5 years after Disney’s Riviera Resort opened on December 16, 2019.
Additionally, Disney Vacation Club has released the sales dates for the Island Tower at the Poly:
- October 1, 2024: Sales open to current DVC members
- October 29, 2024: New sales open to general public
Here are the booking start dates for the Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows:
- October 15, 2024: Current DVC members who added points at the Island Tower can begin booking
- November 5, 2024: New DVC members at the Island Tower begin booking
- November 19, 2024: All DVC members can reserve the Island Tower
Booking dates above are also subject to the 7/11 month rules.
Obviously, point bookings for opening night of the Island Tower and even the first several months won’t be subject to those windows since November is one month, give or take, from the official opening rather than 7+ months. But it’ll apply to reservations for dates next shoulder season, summer, and beyond in 2025.
The Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian VIllas & Bungalows will have a base price of $225 per point for existing Disney Vacation Club Members to add-on at the new tower–and that’s before incentives.
Disney Vacation Club has a rich history of higher initial price points that have surprised fans, only to be reduced by money-saving promotions during the launch period of the new resort that significantly decrease overall costs. Incentives have not yet been revealed for the Poly’s Island Tower, but we expect them to be minimal–maybe nonexistent.
Honestly, we’re surprised even by this $225 per point pricing. There were rumors in the last few weeks suggesting a price of $239, matching the Villas at Disneyland Hotel. That made sense, but we nevertheless suspected DVC might aim even higher, targeting $249 and then using future incentives for price discovery.
My thought process was that the Polynesian is a fan-favorite Walt Disney World resort and, regardless of how I feel about the exterior of the Island Tower, this thing is a license to print money and will have robust demand from day one. And that’s even at a premium price point. Disney Vacation Club knows this, which is likely why they pushed for a hideous tower here in the first place–to maximize room inventory in a high-demand location.
The alternative I laid out previously (but dismissed, ha) was a lower base price, no incentives, and a price increase in early 2025. Since I was wrong and this was what happened, my guess is that DVC guides will be hinting at the potential price increase and encouraging prospective buyers to ‘act quickly to beat the increase’ in order to encourage sales.
I’m nevertheless surprised by this approach, but I guess it’s not a bad one if you have a ton of unsold inventory, the company (as a whole) isn’t firing on all cylinders, and leadership wants a quick infusion of cash at the start of the fiscal year. I’m not one to normally cheerlead buying DVC points early, but if I wanted to own at the Island Tower…I’d probably buy before the end of 2024.
Next, the 2024-2025 Points Chart for the Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows:
Not really any surprises that stick out to me on the new Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows (including the Island Tower) point chart, but honestly, I don’t purport to be an expert on the higher end of the spectrum. My eye is never gravitating beyond the 1-bedrooms, and even that’s a stretch since we’re very frugal with our points (more stays > nicer stays). I suspect that will change in the coming years as Megatron gets older.
Anyway, I guess one thing that sticks out to me is the spread between the Duo Studios and Deluxe Studios, or lack thereof. For those who are unfamiliar with it, this is a polarizing room type that debuted at Disney’s Riviera Resort and continued with the Villas at Disneyland Hotel (pictured below). We were big fans of this as a couple, and it worked well for us when visiting with a newborn. Jury’s still out–for us at least–on how it works out with a baby during a longer stay.
Frankly, I don’t think we’ll be find out. Frugal as we might be, the 2-3 point spread between the Duo Studios and regular Deluxe Studios just doesn’t strike me as worth it. Maybe I’ll book one for a solo ‘research’ trip just to see how it works…but Sarah typically is averse to me using our points for those trips, which is part of why I end up at the All Stars and Coronado so often.
As previously revealed, the Island Tower will join the existing condo association for Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. This means that Annual Dues for 2024 will remain at $8.23 per point, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
Dues are based on actual costs, so the addition of the Island Tower could, in theory, increase or decrease dues. Our expectation, perhaps foolishly, is a slight decrease–economies of scale and all that–especially since diluting costs on those over-the-water bungalows has gotta be a good thing.
However, labor costs have caused all resorts to increase in the last few years, so don’t expect amounts to actually drop. It should be more of an offset, meaning that the Polynesian annual dues for 2025 will increase by much less than the DVC average. (I’m still optimistic they’ll decrease, but that might be expecting too much.)
As with all Disney Vacation Club resorts, the Island Tower will be open to all guests for cash reservations, including those who are not Disney Vacation Club Members, subject to availability. A small percentage of the property will always be retained by Walt Disney World and not part of the DVC inventory–just like all DVC resorts.
When the Island Tower first opens, this won’t be a small percentage–it’ll be the majority of the property that has not yet been declared for DVC. This often trips members up, who are upset that there’s ample cash rate availability but nothing on the DVC side. It’s because those points are only added to the Disney Vacation Club “point pool” as they declared for sale.
Up until then, they remain in the cash side bucket. (It’s amazing that so many members spend tens of thousands of dollars on DVC, but don’t understand the basics of how it works, but whatever, I guess.) Once the DVC side sells out, it’ll likely be difficult to book the Island Tower for cash guests, and they’re likely to be both more expensive, excluded from discounts, and have very limited inventory.
For now, there’s a high amount of cash inventory–making 2025 the best time to book the Island Tower if you plan on paying rack rates for some reason. Just be warned that the prices are going to be absurdly high–without looking, my guess is that the Duo Studio starts in the $650 range for winter dates and the Deluxe Studio starts around $200 higher, with $1,000+ per night dates being abundant. Suffice to say, DVC point rental will continue to be the much better option!
If you’re considering joining DVC and want more guidance, be sure to read our Ultimate Guide to Disney Vacation Club. That guide covers the pros & cons, resale v. direct, how much money you’ll save, and other important things to know before taking the plunge. If you still can’t decide whether membership is right for you, “try before you buy” with the recommendations in How to Save BIG on Deluxe Disney Accommodations Renting DVC Points.
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this Walt Disney World news? Thoughts on the points chart? Surprised that the pricing of the Island Tower is “only” $225 per point? Excited to stay here this Christmas or in 2025? Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
