January 7, 2015 was an eventful day for those anxiously awaiting information about Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. Disney filed several legal documents with the Orange County Comptroller including the Master Declaration and the ground lease agreement. These legal documents reveal many new details about the thirteenth DVC resort.
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The ground lease for Polynesian Villas will extend to January 31, 2066. This continues the recent trend of having new DVC resorts last for 50 years before ownership reverts back to Disney. Several of DVC's older resorts, including Disney's Boardwalk Villas, Disney's Beach Club Villas, and Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, expire in January 2042--twenty-four years earlier than the Polynesian.
When fully built the Polynesian Villas will have 20 over-the-water bungalows and 360 studios in three longhouses. Initially, however, Disney Vacation Development is only declaring 10 of the bungalows and 142 of the studios for the DVC inventory. The other 10 bungalows and 218 studios will remain under DVD's control and cannot be booked using DVC points. DVD will declare more villas for the DVC inventory as it sells more of the resort's points.
Deluxe Studio Villas
Floor plans for the bungalows and for the studios were included in the legal filings. Each floor plan has mirror images. The studio floor plans confirm there will be a connecting door between each pair, the first time this has been offered at any DVC resort. Each Bungalow will have a washer and dryer, but the studios will not.
All 142 of the studios declared for the DVC inventory are in the Moorea longhouse. There are 42 studios on the first floor and 48 studios each on Moorea's second and third floors. There also appears to be a laundry room on the first floor just off the lobby.
None of the studios in the Pago Pago or Tokelau longhouses have been declared at this time. However, DVC owners arriving at the resort will find themselves assigned to a Deluxe Studio in any one of the three longhouses. The "declaration" process is mostly a legal distinction which determines how many rooms are available to DVC owners using their points.
There are approximately six handicap accessible studios in the Moorea longhouse, two on each floor. The accessible studios appear to have a swinging door rather than a sliding door leading to the balcony. Also, these studios have a slightly larger balcony width, perhaps 18" deeper. The studio floor plan above shows one of the accessible studios (second room from the left.)
It is likely that at least one bungalow is accessible, however the floor plans for the 10 declared bungalows did not show enough details to confirm.
Bungalow floorplan
The Polynesian Villas will have two view categories: Lake View and Standard View. The bungalows are all classified as Lake View. The master declaration does not indicate how many studios will be in either booking category or where they are located. Some or all of the Moorea studios facing Seven Seas Lagoon should be in the Lake View category.
The Polynesian Villas' master declaration has language authorizing the sale of Fixed Week ownership interests. The language is similar to the Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, which states that Fixed Week sales will not exceed 35% for each accommodation and view category. This means that of the 20 bungalows, DVC can sell up to seven Fixed Week deeds for any calendar week. For weeks when all seven Fixed Week deeds are purchased, a maximum of 13 bungalows will remain available for other DVC owners to reserve using their points.
The legal filings do not have any detailed information about the resort's Point Chart. However, as with other DVC resorts, the Polynesian master declaration lists a guaranteed minimum cost for every bookable night. This figure effectively represents an average daily cost for each room type--it would be the highest cost owners would be required to pay per night if all 365 nights were priced identcially.
For the Polynesian, the guaranteed minimum (average) nightly cost is 22 points for a Standard View Deluxe Studio, 26 points for a Lake View Deluxe Studio and 147 points per night for a Bungalow.
Bungalow overhead view
These minimums are very similar to the guaranteed amounts at the Grand Floridian. The Grand Floridian's master declaration states that its point chart will have at least one night when a Deluxe Studio can be booked for no more than 22 points (with no distinction between Standard and Lake View) and that a Grand Villa will be available for a maximum of 147 points per night.
In 2015 at Grand Floridian, there are actually 194 days (out of 365) when a Deluxe Studio or a Grand Villa can be booked for less than the guaranteed amounts of 22 points and 147 points, respectively. If the same holds true at the Polynesian Villas, more than half of the year members should be able to reserve a Standard View studio for less than 22 points, a Lake View studio for less than 26 points and a bungalow for fewer than 147 points.
Disney announced that current Disney Vacation Club members can purchase points at the Polynesian starting on Monday, January 12 (non-members will have to wait until February 9th.) The resort will open to guests on April 1, 2015.
