The latest revision to Disney Vacation Club's Public Offering Statement reinforces the theory that the new tower at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort will be a separate entity from the current Villas & Bungalows.
Polynesian Tower construction - May 2023
Disney Vacation Club recently published a revision to the Multi Site Public Offering Statement. This document, updated in February 2023, reflects the core operating rules for the entire timeshare program with details on every participating resort including The Villas at Disneyland Hotel.
Buried within the 95 page document is the following text:
The proposed projects at Reflections- A Disney Lakeside Lodge and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort in Florida are only possible component sites or accommodations which may never be built or added to the Disney Vacation Club multi site timeshare plan. Do not purchase an interest in a Disney Vacation Club Resort in reliance upon the addition of these component sites, any new resorts or accommodations.
The passage itself is a standard timeshare disclaimer which basically states that Disney is under no obligation to complete projects which have been announced. Buyers should not purchase expecting to utilize these destinations because they may never be completed.
However, this wording is interesting for at least two reasons. First, it still identifies Reflections - A Disney Lakeside Lodge as a proposed project. Reflections was announced back in October 2018 and work was under way in the winter of 2020 before being derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Months later, Disney abandoned the site and removed all mentions of it from their public websites. Disney Vacation Club moved on to other things, announcing the expanded Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and two other projects.
One of those future projects involves DVC taking over the Cabins at Disney's Ft Wilderness Resort. The cabins are not mentioned in the revised Public Offering Statement, leaving us to speculate about a possible connection to Reflections. Could the Reflections tower project someday be revived? Could DVC be planning to bundle the Ft Wilderness Cabins with Reflections?
Those questions will have to wait for another day.
But what is more intriguing about this passage in the POS is the Polynesian reference. Specifically, it is referred to as "Disney's Polynesian Village Resort" which is the formal name of the Polynesian hotel. However, it is NOT the name of the current timeshare development on the Polynesian grounds. More than a dozen times thoroughout the document, the current Polynesian DVC is referred to by its proper name: Polynesian Villas & Bungalows.
This separate mention of Disney's Polynesian Village Resort suggests that DVC plans to create a separate Condominium Assocation for the new tower. Doing so would effectively place two separate timeshare facilities on the same grounds. If configured similarly to Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, current owners of the Polynesian Villas & Cabins would not have 11-month booking rights to the tower and vice-versa.
Additionally, the new tower would likely be branded a Restricted Resort similar to Disney's Riviera Resort and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel. As such, resale points may not be eligible for booking the Polynesian tower, and points later sold on the resale market could only be used to book the one Home resort.
The Polynesian tower is scheduled to open in late 2024.
Thanks to dvc.market for the POS link. And thanks to Jerry from The Timeshare Store for the Polynesian photo above!
