Secrets of Disney’s New Island Tower: An Exclusive Look Inside the Polynesian Villas’ Most Anticipated Opening (2024)

The Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows opens on December 17, 2024. We’ve got exclusive floor-by-floor maps for this new 10-story DVC building at Disney’s Polynesian Resort.

This article covers everything you need to know about the unique room types here, including the new Tower Duo Studios, the Polynesian’s first 1-Bedroom Villas, and exclusive Penthouse Villas. Plus you’ll find details for each specific room type, floor-by-floor room maps, points charts, cash prices, transportation options, and lots more to make the most of your next Disney trip.

Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows Map

The Island Tower is a new building and part of Disney’s existing Polynesian Villas & Bungalows DVC timeshare. We’ve included the Island Tower in TouringPlans’ Poly Villas & Bungalows hotel map so you can see exactly where the new tower is located within the resort:

Florida regulates timeshare sales, which means Disney had to file construction plans with Orange County. These floor-by-floor plans, available to the public through the Orange County Comptroller, show inside the rooms including layout and amenities:

We pieced together our Island Tower room maps using these official construction documents and from in-person DVC presentations. Keep in mind that since the hotel isn’t open yet, some details might change before opening.

One interesting thing in these plans is that all of the Polynesian’s Island Tower rooms seem to include a balcony or small porch.

Our Hotel Room View tool has over 30,000 photos showing the view you get from every hotel room in Walt Disney World. We’ll update the Island Tower with photos as soon as it opens. If you’re staying at the Island Tower, please send a photo of your view with your room number to hotel_photos@touringplans.com. And thank you!

Island Tower Room Types, Room Views, and Features

The Island Tower has six different room types. Each room type has its own set of views, from Standard to Theme Park. We’ll first go over the room types and then the views. Here are the Island Tower room types:

• Tower – Duo Studio
• Tower – Deluxe Studio
• Tower – 1 Bedroom Villa
• Tower – 2 Bedroom Villa
• Tower – 2 Bedroom Lock-Off Villa
• Tower – 2 Bedroom Penthouse

H3: Tower – Duo Studio

The Tower – Duo Studio is the smallest of the Island Tower rooms. Because it’s the smallest room, you can book these for as little as 12 points per night in 2025. The Duo Studio sleeps up to 2 adults and 1 infant (3 years of age or younger). 

The most important thing to know about the Duo Studio room is that it’s small. While we don’t know the exact size yet, similar rooms at Disney’s Riviera Resort are around 220 square feet, including the bathroom. So these will definitely be among the smallest hotel rooms in Walt Disney World. 

Another thing to know about the Duo Studio room is that it’s got one bed. That is a queen-size pull-down bed that folds back into the wall when not in use. This is similar to the Tower Studios rooms at Disney’s Riviera Resort and the Duo Studio at the Villas at Disneyland Hotel.

Amenities in the Tower Duo Studios include a kitchenette, microwave, toaster, small refrigerator, ironing board, and paper plates and utensils. Studios don’t feature washers and dryers though – you’ll have to move up to a 1 Bedroom for those.

Tower Duo Studio rooms are available on floors 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 of the Island Tower (so every floor except floor 8). You can book Tower Duo Studio rooms in one of three view categories:

• Standard View – With a view of parking areas
• Preferred View – This includes views of the Island Tower pool or the fairways of Disney’s Magnolia golf course
• Premium View – Looks out over Seven Seas Lagoon

The map below shows the Island Tower’s Tower Duo Studio rooms on Floor 2 as an example of their orientation. The position of these rooms on floors 3 through 6 are similar, while floor 7 only has the rooms in the north wing:

 

Tower – Deluxe Studios 

Tower Deluxe Studios are slightly bigger than the Tower Duo Studio rooms. These Deluxe Studios sleep up to 4 adults and one infant. All of the Tower Deluxe Studio rooms include 1 queen bed and 1 queen-sized pull-down. Comparable rooms at Disney’s Riviera resort are around 423 square feet, or around 200 soiree feet more than the Tower Duo Studio rooms. 

The existing Poly DVC Deluxe Studios should be roughly similar to these, swapping out the sleeper sofa in the older rooms for the new queen-sized pull-down bed, while still retaining the sofa when the bed is not being used. Disney has a nice 3-D rendering of the room on its website:

Amenities in the Tower Deluxe Studios are the same as in the Tower Duo Studios.

You can choose from three different view categories with your Tower Deluxe Studio room, but there’s no Premium View available with these rooms:

• Standard View – Parking areas
• Preferred View – Views of the Island Tower pool or the fairways of Disney’s Magnolia golf course
• Theme Park View – Has views of the Magic Kingdom and Seven Seas Lagoon

Tower Deluxe Studios are available on all 10 floors of the Island Tower. Our guess is that the Deluxe Studios on floors 9 and 10 will only be Theme Park View, and that floors 7 and above will be a mix of Preferred View and Theme Park View only.

Here’s our best guess as to where the Tower Deluxe Studio Theme Park View rooms will be located on floor 10, based on documents filed with Orange County:

You’ll be able to book a Tower Deluxe Studio for as few as 14 points per night in 2025.

Tower – 1 Bedroom Villas 

1-Bedroom Villas are unique to the Island Tower because there are no 1 Bedroom Villas in the existing Polynesian Villas DVC longhouses. These 1 Bedroom Villas sleep 5 guests and 1 infant and have 1 king bed, 1 queen-size pull-down bed, and 1 single pull-down bed. We think the single pull-down bed is best used for small children. Assume the Tower 1 Bedroom Villas probably sleep 4 adults, one small child, and one infant comfortably.

Disney hasn’t said how large the Tower 1 Bedroom Villas are, but other DVC 1-bedrooms with similar bed configurations range from 813 square feet at Disney’s Riviera Resort, to 844 square feet at the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. The Poly Island Tower 1-Bedrooms should be somewhere around there.

These 1-Bedroom Villas feature a full kitchen with electric range and oven, full-size refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, coffee maker, and washer and dryer. You’ll also find plenty of plates, cups, glasses, cooking utensils, and pots and pans.

Like the studio rooms, Disney’s website has a great 3-D virtual tour of the Tower 1 Bedroom Villas that you can walk through.

There are approximately 72 1-Bedroom Villas in the Island Tower. These are located on floors 1 through 8, so there are no 1-Bedroom Villas on floors 9 or 10. View options for the 1-Bedroom Villas include:

• Standard View – Parking areas
• Preferred View – The Island Tower pool or the Magnolia golf course fairways
• Theme Park View – The Magic Kingdom park and Seven Seas Lagoon

It looks like around 12 of the 72 1-Bedroom Villas are in the Preferred View category.

We think those rooms are on floors 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Most of those are on the south side of the tower and overlook the pool, as shown in our map of floor 6:

Based on construction plans Disney filed with Orange County, it looks like Preferred View 1-Bedrooms can also overlook the entrance and Magnolia golf course on floors 6, 7, and 8.

1-Bedroom Villas start at 28 points per night for Standard View in 2025. A Preferred View 1-Bedroom starts at 38 points per night, and a Theme Park View starts at 42 points per night.

Tower 2-Bedroom Villas 

These are the largest rooms in the Island Tower, and come in two configurations. Both configurations sleep up to 9 guests, but the bedding configurations are slightly different.

2-Bedroom Lock-Off Villas are made by combining a 1-Bedroom Villa and a Tower Studio. The bedding includes 1 king bed, 1 queen bed, 2 queen-size pull-down beds, and a single pull-down bed. As with the other rooms, we think that single pull-down bed is best for small children.

The dedicated 2-Bedroom Villas that are not designated as lock-offs are purpose-built for that size. The bed configuration for these villas also has 1 king bed, like their lock-off versions. But the dedicated 2-Bedroom Villas have 2 queen beds (not 1) and 1 queen-size pull-down bed (not 2), plus the same single pull-down bed for small children.

All of the Island Tower 2-Bedroom Villas feature a full kitchen setup like the 1-Bedroom Villas, plus washer and dryer. Disney hasn’t said how big the dedicated Island Tower 2-Bedroom Villas are. But similar rooms at the Riviera are just under 1,250 square feet, and these should be comparable.

Your view options for the Tower 2-Bedroom Villas are Theme Park View, Standard View, and Preferred View.

A virtual 3-D walk-through of these 2-Bedroom Villas is available on Disney’s website.

We think there’ll be approximately 15 dedicated 2-Bedroom Villas in the tower, all of them with Theme Park View. These should be located on floors 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, as shown in this map:

Tower 2-Bedroom Villas start at 44 points per night for Standard View rooms in 2025. A Preferred View 2-Bedroom starts at 54 points, and a Theme Park View starts at 68 points per night.

2-Bedroom Penthouses

A new room category for the Island Towers is the 2-Bedroom Penthouse. Beds in the Penthouse include 1 king bed, 2 queen beds, and 1 queen pull-down. The 2-Bedroom Penthouse rooms sleep 8 because they don’t include the single pull-down bed found in the other 2-Bedroom Villas in the Island Tower. Other than that, they have the same amenities as the other 2-Bedroom units, including full kitchen, washer, and dryer.

View options for the 2-Bedroom Penthouse Villas are Preferred and Theme Park View. 

The Penthouse Villas only exist on floors 9 and 10 of the Island Tower. Rooms that look out over Disney’s Magnolia golf course are Preferred, while the Penthouses on the other side of the building have Theme Park Views.  

Here’s the floor 10 map with the Theme Park View Penthouse highlighted:

Preferred View Penthouses start at 86 points per night in 2025, and Theme Park View 2-Bedroom Penthouses start at 108 points. For reference a 2-Bedroom Bungalow over the water on Seven Seas Lagoon starts at 112 points in 2025.

Accessible Rooms at the Island Tower

Disney’s built the Island Tower so that virtually every room category is available in an accessible configuration. The only room type and view configuration we can’t seem to locate is the Tower Duo Studio – Premium View.

Accessible rooms in the Island Tower should include the features below, based on what’s available at other recent Disney DVC resorts. Not all features are available in each room.

• Florida ADA Compliance
• Optional communications features for guests with hearing disabilities, including visual alarm; visual door knock/door bell alert; visual telephone call alert; a telephone with volume control; and electrical outlet near telephone jack. Disney also says that TTY equipment is available upon request at check-in
• Roll-in Shower with grab bars
• Wheelchair Accessible Tub

The vast majority of the Island Tower’s accessible rooms are on floors 1 and 2. The 2-Bedroom Penthouse Villa on floor 9 also has accessible features.

Island Tower Location, Proximity to Magic Kingdom, TTC, and Transportation

The Island Tower has a dedicated parking lot for guests at the Island Tower who choose to drive. 

For guests who want to use Disney transportation, here’s a map showing the entire Polynesian Resort:

The new Island Tower is on the left. The Poly’s existing monorail station inside the Great Ceremonial House is at the bottom middle of the map. The Poly’s bus stop is to the right of the monorail station, just outside the covered entrance to the Great Ceremonial House. And the walkway to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) is shown on the right side of the map.

From the construction plans it looks like guests at the Island Tower will use the Polynesian Resort’s bus stops and monorail station to get between the resort and Disney’s theme parks, water parks, and Disney Springs.

We estimate it should take about this many minutes to walk from rooms in the Island Tower to various places around the resort. Walking times include waiting for the elevators as needed on higher floors:

• 1 to 5 minutes to walk to the Island Tower lobby
• 2 to 6 minutes to walk to the Island Tower pool
• 5 to 9 minutes to walk to the Great Ceremonial House monorail or bus stop
• 6 to 11 minutes to walk to the Polynesian’s marina
• 7 to 12 minutes to walk to the Transportation and Ticket Center
• 18 to 25 minutes to walk to the Magic Kingdom

Comparing the Island Tower to the Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

The Island Tower joins the existing Polynesian Villas & Bungalows DVC buildings. Disney first opened the Poly Villas in 2015, converting the existing Moorea, Pago Pago, and Tokelau guest rooms into 360 Deluxe Studios. And Disney later built 20 Two-Bedroom Bungalows that sit over the water on the Seven Seas Lagoon. This part of the DVC has its own pool, but uses the restaurants and shops in the Polynesian Resort’s Great Ceremonial House.

The Island Tower will bring new DVC room options to the Polyneisan Resort. I think the biggest change is that the Island Tower will have 1-Bedroom Villas, which don’t exist at all in the existing Polynesian Villas. For me, the 1-Bedroom Villa is the perfect balance between cost and space. A 1-Bedroom gives you space for your family to hang out in the living room while you take a nap in the separate bedroom. That’s worth money to me.

The Island Tower will also have dedicated restaurants and dining. The main restaurant is the Wailulu Bar & Grill, which Disney says will include both indoor and outdoor seating.

How Much Does It Cost To Stay at the Island Tower? Points Chart and Cash Prices

Here’s the points chart for the Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows for 2025:

Island Tower Rack Rates

Here’s the rack rates for each room type per night, including tax, from Disney’s website, for 2024 through 2025:

Tower Duo Studio

Standard View $550 to $989

Premium View $686 to $1,234

Preferred View $798 to $1,369

Tower – Deluxe Studio

Standard View $734 to $1,319

Preferred View $921 to $1,594

Theme Park View $1,038 to $1796

Tower – 1 Bedroom Villa

Standard View $951 to $1,911

Preferred View $1,178 to $2,118

Theme Park View $1,328 to $2,386

Tower – 2 Bedroom Villa

Theme Park View $2,050 to $3,688

Tower – 2 Bedroom Penthouse

Preferred View $3,101 to $5,993

Theme Park View $3,483 to $7,670

Final Thoughts Before The Island Tower Opens

The thing I’m most excited about with the Island Tower is the new accommodation options, including the 1-Bedroom Villas. We’ll continue to update our floor-by-floor maps, room layouts, points charts, and transportation tips as we get more information. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions about the Island Tower or the Disney’s Polynesian Resort, please comment below.