Overwater bungalows in Florida: Under construction at Disney Resort

According to a site that evidently tracks construction projects and rumors at all Disney properties, there was an announcement in September 2013 of “15 Beach Cabana Villas being built right over the water with direct beach access.” Other sources indicate it could be 20 villas rather than 15, but now we know for sure that it’s a real project because the video shows the entire foundation of all of them as having been complete.

More details about the full resort renovation can be found on the wikipedia page for Disney’s Polynesian Resort, including the fact that when it is complete it will revert to its original 1971 opening-day name of “Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.” Another source mentions a rumor of a plunge pool on the deck of each of the overwater bungalows, and that would certainly fit the trend in the Maldives lately.

I try to keep up with all of this stuff, but I’ll admit that I’m the opposite of a Disney expert so I’m still a bit confused. Most of the sites discussing these overwater bungalows are related to the Disney Vacation Club, which I’ve learned is their time-share division. Since there are no official details on the overwater bungalows yet, I don’t know if they will be bookable by the general public or only by DVC members.

There also seem to be various companies that re-rent DVC time-share stays to the general public on the open market, so I’d think that those with enough money could potentially book them one way or another. If you have more information on this, please leave us a comment because there will be hundreds of thousands of people who will be interested in these details when they emerge.

Obviously we don’t know anything about pricing yet, but right now their best rooms, which are the “1 Bedroom Suite – Club Level,” are priced at US$961 per night in low season up to US$1,434 in peak season, not including tax. There seems little doubt that these overwater bungalows will cost at least that much, and probably more.

Add in the fact that the entire resort is getting an upgrade and refurbishment, and the room rates could go even higher. In other words, these overwater bungalows should be well over US$1,000 per night even in low season. If you don’t need rollercoasters and costumed characters in order to have a good time, you can do a lot better with the existing Caribbean overwater bungalows, at least in terms of price.

Screen shot and video are from dvcrentals.com.