Pool hopping question...

[baileybrad]

This issue is probably in the top 5 when it comes to agitating DVC owners. I would rate the 11/7 windows, renting of points, room occupancy, and which resort is "best" in there also. I had some trouble coming up with balanced choices but here goes. I wonder how many actually take advantage of this perk. Not that I would ever want to lose it but how much does it really impact the occupancy of the other pools. I know the season (warmer vs. cooler)of your visit and such things as whether you are a park commando or one who rarely visits the parks play into your vacation habits. But let's give it a shot anyways. Thanks for your participation.

[This message was edited by baileybrad on 03-29-01 at 10:27 PM.]

[BobBrazeal]

I'm a new DVC member so my first DVC trip is in September. I've never had the option to pool hop before. I'm going to give it a try. Might do it once and never again. Might love it and do it on every trip.

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[Pete W.]

BWV is our home resort so it is very easy to succumb to the temptation to visit Stormalong Bay, the best pool on property. I have never pool-hopped anywhere else and probably never will. If I stayed at OKW or VWL I would not bother visiting Stormalong Bay. It disappoints me that we will have only one day to visit SB on our upcoming trip (3/30 - 4/7) due to the holiday restrictions, but I certainly understand the reasoning behind the policy.

Bottom line for me is pool-hopping is a nice perk but it certainly doesn't rank up there with the 11-month window, etc. and once BCV is open it wouldn't bother me much if pool-hopping was discontinued because we'd certainly stay at BCV at times.

[brittsmamabwv]

Funny you started this thread...I'm debating on whether chaning my ressie from BWV (home)to the VWL, (would be my 1st visit there) due to the fact that my 3 yr old DD LOVES StormaLong Bay :rolleyes:

When you wish upon a star...DVC will take you far...anything your heart desires....will come your way

[MdmMim]

I rarely go near a pool. (Don't swim, don't sunbathe.) Pool-hopping is an option I do not take advantage of, but I'd hate to lose it. My DD or DS may decide to use some points someday--I'd like them to have the option of swimming where they choose.

[DownNeckBoy]

Pool hopping is not an issue at HH, but I am sure that my boys would like to try out the various pools, especially Stormalong Bay, when we go down to WDW. It is a nice perk. ;)

[Lesley]

We have yet to stay at WDW on our own points but I can see that we will probably only pool hop on occasion. We do want to check out Stormalong Bay sometime. And I can see the possibility of having breakfast at the Maya Grill and then swimming at CS (its a very nice pool...). But that said we generally only swim once or twice during our WDW trips even without pool hopping. And even then we don't spend hours on end at the pool. There are just too many other interesting things to do.

If this poll shows anything so far (and I realize the numbers are statistically irrelevant...but if they were...) its that pool hopping is nice, we as DVC members like having this privledge, but we don't really use it a whole lot! Despite what certain cm's may have said in passing (not a reliable source of info on WDW policy anyway) and all the other conjecture going around I really don't see our pool hopping privledges being taken away. There just doesn't seem to be any reason for it. The pools are just not overcrowded with DVC members! Actually I've never seen any of the resort pools all that crowded. And even with more properties being added I just don't see it happening. (The weeks surrounding Easter are an exception of course...I suppose they only have the same problem at Christmas if they are having particularly warm weather)

And honestly if there is a problem with Stormalong Bay being too popular maybe they need to consider building more pools like it at other resorts


Lesley


1979 Contemporary
1992 Off-site
1994 Carribean Beach
1999 Fort Wilderness and Coronado Springs
2000 Polynesian and Old Key West
2002 Boardwalk Villas

[PamOKW]

I go with -- Never pool hopped but like knowing I could.

[Geubux]

My wife and I were on the swim team in high school and lifeguarded together in college. We love pools! That was the factor that finally pushed us over the edge to buy in 99 since we had always wanted to see all the pools. My kids are becoming water rats too and want to visit everywhere. So, for us it is important.

76 - offsite
98 - Ft Wilderness Cabins
99 - CBR
00 - HH DVC
4/01 offsite
12/01 BWV

[MaryAnnDVC]

We've been to WDW 3 times, and always stayed at BC. The kids love Stormalong Bay, but they were pretty excited when they saw the pool at the BW when we went on the tour last December. I think we'd make one trip to SB per trip, but we never even had time to check out all the other resorts (like I would like to, not DH :rolleyes: ), never mind hang out in their pools. Still, I like the option being there.

[MinnieMe2]

DH and our four kids are absolute fish, and we have a pool in our back yard. As far as they're concerned, pool hopping is one of the best perks of DVC ownership. We'll be taking our first DVC trip this summer, and I know they'll be doing some hopping. I'm a fish, too -- a beached whale (LOL), but I'll go with them just to check things out.

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Mother-of-Four (Five, If You Count My Husband)

[baileybrad]

Anymore voters?

[Gail Reale]

None of the choices really fit us - we've hopped to Storm-Along but not every trip. Depends on whether children (neices/nephews/grandkids) are along. We are generally very happy at Turtle Pond Pool! :cool:

[baileybrad]

Oddly, enough with over 400 views, only around 60 folks were willing to cast votes. Don't quite understand that one.

[Dean]

I agree, the choices don't meet our habits either.

Dean

[baileybrad]

you can't please everybody...I changed the last one which only had 2 votes "Pool hopping is my life" to read "Pool hop occasionally". Maybe that will help some non-voters. What I think is showing up is that pool hopping does not cause that big of an impact. I can understand the occasional ban during peak times but I don't see this being a big thing for DVC to take away. It would just cause them to catch a lot of flak over something that really doesn't impact the other resorts all that much.

[Dean]

Thanks baileybrad, it did help to fit our usage with the occasional option. Rarely would be closer.

Dean

[NJmouse]

I do not know how to swim. I only go into the quiet pool at BWV and if anyone else is there with kids I get out. I do not like to get splashed in the face. I sometimes are very upset when families come to the QUIET pool and play because they want to be the only ones in the pool. I believe they should play in the pool meant to be played in. Not the QUIET one.

[DisneyHumbug]

When we go in June, I am sure my teens will want to pool hop, but I am wondering about the parking situation. Does anyone know if you are restricted by the 3 hour parking pass?

FW 86,90,93,94
DxL 95,96,96(Apr&Aug),98
CR 00
CSR 01
OKW 01 can't wait!

[dvc_john]

I voted 'occaisionally', but, like Dean, 'rarely' would be more accurate for me.

[wdwoldtimer]

We rarely pool hop, only ever did it from BWV to Stormalong Bay. But I'll relate a somewhat humorous and/or disgusting story to you all.

I know a family who regularly pool hops, usually to the BWV instead of their own resort, because they like the slide. The only problem is....their own resort isn't even on the property!! Can you believe the nerve? They drive their minivan up the the front of the BW, have it valet parked even...and then hang out at the pool all day. Think about it. It's pretty easy to do (only the Boardwalk level doors are keycoded) and no one's really gonna insult a potential member or "real" guest by asking for ID.

Unbelievably slimy!

[dwdeb]

we pool hop every trip, it's the best part of our vacation! even if the weather is cooler, it is still nice to go to the other resorts, and relax by their pools. we enjoy drinking in the atmosphere each resort has to offer.
our home resort is bwv, but we spend a lot of time at po/rvsd, the poly, the cotemporary, and okw pools! our dd is 5 so sab is still a little too wild for her. plus it isn't very relaxing there. we like the quiet pools at yc/bc. last but not least, we love the pools at the wl! that is the one resort that we would spend the whole day at the pools! we are staying at vwl in aug for 11 nights, can't wait! we will propably pool hop then, too.
pool hopping is definitely an important dvc perk for us, but i still don't think that it impacts the resorts too much.

[eva]

We pool hop every trip. Even in November when we were at OKW we drove over to Stormalong Bay to use the pool for an afternoon. Our daughters love it there. When we stay at BWV we don't even use the pool there. We always walk over to Stormalong. The frozen drinks at Hurricane Hanna's are fantastic. Definitely going to check out the Poly's new pool this up coming trip. The pictures that someone posted on the Resort Board look fantastic.

[sumessefui]

I am not a pool person, and not having any young children, pool hopping is something we never do.

[jennybobenny]

I voted for the 'plan to start' option. So far our family trips to WDW have been half commando-style and half trying to remember we don't have to vacation commando-style anymore. As we get used to being able to relax I'm guessing we'll start taking advantage of pool hopping. I'd love to hop on over to the Poly and get a peek at their brand new pool. And of course, Stormalong Bay is on our list. Right now Luna Park is still new and exciting to us but I imagine in a few years the kids will want to start trying out all the others.

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[Olaf]

We're new members and I have some questions on pool hopping.

1. Do you drive over? What do you tell the gate guard?

2. Do you show your pass to anyone?

I'm looking forward to using this privilege, but I do feel funny about it.

Thanks,

Steph
DL - 1966
DL - 1970
WDW - 1973 - Contemporary
WDW - 1975 - Day trip
DL - 1988 - Day trip
WDW - 1993 - CBR
WDW - 1995 - SOG
WDW - 1997 - SOG
WDW - 1999 - SOG
WDW - 2001 - SOG & PO

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[jeanneg]

Our kids love to poolhop at Stormalong Bay and although thay have never been denied access, we have had our OKW resort i.d.s checked several times. When it's not a busy period you can just walk right in, but if it's very crowdwed (as it has been for us in early Aug), they have attendents at all the entrances and if you don't have a wristband they send you over to the towel shack to get one.

[LauraS]

We pool-hopped every day in November from BWV over to Stormalong, mostly because the friends we were traveling with were staying at the Yacht Club. We called the Yacht desk everyday before we went to make sure there would be no problem. And we showed our DVC member cards, not our room cards to the guard at the gate. We walked over each day.

We *love* Stormalong, and love having the option to hang out there if we want. However, going over there each day was a pain. This April we're going with lots of family and I anticipate that we'll spend lots of time at the BWV pool instead.

Laura

[pax_65]

Before we had kids, we only pool hopped "occasionally" - or even "rarely"... but now that we have young children, we pool hop several times every trip. It's really fun for the kids to see the different pools and try the different water slides. (Especially since OKW doesn't have a slide.)

Jon
I'll be HOME in about 2 weeks!

[Steve BWV'99]

We own at BWV and I must say that the thought of pool hopping never crosses our mind. The pools at BWV(or any resort) suits us just fine. Then again, the quiet pools is where we mostly hang out. Sometimes we get the itch for more exciting water activities, but thats just a trip to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon.

-Steve

WL/BC-6/99 - 1st trip! Became DVC members!
BWV/VB - 5/00
DL/DCA (Grand Californian) - 4/01
DCL/BWV - 5/02