No Pool Hopping June 29th-July 5th

[turtlekrawl]

For anyone planning to pool hop during this time the DVC website has posted the following regarding pool hopping June 29 - July 5:

"Hotel pools may become unavailable from time to time due to capacity limitations. Due to the high occupancy that is expected over the long holiday weekend (June 29-July 5, 2001*), Disney Vacation Club Members may not "pool hop" during those dates. If you are using the pool at a resort other than the one where you are staying, you may be asked to leave in order to accommodate guests of that resort.

*Other restricted dates may be added based on projected pool capacity. "

Jim

[PamOKW]

First time they've made a blanket "no pool hopping". In the past, it's only been SAB.

[CarolMN]

It's nice to see the advance "warning". I'm also glad that the wording is much clearer than it has been in the past.

Many on this board believe that it's the "locals" and "non-DVC pool hoppers" who are most responsible for pool crowding. It will be interesting to see if Resort IDs are checked during this time. Maybe the DVC members who visit during that period will let us know.

[LIDisneyFan]

Amen.

[Zimbubba]

I don't think people should be happy about this...advanced warning or not. This kind of notice should make DVC members furious.

It is just not right to mislead us for sales and then change the rules and the gameplan in the middle of the game.

[DVCKaren]

I don't understand....poolhopping is a priveledge, not a right. We were told when we bought that it can be taken away at anytime. I am for one glad of the advance warning...it allows DVCers who will be there during that time frame to plan differently.

[TheWho]

I agree, it's great that confusion has been eliminated. However, it STINKS if you're going
then. I made these plans several months ago not hearing anything about a "pool hopping ban"
during this time of year. (usually I read Easter or Xmas week). I was dying to try the infamous SAB
which I have heard so much about. Although, I'm actually leaving on Sunday the 8th, so maybe I can check it
out on the 6th or 7th.

Dave :( :(

[mickey1010]

I'm not a big fan of blanket statements like this. It
should be based entirely on capacity. I understand that
they are trying to avoid crowding and having to ask people
to leave, but they shouldn't state at no time will pool
hopping be allowed. What if you decided to take a 7AM dip
at another resort? I guarantee you'll be one of the only
people there!

[Galahad]

I'm glad they are making an effort to communicate it better. To me, the worse part is the waste of time and embarrassment of being turned away after you have made the trip over to the other pool.

:cool: Guess this means that there isn't an attendance problem anticipated because of the economy. This is the first time I can recall pool hopping curtailed (other than SAB) at 4th of July time.

[Werner Weiss]

I don't mind reasonable and fair restrictions on DVC member pool hopping -- after all, I really don't want to "hop" to an extremely crowded pool. Yes, there are days when Stormalong Bay can get very busy (although we were there on a perfect, hot August afternoon, and it wasn't the least bit busy.)

Eliminating all pool hopping to any WDW pools from June 29 through July 5, 2001 strikes me as unreasonable.

And what's with the line, "you may be asked to leave in order to accommodate guests of that resort?" It almost like they're saying, "Go ahead and try it anyway and you may have an enjoyable afternoon or you may find you've wasted valuable vacation time." What kind of message is that?

Yes, I agree that Disney needs to do a better job keeping out locals and others who are neither guests at the resort where the pool is located nor DVC members staying at a DVC resort on points. Sure, it's easier for Disney to ask honest, rule-abiding DVC members just to stay away than to monitor who is using the pools. But is that any way to treat DVC members were promised the benefit by their Guide (salesperson) before they purchased and by the member benefits paperwork (though not by the public offering statement) that they studied during the rescission period?

[December99]

So I'm curious if this would happen over the New Year's Holiday time period.

[Rock'n Robin]

First, I'm glad we check out the 27th because I want to check out SAB as well. But I don't understand why all pools are affected this time. Are they saying Doubloon Lagoon will be overcrowded as well? Or the CS pool? It doesn't make much sense. This sounds like step one to a complete stop to pool hopping to me.
Robin M.

[Zimbubba]

"poolhopping is a priveledge, not a right. "

Not necissarily so. When some of us bought it was touted as a MAJOR selling point. It was a prominent part of DVC marketing. Did we buy for that reason, of course not. It was however a feeling of being a special part of the family. Pool hopping had been dropped from the options all hotel guests had. Agreed WDW was smaller then but it does not make us happy. I know fropm all of the threads on this issue that people are not going to agree.

[Dean]

Being one to stay out of controversial subjects, NOT, I guess I'll jump in here. First, I've previously predicted that we've seen the beginning of the end of pool hopping. The continued expansion of the pools and times restricted would seem to support this idea. For those that feel DVC has promised pool hopping, they should be very angry at the continued erosion of this priviledge. I personally never thought it was something that would continue and generally don't use the option and it aggravates me the way they've handled it over the past 3 years or so. Though I may be in the majority, I'd rather them eliminate it than keep on with this hit and miss mickey mouse stuff (pun intended).

Having said that, if it wasn't in writing, it didn't happen. This idea of they promised reminds me of when they changed the points in, I believe, 96. There were those that had bought just the exact number of points to stay for a certain length of time in Jan and the increase in points for that season was about 15% significantly decreasing their lenght of availability with the points they owned. I understand there was much heartache for both certain members and DVC MS at the time.

[baileybrad]

when OKW was just plain old Disney Vacation Club realizes that DVC is kind of changing the implied availability of the pool hopping policy. It WAS TOUTED as a big selling point. That being said, I agree with Werner's take that it is an overaction on Disney's part to ban all pool hopping instead of on a resort by resort situation. I think that it is a cop out on Disney's part. It just makes it simplier for them. I do hope that the pool castmembers card the heck out of all the folks at the pools during this time period. You notice I did not say guests, because I am one of those dillusional people who really thinks that the overcrowding is being caused by folks who are not guests at the given resort or DVC members pool hopping but just plain old trespassers. Call me crazy.

[Werner Weiss]

Dean wrote:Having said that, if it wasn't in writing, it didn't happen. This idea of they promised reminds me of when they changed the points in, I believe, 96.
When we bought in 1994, we received a glossy Member Guidebook, a Public Offering Statement, and a bunch of other paperwork. Yes, I studied all of it during the rescission period. Basically, the Member Guidebook explained the DVC program in plain English. And, guess what? "Pool Privileges" was there in plain English:

http://www.mcs.net/~werner/poolhopping.jpg

By the way, you'll see there wasn't even a restriction regarding particularly busy pools on busy particularly days back then.

Ben (our Guide who is no longer with DVC) did a great job explaining DVC. He explained (as did the paperwork) that the point charts could be readjusted as long as the totals don't change. And he explained that pool hopping is a benefit for those who buy into DVC, but that's not available to other WDW guests.

It's fair to say that the product that Disney offered to us clearly included pool hopping -- verbally and in writing. And that's what we bought. I'm not a lawyer, so I'm not saying whether the Guide's verbal promises and the Member Guidebook's written description of the DVC program constitute a legally binding promise or merely a commitment that an ethical company would honor.

I don't doubt that there's some "fine print" wording somewhere in the paperwork that Disney could try to stand behind if they tried to discontinue pool hopping. After all, pool hopping is not part of our deeded real estate interest. And as far as I know, pool hopping is not in the Public Offering Statement. But I really don't expect this to happen.

I think of Disney as an ethical company that delivers on its promises. That's one big reason we bought a timeshare from Disney, despite that overwhelmingly negative reputation of the timeshare industry at that time.

I didn't complain when Disney added reasonable restrictions based on pool capacity. For the last few years, it's meant that there were a few days each year when Stormalong Bay was not available for pool hopping. But the blanket ban on pool hopping to any WDW pools from June 29 through July 5, 2001 is unreasonable. We're not going to be at WDW that week, but if we were it would be a clear violation the commitment that Disney made to my family. I hope Disney will never repeat this mistake.

[Dean]

Werner, I know it is (or at least was) included in the member guide book but not in the POS. I don't think the member guide book would have been given to you until after you bought. While I understand the points you are making and am not taking Disney's side, I suspect there's not a legal leg to stand on. Maybe we should take up a collection and send a letter to each DVC member asking for their support and help. There are several things I'd like to put in that letter myself. It is my understanding that DVC, as a timeshare, is required to send the information to each and every member if requested to do so in the appropriate way at the requestor's expense of course. Assuming it's only the cost of a stamp, that's 55,000 or so members x 34¢ or almost $20,000. Or maybe we should have a DVC meet at the annual meetings and show up in force with a petition. We could all get neat matching T shirts or something with a logo like "Save Pool Hopping", LOL. I'd love to see it reversed but unless someone decides to take them to court or there is a major collaborative outcry, I don't see anything else happening except continued erosion of this benefit.

Maybe we should get all of the members here to carry petitions around with them at DVC resorts. Can you see the action we'd see from DVC then. I suspect you'd be in some VP's office pretty quick. Makes me smile just thinking of it.

Just so no one is mistaken, I'm not suggesting a call to arms, just having a little fun while making a few points. Seriously though, if one wants to try to save Pool Hopping, I'd say it's time to spring into action. Good luck.

[DisneyMim]

baileybrad I'm with you. I have always said that the problem is with people not even staying at a Disney resort. This has been a problem even before DVC began.

[TheWho]

Well said Werner!
However, even if pool hopping is never totally banned, I'm afraid we might see more of these blackout periods throughout the year. (probably around major and minor holidays).


Dave

[Ed T]

We are going down the last week of August through Labor Day. I'm anticipating that they will make the same announcement for that week as well.

Oh well.

Ed
Dvc 1994

[Towncrier]

I have to add my concern. I think that the blanket pool hopping ban is the wrong approach. Our trips to SAB (last week of July/first week of August) have usually been in the evenings (after a day in the parks) and we have NEVER encountered a large crowd. Nor have we been "carded". I suppose that the blackout statement is to keep the honest folks from even trying to pool hop. Other than better enforcement of the pool rules, I don't see a solution to this problem. I too fear that pool hopping will soon be a thing of the past and that we'll have to cheat the system like everyone else.

[robinb]

We're all talking about SAB, but this statement also covers pool-hopping between DVC resorts as well. I think that this is a direct result of the DVC families staying at OKW who were asked to leave BWV around Easter. They, understandably so, raised quite a stink. DVC has now developed a policy that they can point to while asking a DVC poop-hopper to leave.

Just to open up the other pool can-o-worms ... now that we OKW'ers can no longer pool hop to a pool with a slide, maybe it's time to get our own slide :).

[PamOKW]

Use of other Walt Disney World® Resort Hotel Pools

Disney Vacation Club Members and their guests staying with them at Disney's Old Key West Resort, Disney's BoardWalk Villas and The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge are permitted to use other Walt Disney World® Resort and Disney Vacation Club resort hotel pools (other than the hotel at which you are staying) if these pools are not at capacity on any given day. A Walt Disney World® Resort ID card identifying you as a "DVC Member" is required to use the other pools. This offer is not available at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. Please check with the front desk of the destination hotel regarding pool availability.
Hotel pools may become unavailable from time to time due to capacity limitations. Due to the high occupancy that is expected over the long holiday weekend (June 29-July 5, 2001*), Disney Vacation Club Members may not "pool hop" during those dates. If you are using the pool at a resort other than the one where you are staying, you may be asked to leave in order to accommodate guests of that resort.

*Other restricted dates may be added based on projected pool capacity.

Here's the whole write-up. It pretty much lays out the procedure for pool hopping and lets you know that you probably won't be able to use a pool over the July 4th holiday. They do leave that loophole about being prepared to be asked to leave.

Pool hopping at NYE depends on the weather. When it's in the 40's most of the pools aren't all that full. ;) If you hit summerlike weather then the pools may be filled to capacity then as well.

If the announcement of another large DVC resort is true, then pool hopping will probably be further curtailed. The pools can only absorb so many additional users.

[Zimbubba]

Part of the problem here is that we wre all sold DVC differently. I mean, as DVC grew the marketing chnaged. The "glossy" documents changed, The verbal statements changed. I think Disney would lose if someone offered a legal challenge.

[baileybrad]

and for pool-hoppers, too. Sorry but it was poo easy.:D

[KNWVIKING]

You posted a portion of the member guide book with a brief explanation of pool hopping. I especially liked where it says " Just show your resort ID card...to the host/hostess at each pool location." I've never read a thread on this board that began with " When we got to the resort and show our resort ID card......." Seems we just walk right in and make ourself at home then complain to high heaven afterwards. We all know when the busiest time at WDW are. We all agree resort guests get first shot. Yes Disney made a blanket statement about the july 4th holiday but what kind of statement should they make. First we scream that during Easter they weren't clear enough, now we scream because it's too clear. I don't remember what my guide said about pool hopping. It wasn't even a factor in my decision to purchase at OKW or now a VWL. One person stated something to the effect of going for a swim at 7:00 am. Does anybody really believe that if you went to the host/hostess at that resort at 7:00 am, showed your ID,explained that you understand if the pool becomes crowded all of a sudden you'll have to leave, but would like to go for a quite early morning swim in their beautiful pool.... do you really think they would say NO.

[Dean]

I'm always amazed when DVC members say that a guide told them something and took it as reality. There are timeshares out there where one buys and can't even get a unit assigned to them along with a hundred more lies and half truths far more damaging than pool hopping or the points won't every change, etc. When I bought I had been told by DVC guide that the OKW free park admission was good the day of arrival AND the day of departure but alas, it wasn't so or at least wasn't interpreted that way by DVC. I'd bet on DVC on this one but would hate to see the perk go away. I think you'll see it continue to erode unless something is done though.

[drusba]

I wonder if anyone noticed that despite Disney's now admitted belief that there will be huge crowds at WDW from June 29 to July 5, causing a complete ban on pool hopping, it still left in tact, for the most part, its reduced summer hours for that that time period, e.g., AK still closes at 6 and MK at 10 most nights with only one Spectromagic during those 10 o'clock closing nights.