Stay at Pop and swim at AOA?

[bizeemom4]

Hi. Silly question but thought I would throw it out there since Dis folks know it all. If I am staying at Pop in June, will I be able to use the pool at AOA? Assuming yes as they are sister resorts like the All Stars or POR/POFQ. Anyone know the official word from Disney?

 

[smitch425]

Hi. Silly question but thought I would throw it out there since Dis folks know it all. If I am staying at Pop in June, will I be able to use the pool at AOA? Assuming yes as they are sister resorts like the All Stars or POR/POFQ. Anyone know the official word from Disney?

Rumor is that they will NOT be sister resorts. This was posted today on this board by another poster, kadesha...

I read a report on another forum and someone had went on some kind of tour of the resort. It was very in depth. They indicated that the resorts would not be sharing amenities.

I don't see how they could possibly be sister resorts either, seeing as both resorts are incredibly large so sharing busses would not work well. Also, guests staying at AoA are paying a large price to stay there as it is mostly suites (more expensive than the All Star suites). If you were shelling out hundreds of dollars PER NIGHT for a room there, would you want people coming from another resort to swim in your pool? I wouldn't. Hopefully once the resort officially opens, we will get quickly get confirmation one way or the other. Until they announce it, there is no way to make concrete plans.

 

[momof3ds]

I really hope not!

 

[suemom2kay]

Will the walkway be open? Otherwise you would have to drive your car to swim in a similar pool to the Pop pools.

If I were staying at AoA in a suite, I don't see why I would care if you were staying in a regular room at Pop and wanted to try the similar pool there. Who cares how much a suite is. It is irrelevant since people are paying for a suite, not a deluxe pool.

Will it be allowed, who knows? Will anyone care? Doubt it.

 

[smitch425]

Will the walkway be open? Otherwise you would have to drive your car to swim in a similar pool to the Pop pools.

If I were staying at AoA in a suite, I don't see why I would care if you were staying in a regular room at Pop and wanted to try the similar pool there. Who cares how much a suite is. It is irrelevant since people are paying for a suite, not a deluxe pool.

Will it be allowed, who knows? Will anyone care? Doubt it.

The pool at AoA is a zero entry pool. Much different than the pools at Pop. There are over 1,000 suites and over 800 standard rooms at AoA. IMHO, their pools should be for their guests. And yes, they ARE paying for THEIR amenities. There is no word either way on whether the bridge between the two resorts will come down or not. Like I said before, it is really anyone's guess until they make an announcement. We should know before OP's June trip. The resort opens May 31, so hopefully they will announce something prior to that date. Of course, if the bridge comes down, that will pretty much give us our answer.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

I have been told the pool will be gated and you need your room key to enter

 

[momof3ds]

I care since we paid specifically for a suite at AOA and to use the amenities at AOA. We'd like to have pool time without the crowds of people from 2 very large resorts doing the same.

 

[smitch425]

I have been told the pool will be gated and you need your room key to enter

I believe this could be true as the locks on the rooms will be RFID chipped...

http://www.wdwmagic.com/Resorts/Dis...Resort-features-RFID-proximity-door-locks.htm

I care since we paid specifically for a suite at AOA and to use the amenities at AOA. We'd like to have pool time without the crowds of people from 2 very large resorts doing the same.

I totally agree!

 

[pigletto]

I care since we paid specifically for a suite at AOA and to use the amenities at AOA. We'd like to have pool time without the crowds of people from 2 very large resorts doing the same.

Also totally agree. I am not eligible for free dining there, I am not eligible for any discounts, and I am paying a pretty penny to use the amenities. I'll go right ahead and say it. If someone wants the pool at AoA.. they should pay to stay there and give up the discounts they could get staying elsewhere. Everyone has that option too. But I don't want all of Pop Century heading over to jam the food court, the buses and the pool and if they are "sister resorts" I will stay somewhere else.

 

[Sue M]

Will the walkway be open? Otherwise you would have to drive your car to swim in a similar pool to the Pop pools.

If I were staying at AoA in a suite, I don't see why I would care if you were staying in a regular room at Pop and wanted to try the similar pool there. Who cares how much a suite is. It is irrelevant since people are paying for a suite, not a deluxe pool.

Will it be allowed, who knows? Will anyone care? Doubt it.

I would care too! If I'm staying at a particular resort, and the pool and lounge chairs are filled with people from other resorts, I'd be upset!!

 

[disney1990]

I was told by Guest Relations that the bridge would "stay". I am not looking to swim in the pool -- only to be able to walk over and eat at the food court.

 

[smitch425]

I was told by Guest Relations that the bridge would "stay". I am not looking to swim in the pool -- only to be able to walk over and eat at the food court.

I would suspect that many people will want to go from POP to AoA for dining. Dining at a different resort than your own is something that you can "hop" to do without an issue. It is the pool "hopping"that is not allowed in most cases. If the bridge does stay and the resorts are not designated as sister resorts, I would imagine that there will be a sign at the bridge stating the rules of what is allowed and what isn't. Of course, if you do leave POP to dine at AoA you will need to purchase a drink at AoA (even if you have a POP mug), but if you are on a dining plan, a drink comes with your meal credit anyway.

Hopefully all of these questions will have concrete answers soon, so people can plan accordingly.

 

[Vickis3js]

Also totally agree. I am not eligible for free dining there, I am not eligible for any discounts, and I am paying a pretty penny to use the amenities. I'll go right ahead and say it. If someone wants the pool at AoA.. they should pay to stay there and give up the discounts they could get staying elsewhere. Everyone has that option too. But I don't want all of Pop Century heading over to jam the food court, the buses and the pool and if they are "sister resorts" I will stay somewhere else.

You are going to have people from Pop using the buses and eating in the food court sorry to say it. You will also have plenty of people from other resorts checking it out as well.

 

[pigletto]

You are going to have people from Pop using the buses and eating in the food court sorry to say it. You will also have plenty of people from other resorts checking it out as well.

Well unless you are privy to information that nobody else has then it hasn't been announced if that is the case.
If buses are shared during the slower times so be it. If the bridge is open and and it's all access to walk over to the pools and food court then I will stay once the hype has died down a bit.

 

[glitzybabes]

IMO Zero entry pool are not that great. The little kids are always sitting in the zero entry part so you have to enter the pool that same old way as a regular pool. I'm sure it will be super crowded with the AOA guests and I hope that they will be making sure that the AOA guest will not being coming over to the POP pool making it more crowded, if you can't go pool hopping...

 

[smitch425]

Well unless you are privy to information that nobody else has then it hasn't been announced if that is the case.
If buses are shared during the slower times so be it. If the bridge is open and and it's all access to walk over to the pools and food court then I will stay once the hype has died down a bit.

I think she meant people from Pop would go there to eat and then hop on a bus at AoA to head to a park. I don't think she meant that the same bus would go to both places. I could be wrong, though, but that is how I interpreted her post.

 

[Vickis3js]

Well unless you are privy to information that nobody else has then it hasn't been announced if that is the case.
If buses are shared during the slower times so be it. If the bridge is open and and it's all access to walk over to the pools and food court then I will stay once the hype has died down a bit.

You do realize that the buses go to the parks and anyone leaving the parks can get on it correct? Thats what I was referring to. People do it all the time at every other resort. I don't mind sharing my AKL bus!

 

[maj42169]

Also totally agree. I am not eligible for free dining there, I am not eligible for any discounts, and I am paying a pretty penny to use the amenities. I'll go right ahead and say it. If someone wants the pool at AoA.. they should pay to stay there and give up the discounts they could get staying elsewhere. Everyone has that option too. But I don't want all of Pop Century heading over to jam the food court, the buses and the pool and if they are "sister resorts" I will stay somewhere else.

Well said!! I agree 100%. This is exactly why we chose not to stay there the first year after opening. We had big plans to enjoy a family suite in the Lion King section then started thinking that the resort may get tons of other guests walking across the bridge and eating in the food courts, using the pools, etc.

 

[pigletto]

You do realize that the buses go to the parks and anyone leaving the parks can get on it correct? Thats what I was referring to. People do it all the time at every other resort. I don't mind sharing my AKL bus!

Yes I am quite aware of that. Not what I was referring to though. I thought the idea of sharing buses with Pop was clearly what we were talking about.. apparently not. I am not under the impression that it will be on 24 hour lockdown from anyone else in alllllll of WDW being able to access AoA.

What we were discussing was the pool, which then prompted me to say that I did in fact hope it wasn't shared with Pop, which led into also saying I would prefer the bridge not to be open and for buses and pools and the food court to be shared. Hope that makes it more clear.

 

[bizeemom4]

Well, thanks everyone for the responses I think.

I'm sure that I had read last year that the Pop busses were to share with AOA. That would give merit to the assumption that they were sister resorts. If that has changed, that's a bonus for both resorts. I really wasn't looking forward to having to share busses with another resort. I don't stay at values like Pop or AOA because they are luxurious. I stay at Pop because they have the most efficient transportation of all the resorts IMO. And yes, I have stayed at just about all of them on property.

So I guess we will just have to be patient and wait.