A really dumb Poly question!

[DisneyFan09]

I was just on tikiman's site, which is wonderful, and noticed from the pictures of the lagoon that there were never any people near the water! I would assume that it's not alright to swim in it, but can you at least stick your feet in?

 

[wdwnutze]

It is a No Swimming lake. There are signs posted and I've never seen anyone in the water at all.

 

[MelissathePooh]

There are signs posted that swimming is not allowed. Depsite these signs I have seen people wading in the water - but they shouldn't have been.

You will see several rumors as to why this is the case (alligators, etc..) but its actually due to a high level of bacteria in the water that the current treatments facilities aren't equipped to handle.

 

[barbeml]

I think wading is allowed. We spent some time in the hammocks, but my Hubby is a Land Surveyor/Engineering Technologist and he immediately noted the sanitary line running just above water level. We kept our feet on the sand.

 

[colleen costello]

I swear the sign said "no swimming/wading" but many parents were having a hard time keeping the little ones from wading. I was kind of stressing, thinking of all the juicy Florida bacteria getting all over MY kids, who were using lake water in their sand castle and trying to wade without me noticing. Then I remembered that every summer when I was a kid, my sister and I and tons of other kids SWAM in that very same lake, and somehow we survived! My Dad had a lot of ear infections on our Florida trips, but otherwise we all managed!

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

The bacteria in the water isnt good for you... but it isn't horribly bad for you. Disney allows triathalon participants to swim in it, so it can't be that bad. I'd of course make sure to take a nice hot shower afterwards.

I'm wondering if Liability has more to do with it... since there are no lifeguards, or other cast members in the area. *shrug*

 

[tripplanner]

I'm just back from the Poly. We spent a lot of time on the beach. There were plenty of kids wading in the water. I also stressed with letting my kids fill their sand buckets with water while building their sand castles. I've heard plenty of bacteria in those lakes stories. I was surprised to see so many waders. I never saw that at any of the other resorts I've stayed at.

 

[pouncingpluto]

I wonder if the above poster is right about liability. Parents just aren't always as careful as they should be, and I'm not sure that most parents are aware how much more dangerous lakes are than pools. I was a lifeguard for a lot of years, and lifeguarding even the cleared, roped-off areas of lakes was pretty stressful because of the bad visibility in water that's not clear.

 

[PhilipP]

I saw some dude fishing in waist high water on the poly beach during our last trip. I've also seen kids playing in the water. I've heard too many gator stories in Florida lakes to even consider it however.

 

[wisconsinmousermom]

and wash my feet after. To me you can't be on a beach without sticking your feet in, can't be any worse than "Allen's Creek" in my small town, use to swim in it daily as a kid, and my parent's would have died if they knew!! LOL

 

[Samsma]

I think its mostly due to the bacteria though, I knew someone who actually died after a vacation in Florida due to this bacteria.

 

[colleen costello]

This is also what I heard, that they realize now the bacteria levels get dangerous in a climate like Florida's because it never gets cold enough to kill them. I guess the bacteria love the warm weather just like we all do. In any case, I wondered if this was part of why River Country closed. Quite a few years back I recall a news report about a child becoming ill there from bacteria.

When I was a kid they had a lifeguard at the Ft. Wilderness beach. For a while, Ft. Wilderness didn't even have a pool. We swam in that lake every afternoon. They had a float you could seim to and jump off. Now I think back and go "Gross!"