Advice for deluxe the last week of August

[rosiebean]

Background: I'm planning a trip the last week of August through a few days into September. I'll be at WDW with youngish kids (pre-teen). The last time I was there with young kids, they wanted pool time every day...which was great, because we were at YC and had access to SAB. We were also there during October (a very slow week in October), so getting chairs and watching two young kids at SAB wasn't a big deal.

In planning this next 'with kids' trip, we want a deluxe (for quick access to parks) with a good pool and slide for afternoons. We like to spend times at quiet pools too (and the one at Poly intrigues me as there's a bar/grill there for snacks and adult beverages). And in August, I'll want rest time by the pool in the afternoons.

My question is...which hotel would have the best pool experience in late August through Labor Day? SAB wasn't busy in October, but I've heard it's crazy busy other times of the year. Will it be so the last week of Aug., when park attendance is pretty light? Same with Poly...heard the pool is small and crazy in summer, but how busy will it be the last week of August? Even though my kids are older now and I don't have to follow them everywhere all the time, I don't want to be stressed by crowds.

Given that, which deluxe would you recommend? What's been your experience at pools in August?

1. Is BC/YC's SAB ok then? I already know the kids like it, and I love both BC and YC.

2. Are Poly pools ok in late August, early Sept.? How is the quiet pool? (we like some times at 'quiet' pools too).

3. And at BWI?

4. At GF?

Thanks!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We did a split between BC and Poly the last week of August before. My kids absolutely loved the BC. It won hands down. The games were more fun. My son played volleyball in the pool with other teens every afternoon. I preferred the pool also. They have a waitress who takes drink orders. It wasn't overly packed. We never had a problem getting a seat. I found the Poly pool more crowded, especially since it's much smaller. We had issues getting a seat even early in the day.

 

[NJ Goofy]

#3 BWI - We haven't been there that week so I can't comment on crowd levels but it has the main pool (clown slide) and more than one quiet pool. Our DS's are older now so we mainly hang at the quiet pool near the Swan side (DVC side) of the resort. The pool is nice and there are bathrooms, etc. right there. The main pool has a bar with waitresses and they also serve sandwiches, burgers, etc.
#4 GF - We haven't been to the pool there in years but I remember it was a nice size, I don't believe there was a large slide back then. The service at the pool was great though.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've gone to WDW the last week of August for the past 6 years and have stayed at Poly, BC, YC, BWI and WL during that time (mostly at BC and BWI). From experience, while Poly is lovely, there is close to zero shade at the main pool and it becomes horribly hot by mid-morning. Honestly, our favorite pool is BWI. I love the layout because I can sit on the pool deck and always see my DS, even when he is walking up the stairs and waiting for the slide. I can even go to the bar, get us some drinks and a snack and still have my eye on him because the bar is inside the pool area. And I've never had trouble finding a chair. We are going to try WL again after a 6 year absence, but my typical pick for late August would be BWI with BC a close second.

 

[rance]

I really liked the pool at GF and BWI...our least favourite pool was Poly last summer (last week of August). It was very busy and very hot....no shade and no chairs.

If I had the choice I would choose GF again.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I really like the GF pool situation. Both pools are decent size and both have their own bar. The courtyard pool is HUGE. The courtyard pool is one of the few "quiet" pools I could hang out at all day and be totally content.

Poly is also nice in that both pools have a bar. The Oasis Bar/Grill at the Oasis Pool is great. But some of the comments above about Poly are certainly valid.

If you stay is long enough, maybe do a GF/BC split, or a Poly/BC split? A little bit of both worlds.

 

[GoGoBeans]

SAB is bigger, no doubt. We've never had trouble getting chairs there in late August. Poly maybe a bit more crowded as it's smaller, but end of August was not packed. We were able to get chairs. More loungers at SAB.

My pre teens like both pools. SAB has more activities and options.

Resort wise, I feel Poly is a more relaxed resort overall. Tough call.

 

[Nancyg56]

Tough choice between the Poly and BC. I like BC pool and number of activities available in the area, but my DD and her family spent a July hot as hades week at the Poly last summer and they loved the quiet pool. I guess there was a shaded area in the water as well as on the pool deck itself, so even my DSIL, who burns through any sun screen, was able to join them.

 

[rosiebean]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I was leaning Poly, but will now look into BC/YC and GF .

 

[Scott MC]

Background: I'm planning a trip the last week of August through a few days into September. I'll be at WDW with youngish kids (pre-teen). The last time I was there with young kids, they wanted pool time every day...which was great, because we were at YC and had access to SAB. We were also there during October (a very slow week in October), so getting chairs and watching two young kids at SAB wasn't a big deal.

In planning this next 'with kids' trip, we want a deluxe (for quick access to parks) with a good pool and slide for afternoons. We like to spend times at quiet pools too (and the one at Poly intrigues me as there's a bar/grill there for snacks and adult beverages). And in August, I'll want rest time by the pool in the afternoons.

My question is...which hotel would have the best pool experience in late August through Labor Day? SAB wasn't busy in October, but I've heard it's crazy busy other times of the year. Will it be so the last week of Aug., when park attendance is pretty light? Same with Poly...heard the pool is small and crazy in summer, but how busy will it be the last week of August? Even though my kids are older now and I don't have to follow them everywhere all the time, I don't want to be stressed by crowds.

Given that, which deluxe would you recommend? What's been your experience at pools in August?

1. Is BC/YC's SAB ok then? I already know the kids like it, and I love both BC and YC.

2. Are Poly pools ok in late August, early Sept.? How is the quiet pool? (we like some times at 'quiet' pools too).

3. And at BWI?

4. At GF?

Thanks!

1. We're going to be on year 6 of staying at BC/YC in late August and never find the pool too crowded. Yes, between 1 & 4 it's crowded....but not unbearable. It's so worth it!

2. Last summer we did a split stay at Poly with BC, and HOLY GUACAMOLE was the Poly pool PACKED....All. The. Time. It was a zoo. Never again. The quiet pool there was lovely and much quieter. But that main pool? Nope! Plus, after SAB, we kept kidding each other saying, "Where's the rest of it?"

3. The pool at BWI is our 2nd favorite. It's lively, but never seemed overly crowded, just lovely in it's design and the resort wrapping around it. The slide is really, really fun and I don't know how, but even in the heat of August, that pool felt refreshing all the time. Quiet pool is just that...very quiet, or at least it was each time we went in.

4. We only swam briefly at the GF in the feature pool. It was crowded, but not as crowded as at the Poly. It's really pretty, and the quiet pool in the middle of the resort is a stunner, and never looked too crowded.

In summation....avoid Poly...
BC/YC is best...followed by BWI...then GF.

 

[crazylady]

Not your question but Google August magical Disney vacation deals

 

[mi*vida*loca]

1. We're going to be on year 6 of staying at BC/YC in late August and never find the pool too crowded. Yes, between 1 & 4 it's crowded....but not unbearable. It's so worth it!

2. Last summer we did a split stay at Poly with BC, and HOLY GUACAMOLE was the Poly pool PACKED....All. The. Time. It was a zoo. Never again. The quiet pool there was lovely and much quieter. But that main pool? Nope! Plus, after SAB, we kept kidding each other saying, "Where's the rest of it?"

3. The pool at BWI is our 2nd favorite. It's lively, but never seemed overly crowded, just lovely in it's design and the resort wrapping around it. The slide is really, really fun and I don't know how, but even in the heat of August, that pool felt refreshing all the time. Quiet pool is just that...very quiet, or at least it was each time we went in.

4. We only swam briefly at the GF in the feature pool. It was crowded, but not as crowded as at the Poly. It's really pretty, and the quiet pool in the middle of the resort is a stunner, and never looked too crowded.

In summation....avoid Poly...
BC/YC is best...followed by BWI...then GF.

Yes I find the Poly pool so small. When we were there it was ice cold too. I love the cold and we go in August but it was uncomfortably cold IMO.

 

[TJA]

We used to go to WDW at the end of August/early September quite a lot. My kids are 13 now and they've stayed at all of the deluxes. Their favorite pool is SAB at BC/YC, and you've already experienced that so you know how great it is. We never found anything crowded at that time of year, but not sure if things have changed.

My kids also love the pools at Poly. Last summer, we hung out at both pools and enjoyed both. They're not far from each other, so it's easy to go back and forth. Sometimes we chose which pool based on chair availability. But for your time frame, you should find adequate chairs at both. As far as shade, we never seem to have a problem getting an umbrella table at the main pool. The quiet pool was very sunny, though, and the only spots with real shade were the "cabanas," and they were always taken. I believe now there is a charge for the cabanas, so maybe try renting one?

The BWI pool has never been a favorite of my kids, but we've only stayed there twice, and once they were way too young to remember. The other time was last summer over the July 4 week and the main pool was dead, so I wouldn't suspect it to be busy during your time frame.

We love the pools at GF too. Not quite as much as the Poly's, but very close. To be honest, I think maybe the only reason we prefer Poly's main pool is because the view includes the Castle, etc. We like the layout better. But the GF has great pools, again not far from each other so it's easy to hop back and forth.

In your shoes, I'd look at a possible split stay so you could still enjoy SAB for part of your trip, but also try Poly or GF for the other part of your trip. We always plan our park days accordingly too. While at BC, we tend to have Epcot and HS park days. While at Poly or GF, we tend to go to MK a lot and also have our AK day while there too.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

We stayed at the GF the last week of August with a 10, 12 and 14 year old and they loved the pool - not the feature one but the big quiet pool. Now this was was in 2008 so I am not sure if they have gotten rid of the real deep end (was 6ft) and my kids loved jumping into the deep end. As long as they got to swim they were happy and it wasn't crowded but that could've have been because there was a tropical storm during that week so it rained but my kids even swam in the rain - they didn't care lol!

 

[rosiebean]

Not your question but Google August magical Disney vacation deals

Thanks to earlier advice, I did that even before starting this thread. Thanks, though, I hope it helps others! That hint is the main reason why I could even consider all of the deluxes I was considering, at least not for as many days as we're going .

Thanks for the input from everyone. I've booked the week at GF in large part because it's the 'dream' resort of a few in our party...and because we've all stayed at Poly and BC/YC before. I'm really excited to try a new place! GF wasn't 'to my taste' before (I was a Poly or Epcot area resort kind of girl), but a few trips to GF for meals and hearing from friends how pleased they were the experience, I thought I'd try. Your collective input about the crowd during late August was a huge help as well!

We're headed back to WDW in October for a long weekend at F&W and will stay in one of the Epcot resort's then. Another reason why we decided to try GF this summer!