DVC Pools, Pool Hopping, Etc.

[kkmauch]

Just wanted to throw in my two cents here...haven't read all the posts yet so firgive me if I repeat someone else...
We haven't pool hopped yet, but we are planning to in December. You see, we are staying at OKW to see if we want to buy additional points there thru resale. So, while we may be able to check out the OKW pool when we are there, we are planning also to go back to our "home" at SSR and use "our" pool at least once. We loved it in May and can't wait to get back. I would hate to not be able to use our home pool when we are in WDW.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Originally posted by wdwa1
But I do not see where anyone has said or suggested that children should not use quiet pools under any circumstances

I think it has been suggested in the following examples:

"If you see a quiet pool nice and QUIET, please take your kids to the kid's pool."

"Obviously, they can't pull the trigger to actually call them 'adult only' and enforce that, because there are obviously many families with kids who would complain, but I'm just tellin' ya...there are people out here who still want to go to Disney, despite it being the kid capital of the world, and while we know we will be dealing with your kids all day long, it is nice to have a 'quiet' pool to get away from them. We particularly choose resorts with 'quiet' pools for this reason."

If Disney wanted to create an adults only pool, while I wouldn't like it, my family and I would respect it, just as we do when we are on the DCL or at Castaway Cay. It's just that they don't and those who want to keep kids out of the quiet pools are being unrealistic.

However as I have stated, IMHO it is not unrealistic to expect the quiet pool to be be more quiet, more subdued, more laid back and more controled than the main pool.

HBC

 

[sandieb]

I am trying to imagine a group at the "quiet pool" walking, swimming, and sitting in silence. Hmmm...seems a little far out. I think it is ok to play, laugh, and talk at any pool. Respecting others right to enjoy the pool is certainly valid.

For the record...one evening we went down to the quiet pool at the BCV. A group of noisy folks left just after we arrived. Along comes a CM who asks us to leave because there were complaints of noise. It was just me and one older child...I explained we had just arrived, and we promised we would be quiet. Seems like some CMs are willing to confront noisy guests. Sandie

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

Originally posted by wdwa1
I totally agree and when our children were young; we used both the main pool and the quiet pools, in the same way it appears your family does.
But I do not see where anyone has said or suggested that children should not use quiet pools under any circumstances,
What some people did suggest is separate quiet pool for adults only at WDW resorts. Several have expressed opinions that this would never happen at WDW because it is for families etc. However, very valid and true posts were made pointing out how DCL has many adult only areas. But no one has said WDW quiet pools should be exclusively for adults.

There are other less kid populated areas of a resort/the world that adults can go to and there is an entitre island dedicated to for adults to enjoy, restaurants,bars etc.. Comparing DCL with WDW/resorts is unfair. People cannot escape the boat so it would be logical that there are designated areas on DCL because there are no options for adults unless they leave the boat which is impossible on sea days or stay in their rooms.

Plus people who don't like how the quiet/leisure pools rules are enforced can stay off property at an adult oriented resort. One definitely does not need to stay onsite to enjoy WDW. There is no choice for cruisers they cannot leave the ship so the nessessity for an adult pool is warranted. Same with the beach at castaway cay.

 

[Muushka]

Originally posted by 3DisneyNUTS
There are other less kid populated areas of a resort/the world that adults can go to and there is an entitre island dedicated to for adults to enjoy, restaurants,bars etc.. Comparing DCL with WDW/resorts is unfair. People cannot escape the boat so it would be logical that there are designated areas on DCL because there are no options for adults unless they leave the boat which is impossible on sea days or stay in their rooms.

Plus people who don't like how the quiet/leisure pools rules are enforced can stay off property at an adult oriented resort. One definitely does not need to stay onsite to enjoy WDW. There is no choice for cruisers they cannot leave the ship so the nessessity for an adult pool is warranted. Same with the beach at castaway cay.

Oye! Why is it that when a discussion such as this comes uo and people are honest about their feelings that you are told "if you don't like it-go somewhere else"? That really bugs me. So much for honesty.

Also, what island are you refering to? If it is Pleasure Island, not all adults are interested in the drinking scene that goes on there. I prefer the more 'family atmosphere'-that is why we go to WDW. I enjoy watching families at the happiest place in the world. I just don't enjoy listening to children screaming and parents screaming back at them. Sorry I am just being honest.

And yes, I do have to stay onsite to enjoy WDW. Three little letters to prove it DVC.

 

[Uncleromulus]

pjmpa:
That's exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about. At least you got an apology from dear old dad. Often we get dirty looks for not throwing the ball back fast enough---. Or a dirty look as if to say "You got in the way of our ball".

Should also add that in thinking back over all our past trips to OKW, I'd say that about 75% of the time the "quiet pools" are reasonably "quiet" enough for us to stay. The other 25% of the time they're not.

Sandy: You got lucky. I don't expect Disney CM's to ever do anything to curb this sort of thing which is why--when it happens-we just leave. Several times at Turtle Krawl I've seen the CM's in that food/drink stand actually watch these kind of antics and not say a thing. Or call anyone who might be better able to say something.

 

[JimC]

Originally posted by Uncleromulus
...Should also add that in thinking back over all our past trips to OKW, I'd say that about 75% of the time the "quiet pools" are reasonably "quiet" enough for us to stay. The other 25% of the time they're not....

We have been a bit luckier, maybe-- 85%/15% -- at a collection of resorts on property with multiple pools (themed/quiet). Clearly most familes at the quiet pools are respectful of the intent to provide a pool to swim in and have more subdued fun.

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

Originally posted by Muushka
Oye! Why is it that when a discussion such as this comes uo and people are honest about their feelings that you are told "if you don't like it-go somewhere else"? That really bugs me. So much for honesty.

Also, what island are you refering to? If it is Pleasure Island, not all adults are interested in the drinking scene that goes on there. I prefer the more 'family atmosphere'-that is why we go to WDW. I enjoy watching families at the happiest place in the world. I just don't enjoy listening to children screaming and parents screaming back at them. Sorry I am just being honest.

And yes, I do have to stay onsite to enjoy WDW. Three little letters to prove it DVC.

Because we are talking about a person who finds children's voices piecing and wants families to avoid a pool if she is there. IMO that person should have rethought their choice of timeshare purchase.

Families should not be made to feel unwelcomed at WDW since that is the target audience of the world.

AND like I said in an earlier post obnoxiousness should not be tolerated no matter who it comes from be it child or adult but to tell people that if they see adults snoozing by a pool to shlep somewhere else gives me a right to suggest an alternative for them as well.

Plus if you are not happy with PI or even West Side for that matter that is what Disney provided for the adults. Since childless couples are not Disney's main target audience I don't expect anything more to be planned in the future.

Plus to request that pools be just for adults IMO is absurd...for WDW anyway.

With the thousands of vacation spots that would be inappropriate for people with children especially toddlers, who tend to raise their voices when excited, it is one of the few places a kid can be a kid. It is one of the rare places where parents should be able to let their hair down too and not have to worry about their kids enjoying themselves "annoying" other people.

 

[CRobin]

Originally posted by 3DisneyNUTS
It is one of the rare places where parents should be able to let their hair down too and not have to worry about their kids enjoying themselves "annoying" other people.

I hope you didn't mean that.

If it is your understanding that WDW is a place where someone's kids can "enjoy themselves annoying other people", then there is a serious disconnect, and I suspect (but don't guarantee) that you will not get 100% accord with that statement on this board.

I will requote my prior post..

"Where I do have a problem is with the parents who ENCOURAGE their kids to race down the hallway screaming to see who can get to the door first with their key, or with the lady I encountered on our last trip who laughed while her son knocked on every door at BWV while walking toward the elevator. Really cute. Wish I had a camera for that Kodak moment."

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

Originally posted by CRobin
I hope you didn't mean that.

If it is your understanding that WDW is a place where someone's kids can "enjoy themselves annoying other people", then there is a serious disconnect, and I suspect (but don't guarantee) that you will not get 100% accord with that statement on this board.

I will requote my prior post..

"Where I do have a problem is with the parents who ENCOURAGE their kids to race down the hallway screaming to see who can get to the door first with their key, or with the lady I encountered on our last trip who laughed while her son knocked on every door at BWV while walking toward the elevator. Really cute. Wish I had a camera for that Kodak moment."

NO I am sorry I reread it and it came out wrong I should have added a comma...Let me rewrite the sentance to express what I really mean. Or another word.


It is one of the rare places where parents should be able to let their hair down and let their kids enjoy themselves and not worry about it "annoying" other people.
There I hope it conveys what I am trying to say.
Plus the child knocking on all of the doors is obnoxious and definitely should not be allowed. People need to speak up when they see that awful behavior give the parents a wake up call that it is not "cute"!

 

[Mickmse2002]

I have posted in this thread several times in response to opinions and statements of others so here I go again. Here's where I am coming from:

1. I agree that all people should be respectful of others: kids, teens, adults.
2. Families with kids should be able to use, in good conscience, any pool they want as long as they follow the rules. Common sense dictates this.
3. Others should have a reasonable expectation of "leisure". But "leisure" is a totally subjective thing. What is leisurely for one person may be boring for another or hectic for another. Other people cannot be responsible for you finding fulfilling leisure time, only you can.
4. Everyone has the same right of use, within the rules, so accept it and move on.
5. Not all kids/families/teens/adults enjoy the large trademark pools so why should they be relegated to them?
6. When anyone is disturbing the peace address it either with the people or CM's.
7. Everyone should accept responsibility for their families. Whether the inappropriate behavior is from a kid, teen, mom, dad or grandma and grandpa.

 

[crisi]

Lets talk about Disney and how they use words.

DisneySpeak is an interesting topic. Housekeepers are "Cast Members" because at Disneyworld, everything is a stage. Gee, I'm not used to thinking that my hotel room is a stage, but ok. As such, they wear "costumes." Where I come from we call those uniforms. Of course, we are all Guests, although the last time my host presented me with a bill running a few thousand dollars, I considered myself a "customer." A child stops being a child at 10 for tickets. Rides are never rides, they are attractions - although we have all been "attracted" long before and by something more "attractive" than Small World.

Magic - dictionary.com
1. The art that purports to control or forecast natural events, effects, or forces by invoking the supernatural.
2.The practice of using charms, spells, or rituals to attempt to produce supernatural effects or control events in nature.
3. The charms, spells, and rituals so used.
4. The exercise of sleight of hand or conjuring for entertainment.
5. A mysterious quality of enchantment: “For me the names of those men breathed the magic of the past” (Max Beerbohm).

Disney uses it in the 5th (and presumably least common) sense of the word.


Here is quiet:

1.Making little or no noise: quiet neighbors; a quiet engine.
2. Free of loud noise; hushed: a quiet street.
3. Calm and unmoving; still: a quiet lake.
4. Free of turmoil and agitation; untroubled. See Synonyms at still.
5. Restful; soothing: a quiet afternoon nap; a quiet tune on the flute.
6. Tranquil; serene: a quiet place in the country.
7. Not showy or garish; subdued: a room decorated in quiet colors.
8.Restrained in style; understated: a quiet strength; a quiet life.

We have to get down to definition 7 and 8, but that isn't uncommon for Disneyspeak, before we discover that quiet may have nothing to do with noise, and more to do with style. i.e "we didn't bother to theme this by doing much more than a few plants and some tile."

 

[jarestel]

I think there are 2 different arguments here -
1. The people who are saying that noisy, after hours pool guests should know better than to be hooting and hollering in the pool at midnight or the people who are disturbing others by flinging various projectiles around the pool area as if they were the only ones in the area.
2. The people who are saying that children making noise in a pool in the middle of the afternoon are out of line.

Argument #1 has a lot of merit, argument #2 is not so strong.

 

[Desperado]

Originally posted by 3DisneyNUTS
..... It is one of the rare places where parents should be able to let their hair down too and not have to worry about their kids enjoying themselves "annoying" other people.

I don't think that children should be given a license to automatically annoy other guests and parents can abdicate all parental guidance because it is WDW. There are an overwheliming number of places at WDW where children can be loud and have a wonderful time. They can have a wonderful time at quiet pools after hours, it just needs to be more subdued and less noisy. That is certainly not an outragous request. Sorry, but the statement above makes little sense.

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

Originally posted by Desperado
I don't think that children should be given a license to automatically annoy other guests and parents can abdicate all parental guidance because it is WDW. There are an overwheliming number of places at WDW where children can be loud and have a wonderful time. They can have a wonderful time at quiet pools after hours, it just needs to be more subdued and less noisy. That is certainly not an outragous request. Sorry, but the statement above makes little sense.

Desperado, read on, of course you know that is not what I meant. Jeez some people like to argue a point till death. This thread has just passed into ridiculous! So maybe read on before you quote. It came out wrong and rather than edit the post I responded and clarrified my thought sheesh!

 

[Desperado]

Originally posted by Dean
Vero could handle plenty just like the WDW pools if they would police crashers.

I completely dissagree, Vero could not handle an all year membership approach.

Originally posted by kkmauch
....we are planning also to go back to our "home" at SSR and use "our" pool at least once. We loved it in May and can't wait to get back. I would hate to not be able to use our home pool when we are in WDW.

Is pool hopping allowed at SSR? I didn't think it was, perhaps someone could correct me.

 

[Desperado]

Originally posted by 3DisneyNUTS
... of course you know that is not what I meant....

Sorry, I cannot read your mind, I only know what you type.

Jeez some people like to argue a point till death.

It takes at least two.

 

[las3888]

Okay, I'm done with this thread because I see it is going nowhere.

I am glad if even one family opened their eyes a little to realize that quiet pools are most likely intended to be well, quiet...not over-run by kids that are diving for objects, splashing or whatnot. OR loud adults. Just 'following the rules' isn't good enough for me. I can't believe really we are having this debate, but again, when I see 'quiet pool' listed on my map, hello - I expect it to not be over-run with screaming kids.

I am sorry for those who are pretty obstinate about the issue. You have every right legally to take your kids to these pools, and yes, it helps if you 'follow the rules', but my guess is for those who are pretty obstinate about it I suspect you see your kids through somewhat rose-colored-glasses. You seem to be wanting to put yourselves and your kids above just plain old common courtesy and you seem to be finding every excuse in the book to justify your actions. You are re-defining quiet every which way just to fit your own situation. It is really laughable.

At any rate, while you obviously don't care, I am going to say it again - do you ever notice people who get up and leave when your family comes? When you bring your noisy family to the quiet pool and it has been relatively quiet, most of us are cursing inside wondering WHY ON EARTH CAN'T YOU LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE AND TAKE YOUR KIDS A FEW YARDS AWAY TO THE LUNA PARK POOL????? You may ignore us, think it doesn't matter, but we are all pretty much thinking it. Now again, it seems you don't care, and feel you have every God-given right to take your kid wherever they desire to make this the best Disney experience ever without thinking about those around you, but I pretty much put you in the same category as those who maybe don't give up your seat on a bus for an elderly person. Just mostly thinking of yourselves and totally oblivious to others around you.

For those who keep insisting Disney is strictly for kids, obviously you missed that Disney does adults-only areas and does cater to adults-only on various levels - you just don't notice it because you are busy focusing on a family level vacation. Did you ever notice the wedding chapel that was built? Have you ever noticed all the couples walking around with the bride's and groom's ears? I went to Disney on my honeymoon myself. And yes, I did go to read at the quiet pool.

Go ahead and redefine the word 'quiet' to fit your family's needs. There hasn't been and probably isn't much I can do about it, but I will say that I think you (thankfully) are in the minority. When we went last May I looked through my Passporter as I recorded the memorable events of the day. I noted that on the first day I was disappointed with all the major activity from the kids at the quiet pool. Well, it was Memorial Day weekend, so I could understand if the other pool was probably crowded too. HOWEVER, all the rest of the days of our stay, the families with the loud kids either went home or stayed away and believe it or not - 500 people at BWV and not a one of them brought their loud kids to the quiet pool every afternoon when we were there for 2-3 hours. I guess some people do get it.

Thanks also to those who mentioned that they don't take their families to the quiet pool. Your courtesy is appreciated probably way more than you know.

 

[las3888]

Oh - one more thing I want to clarify. I do not expect the surrounding pools at OKW or SSR to really be all that quiet. I am not referring to these pools when I make my argument. I don't care what they are called, and I could see them changing the name to Leisure pool because those resorts are so sprawling, I think it is unrealistic for families to have to journey to the main attraction pool since they are so far. I think 'neighborhood pool' is appropriately describing those pools.

Where I think it makes sense is at BWV (because the 2 pools are essentially right next to each other), and BC. Maybe WL. Maybe Poly and GF although I haven't stayed there since they have redone their pool areas. I really mean it in areas where it is just SO easy to take your kids steps away to a pool that is built specifically for them with all the bells and whistles.

 

[tomerin]

recently we just returned from a 10 day stay at WL. yes, the pool issue disturbed me a bit. yes we are at disney and kids are at their maximum energy level so running around and general wild behavior at the pools can be confused to mean being inconsiderate to other guests.

we realized that kids will be kids at a pool and if there was a bit of rowdy behavior where i was relaxing it wasnt such a big deal for me to float away.

what bothered me at night ,well after 11pm was that parents were still letting their kids run amok. there really should be a time when the term "quiet pool" should be enforced. i was not the only person who felt this way. there were guests who were at the front desk complaining to a CM, who by the way went to the front desk because they didnt want to distract the lifeguard from doing their job, while i was buying E-ride tickets. we overheard another couple complaining about it in the elevator going up to our room.


i know this issue is somewhat overstated and should be put to rest but why not some real quiet time at pools in the resorts?