Enjoying the Pool

[tarzanman]

What would you prefer?

some trips as a child
DxL 4/00
DVC member 4/00
BWV 9/00, 12/01
VB 9/00, 5/01
DCL 1/01, 12/01-1/02 New Years Cruise
OKW 1/01

http://gennaroworld.topcities.com

 

[KNWVIKING]

I'm in favor of checking ID's simply to keep the off-site parasites out. I think asking people to leave when the pool fills up could be a problem though.I feel as a visiting user I should be courtious enough to realize the pool is getting crowded,maybe paying guest need my chair,pack up and head on home to my resort pool.

 

[kamgen]

I would pay attention to the crowds and leave before being asked. sounds too easy, though.
I am in favor of asking for cards, but I am also understanding that I may be asked to leave once I am already in.

Off site '94
AllStar-Movies '99
DxL '00 Honeymoon
DVC Member 4/00
BWV 9/00
VB 9/00
DCL-Wonder 1/01
OKW 1/01
Upcoming:
VB 5/01
VWL 12/01
BWV 12/01
DCL-Magic 12/29/01

My new Disney website!
http://gennaroworld.topcities.com

 

[KNWVIKING]

My problem isn't with being asked, its the logistics of doing it. Are visitors given something to identfy them from others, will the CM ask a visitor who arrived 4 hrs ago or one that arrived 1 hr, do they set aside a special section for visitors- see my point,would just be additional hassel.

 

[wdwnut]

hi: i wouldn't mind being carded at the entrance, although i usually leave all that stuff in my room and just go to the pool with a towel. if they did institute this practice, i'd be sure to remember my id.

 

[Dean]

There needs to be a formal and noticed policy where all go by the same rules. Decisions need to be made at the latest by the morning of. No place for hour by hour changes. Then there needs to be a formal notification of all DVC sites and a posting in the lobby of all DVC resorts. Make a decision, notify the appropriate people and stick with it, period. If it gets crowded, that's the way it is.

Dean

 

[Gail Reale]

Pool hopping should be suspended during the premium seasons regardless of where your home resort is, period. During "off" seasons, I think they should check ID to keep the off-site people and Fla. residents out. I don't see anything great about the BWV pool, but our kids are grown and we don't hop. However, all DVC owners should be allowed to do so during off-peak times if they choose. DVC needs to institute a system whereby all information is clear and correct each day - probably via the voice mail system they use to "invite" us to the members meetings each Tuesday!

 

[kamgen]

that if I am staying at BC and want to go down to the pool at 3pm and I am turned away due to capacity (which includes visitors) I would be angry. And in turn I would not want to take up space of a hotel guest.
As for carding, I too leave my things in my room usually, unless we are ALL at the pool.

As for those who say to start the day with a policy and leave it. That is a safety issue. Pool areas have a capacity and it is strongly regulated for OUR safety. I do not want a resort to have the attitude that capacity is not important. If I am pool hopping and the pool reaches capacity (or near) I would EXPECT a chance of being asked to leave. Even if I was only there for 10 minutes. I am, in that situation, a visitor, and there are guests of that resort that I am hurting. Those families should be allowed to use their resorts amenities.
That is just my opinion.
Solution as I see it is to cancel privelages during peak season. And work from there. Carding is a great idea, but it would be a difficult one to enforce without increasing pool area staff.

Off site '94
AllStar-Movies '99
DxL '00 Honeymoon
DVC Member 4/00
BWV 9/00
VB 9/00
DCL-Wonder 1/01
OKW 1/01
Upcoming:
VB 5/01
VWL 12/01
BWV 12/01
DCL-Magic 12/29/01

My new Disney website!
http://gennaroworld.topcities.com

 

[robinb]

I stayed at VB many years ago and hated that the pool was gated and that I needed to show my ID for a towel. Disney put that policy in place because the public beach is very close to the resort and people would wander in to enjoy the pool.

Now I'm beginning to think that something similar would be a good solution for the BWV pool problem. I don't think the pool needs to be gated because the fence will be ugly and make me feel closed in. But, I think that a resort ID (BWV, or DVC when hopping is OK) should be shown when the main pool is busy. The towel booth will only need to be staffed during busy times and not all the time. This will keep out most of the pool hoppers from offsite (unless they are bold enough to go to a quiet pool to get their towels) and will set up a check-point for DVC pool hopping too. I would much rather know right away that I can't pool hop. Once there, I think that DVC members should be allowed to stay. It would be up to the BWV management to staff the towel booth early enough to prevent over-crowding.

I think that BWV probably suffers more from pool hoppers from other resorts (or off-site) than other resorts because of the nature of the Boardwalk. People from other resorts and off-site are encouraged to come to the BW where they see the pool.


-- Robin

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

We always...all of us...have our resort IDs with us. Just never know when we might need them. I can't see where having to show IDs would be a problem.

With all the creativity that Disney is famous for, I'm sure they could come up with a decent enough way to fence in a pool. It may not be as nice as being open, but sure beats the pools being overrun by off-site guests, and all these hard feelings that are developing.

(BTW, last year a friend of mine...staying offsite...called Disney and asked if it was OK to visit the resort pools, and she claims they said YES! I let her know otherwise. Perhaps...however she worded it...they thought she just wanted to go LOOK at the resorts and the pools??)

I can't see Disney cutting out pool hopping for DVC members until they at least try to eliminate off-site guests, or on-site NON-DVC guests from other resorts, from abusing the system first.

Maybe I'm missing something...but how would showing an ID at the towel booth prevent "outsiders" from using the pools? What if they have their own towels? It might work the first time, but wouldn't they catch on pretty quick? <IMG SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif" alt="confused"> We always bring beach towels with us on vacation (but usually only use them at the water parks now).

Beach Club, '97, '99, '00
Portofino Bay Hotel, '00, '01
BWV, '01

 

[Wes]

I think the poll hopping should be suspended during the peak periods of Easter and Christmas. I don't want to see this suspension abused by making it for any but the periods in which it is really needed.

BUT I believe that ID checking should be done all the time.

This issue is a lot like the issue of the locals filling up the DVC Parking Lots, which has never been successfully solved.

 

[baileybrad]

with Dean. The decision should be made ahead of time. They can pretty much tell from the season/weather/property occupancy/the fact that few DVC folks actually PH at any one time/how well they are doing keeping true trespassers out of their pool/etc. on what to expect on any given day at a resort pool. That is why the predetermination on not allowing PH at SAB over most recent spring break/Easter periods were/have been issued. They knew based on past history.
I think it is getting old to hear "if I am staying at resort so and so" I better well be guaranteed entrance to the pool/pool area. This just isn't so. If 1/2 of the people at a given resort decided to go to the pool, many would be turned away. So there is no guarantee that you will be able to use a pool, tennis court, spa or whatever. I did a poll a few weeks back on pool hopping and it pretty much showed that some enjoy PH occasionally, while others could care less. The lack of interest by some should not preclude the ability of those who choose to exercise this membership priviledge the choice to do so. Disney just needs to do their part in conveying what is happening at any given time concerning this perk and the DVC should open a clear avenue for those interested in partaking to finding out what the heck that road is.

And T-man, thanks for doing the poll, and I know that you are limited to 5 choices but you could think about doing away with 1 of the ID choices and making it something like "advance notice of no pool hopping allowed". Just a thought.

[This message was edited by baileybrad on 04-18-01 at 07:04 PM.]

 

[RONfromRI]

You might want to refer to a similar poll by ttsui01. Although it was directed to OKW members, it included a choice that said that pool-hopping was not a concern. That choice had double the votes of any other option. That, in concert with several other pool-hopping threads, leads me to believe that pool-hopping is not a significant factor in the priorities of the majority of DVC members.

 

[Wes]

No one at their home resort should ever be turned away from the pool unless it is full to capacity with people actually staying at that resort (which sounds like it has never happened). This is why I believe eliminating pool hopping at the very few crush dates (Easter, Christmas) is something people should know about BEFORE THEY EVEN MAKE RESERVATIONS.

In the event that -- after instituting the above restriction -- a pool does ever approach capacity, then people should go to the pool knowing that there is a clear policy in place that

(a) they must show valid proof they can be there in one of three classes (1-registered here, 2-registered elsewhere, 3-member not registered anywhere now - not sure 3 is legitimate or not but if it is then it should be distinct)

and

(b) if the pool approaches capacity all who are not registered at the resort will be asked to leave -- class 3 first then class 2 -- regardless of whether they just arrived or have been there all day.

Since the trip over to another pool is a major outing, there should be a phone number that can be called before leaving to check the status of the destination pool. This phone call should NEVER be necessary for a person registered at a resort who wants to use that resort's pool. It is only for pool hoppers, so that they do not make the long trip only to find they are turned away or are asked to leave right away. If a pool is at 60% capacity and growing, then the message should say capacity restrictions are likely to soon be implemented. The message needs to be changed only when the 60% threshold is present.

As for me, if the pool was approaching capacity, I'd be gone well before that, even at my own resort. I go to the pool to loosen up and not to stress out.

 

[KAMLEM]

I would say ID me at the gate and ask me to leave when it gets full but maybe ask for volunteers first. If there were no volunteers, I would suggest starting with an announcement asking those who were not staying at the resort to leave rather than singling people out. I would think that by asking for ID's at the gate they would be able to determine exactly how many people are using the pool, also.

 

[Lynn K]

Maybe they could hand out different color wrist bands at the entrance when they check i.d.'s to identify resort guests and DVC guests. If the pool gets filled to capacity, the DVC guests could be easily identified and POLITELY be asked to leave

 

[GrammieMame]

That's funny - I was just thinking wristbands myself. How about each DVC "home" having color coded wristbands that we receive when we check in, to be worn whenever we are at the pool. That way, it would be very easy to unobtrusively check pool users to be sure they should be there, and people without wristbands should be asked to leave. Possibly, a highly visible ID of that kind would eliminate the problem,since "outsiders" might hesitate to come in at all. If you "forget" your wristband, go back to the towel booth and get another when you show ID. By the way, I wonder how many FW guests are using the WL pool. Disney really needs to address this issue.

 

[tarzanman]

LUCYMC

That is a great idea. highly visible wrist bands would be a great way to not have to carry your ID. The color would designate the resort that you are staying at. Thanks for the input.

some trips as a child
DxL 4/00
DVC member 4/00
BWV 9/00, 12/01
VB 9/00, 5/01
DCL 1/01, 12/01-1/02 New Years Cruise
OKW 1/01

http://gennaroworld.topcities.com

 

[CaptainMidnight]

I wanted to vote for 2 - suspended during premium season, and check ID's to keep out parasites.

The wrist band is a great idea.

I personally would prefer a pool not kept at capacity at all times, especially by OKW folks who won't pay for thier own slide and lifeguard (smile).