Just Back - Trip Report BWV & Saving Seats at the Pools! (VERY LONG)

[Ilove8Trax]

Gosh, i didn't know people did this?? Talk about being a little nuts. I couldn't even imagine people not taking used chairs since people (IME) will even if you have your bags and stuff on it sometimes. But at 6 in the morning to run down to the pool?? Hm, bizarre. If there is like a shoe on sitting on a chair, that's pathetic. If there is really no sign of someone sitting at a table or a chair that has one little thing on it, i would simply place it under the chair and when and if the person comes back to claim their territory, i would say "Oh, i thought that someone just forgot their one shoe. I wouldn't think that you were saving seats for (insert the amount of time you have been there) because that's quite rude to all the other guests."

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

A few years ago at ASMo, we had already checked out of our room and were killing a couple of hours at the resort before leaving to catch our plane. I was feeling VERY sick, so I decided to try to find a pool chair to lay down on. As you can imagine, there was not a single one to be found. There was a lady sitting at one of the little tables, and I asked if any of the (many!) chairs near her were available. She said that they were all her family's. I continued to walk around the pool area, trying to find any empty ones, and when I made it back around, she finally said I could have one of hers, as long as I would get out if they came back.

It should NOT be that hard to find a chair at the pool! I understand having one chair for each person if they are planning on laying out, but if you are just using it as a place to leave your towels and things while you swim, why can't several people share one?

 

[Mickeydad]

Can you believe it??!! We got a card in the mail yesterday asking us to participate in an internet survey about our stay at BWV's!!! I completed the survey last night.

Well, needless to say, I really expressed my (OUR) opinions about this "saving poolside chairs" problem.

I received an email from WDW today, and they asked for my daytime and evening phone number so that they can investigate the situation further.

I will let you know what happens after I talk with WDW.

Please everyone send an email to Disney and complain about this problem!!! Here is the email address;

WDW.Guest.Communications@disneyworld.com

Cross your fingers!

 

[TRAPPED-PARENT]

For the person who mentioned the lack of chairs at the water parks ... Yes, the chairs in the main areas, closest to the water do get taken very quickly. They will announce periodically over the loudspeakers to please only take enough chairs for those in your party.

I do see a lot of people looking for chairs later in the day -- however, the park does seem to provide enough but they are tucked in "out of the way" places throughout the park and are not always noticeable. While I am enjoying the park, I'll notice lots of chairs in these areas. The exception, of course, is on the days that the park is at capacity.

I remember the first time we visited TL, we got there later in the day (didn't know better) and had to make do with one chair for the entire family ... but it wasn't a problem because we were off exploring the park most of the time.

 

[jx3smom]

We just got back from 9 wonderful nights at BWV. We went down every morning to get chairs, however we were in our bathing suits and actually sat or sunbathed in those chairs! The only time we left the pool area was to go to the rest room, or up to the room to bring back a snack or soda. Once I did run in and put laundry in the dryer. The CM's were removing towels from the chairs some of the days.

A really funny story was while I was in the pool I heard this irate elderly man yelling at a man in the pool with his 3 children next to him. The man in the pools wife was standing there with an infant. The irate man was furious because the family removed his newspaper from a table as sat there. He screamed he'd only been gone about and hour and a half and nobody had the right to move his paper and sit at his table. A bystander walked over and handed the jerk a paper. The guy yelled it wasn't about the paper, he wanted his table. The family did not move and the jerk sat by the bar smoking his cigar.


I couldn't belive how selfish this man was. He was holding at table and 4 chairs for himself and he was in his room napping!

 

[Mickeydad]

jx3smom,

This is EXACTLY what I am upset about when I originally wrote this thread over a week ago!

Please, please, please write to WDW email address I listed in a reply thread early in this discussion.

The more we write and complain, the may be a hope of ending this selfish behavior!!

 

[Minniespal]

Thanks for the trip report.

 

[Mickeydad]

**UPDATE** 5/23/03

Just heard back from WDW Guest Relations last night!!!

I was told that they are investigating the problem and will do everything possible to make the situation better.

We'll see?!

 

[caitycaity]

just be sure that if you are moving people's stuff that they are not in the pool! this has happened to us twice and i consider it just as rude!

 

[SnowWitch]

We have been DVC members for 4 years with the BWV's being our home resort. We long ago quit going into the parks at 8am or any other ungodly hour years ago. I tend to still be an early riser and like to sit on my balcony for an hour or 2 or 3. This issue of pool chairs has been going on as long as I've stayed there. All you have to do is sit on the balcony for a bit and witness it. We generally like to go down to the pool around 10 and for spite move towels that I know have been there at least 2-3 hours. The action of placing things on chairs and leaving for hours on end is just rude!!

 

[TerriBelle]

What we have noticed is that often families put a towel on a chair for every family member and then jump in the pool. THis is fine except most of the kids NEVER sit in the chairs. We always try to get 2 - 3 chairs for the 5 of us. I know that it is a waste for us to take 5 chairs when there is NO way my kids are going to sit in it. The only time they use the chair is to put their shoes on. I am sure that some kids use the chairs, but during our visits we have found that most just use them to put their stuff on.

 

[Jen D]

There was an article I read recently in the NY Times Travel section about visiting those overcrowded family super-resorts (like Atlantis and others) and it specifically mentioned that the practice was to get at the pool at the crack of dawn to save your chairs. Throw a towel on them, head somewhere else and supposedly your chairs are waiting for you when you saunter to the pool at 2 or 3pm. Meanwhile people with good manners get the shaft again.

I've never moved anyone's stuff because I always assume they are swimming. Problem is, there is no way to know.

Sigh. People stink sometimes.

 

[Mickeydad]

bumpity, bump!!

 

[>>^..^<<]

Please don't flame me here... I am only thinking out loud but I am wondering why all these people feel compelled to get up early and save chairs?

They must have had a bad experience - unable to secure chairs at some point so they are totally paranoid/selfish because they are angry about it and are not going to let it happen again.

I am not condoning the "chair savers" it is a selfish act to keep chairs from people who would like to use them on the off chance you might be needing them later.

I am just saying that if there was ample pool deck space and enough chairs for resort guests - this would not be a problem.

I know it's hard for Disney to calculate how many guests will be at the pool on a given day. Sometimes the occupancy of the resort is 40% sometimes it is 90%.

I wish they had a system where at peak times they could increase the seating to stop people from panicking and overeacting with their annoying towel-saving.


>>^..^<<

 

[BarbaraMB]

I totally agree. And to add to it, people do because they can. I think that people also feel a sense of entitlement as well.

 

[LT Hambone]

I’ve got a solution –

It would take some effort on the part of Disney, but it could work. The concept involves chair tags, which would be connected to your room. Here’s how it would work –

You go to the pool, find the chairs you want, remove the removable tags, and take them to the lifeguard. The lifeguard takes the tags and puts them into a cubbyhole with two smaller tags hanging in front of the hole. One tag (the claim check tag) the lifeguard gives to you, and the other tag (the status tag) is used to identify if you are in the pool area (green side facing out), or out of the pool area (back of the tag facing out). Before you leave, the lifeguard swipes your room key, and assigns the tags to your room. The chairs are now yours!

Of course there would be some rules. You could leave the pool area, but for no more than say 30 minutes. There could also be a rule limiting the number of times you could leave the pool area in a day. There would need to be a penalty system – anything from removal from the pool area, to a fine charged to the room. Finally, the lifeguard could also do random spot checks – if you have left the pool area and did not check out, then a penalty would be imposed.

As an example, say you need to step out of the pool area. As you leave, you show the lifeguard your claim check tag. The lifeguard takes the matching status tag from the front of the cubbyhole, writes the current time on the back of the tag, and then hangs it in front of the cubbyhole with your chair tags, time side facing out. Off you go to do whatever you need to do. When you return to the pool area, you show the lifeguard your claim check tag. The lifeguard takes the matching status tag from the front of the cubbyhole, and checks the time. If you made it back in less than thirty minutes, he erases the tag, and hangs the status tag back in front of the cubbyhole, green side facing out. If you are late, then you loose your chair privilege for the day, or face some other penalty.

Now let’s say someone comes to the pool, and there are no empty chairs. The lifeguard could use the tag system to find out who has been out of the pool area over the thirty-minute window. Then the lifeguard could give their stuff the boot, send it back to their room, and impose some other penalty. If the lifeguard cannot find a violator, he could do a spot check, starting with the oldest time, until he finds a violator.

And if someone uses someone elses chair, the tag system would settle the dispute!

I know it sounds complicated, but it could also be used to rent chairs for the entire day, or by the hour.

Just a thought!

 

[OhMari]

Hambone, you just elevated your mugman status, or should I say escalated. Ya, I'll stay with escalated.

 

[Mickeydad]

Bumpity, bump!!!

 

[PrincessAurora]

Does the rudeness factor in our society know no bounds? I was going to say that I had never seen this behaviour but since I rarely use the pools and go off-season (where it isn't so crowded), I probably didn't notice what was going on.

When I did use the Pool at All-Stars I would have assumed that if I left the pool and someone else snagged my chair - O WELL! That is the way it works. You leave, someone else can have your place.

Now that I think about it, I did see some towels (maybe 15) on empty deck chairs with only 2 people swimming. I just assumed they were put out by the resort for the convienance of the guests. Kind of like you sometimes see pillows on plane seats.

Guess I was a big dummy!

 

[Mickeydad]

Bumpity, Bump!