Poly Pool Hopping Problems

[LisaR]

Originally posted by doubletrouble_vb


This would include DVC'ers who would otherwise have to pay to park if they drove to the Magic Kingdom.

Unless I missed something somewhere, we (DVC'ers) have never paid to park at any of the parks. I was under the impression that our parking pass for our resort gave us free parking at the parks. I have never paid or been asked to pay at any of the parks. We are AP holders but the parking attendent wouldn't have any way of knowing that. Have I missed something??

Lisa

 

[DebbieB]

We go in early May and early December and I noticed that the Poly lot was less than 1/2 full in the afternoon (when passing on the monorail back to the TTC where we parked). If it's not crowded, then I don't see a problem giving DVC members pool hopping a break. If it is full, then it's understandable. I would guess that most members pool hop in the morning & afternoon, a time when the Poly lot is not as full as it would be in the evening when guests return.

Why would you give an exception to AP holders because they don't pay to park anyway? WDW resort guests,including DVC members, do not pay to park either.

 

[spiceycat]

I had this problem in December with the Poly - MS when asked say that the Poly was full - so parking was not permited period. despite the fact that I given a 3 hour pass and the parking lot was not full. It has to do with the Polyn rooms being full - not the parking area. then the guards are told to turn people away - be glad you have a parking permit from a WDW resorts otherwise they won't allow you park at all.

 

[robinb]

Originally posted by Dean

BTW, apparently it's been a lot worse at the Contemporary. I remember those being turned away from parking at all even when PH was open.

Parking is bad at the Contemporary. I stayed there the week of July 4th and the parking lot was always full before the MK closed. Then *poof* there were plenty of parking spots! This was even with security kiosk, which I swear was a revolving door considering the number of cars which would pull in, turn around and pull out again.

BTW, the CR has a terrible pool. Don't bother pool hopping to it.

 

[DeeP]

I wish they would do the same thing with the parking lots at Boardwalk. Many people park in the lots to go to Epcot or take a boat to MGM and their cars are in the lot all day and into the night, which makes it hard for paying guests and DVC members to get a parking space. A 3-4 hour parking permit would allow guests staying at other resorts plenty of time to eat a one of the Boardwalk restaurants and enjoy the boardwalk but it would also eliminate all the other guests using Boardwalk as their personal parking lot to gain easy access to Epcot and MGM.
As for pool hopping, I agree with another poster, DVC members have pool hopping priviledges not unlimited parking at any WDW resort. If you want to pool hop to another resort for longer than the 3-4 hr permit then just take WDW transportation to the other resort.

 

[CarolMN]

Wish Disney would find a way to better manage resort parking. It doesn't seem right for those who are actually staying at a resort to have problems finding a parking spot. I know I get angry when I can't find a place to park at the BWV when I'm staying there. Wish there was at least a portion of the BW lot reserved for only BWI/BWV guests.

I've often wondered why Disney doesn't just begin charging for parking at the monorail and EPCOT resorts. Perhaps they should charge everyone who isn't actually staying at the hotel $15 (or maybe more) when they enter. Then give them a $15 certificate that can be redeemed at the resort's gift shop or restaurant on that same day. I would think something like this would discourage most who park there to go to the MK or EPCOT, and make little or no difference to those who plan to eat at one of the resort restaurants. Of course, they'd have to adjust the valet parking somehow as well, though. Just a thought.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Quick question, are people not using the valet parking? I have only had a car once at Disney, but the valet parking was very convenient. Just curious.

 

[Goofy Fan]

I happen to agree with Dean. There is an inherent problem in and of itself (forget about used parking spaces for a minute) to say you can pool hop all day and night wherever you want (besdies SAB and AK), but if you drive to the Poly, GF, or Cont., you only have 4 hours. I have never been given a pass at WL, or CS, or POR, etc. The passes show up at the MK resorts. You also cannot imply that passes come out when the hotel is full unless you agree that WL, CS, or POR are never full. The passes come out because of the monorail access at the MK resorts, plain and simple.

My kids love the new Volcano pool, and have always loved going to the Poly pool. I don't care for the Cont. pool, and there's something about watching people walking around the pool in robes at the GF that just makes me turn around (just not my style). I am not there for the monorail. It happens to be more of a hassle to do that, as taking the bus from OKW or BWV is too easy and convenient even if I have a car. I'm also one to give someone my last $5 if they needed it more than me, so if I felt that someone staying there couldn't find a parking space because of me, I'd hurriedly move and apologize.

I have written to MS. Let's see what they say. In the meantime, I like the valet approach as apparently that is exempt. The $6 to valet park is a non issue to be able to have the convenience of driving from OKW or BWV to the Poly pool. Or, if I'm really adventurous, I can drive to the WL (no passes), take the boat to the MK, then board the boat to the Poly! Solution solved!

 

[colleen costello]

We were at BCV the week of July 4th when the DVC site claimed that "pool hopping was restricted." We ignored this, with the idea that if we visited a pool and it was crowded, they would ask us to leave and we would. We had no problems and none of the pools seemed particularly busy.

The only confusion we encountered was at the Poly parking stop. Some of the gentlemen waved us right on in, without even issuing us a parking paper; others stopped us and wanted to know what we were up to. We purposely didn't mention swimming -- I thought that was a bad idea. My husband would just say "We are visiting to have a meal" and show our card. If the parking paper they gave us had a time on it, Scott would fold up the paper so that only the date showed. We stayed over twice and NEVER had a problem. I can't imagine Mickey towing my minivan!

We guess that the one time we were questioned was the time we went to the Poly EARLY -- they must be trying to keep you from parking there and using the monorail to go to the MK (I admit we did this in the past -- am I going to Disney Hell?) Later in the day they were more relaxed.

Hope this helps.

 

[dvc_bwv]

When we were staying at OKW in May we went to the Poly for breakfast on two different days and were given an "all day" parking pass because we were "DVC Members". This was a complete surprise to use, but we thought it was very nice as we were expecting to get the 3 hour parking designation.

 

[BigTigger]

Hmmm ... reading this post I guess I'm bound for Disney Hell as I've parked at the Poly for MK visits.

But the real reason for this post is to share my Shades of Green parking experience. I golf at the Palm/Magnolia courses each visit and the parking area is shared with SOG. Even in the lowest season, that resort is close to 100% full and never has parking for early tee times. The golf starters/clubhouse helpers have been great about taking the keys and moving the cars over to legal spots as the morning checkouts happen. I'll never complain about BWV or Contemporary parking after the last three years parking at SOG for golf.

 

[Goofy Fan]

I talked with Jackie at MS this morning. She did say that during times of peak occupancy at the parks and resorts, security has been instructed to hand out 4 hour passes to non-resort guests, including DVC members who are pool hopping. I mentioned that the Magic Kingdom resorts seem to be the only ones handing out passes. She agrees it is because people try to bypass TTC and attempt to use the resort monorail to gain access to the park. She did say that this shouldn't be the policy 365 days a year, only during peak or busy times. That would explain why at other times you may be waved through. Of course, it also seems to depend on specific guards at the gate as well.

I understand that they are trying to protect the MK resort guests and their ease of parking cars. While I don't think that DVC members trying to pool hop are creating too much disturbance with parking spaces, I'll agree to the principal of looking out for the resort guest.

I guess the best way would be to use valet or park at TTC and walk the path to the Poly.

 

[Frank in WI]

Originally posted by colleen costello
We were at BCV the week of July 4th when the DVC site claimed that "pool hopping was restricted." We ignored this,

If Pool Hopping gets shut down completely, you can thank people like those above. Instead of helping solve the situation by working with Disney to keep the situation from getting out of control, let's all just ignore the attempts to keep pool hopping an option or help resort guests find a parking spot when they return to their hotel. The utter disregard for policies just amazes me. People like this are going to kill our benefits. I guess I'll thank them and people like them in advance. It will wipe out one of the ongoing gripes they have on this site.

If you notice someone laughing his head off when you are asked to leave a resort pool or have you car towed, that will be me.

 

[KNWVIKING]

Couldn't have said it better myself,Frank.

 

[colleen costello]

I believe the information that DVC members get is often misleading. The website before July said that pool-hopping was "limited" (cancelled? something like that) -- around July 4th, and that this meant "you might be asked to leave if it's at capacity." Isn't this disclaimer ALWAYS in effect? So we assumed it was OK to go on over, ask for towels, and if they said "too full," then we would go back to where we were staying. What are your opinions? How can this cause a problem for all DVCers? If we ask for towels once we arrive at any pool, this always gives the guards the option to say "Sorry," which we would of course respect. Not once were the pools super-crowded, and not once were we turned away. I think the "warnings" about pool-hopping around holidays are meant only as that: WARNINGS that if you try, you may be aksed to leave.

Another thing that was not clear was the parking restriction. When we visited another hotel, we ALWAYS did some activity that cost money. At the Poly, for example, we rented boats. At Riverside we went fishing. At both places we also swam a bit. Is is OK for us to stay in a parking spot longer if we are doing something that we are paying to do? As it turns out, we never stayed longer than the 3-4 hours, but what if you wanted to rent a boat, then swim, then go for a meal? When you are a "paying customer" (DVC or not) does this OK a longer parking-lot stay? I think it does... what do you all think?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Originally posted by colleen costello
Another thing that was not clear was the parking restriction. When we visited another hotel, we ALWAYS did some activity that cost money. At the Poly, for example, we rented boats. At Riverside we went fishing. At both places we also swam a bit. Is is OK for us to stay in a parking spot longer if we are doing something that we are paying to do? As it turns out, we never stayed longer than the 3-4 hours, but what if you wanted to rent a boat, then swim, then go for a meal? When you are a "paying customer" (DVC or not) does this OK a longer parking-lot stay? I think it does... what do you all think?

Colleen, I agree.

What I don't like is when people park at The Poly to use the monorail. I have stayed at The Poly many times, and have paid "the premium price", partialy for "the premium transportation". I don't like when we have to park in the back row at the resort we are staying. Granted, we don't always have to park in the back, but many times we are not up front either.

By the way, if I didn't say so earlier...WELCOME HOME, AND WELCOME TO THE DIS!

 

[Dean]

I don't have the exact wording for the pool hopping restrictions but don't recall any ambiguity to the wording. My impression is that it was a clear statement of no PH during that 2 week period. The parking restrictions is a much different topic. It's not a published item and has not been noticed at all. I also think it's unreasonable to limit parking at a resort where you have a bonafied reason to be there like sanctioned Pool Hopping. My feeling is that PH is on the way out anyway so I don't think we can blame this on one group only. Any blame lies with DVD and DVC.

I do realize there are those that park at the monrail hotels then go to Epcot or MK and that WDW should be able to find a way to police this matter.

 

[KNWVIKING]

Personally,I think Poly is in a no-win situation. The architecture of the resort is unique enough to draw people to it just to look around. The monorail is a natural draw to people. The luao(sp) is another. Pool hoppers like to go there. It has great themed resteraunts. I think Poly would love to have a parking lot the same as size as MK so it wouldn't be put in the position of appearing "unfriendly".

 

[TiggerFreak]

Has anyone actually seen or heard of a "parking abuser" being towed?

We too will visit the Poly for shopping and dinning. Many times we'll take a Monorail ride to MK. Out of the 5 or 6 times we have done this, not once has the lot been more that half full.
But we usually visit in Oct or Nov when it is not crowded

 

[PamOKW]

Pool-Hopping Information for 2002

Disney Vacation Club Members and their guests staying with them at Disney's Old Key West Resort, Disney's BoardWalk Villas, The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge and Disney's Beach Club Villas are permitted to use other Walt Disney World® Resort and Disney Vacation Club resort hotel pools (other than the hotel at which you are staying) if these pools are not at capacity on any given day. Please check with the front desk of the destination hotel regarding pool availability. A Walt Disney World Resort ID card identifying you as a "DVC Member" is required to use the other pools. This offer is not available at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts.

Hotel pools may become unavailable from time to time due to capacity limitations. Due to the high occupancy that is expected, Disney Vacation Club Members may not "pool hop" November 26 - December 2, 2002 and December 21, 2002 - January 2, 2003. If you are using the pool at a resort other than the one where you are staying, you may be asked to leave in order to accommodate guests of that resort.

*Other restricted dates may be added based on projected pool capacity.

This is what is currently listed on the site. It is the same wording with different dates. Members should also note the sentence, "Please check with the front desk of the destination hotel regarding pool availability. " That will give you an answer whether the restriction is lifted on a particular day.