Pool Hoggers

[dis-happy]

BCV over the 4th of July week wasn't a problem, mainly because no one was allowed in without showing a KTTW card and getting a wristband first Even when arriving in the middle of the afternoon we had no problems finding a chair.

Had to laugh though---on the 4th at 10 am (when SAB opened) it was like the running of the bulls with people trying to snag the umbrella tables.

 

[crisi]

"Oh my, these people left their things behind. I'd better do the right thing and turn them into Lost and Found."

 

[SamSam]

"Oh my, these people left their things behind. I'd better do the right thing and turn them into Lost and Found."

 

[Corinne]

Oh yeah, the signs also said, "No Topless." We saw that ignored too. Everyone decides when they can and cannot read the language. Oy.

I'd take over-saved chairs over the topless I saw any day. My DH is scarred for life.

(though there's no excuse for any of it. I do feel your pain)

I always look at towels on pool lounges as a very thoughtful act of kindness. How did they know that I'd come along, needing a place to plop, and find the lounges they saved for my family?

Just another little speck of pixie dust as far as I'm concerned!

OK, both of these posts have me

 

[smidgy]

I think it is ok to save loungers and /or a table for SHORT periods of time. when hubby and I go to a pool, it is usually for a couple hours, at least. you DO want to actually swim in the pool, go to the bathroom, refill your mug, maybe get something to eat, go to the DSA for a smoke.
I have read thread where people think a half hour is too much. well, at stormalong bay, you have to leave the area to get to a dsa. then, might as well use the washroom right there by the dsa. and now you might have a line to show your wristband to get back in.. and might as well refill you mug, while you're up. well, that could take a half hour!
then , you lie down for a bit, and you both decide to use the slide, or swim for a bit.
but as long as you are in the pool area, and using the chairs on and off, I think it is ok.
good news: on our next trip, the dsas won't be an issue for us: we QUIT smoking in JAN!!!
"saving" chairs for after you come back from breakfast, or the parks, or one person saving for the whole family who are in the parks, etc.. no way!

at vero beach resort last july, we witnessed a "hogger" family.. you have a choice.. the pool or the beach.
now, there's planty room on the beach.. you can
set up camp" and leave it there the whole day. and, if you want , you can rent loungers with umbrellas
at the pool? you are NOT supposed to save chairs at the pol while you are on the beach. the same lady, every day while we were there, was at the pool reserving 2 or 3 tables with umbrellas and about 10 loungers for theri group. whle stuff was spread out on the tables, and towels on the loungers. there was NEVER a time when all 3 table were used,. the family was mostly at the beach all day. but would come and go. each had their "own" lounger, "in case" they wanted to be by the pool for a little while.

 

[Arthur27]

I'll admit to having done this. I've never taken "prime" real estate... but I've saved two chairs in the shade for my family of 4 as long as we would be returning in a timely manner (30-minutes or so). Rules are rules... you can't complain about people bending/breaking some and not others... i'm sure everyone here ALWAYS discards their FP once their time runs out... or has never made two ADR's with intention of picking the one that fits them best... or have ever used Disney transportation even when they weren't staying onsite.

I can't speak for everyone but I can surely say No to all your cinereous. That's why the pool thing irritates me. It's unfair for people who do play by the rules.

 

[Arthur27]

I think it is ok to save loungers and /or a table for SHORT periods of time. when hubby and I go to a pool, it is usually for a couple hours, at least. you DO want to actually swim in the pool, go to the bathroom, refill your mug, maybe get something to eat, go to the DSA for a smoke.
I have read thread where people think a half hour is too much. well, at stormalong bay, you have to leave the area to get to a dsa. then, might as well use the washroom right there by the dsa. and now you might have a line to show your wristband to get back in.. and might as well refill you mug, while you're up. well, that could take a half hour!
then , you lie down for a bit, and you both decide to use the slide, or swim for a bit.
but as long as you are in the pool area, and using the chairs on and off, I think it is ok.
good news: on our next trip, the dsas won't be an issue for us: we QUIT smoking in JAN!!!
"saving" chairs for after you come back from breakfast, or the parks, or one person saving for the whole family who are in the parks, etc.. no way!

at vero beach resort last july, we witnessed a "hogger" family.. you have a choice.. the pool or the beach.
now, there's planty room on the beach.. you can
set up camp" and leave it there the whole day. and, if you want , you can rent loungers with umbrellas
at the pool? you are NOT supposed to save chairs at the pol while you are on the beach. the same lady, every day while we were there, was at the pool reserving 2 or 3 tables with umbrellas and about 10 loungers for theri group. whle stuff was spread out on the tables, and towels on the loungers. there was NEVER a time when all 3 table were used,. the family was mostly at the beach all day. but would come and go. each had their "own" lounger, "in case" they wanted to be by the pool for a little while.

Congratulations on quitting the smoke monster!! Now you have more $$ to spend on vacation.

 

[twinkle49]

we just returned from the BWV and were at the quiet pool everyday from the 9th-16th and one day my parents got to the pool around 8am and there was already a table with towels and some stuff on it but no one was there I woke up and got to the pool around 9..we stayed at the pool till 3ish and during that entire time no one came to that table, CMs took towels off other empty chairs but not the table, I have no idea if anyone even came back to it. I wish I saw this thread when I was down there.

 

[smidgy]

thanks arthur! this next trip is our reward!!! (although hubby is worried about the long drive down from Illinois without smokes)

as to disney transportation, it is available to ALL WDW Resort guests, not resorts.. anyone visiting the whole 48 odd sq. miles known as WDW can use the transportation.

 

[Sammie]

Originally Posted by gray52
I'll admit to having done this. I've never taken "prime" real estate... but I've saved two chairs in the shade for my family of 4 as long as we would be returning in a timely manner (30-minutes or so). Rules are rules... you can't complain about people bending/breaking some and not others... i'm sure everyone here ALWAYS discards their FP once their time runs out... or has never made two ADR's with intention of picking the one that fits them best... or have ever used Disney transportation even when they weren't staying onsite.

I can't speak for everyone but I can surely say No to all your cinereous. That's why the pool thing irritates me. It's unfair for people who do play by the rules.

Thank you very much, nothing irritates me more in these discussions than those that want to think everyone is like them. I too can say No to all of the above.

I do wish DVC would go to something like Bonnet Creek, maybe we should all suggest that and it would also prevent people from taking the pool towels to the studios.

 

[crisi]

I'd like to see cubbies for towels, shoes, coverups etc. If you are going to be SITTING in the chair, by all means use it. But part of the issue at Disney (and the cruise ship) is that there isn't a place to set your stuff other than a chair, the "too few" tables, unless you are going to put it on the ground. So chairs not only become full of stuff from people saving (abhorent), but also full of stuff from people USING THE POOL.

 

[susieh]

Thank you very much, nothing irritates me more in these discussions than those that want to think everyone is like them. I too can say No to all of the above.

I too can say I have never done any of those things. And nor do I intend to - there isn't any reason to.

 

[SSRFred]

Unfortunately there is the reverse behavior -- moving your towels and bags when you walk away. At Castaway Cay we returned from lunch to find squatters had moved our stuff all to one chair and placed their stuff on the lounges under the umbrella. They were no where to be seen so I reversed their hostile takeover. They were quite indignant when they returned from their swim. But they picked up and moved on.

My family never takes lounge chairs unless we are actually using the pool. We go as far as to only take loungers for DH and myself, never for the kids since they won't be using them anyway.

Last summer at SAB, our stuff was moved from 1 of our 2 loungers while we were swimming. A woman sitting next to us even told the person that we were using the chairs and she moved our stuff anyway. And I'm not talking about moving a book. She moved my DVC beach bag, our shoes and our clothing!

We also had the same experience at CC last November.

 

[twinklebug]

Truly curious as last summer while staying at BLT a couple nights we wanted to use the BLT pool, but there were no seats open at either 10am or 3pm. We went over to the CR pool instead (Which was nice, but not the one we had hoped to use) ...

So what is the appropriate & acceptable thing to do if we go to the pool and all the seats are taken but many don't have more than a towel on them?

Should we approach a life guard and ask if there are people in certain chairs / can we move the towels. How about if there is no lifeguard? Should we ask the neighboring guests if they've seen the towel owners about in the last hour?

I can't imagine moving personal items, but if chair hoarders are reserving them while off at the parks then their stuff should be removed. How can you tell the difference between a chair that has been reserved and one that is simply unoccupied because the family is off changing a baby, getting drinks or running back to the room for lotion/goggles etc? Some errands can take a good amt of time.

 

[goofydad99]

Truly curious as last summer while staying at BLT a couple nights we wanted to use the BLT pool, but there were no seats open at either 10am or 3pm. We went over to the CR pool instead (Which was nice, but not the one we had hoped to use) ...

So what is the appropriate & acceptable thing to do if we go to the pool and all the seats are taken but many don't have more than a towel on them?

Should we approach a life guard and ask if there are people in certain chairs / can we move the towels. How about if there is no lifeguard? Should we ask the neighboring guests if they've seen the towel owners about in the last hour?

I can't imagine moving personal items, but if chair hoarders are reserving them while off at the parks then their stuff should be removed. How can you tell the difference between a chair that has been reserved and one that is simply unoccupied because the family is off changing a baby, getting drinks or running back to the room for lotion/goggles etc? Some errands can take a good amt of time.

I waited around 30 minutes at SSR main pool on our December trip of 2009. There was a large group of chairs, over 8 chairs being saved with only a resort towel on it. I finally sat down on one of them. The group finally came around 15-20 minutes after I sat down and one of the ladies confronted me about it. I reminded her that you don't save chairs and no one was sitting there. She really couldn't argue about it and you know, all the chairs they had saved weren't being used.

 

[HelenaJanelle]

I am not a little guy and probably look more intimidating than I really am so I don't get much feedback when people come looking for their "chair or table". I watch for 30 minutes or so an if no one shows up, I remove the items, put them in back of where I am sitting and enjoy myself. This is so rude to save chairs and tables. If everyone followed the rules, there would not be a shortage in the first place. I also have no problems telling people they are smoking in a non-smoking area but that is a different thread isn't it?? This all seems to happen quite a bit at the main pool at OKW and on the Disney adults pool area. Don't seem to remember it happening much at WL DVC pool area or the main pool. Maybe they remove them there...smjj

This made me smile, especially regarding the smoking thing. This is a big pet peeve for me!

 

[crisi]

My family never takes lounge chairs unless we are actually using the pool. We go as far as to only take loungers for DH and myself, never for the kids since they won't be using them anyway.

Last summer at SAB, our stuff was moved from 1 of our 2 loungers while we were swimming. A woman sitting next to us even told the person that we were using the chairs and she moved our stuff anyway. And I'm not talking about moving a book. She moved my DVC beach bag, our shoes and our clothing!

We also had the same experience at CC last November.

I've mentioned this before on the cruise board.

If I owned a resort I'd have a number of different colored plastic markers - like extra large poker chips. Blue for 10am, Red for 11am, Green for noon, etc. The chips would say "if you are here using this chair, drop this chip in the box by any lifeguard" (or where ever) At 10am I'd put blue chips on any chair with stuff on it. At 11 am, I'd walk around with a pocket of red chips and a basket. Anyone who still had a chip would have their stuff removed, and new stuff would get a red chip. At noon that would be repeated with the green chips. (You really could get by with just two colors of chips - the "current" color and "old/next" color.)

Like the parking attendant does with one hour parking and his chalk stick.

No more "dropping your stuff at the pool at 9am to hold a chair for your 2pm swim." Unless having that chair is so darn important you are willing to run back to the pool every hour to turn in your chip.

I think its doubtful at a regular pool that anyone wouldn't get back to their stuff within an hour, and not terribly inconvenient to get back to your stuff within an hour. A waterpark or Castaway Cay is a different problem

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

No more "dropping your stuff at the pool at 9am to hold a chair for your 2pm swim." Unless having that chair is so darn important you are willing to run back to the pool every hour to turn in your chip.

Jason

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

No more "dropping your stuff at the pool at 9am to hold a chair for your 2pm swim." Unless having that chair is so darn important you are willing to run back to the pool every hour to turn in your chip.

Jason

FYI: I never knew this rule--"This forum requires that you wait 40 seconds between posts. Please try again in 21 seconds."

 

[aclov]

I have a side question regarding a "pool hogger" Our secretary is renting a house and she mentioned to me that they were going to sneak in to use the pool at the Boardwalk! She's stayed there before for a conference so she's familiar with the resort and I don't remember any key request. Will she be allowed in?