Pool Hopping @ the Poly

[huntconn]

Sorry WDWBarb,
I just re-read your post and realized you guys were discussing the quiet pool. Oops!

 

[sunee]

There is no place in the big pool that I can't touch, where the water reaches my face. The quiet pool has a deep end where it is over my head.

I'm 5'9".

 

[SeaSpray]

I've stayed at the Polynesian on 3 different trips: July 4th week, end of Oct/beginning of Nov, and end of August. I've personally never felt that the pool was too crowded. And believe me, I notice crowds. lol

You have to expect people to be in the pool and to be swimming and having fun. People love this pool for a reason!

For an example, here are pictures of the volcano pool, taken during all hours of the day, on all of my various trips. None of them show the pool to be "too crowded", and most pictures were taken in the middle of the day:

Notice the wet feet prints on the sidewalk next to the pool, there were people swimming at night, just not a ton of them. lol

Pool bar area:

 

[brergnat]

Thanks for those great pictures of the pool! It's nice to see it from so many angles.

 

[kaysmommie]

Well, that's pretty rude. Spoken by someone who has no kids, I suppose.

If you want to avoid kids, here's a suggestion...DON'T go to Disney World! At the very least, don't go to DW expecting to be able to swim laps, but if you do, stay at the Swan/Dolphin...they have a lap pool there.

Begging people to avoid the quiet pools with small children is pretty unreasonable. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old who are pretty clingy in the pool still (obviously, because they can't swim on their own yet) and if I went to a pool that was shoulder to shoulder with screaming older kids and teens, you can BET YOUR TAIL that I would spend the majority of my time in a pool that is less crowded and more peaceful. And for the record, young kids (toddlers) don't spend a lot of time screaming at the top of their lungs while they are swimming...

I agree . It's Disney BTW kids are everywhere. Anyway I have never seen the Poly as empty as some of these pictures and our last trip was September, which is offpeak. If it was as uncrowded as those photos there would nothing to complain about. When I was there for 9 days you could never find a chair or lounge after 12 PM and the pool had too many bodies in it. Also we waited pretty long for the slide a few times. Had a pool hopping family right in front of me on line for the slide .

 

[huntconn]

We go to the Poly every Summer. We traditionally stay there in mid-August so I can accurately report on the pool for that time of year. Also, we spend every afternoon at the pool after touring one of the parks in the morning. When we leave for the park in the morning (approx. 8AM) there is almost never anyone in the pool. Usually a family of ducks only. In the afternoon the pool gets pretty crowded. It is sometimes difficult to find a table. With patience, however you can always eventually get one. We just "keep our eyes open" and wait for a party to vacate one. There has honestly never been an afternoon where we did not end up with an umbrella table eventually. Lounge chairs are plentiful. I've never seen all of them in use at one time. I've commented in the past to my wife that I wish they would replace some of the lounge chairs with umbrella tables but that's just due to a personal preference for them. I've never waited more than 5 minutes for the pool slide. I've also only encountered obvious "pool hoppers" on several occasions. I tend to believe that many posters on these boards tend to accentuate their negative experiences, which I suppose is human nature. Then again, I would tend to believe that most "pool hoppers" are intelligent enough to remain quiet about the fact that they are not actually staying at the Polynesian. So there are probabley more than I know there at any given time.

 

[dolly-dawne]

WE to have stayed at the Poly on seveRal occasions. March,August and October. there have been times when the pool was crowded but not over-crowded. I have always been able to get a seat and my 3 boys 14,10,and 6 have no problem swimming and having fun. I think it was actually the most crowded while on vacation on October. Zero entry is great for young children and for moms and dads to play with those children without having to hold them in the water. My DH is usually the big fish trying to catch the little fish. As far as the quite pool goes, even I enjoy a "quiet "moment here without my kids. I am aware that it is not adults only but it does seem that people generally do not bring their kids here .It gets very deep at one end. I think that even the shallow end is about 3 feet deep -- if you have non swimmers or litttle children (even 5 or 6 yrs old) 3 feet is deep. I am 5'2" and think that 4 feet is deep -as it is up my neck. You will LOve the Poly pools regardless of what pool you go to. It is one of the great selling point of the Poly...I know it is a primary reason we go there as my DS's love it. Only downfall for DH is no real hot tub.

 

[mbtileguy]

i have a great idea why dont disney open there wallet and build a bigger and better pool that the poly needs........they are so cheep...i want to stay there one year but feel they need to sharpen the place up a little before i pay that kind of money i have visited it several times and feel it is a little dated 70's and needs some work just my opinion. i think they were short sited when they built the pool.

 

[BCV23]

We've stayed at the Polynesian about 30 times. Most of the time, crowding just isn't an issue IMO. But we've had a few trips especially in the Spring when it was very busy in the afternoon. The worst was one year when our Spring break coincided with Easter. Even the second pool was crowded that week.

Twice we've been in June/July. The volcano pool was very busy at night those trips.

But I've never seen it busy in the morning.

 

[Allison]

Please, I beg of you, leave the kids at the Kiddie Pool and the adults at the Quiet Pool.

There is a reason the adults who use the Quiet Pool use it. And it isn't because it is bigger, better, or has a better view - that's for sure. We go there to avoid all the children.

Children laugh and play and scream and splash - which they should. They're kids, that's what kids ought to be doing at the pool. But the folks who use the Quiet Pool go there to avoid all those happy little voices and the splashing, playing and screaming.

We also enjoy a little dip in the pool, the ability to swim about a bit, which is impossible with children playing in the pool.

So far - either Disney has done it or people have just been very well-mannered - the Quiet Pools have remained pretty quiet.

Please don't bring your kid there because they other pool is too hectic for you. Then we'd just have all Hectic Pools and no Quiet ones.

The quiet pools are for everyone.

 

[freepixie]

We have been going to Disney for a lot of years, starting in the early 90's - if you want to see a crowded pool, you should have seen the main pool in the early 90's - it was small and had one tiny slide, and people jammed into there that you were practically shoulder-to-shoulder in the pool!!

Personally we have not been to the new volcano pool since it opened, but we continue to use the quiet pool, and it is really nice! However by the 4th of July the quiet pool does see its fair share of kids - actually last summer I got involved into a rousing game of "Marco Polo" in the quiet pool with a couple kids.

Whichever pool you choose, they are both really good pools Much better than the main pool at POR which I feel is way too small for a resort of that size, JMHO.

 

[Piglets Mommy]

Our last 2 trips were in Late Sept. 2002 and Early Dec. 2005, and we found the pools to not be busy at all (although our Dec. 2005 trip was a bit cold, only kids were breve enought to swim most days). The quiet pool was practically empty both trips. Maybe beause it wass pretty much off season both times. We did run into pool hoppers in Dec. 2005. Mom & Dad were so drunk the lifeguards had to keep telling them they couldn't drink in the pool, and they were getting obnoxious. The kids were just as obnoxious as mom and dad, line cutting on the slide. Fortunately the pool wasn't busy and the lifeguards were on the ball, making sure everyone got a turn.

 

[dclfun]

Only DVC members can "legally" pool hop but are not allowed to do so during busy times. I wonder if the CM's at the Poly need to do more limiting of that pool hopping privilege rather than just during the holidays. As a DVC member we used to pool hop at SAB before that was discontinued ( once they built BCV's ) but never would have considered infringing on people who had booked that resort if it was too crowded- and we were to check on those conditions before going to another resort's pool and realized we could be denied admittance if conditions changed once we got there. Sounds definitely though like the CM's at the pool need to check ID's and /or find a way to exclude people who have no right to be there. It isn't the local public pool or a place to cool off from a long day at the MK for non-Poly guests. To the poster who sent the photos- they are great!---Kathy