Pool hopping

[Telcogirl]

I am curious to know how others have done pool hopping using Disney's transporation system. We will be going home for the first time (woo hoo) in a few weeks. Our home resort is Saratoga Springs and that is where we are staying. But, we wanted to take one day to pool hop and check out the other DVC resorts. We currently have a rental car booked, but now we are thinking of just using Disney transportation since we aren't really going anywhere outside of The World. Our only concern is getting to other resorts from our resort.

any ideas?

 

[mla973]

The easiest way to "bus hop" from resort to resort is to go through a park or DTD. (i.e. SSR to DTD bus stop, then get on bus to resort of your choice) It does take a while, depending on how far you are traveling.

 

[pilferk]

I am curious to know how others have done pool hopping using Disney's transporation system. We will be going home for the first time (woo hoo) in a few weeks. Our home resort is Saratoga Springs and that is where we are staying. But, we wanted to take one day to pool hop and check out the other DVC resorts. We currently have a rental car booked, but now we are thinking of just using Disney transportation since we aren't really going anywhere outside of The World. Our only concern is getting to other resorts from our resort.

any ideas?

I haven't done pool hopping, but I've gone resort hopping, specifically during the X-mas season (the slow part).

It's not bad, provided you realize you need to use the theme parks and DTD as "hubs", which can be a hassle at times. We found what worked best was a) having park hopper tickets (you'll see why in a sec) and b) using the monorail service to it's best advantage.

First, we (my wife and I...this was before the kiddies) took a bus to MK, and hopped the monorail. That'll get you 3 resorts right there (Contemp, Poly, and GF). Then we took the monorail BACK to the TTC, and hopped on the Epcot monorail, used our tickets to get into Epcot (which is why we found park hoppers to be of benefit...in case we wanted to visit other parks that night/day), and headed for the international gateway. That will get you 5 more resorts (Boardwalk, Yacht and Beach, Swan and Dolphin...though Yacht and Beach, Swan and Dolphin won't be on your list ). From there, it's back to Epcot and it becomes all about using a nearby park as a hub. We went from Epcot to CSR, from CSR to MGM, from MGM to CBR, from CBR to DTD, from DTD to Port Orleans, from Port Orleans to AK, and from AK back to our home resort (AKL). I gotta say, it was sorta fun....though if we'd had young kids (like we do now) I think it would have been a recipe for frustration....

I couldn't begin to tell you how long the transport only piece of the day took, since we were really decoration peeping and I wasn't clock watching. I will say we were out and about for most of the day.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you are going around Easter time, pool hopping is suspended for that time. Check the member website to see the specific days.

 

[Telcogirl]

We are going the week after Easter week. But I will check the website to make sure we can pool hop. Thank you all for the great advise!

 

[starbox]

We've pool-hopped. From SSR you can hop to OKW, PORFQ and PORRS via the ferry boat and DTD - which I highly recommend.

You could also do a pool-hopping "loop" of the monorail-linked resorts. If I was going to make a "day" of hopping, I'd do the ferry boat loop in the early part of the day/lunch at DTD - then hit the monorail "loop" late evening and end by watching Wishes from the beach at the POLY.

 

[hematite153]

We've spent at least a day pool hopping during each of our trips since joining DVC.

We've decided that we enjoy ourselves best if we make our pool hopping day as non-commando as possible. We sleep in, travel to the resort where we're planning to swim, let the front desk know that we are there (they always seem to be surprised by the fact that we're following the rules but it's what the book says to do), walk around the resort to get a feel for the atmosphere, go for a long swim, eat at CS and head home early with time to swim again at home.

This kind of plan makes disney transportation easy to use since you only have a short distance to travel.

The other advantage to trying one pool at a time is that you have more to look forward to in the future.

If you wanted to follow our basic plan I would probably recommend POR and/or POFQ given that you're staying at SSR. However, you could also play resort roulette and walk (or bus or boat) over to DTD and then take the first resort bus that arrives (I'd probably restrict this to moderates and deluxes, just remember to skip AKL or YC/BC buses).

 

[douglas4315]

We just toured each resort except VWL and it was very easy. Take the bus from DTD to Boardwalk and then walk to Beach Club as they are very close. Take boat to epcot and get on a bus back to OKW, tour there and then take their boat back to SSR. We did that exact route and it worked perfectly

 

[Deb & Bill]

From the DVCMember Website:

Pool Hopping Information for 2007

You and any Guests staying with you at Disney's Old Key West Resort, Disney's BoardWalk Villas, The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, Disney's Beach Club Villas or Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa are permitted to use other Disney Vacation Club and Walt Disney World Resort hotel pools (in addition to the pool at the Resort hotel at which you're staying) if they are not at capacity.

If the pool you are visiting reaches capacity, you may be asked to leave in order to accommodate Guests of that Resort hotel. Please check with a Host/Hostess at the Front Desk of the Resort hotel you wish to visit to find out about pool-access availability. You must present your current "Key to the World" card with your Disney Vacation Club "Member" designation on it to use other Resort hotel pools. Pool hopping is not available at Uzima Pool at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and Stormalong Bay at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resorts or at the leisure pools of these two Resort hotels. There are no exceptions to this policy.

Resort hotel pools may become unavailable from time to time because of capacity limitations. Due to expected high occupancy, Disney Vacation Club Members may not "pool hop" during the following dates*:
February 18 - 24, 2007
March 31 - April 8, 2007
May 25 - 28, 2007
June 30 - July 7, 2007
August 31 - September 3, 2007
November 19 - 25, 2007
December 16, 2007 - January 2, 2008
*Other restricted dates may be added based on projected pool capacity.

 

[hematite153]

From the DVCMember Website:

Pool Hopping Information for 2007
...
Due to expected high occupancy, Disney Vacation Club Members may not "pool hop" during the following dates*:
March 31 - April 8, 2007

So, since the OP said they were traveling after Easter (i.e. after April 8th) they should have no problem with pool hopping. Yes, it's possible that a particular resort will decide that they are too crowded, but, they are traveling during the allowable pool-hopping period.