Pool Hopping

[cbeehler3]

One thing we would like to do on this trip is pool hop.
What are your favorite pools to visit? We have 4 kids 15-2 and we always stay at VWL. I know that Beach Club/ AKL are out...so which would you do??
Thanks!

 

[Who's your Mickey?]

One thing we would like to do on this trip is pool hop.
What are your favorite pools to visit? We have 4 kids 15-2 and we always stay at VWL. I know that Beach Club/ AKL are out...so which would you do??
Thanks!

BLT is out too...

 

[Joe's Girls]

Why are those 3 out?

 

[cbeehler3]

High capacity, I believe. I don't think the BLT is all that anyway.. ;-)
Now Y and B on the other hand...I was so bummed when they closed that for Pool Hopping. We did that all the time.

 

[Who's your Mickey?]

High capacity, I believe. I don't think the BLT is all that anyway.. ;-)
Now Y and B on the other hand...I was so bummed when they closed that for Pool Hopping. We did that all the time.

BLT's pool area is pretty small...

 

[khmiller]

A few days ago under the "free things to do" thread, someone mentioned the pool at the Poly and said it was a great pool with a great pool bar.

 

[murcor]

SSR has a good pool for those ages

 

[Metsoskil]

A few days ago under the "free things to do" thread, someone mentioned the pool at the Poly and said it was a great pool with a great pool bar.

Never pool-hopped there, but DW and I have pool bar-hopped to the Poly and can vouch that it was very enjoyable.

 

[gardenia]

A few days ago under the "free things to do" thread, someone mentioned the pool at the Poly and said it was a great pool with a great pool bar.

You can't pool hop to the Poly - only DVC resorts, only those where it's allowed, and only if you are staying on points. NO ONE is allowed to swim at the Poly but guests who are staying there.

 

[bobbiwoz]

You can't pool hop to the Poly - only DVC resorts, only those where it's allowed, and only if you are staying on points. NO ONE is allowed to swim at the Poly but guests who are staying there.

From the member site:
Whenever you are staying on your Membership at Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas, Disney's Beach Club Villas, Disney's BoardWalk Villas, Disney's Old Key West Resort, Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, Disney's Vero Beach Resort, or The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, you and any Guests staying with you, are permitted to use most of the other Disney Vacation Club and Walt Disney World® Resort hotel pools (in addition to the pool at the resort hotel at which you are staying) if they are not at capacity.

 

[Metsoskil]

You can't pool hop to the Poly - only DVC resorts, only those where it's allowed, and only if you are staying on points. NO ONE is allowed to swim at the Poly but guests who are staying there.

No. That's not totally correct.

True - pool hopping is only allowed when you are staying at a DVC resort using your points.

False - only DVC resorts. DVC members are allowed to hop to any WDW resort pool with the exception of SAB at BC/YC, AKL, and BLT pools. Hopping to the Poly would be fine. I'm not sure, but you may even be able to hop to Vero Beach. I've seen conflicting info on that, and never really looked into it further.

There are some dates during the year when pool hopping is not allowed, and the rules do say that pool areas that are at capacity may turn you away.

Edited to add:
Here's the exact wording from the Portable Perks I got when staying at BWV in early March -

When staying on your membership at Disney's Vero Beach Resort or any DVC resort at WDW, you and any guests staying with you are permitted to use most of the other DVC and WDW Resort hotel pools (in addition to the pool at the resort at which you are staying) if they are not at capacity. If the pool you are visiting reaches capacity, you may be asked to leave to accommodate guests of that resort hotel. Please check with a host or hostess at the front desk of the resort you wish to visit before you go to check about pool-access availability. You must present your current Key to the World Card along with your Member ID card to use the other resort hotel pools.

Pool hopping is not available at Bay Cove Pool at BLT, Uzima Pool at AKL, SAB at BC/YC, and he leisure pool at BCV. There are no exceptions to this policy.

As a reminder, please be mindful of the limited number of pool chairs available, and refrain from leaving towels or other personal items on unoccupied pool chairs.

Blockout Dates:
Feb 20-26
Apr 16-30
May 27-30
Jun 6 - July 5
Sep 2-5
Nov 21-27
Dec 11 - Jan 1, 2012

 

[starbox]

We pool-hopped to the POLY, showed our DVC blue member card when we entered the lobby and told them we were hopping. IT IS TOTALLY ALLOWED. :

Also - don't discount the mods. I've been to every single pool at WDW and I promise you, CBR has the fastest, scariest slide. It's in the dark in a pirate fortress and is the only slide I ever got flipped around on!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We pool hopped to the Riverside pool and the DGC thought it was great fun!

 

[dairyqueenmom]

We have pool hopped to Coronodo Springs, love Pepper Market for lunch there, Boardwalk Clown pool, Poly, and Old Key West. For a fun atmosphere Poly and Old Key West were great! We played the afternoon games and won a free searyder for an hour at the Poly.

 

[ranthony]

Also - don't discount the mods. I've been to every single pool at WDW and I promise you, CBR has the fastest, scariest slide. It's in the dark in a pirate fortress and is the only slide I ever got flipped around on!

Agree. We hopped to CBR last week and the kids loved it. Although, the pirate splash play area was for little ones only (under 48 inches) and DS 9 was a bit bummed he couldn't play there because it looked so fun.

OKW is great if your kids would like to play in a sandbox. There is a huge one right behind the slide...which isn't whimpy either.

We also hopped to the pool at Ft. Wilderness because DH and DS 9 did the archery experience there. My twins (age 5) loved the slide and the slash area. I can't vouch for the speed of the main slide though as I didn't try it.

I love having the perk of pool hopping to other resorts. It makes for a fun and free activity for our non-park days.

 

[bdrex95]

My kids are 12, 9, & 7 and they liked OKW the best. 2nd was BWV.

Another thought, if you have a car. You could take the day and go down to Vero Beach. We did that on Thursday and the kids loved it. Just stop at the front desk, show them your key to the world card and your DVC member card, and they will give you a day pass and some other fun, check-in goodies. The pool is great, and they have a nice beach on the ocean right there. There is a nice kids area, and even mini golf, along with other activities. It's about 2 hours from Orlando, so it's not a huge trek. My kids liked that the best because of ocean/pool combo.

 

[mrsR123]

We like to hop to the Poly-- especially on non-park trips so I can get my castle and fireworks fix. We were there two weeks ago before we headed to Canaveral for a cruise. We also had fun at CSR's feature pool. OKW is our home, and we love its pool and slide.

 

[ddoconnell]

I vote for OKW! Love the main pool!!

 

[WDWMom]

A few days ago under the "free things to do" thread, someone mentioned the pool at the Poly and said it was a great pool with a great pool bar.

That was me and yes it is.

CSR is also great. We have done them all. SSR is nice. BW is OK - nothing special.

 

[nydisney14]

My kids loverd the SSR pool.