Pool reservation at HoJo

[azrivest]

I got a message from HoJo Anaheim yesterday that pool reservations would be required:

• Reservations will be able to be booked 30 days in advance.
• You will be able to book ONE 2 hour pool reservation and ONE 2 hour Castaway Cove reservation per DAY of your stay.

Is this a new thing for all Anaheim hotels now? It's kinda hard to book 30 days out. We won't know when we want to use the pool.

If this is for all hotels, okay, but if not, I'll switch my reservation...

 

[Howry]

Thats a first. I cant imagine that all hotels will be doing this but I could be wrong. That sucks either way and I would move reservations as well if others arent doing it.

 

[amyg1975]

30 days? That’s ridiculous or a mistake! Most hotels should be doing the reservation system, but not 30 days in advance.

 

[wonderfuller]

The courtyard Marriott will be doing the same thing, though I have not yet received an email with the details.

 

[SteveH]

This is part of the challenge hotels have reopening their pools. I believe they are operating at 50% capacity and the reservation system was recomended and used by many other pools across the country - deffinatly not ideal. But being turned away would be worse. As popular as the Pool complex is at HoJo I can understand why they are doing this. How upset would you be if you be if you had room reservations and at 7days you find you can only swim at 8AM? This way at least you know your time 30 days out and if not happy you have time to rebook. Tough times for the hotels.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I would point out that "Reservations open 30 days prior to your check-in date (subject to change)..." (https://www.hojoanaheim.com/garden-pool/). You aren't required to make your reservation that far in advance, so if others don't feel like planning that far out either, I guess there would still be spots available closer to your visit time. You can always take a chance. As mentioned in the post above, the pool is likely to be popular and due to the times, there will be limits on how many can be there at once. While I have seen and read about pool reservations at other hotels since covid, I don't know if they open up that early anywhere else. The "subject to change" comment suggests to me that they are starting a new system and willing to adjust over time depending on how things are working.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

I have been to many hotels that had a reservation system in place over the last year, but I have never been turned away without a reservation. Most of them had a hard “reservations required” policy when they first reopened, but changed it to reservations encouraged and walk-ins subject to capacity restrictions after awhile. I’d be surprised if they were still taking a hard stance on the reservation policy after a month.

 

[Howry]

I wonder if the new CDC guideline about masks and outdoors will change anything?

 

[Neurodude84]

I wonder if the new CDC guideline about masks and outdoors will change anything?

Doubtful, since that is for “small outdoor gatherings.” It is more likely that loosening capacity restrictions in CA on 6/15 would have an impact at hotels.

 

[kikismom]

We've been to numerous hotels around Washington and Oregon this past year and they all had a reservation system. Some had systems you could book a week in advance, one had a day of reservation system, and others you could book pretty much as soon as you made your hotel reservation. We booked one two months out because we didn't want to risk not being able to go in the pool.

If this was me, and it's just my opinion, I would book each day for mid afternoon. I have an 8 year old and she always wants a break mid afternoon. You can always cancel if you don't use it.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Tbh, it's better than just having things fill up and then be surprised that you can't get into the pool. That's what has been happening at WDW, people have been reporting multi-hour long waits to get pool time at their hotels... and you're paying those higher Disney prices too! I'm so stressed about it for our June trip to WDW and I shelled out the extra cash for the close up pool room view too... I wish WDW would do this!

So... on the bright side... if you make sure you reserve as much as you need then you know your pool time is secure!

 

[crystal1313]

I got this email too and thought it was awesome!! You can plan ahead and they seem really well organized and they’re cleaning/sanitizing between groups.

 

[azrivest]

Tbh, it's better than just having things fill up and then be surprised that you can't get into the pool. That's what has been happening at WDW, people have been reporting multi-hour long waits to get pool time at their hotels...

Really? I follow this board and listen to a bunch of podcasts, and I haven't heard about this once.



We've waited at the gate for at-capacity hotel pools a couple of times in the last few months and it wasn't great, but I much preferred that than having to book in advance honestly. Are we going to have to play around with ADRs and park passes to fit in our pooltime now?

Anyway our booking is for August so a lot can change until then. We'll see a few weeks out But we are looking at other hotels on Harbor...

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Really? I follow this board and listen to a bunch of podcasts, and I haven't heard about this once.

We've been talking about it on the "here/back" WDW thread and other places on the DIS. Few bloggers have mentioned it too like Micechat, etc. Believe me.. I wish I were making it up!

Most commonly happening at Coronado and Storm A Long Bay it seems... and at Pop.. where we're staying in June.

But anyways, to get back on topic, I think making pool reservations is part of this covid world. Nothing is spontaneous anymore. My complex's pool did reservations all last summer too- annoying but at least you know you get a spot...

 

[crystal1313]

We've been talking about it on the "here/back" WDW thread and other places on the DIS. Few bloggers have mentioned it too like Micechat, etc. Believe me.. I wish I were making it up!

Most commonly happening at Coronado and Storm A Long Bay it seems... and at Pop.. where we're staying in June.

But anyways, to get back on topic, I think making pool reservations is part of this covid world. Nothing is spontaneous anymore. My complex's pool did reservations all last summer too- annoying but at least you know you get a spot...

Ww are staying at a Coronado in June and I’ve been reading a lot about the pool being full basically right when it opens. I’m glad we got the water park tickets.

It’s really hard to try to make plans ahead of time for things like this, because you just don’t know what your day will look like. But at least this way you will have a guaranteed spot and won’t be waiting in a crazy line or turned away.

 

[GatorChris]

So...Great Wolf Lodge is wide open and you can do their indoor water park all day long. But a small outdoor waterpark has to be booked? Add on their skyrocketing prices and HoJo just ain't the same place it used to be. Disappointing.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

So...Great Wolf Lodge is wide open and you can do their indoor water park all day long. But a small outdoor waterpark has to be booked? Add on their skyrocketing prices and HoJo just ain't the same place it used to be. Disappointing.

This hotel was on my list of contenders but the $300/night price tag already made me pause. If you can only have two hours a day pool time what exactly is worth $300/night? I haven’t stayed there yet so I don’t know what else the hotel offers?

 

[Daisy2002]

This hotel was on my list of contenders but the $300/night price tag already made me pause. If you can only have two hours a day pool time what exactly is worth $300/night? I haven’t stayed there yet so I don’t know what else the hotel offers?

I’m going to DL in May and for the first time I’m splurging to avoid this problem, we rented a Vrbo house with a pool, hot tub and it even has a game room, only one mile away. I would highly recommend looking into Airbnb or Vrbo if it’s in your budget. It’s $289 a night for us in early May but obviously that changes.

 

[Chickinvic]

Swimming is important to me. I always just rent a villa with a private pool if I'm going to WDW. For Disneyland I have never rented a private place in Anaheim - but maybe I will next time I go (which I don't anticipate being anytime soon).

 

[kristensideaoffun]

I’m going to DL in May and for the first time I’m splurging to avoid this problem, we rented a Vrbo house with a pool, hot tub and it even has a game room, only one mile away. I would highly recommend looking into Airbnb or Vrbo if it’s in your budget. It’s $289 a night for us in early May but obviously that changes.

Just be careful with VRBO/AirBnB. There are only a handful of short-term rentals in Anaheim that are legally allowed to operate.