Poolside Etiquette?

[fakereadhed]

Why does someone need to "save a table" while they are swimming? If you are not using the table at that moment, it is up for grabs. Your clothing or towels do not use the table or require a seat. Bring a beach bag, plastic bag from a shop, large ziplock, whatever you want so your personal items aren't on the ground while you swim. Common sense in a public area IMO.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

I would have used one of my kids favorite lines when they take a seat the other was sitting in prior......." Well, I dont see your name on it!!! "

Really....unless you paid for VIP seating with concierge..its anyone's table





Just kidding abt the VIP thing...lol....can you IMAGINE that?!

 

[SilverMickey]

I probably shouldn't be but I'm having a grand old time reading this thread....

I would probably have told the woman the table could be hers as son as we finish our food...

My kids and husband on the other had would have made room for them and made life long friends out of it. This happened in Vermont on vacation 4 years ago... Our families have gone to the same campground every year since.

 

[ciera321]

No personal belongings, I would have done the same thing. At BC, if there are the resort's towels laying on chairs or tables, the CMs come around every so often to remove them. No way I would have budged...

 

[themilesfamily]

SilverMickey -- I think your husband and kids are right on! What a great solution to the problem!!! Offer to share the table and make friends. Maybe the irate lady in question would have been receptive to that, maybe not. But what a kind idea...share.

Wow, I'm red-faced that this idea never once occurred to me. lol I think your answer is a Disney-worthy answer!

 

[simonkodousek]

Last week during our 8-day stay at the Poly, our family of 5 took a break each afternoon for a swim. The volcano pool was typically pretty busy, but never so much that we couldn't find a table.
On one of the busiest days we found an empty table with 4 chairs - on the table were 2-3 clean white pool towels. I sat down at the table with all of our belongings (incl tote bag, kids crocs, refillable mugs etc) while my 3 DS went swimming and DH grabbed us lunch at Capt Cooks. DH brought back drinks and silverware on a tray before heading back to Capt Cooks to pick up our completed food order. While he was gone, which was now approximately 20 minutes later, a woman with 2 children walked up to the table and told us (me and DS9) that we were sitting at her table. She went on and on, ranting and raving that this was her table, she was sitting here for an hour but then she had to get her kids something to eat.
I was incredulous! I asked her what would have indicated that this was her table? There were no personal belongings at the table and we had now been sitting there for over 20 minutes. All she could say was that she left the towels (the white Polynesian pool towels, mind you) and that I was being unfair. At this point my husband arrived with our food and she finally walked away. But a few minutes later she returned, still demanding that we took HER table. Although she did not use any profanity, she was very relentless and demanding.

So what is your opinion on this subject? Does leaving resort pool towels on a poolside table indicate that it is "saved"? Would you have given her the table?

I think what you did was correct. If she had left personal belongings and non-Polynesian towels, I would say otherwise, but since she "indicated" that she was sitting there with Polynesian towels, you couldn't really know if it was her table or not.

 

[HopperFan]

To the OP - I side with you.

Her first problem was she put absolutely nothing there that would indicate the table was in use, hotel towels do not count. If that were the case then it is reserved for a hotel guest - which includes you.

Tables are for eating, and if she took her kids elsewhere to eat....why did she need the table ? So she was occupying a table at the food court and also saving a table by the pool...........I liken that to two ADRs at the same time

Table is not a towel rack. Your family was actually eating at the table, proper use thereof.

 

[Amyg]

I probably wouldn't sit at a table if I saw resort towels on it, but I don't see anything wrong with someone who chooses to.

Leaving only a resort towel and no personal effects to save a table is a chance you take on it being available for you upon your return. If you come back and it's still there fine, if not then lucky for the people who are sitting there. I definitely would not make a big deal of it. For heaven's sake you're on V A C A T I O N! Life's too short to get bent out of shape for stuff like that.

I hope ALL Disney resorts will put signs up to curb the "saving" of tables.

 

[jeanninepl]

I agree with the OP. Actually, my husband and I take an adult, no kids vacation to Las Vegas each year. The pools at the hotels there have people who walk around and search for seats where the hotel towels have just been left there for longer than 20 minutes. They remove the towels and offer the chairs to other guests.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I also want to add that who is to say this woman didn't put those towels there hours earlier, go over to the MK, then return thinking she had come up with the perfect, self centered solution to her poolside enjoyment? At every WDW and DL resort I have stayed at, I have seen lifeguards, taking towels that looked new and used, off of chairs and dumping them into the bins. Obviously their stance is that the presence of a resort towel does not create a reserved seating area.

 

[THERESA522]

Okay, so I have a question (and I'm not being a bit sarcastic). Is it not okay to put your stuff down on a table and go in the pool? If not, I REALLY didn't know this. I would never try to "hold" a table if I was leaving the pool area, I get that. But if I'm planning on doing some swimming AND planning on eating lunch at the table, can I not "hold" it with my personal stuff on it while we're swimming? What about me going just to purchase food at the food court to bring back to the table? Miss Manners, anyone?

 

[GEM]

Okay, so I have a question (and I'm not being a bit sarcastic). Is it not okay to put your stuff down on a table and go in the pool? If not, I REALLY didn't know this. I would never try to "hold" a table if I was leaving the pool area, I get that. But if I'm planning on doing some swimming AND planning on eating lunch at the table, can I not "hold" it with my personal stuff on it while we're swimming? What about me going just to purchase food at the food court to bring back to the table? Miss Manners, anyone?

Well, I am SO not Miss Manners, but . . .

Personally, I think that all sounds fine. I'm sure others here will disagree. I've often done what you're describing and will continue to do so. But, I would never leave anything there (resort towels or personal stuff) to mark a table if I was leaving the pool area longer than jut to run to the restroom or to the foodcourt to bring back something to eat there at the table.

 

[MissionMouse]

I can't count the number of times I have seen more towels on chairs then the number of guest in or around the pool. Also, I have seen towels at tables and chairs during times of the day when no one was at the pool.

 

[LoriZH]

Where in the world did you think the towels came from? Especially since they were folded neatly. It was clear that someone had placed them there and would be using them. If I were in your situation, even if I felt that I was right, I would have moved to be polite and to avoid a confrontation. But then again, I am Canadian.

I agree with the OP, then again I'm American

 

[MPLsDad]

I didn't read past the first page. However...
If you're not sitting in the seat, then they're not you're seats...
While at the Poly, I've always rested our towels and shoes on a ledge behind the tables so as not to take up space we aren't using.

If I came across chairs that had towels, I would ask a CM to remove them. If anyone approached me afterwards, I would state that they were unclaimed and refer them to a CM.

After all, you can't put your shorts on a ride in the MK and then ride later...Same goes for the resorts!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Okay, so I have a question (and I'm not being a bit sarcastic). Is it not okay to put your stuff down on a table and go in the pool? If not, I REALLY didn't know this. I would never try to "hold" a table if I was leaving the pool area, I get that. But if I'm planning on doing some swimming AND planning on eating lunch at the table, can I not "hold" it with my personal stuff on it while we're swimming? What about me going just to purchase food at the food court to bring back to the table? Miss Manners, anyone?

Well, I am SO not Miss Manners, but . . .

Personally, I think that all sounds fine. I'm sure others here will disagree. I've often done what you're describing and will continue to do so. But, I would never leave anything there (resort towels or personal stuff) to mark a table if I was leaving the pool area longer than jut to run to the restroom or to the foodcourt to bring back something to eat there at the table.

I agree with Gem!

I have saved a table a time or two, maybe my husband is swimming with the kids, I run to the foodcourt to grab lunch and come right back. I also always have more than the resort towels there at the table to save my spot. Then as soon as we have eaten, we move to loungechairs.

In the end, what got me about this particular incident was that this woman confronted someone using the table to eat, when she had left the table clearly for quite some time and wasn't intending to use it for eating herself. She was stupid to assume the whole world would know those towels signfied that the table was for sure saved and that the user of those towels would be right back. Secondly she was inconsiderate to hold a table for a pretty long length of time.

I also want to add that I have stayed at resorts (not Disney ones) where the pool staff would put folded towels on all the chairs so the guests would have them to use, sort of a courtesy. They were not put there to save the chairs but rather to indicate they were available. Only personal belongings can mark a chair/table as personally taken.

 

[GEM]

After all, you can't put your shorts on a ride in the MK and then ride later...

Hmmm. Off to rethink my touring strategy . . .

What about a bra? Would it work if I used a bra?

Just going over my options.

It seems to me the best way to save a table would be to leave a pair of underwear on the table. The more questionable looking the better. And, not just a pair of plain white ones that could belong to anybody. Something really identifiable - like with the days of the week on them, or maybe monogrammed. I bet nobody would want to move those.

"Pardon me, miss. This is my table. Surely you noticed my undies lying there."

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Here is something else I just realized about this topic. The OP said this woman who claimed she saved the table showed up 20 minutes after she took the table. Well the time before the OP arrived at Captin Cook's you don't know how long those towels were sitting there and how many guests who purchased food were not able to sit down and eat.

 

[taylor1293]

You're still at the pool, so I don't see a problem with it .

Okay, so I have a question (and I'm not being a bit sarcastic). Is it not okay to put your stuff down on a table and go in the pool? If not, I REALLY didn't know this. I would never try to "hold" a table if I was leaving the pool area, I get that. But if I'm planning on doing some swimming AND planning on eating lunch at the table, can I not "hold" it with my personal stuff on it while we're swimming? What about me going just to purchase food at the food court to bring back to the table? Miss Manners, anyone?

 

[APK]

There is no such thing as a "saved" table if no one is sitting there...........................This is a public facility, not a private one. When you go to your local mall can you "save" a parking spot? Rather than argue with the woman, I would have gotten a CM or lifeguard involved. Seems this lady that argued with you sure has a sense of "entitlement."