Swim and relax at AK lodge for break?

[amym2]

Maybe it has changed since I was a teenager, but we would stay at the Contemporary and I would hit every pool on the monorail circuit, then hop on a bus to some of the other resorts....two 17 year old males looking for 16/17/18 year old girls to hand with....oh to be young. During that time I was never checked (then again it has been 15 years), but I've stayed at the Contemporary, Poly, GF, CBC, All Star, POR....and have never been asked for ID. I have seen plenty of kids (teens) get off of buses in bathing suit and towel and head right to the pool. Doesn't really bother me, most are well behaved because they don't want to be noticed.

Don't take this as a "go ahead and pool hop" I wouldn't do it myself nor would I allow my own kids to...just providing some of my own experiences in my 50+ trips to the world....

It probably changed because of DVC. Pool hopping is a perk for DVC members, with some pools (including AKL/AKV) excluded.

 

[princesspiglet]

We are DVC members and in our 12+ trips in the past 8 years, we have been asked to show our resort id every single time. At Stormalong Bay, you show your id and then they give you a paper bracelet to show you are ok to use. At AK, we had to show our resort id every single time we went in and out.

 

[LaurenT]

We are DVC members and in our 12+ trips in the past 8 years, we have been asked to show our resort id every single time. At Stormalong Bay, you show your id and then they give you a paper bracelet to show you are ok to use. At AK, we had to show our resort id every single time we went in and out.

Yep...at SAB you each need your own room key...kids included. They check all the keys and then put a wrist band on everyone. You're not allowed inside the pool area without it...even just to look around.
I don't recall showing ID at Kidani...but it may have just been too slow to bother. SAB will always check, no matter how slow. Standard procedure.

 

[chartle]

I guess I am weird, but this concept always confuses me. Why would you want to even if you could? You have to lug your pool stuff to the park in the morning, change in a tiny bathroom stall twice, and then lug your wet swimsuits through the parks the rest of the day. That just seems like a PITA to me.

Also with AK's shorter hours, it takes a big hunk of time out of the day.

 

[Bullseye]

That's weird because I thought it was only BC and BLT where DVC's members couldn't pool hop? Other than that, DVC members can pool hop at any WDW resort. In fact this past January,we were staying offsite and we went to Boma for dinner and afterwards we went to the front desk, showed our DVC cards and asked if we could swim. They said no problem and we went swimming.

 

[goofy4tink]

Are you a allowed, No....Will anyone check, No...

If you've ever been at an overcrowded resort pool, you would be thrilled when they checked room keys!!!

This.
I am looking forward to pool hopping when I go to Universal (where it's encouraged), but, it looks like I can walk from one to the other....

Only 3 resorts...much fewer people involved than at WDW.

Maybe it has changed since I was a teenager, but we would stay at the Contemporary and I would hit every pool on the monorail circuit, then hop on a bus to some of the other resorts....two 17 year old males looking for 16/17/18 year old girls to hand with....oh to be young. During that time I was never checked (then again it has been 15 years), but I've stayed at the Contemporary, Poly, GF, CBC, All Star, POR....and have never been asked for ID. I have seen plenty of kids (teens) get off of buses in bathing suit and towel and head right to the pool. Doesn't really bother me, most are well behaved because they don't want to be noticed.

Don't take this as a "go ahead and pool hop" I wouldn't do it myself nor would I allow my own kids to...just providing some of my own experiences in my 50+ trips to the world....

Are you my dh's cousin???? Too funny. I had a conversation with his aunt a few years ago. Their family (the aunt's not my dh's!!) loved WDW and headed there frequently. Well, it seems that when they were there in the 'old' days, they were allowed to swim at the Polynesian, even though they stayed elsewhere...not even onsite!!! They would pack their swim suits and head to the MK, leaving their beach bags in a locker. They would leave at midday and head to the Polynesian and have a nice swim...no one ever said a thing. So, when I told her that that was no longer the case, she said that it was and that I was mistaken. I tried telling her about the family that was escorted from the pool area at the Polynesian when we were staying there. Nope, that was wrong she said. She told me she fully planned on going to MK, swimsuits in hand, and then heading over to the Polynesian for a midday swim!!! I never asked her how that turned out for them....I was actually afraid to get into it with her again!!!

That's weird because I thought it was only BC and BLT where DVC's members couldn't pool hop? Other than that, DVC members can pool hop at any WDW resort. In fact this past January,we were staying offsite and we went to Boma for dinner and afterwards we went to the front desk, showed our DVC cards and asked if we could swim. They said no problem and we went swimming.

This is copied from the DVC site...it's part of our Portable Perks....

When staying on your Membership at any Disney Vacation Club Resort
at the Walt Disney World Resort or Disney
s Vero Beach Resort, 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. 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 or hostess at the front desk of the resort you
wish to visit before you go to find out about pool-access availability.
You must present your current Key to the World Card with your DVC
Member designation on it to use the other resort hotel pools.
Pool hopping is not available at Bay Cove Pool at Bay Lake Tower at
Disney
s Contemporary Resort, Uzima Pool and Samawati Springs Pool
at Disney
s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Stormalong Bay at Disney
s Yacht &
Beach Club Resorts, the leisure pool at Disney
s Beach Club Villas, and
the pools at Disney
s Art of Animation Resort. There are no exceptions to
this policy.
Resort hotel pools may become unavailable from time to time due to
capacity limitations. Due to the high occupancy that is expected, you and
any Guests staying with you may not pool hop during the dates listed on
t

So, as you can see...you were wrongly allowed to swim in that pool for a variety of reasons...the pools at AKL are off limits to those not staying there, and you weren't staying on your membership.

Problems arise when others see this kind of thing and then assume it's okay for them to do as well.

I've never really understood the allure of pool hopping..unless you have a car, and you aren't going to a park that day. If you just want to hang around at another resort pool for the day, then sure. It's not a big deal if you have a car with you. But lugging bags full of swim stuff to a park, leaving it in a locker and then going to another resort to swim?? Yeah, too much work for me. Heck, if BW's pool is down, I don't even want to trek over to SAB, where I'm supposed to go!!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

That's weird because I thought it was only BC and BLT where DVC's members couldn't pool hop? Other than that, DVC members can pool hop at any WDW resort. In fact this past January,we were staying offsite and we went to Boma for dinner and afterwards we went to the front desk, showed our DVC cards and asked if we could swim. They said no problem and we went swimming.

DVC members cannot pool hop unless they are staying on points at a DVC resort and pool hopping isn't blacked out for the holiday time. No AKV (Jambo and Kidani), No BLT, no AoA, no DL Resort pools at all except the one youare staying at, no BC/YC/BCV pools either.

DVC members don't get free theme park parking either. We just get free parking because we are staying on site.

 

[Robbi]

DVC members cannot pool hop unless they are staying on points at a DVC resort and pool hopping isn't blacked out for the holiday time. No AKV (Jambo and Kidani), No BLT, no AoA, no DL Resort pools at all except the one youare staying at, no BC/YC/BCV pools either.

DVC members don't get free theme park parking either. We just get free parking because we are staying on site.

Either the CMs thought they were staying at AKV or they didn't see a problem with them using the pool. Maybe it wasn't crowded so they didn't mind. Or maybe the CMs were clueless about no hopping at the AKL pool.

 

[cannonboys]

Why would you bother with AKL's pool?? Even thought the AKL pool itself is bigger, the Poly's pool has a WAY better slide!!

 

[goofy4tink]

Why would you bother with AKL's pool?? Even thought the AKL pool itself is bigger, the Poly's pool has a WAY better slide!!

And see, that's what makes the world go around!! I hate that slide. I'm tall, so I feel exceedingly claustrophobic in it. Even the SAB slide is iffy for me, but better than the Volcano Pool slide.

Besides, the pool area at Kidani is really something..it's beautiful!!! There's a reason that it isn't open to pool hopping. I wish it was locked the same way the pool at BLT is...you need a room key to get in there. If a pool isn't open to pool hopping, it shouldn't be easily accessible. You should need a room key to access it. Should be that way at SAB as well.

 

[Lynne M]

This thread is closed; please see the Pool-Hopping FAQ thread at the top of this board for further discussion.