The end of pool hopping ?

[WDWMom]

I apologize if this has already been discussed, I haven't been keeping up with the boards lately.

Last week I sent an employee of mine down to OKW with his new wife for their honeymoon. He is a very special employee. Their entire stay was wonderful and they had nothing but wonderful things to say about the resort and all of WDW.

They were told after asking about pool hopping by both the CM checking them in, and the bellman that pool hopping had been discontinued and that all members would be getting a letter shortly. I to date have received no such notification. I would have also assumed that DVC would notify us before making such a change in policy.

And yet this same story was told to them by two separate CM's at separate times. Has anyone else been told this? Could this be true? I know that the pool hopping benefit is not garanteed, but I for one will be very upset if and when it is eliminated in its entirety.

 

[TiggerFreak]

Does anyone have a total count of WDW DVC rooms?
Maybe we have hit a threshhold where the number of potential Pool Hopping DVC members could be more than the powers that be feel is managable. With just OKW in the picture, the number of potential pool hoppers was small in comparison to the number of regular resort guests. But now with OKW, BWV, VWL and BCV, the differential is much smaller.

Personally, I have not had an occasion as of yet to pool hop. Maybe that is because we are realtively new DVC memebers and have not found the need to visit a pool instead of the parks.

But for those of you who profess the desire to pool hop, I hope this is an untrue and false rumor.

 

[timC]

Hmmmmm.

Is there a connection here with these 2 rumors?

- pool hopping privileges going away
- slide being installed at OKW.

 

[Debby7]

Pool hopping has been discontinued at Storm Along Bay@ Beach Club, perhaps that is what the CM's were referring to.

 

[WDWMom]

No, we had informed them that Animal Kingdom lodge and SAB would be off limits. They were inquiring about the Poly Pool when they were told that all, repeat all, pool hopping had been discontinued.

We pool hopped extensively, and by and large have not encountered large crowds. Although I understand the need to limit this benefit during certain times of the year the discontinuation of the program does not seem warranted. Has anyone else been told such a thing?

 

[CarolAnnC]

This is the only thing I can think of. Perhaps they somehow knew that your employee was not the actual DVC member. Since pool hopping privileges are for DVC members and not regular WDW resort guests, that may have been the reason for the CM comments. Just a thought...

Also, CM's not always are well informed. In July a CM at OKW tried to tell me I could not buy Enight Tix for my family with Annual Passes. Tried to tell me I had to hold park hoppers instead. Well, CM's are only human too and can make mistakes..

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The two CMs may actually know what's going one. Or they may only think they know what's going on.

Pool hopping is a DVC member benefit that costs very little to provide in terms of real, incremental cost. But it helps DVC sell memberships. It gives DVC members a reason to come back to WDW every year. It makes all of us feel a little special, as in "here's something only DVC members are allowed to do."

Some DVC members use the pool hopping benefit; some don't. At any given hour on any given day at any given pool, it's unlikely there are more than a few DVC pool hoppers. But it's a nice benefit to have available.

Pool hopping has been restricted in recent years (no pool hopping on certain dates and never to AKL or SAB), but it hasn't been officially discontinued. In fact, the DVC Members Only web site clearly states, "The current pool-hopping program at other Walt Disney World® Resort pools will continue to be available to Members with the exception of certain restricted dates and/or further capacity issues."

There's no reason why pool hoppping should be eliminated -- unless Disney management has issued a directive to look for ways to anger and disappoint some percentage of DVC members.

 

[TnRobin]

We were at BWV this weekend, staying on points and no one said anything to us about not pool hopping.

 

[RobDoc]

All members checking into a DVC resort at this time are receiving a copy of the new "Perk Pages" which includes an article describing Pool Hopping prominently on the front page of the release. This issue of "Perk Pages" carries all discount and member perks available thru Oct 31, 2002.

I would be very surprised if DVC was simultaneously mailing an announcement of the end of pool hopping while publishing an article titled "Do the Hop...the Pool Hop!" to be handed out at the DVC resorts.

The article does mention the need to call the front desk of the destination pool resort to see if hopping is allowed that day. It also states "No need to drive- just hop on a Disney bus". There will be NO pool hopping from Nov 26- Dec 2, 2002 due to expected high occupancy expected at that time.

 

[Simba's Mom]

This rumor reminds me to be very careful about planning far in the future at Disney. Next May we're taking our sons to WDW, and told them about pool-hopping. They've been looking forward to trying the different pools (except, of course, SB and AKL). This has reminded me to be more careful in what I promise them based on current, not future policies!

 

[WDWDad]

sounds as though this was just a misunderstanding amongst CM's. I am glad that the pool hopping option is still available to members. I appreciate this benefit, and hope that it doesn't end anytime soon.

 

[KNWVIKING]

Were'nt CM's the ones telling us mugs were refillable for life ??

 

[CaptainMidnight]

I appreciate this benefit, and hope that it doesn't end anytime soon.

Agreed. I appreciate this benefit, and hope that it doesn't end.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by CarolAnnK
This is the only thing I can think of. Perhaps they somehow knew that your employee was not the actual DVC member. Since pool hopping privileges are for DVC members and not regular WDW resort guests, that may have been the reason for the CM comments. Just a thought...

Actually, guests of the member are entitled to this perk. The only perks I can think of that are not extended to true guests of the member TECHNICALLY are the park pass discounts and the member rental discounts.

While I've always thought that no SAB essentially meant no Pool Hopping, I suspect the CM were simply ill informed. I would not be surprised if PH were truly discontinued in the future, I think it will take some time.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Actually, guests of the member are entitled to this perk.

This is the case when the rooms are rented with points by the DVC member and the guests are registered and staying at the DVC resort. In that case their room key should state "DVC Member" and that is what they need to show in order to enjoy the DVC Member pool hopping.

WDWMom, did you rent rooms for your friends with your points, or did you rent with a cash discount perhaps?

Just a thought...but from Doc and Robin's accounts of this past week, it truly does sound like a CM miscommunication.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by CarolAnnK
This is the case when the rooms are rented with points by the DVC member and the guests are registered and staying at the DVC resort. In that case their room key should state "DVC Member" and that is what they need to show in order to enjoy the DVC Member pool hopping.

That's true for both the DVC member and any guests. I assumed this was a points stay from the wording of the original message.

 

[nezy]

Pool hopping is a great aspect of DVC of which I take full advantage. I can understand during peak times, but with the growth in DVC members, so comes the increase in pools. This truely is a perk that I would never want to see fade away. I am already leary of the restrictions, although I understand the reasons for them. Perhaps the new developments and construction of additional DVC locations should incorporate some other great pools, like SAB. We usually use the pools as a break from the parks, at which ever resort is closest.

POOL HOPPING FOREVER!

 

[WDWDad]

The reservation was made with points. I asked the guest and his card did read " member ". He also told me that there were three CM's in all who told them pool hopping was over. The Bellman, the check in clerk, and someone from the general store. Anyway go figure. We will be down in Nov. and plan on calling on several different pools. Provided of course that they are open to hopping on that day.

 

[JonHM]

they *do* usually discontinue pool hopping at all resorts temporarily in the week surrounding big holidays like Easter and July 4th - and it WAS just Labor Day recently, so maybe that's where the CMs got confused... who knows...