Trip Report, Part I: Charley, PopC, and a quick BWV visit

[mbhoxsie]

Before I get too far into this trip report, I need to say that the theme of this trip was for DW and kids to experience things we have never done before in any of our previous trips....

I am typing this report up from a Fort Wilderness Cabin..

So first off, we decided to drive to WDW from Michigan... This was a first for my DW and myself... The last eight times we've came down here we have always flown... We left Michigan on Friday morning, and were planning on stopping somewhere in Kentucky for the night, but the kids were doing so well that we decided to keep going and made it to Chatanooga, TN before it was time to hang it up...

During the ride, I had mentioned to my DW that if we took off early the next morning, we could be in WDW by 15:00 on Saturday... This would give us two extra days!! DW agreed, and then Charley hit... I got up very early the next morning, and went downstairs to the hotel lobby and turned on CNN... I saw the devastation in Punta Gorda, and then the local Orlando stations started showing pictures of MCO... Needless to say, I erred on the side of caution, and booked another night in Chatanooga just to be safe..

Chatanooga is great town to visit if you have never been there... Lots for kids to do.... We took the family to the Tennessee State Aquarium, which is over five stories tall!!! (Kinda put the living seas to shame...) My DS and I went and saw the Nascar 3D Imax film, and then we took the kids to the Creative Discovery Museum... We ended the day at Cheeseburger Cheeseburger! Great place based on 50's nostalgia...

Before we went to bed Saturday night, my DW called three seperate Disney numbers for information... She called 1) All Star Movies FD, 2) Fort Wilderness FD, and 3) CRO... Her discussions with all three lead us to believe that while things were going to be messy down here, that the infrastructure was up and running, and that it was safe to come down...

While on the phone with the CRO, my wife was able to book a night with cash at ASMovies.... She made a specific room request for the Toy Story section, as my son is a Toy Story nut..

We got up very early on Sunday morning, and made our way to ASMovies.. By the time we arrived, the kids were getting tired of the car, the rain was making it difficult to drive, and we all needed a break... We FINALLY pulled into ASMovies, and I went into the lobby to check us in... After waiting in line for a few mins, I went up to the front desk, but the CM was unable to find my reservation, despite my confirmation number... After doing further checking with her manager, they discovered that CRO booked us at PopC, and not ASMovies... Needless to say, we were very disapointed... The whole point in booking the stay at an AS resort was to see the 50 ft. Buzz Lightyear... (Had ASMovies not been available, we would have tried to get the discount for the rack rate for a studio at any other DVC resort..) I did what negotating I could, but came up short... I went back out to the car and told DW the news... Big bummer....

We drove over to PopC and checked in... It took FOREVER to check in there... Apparently, people from all over FLA were taking refuge from Charley in WDW since WDW was one of the few places with power, water, phones, ice, and air conditioning...

Pop Century was nice... Nothing fancy, but it served its purpose... It got us on property a day early...

Monday morning, we got up early and decided to head over to FW to check into our Cabin. (We booked it through MS using our points..) The very nice Security guard at FW let us know that they hadn't yet reopened FW after Charley due to the amount of damage that the campground had accrued... He told us to come back around 17:00, and told us that if he was working the gate, that he'd let us bypass the campers/trailers by using the bus lane.

We took advantage of the downtime, and decided to go Home to BWV for a quick swim, lunch and shopping... (My DW and I were getting homesick...) Going into the BW lobby, I decided to make it official and I asked a CM at the front desk if it was OK if we Pool Hopped... She looked at me in bewilderment...

"Pool Hop?? No.. You cannot pool hop.. We never have allowed pool hopping here."

"I have always assumed that pool hopping was allowed as a DVC perk?"

"No... Never... Besides we are booked at full capacity..."

I politely left... I guess I could have gotten a manager and followed up, but decided it wasn't worth it... DW and I took the elevator down to Luna Park, and the pool was almost empty... Had it been full, we would've left, and wouldn't have thought twice about it.. But since there was most definately space, we decided to still go for it... My DS loves that pool, as do I... (Gotta love Keister Coaster..)

We swam for a few hours, and then as the pool got busier, we got dressed and went down to the Boardwalk for some shopping... My first goal was my DVC watch... The store had them!! I got 134/1000... We also bought some shirts for the kids, a DVC magnet, and a plastic sword for DS...

After we finished up with shopping, we walked over by Spoodles for some pizza. By the time we finished, it was 16:00 and it was time to go back to FW...

We drove back, and checked in with ABSOLUTELY no problems...

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

wow sounds interesting already I am going right now to part II. What the heck ? about pool hopping...good grief. It scares me that the CMs don't know all the rules/perks.

 

[kweaver]

I agree...Chattanooga is a great town...we love to spend the weekend there! It's a quick trip from our house, so we do it every couple of years. You found all of the great spots...they also have an excellent children's science museum (second best we've visited after the Pacific Science Center in Seattle) and some great cruises down the Tennesee River. Don't miss the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

I am continually amazed at the differences in knowledge when it comes to CMs. We pool hopped to BWV in June. When we stopped at the guard, we told him we were DVC members there to pool hop...and he just smiled and said have a good time. We did have to park in the far lot (I sent DH back for the car and will use Valet next time for sure!). I'm glad you took the swim anyway!

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks for the report - glad you were ble to have a good time in spite of Charley.

FWIW, the CM may not have known about pool hopping, but she did get the answer right.

According to the rules you must be staying at a DVC resort on points to take advantage of that benefit. Since you were not staying at a DVC resort, you weren't entitled to pool hop anyway.

Here are the official pool hopping rules copied from the DVC Member site:

You and any Guests staying with you at Disney's Old Key West Resort, Disney's BoardWalk Villas, The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, and Disney's Beach Club Villas are permitted to use other Disney Vacation Club and Walt Disney World® Resort hotel pools (in addition to the resort hotel at which you are staying) if the resort hotel pools 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/Hostess at the Front Desk of the resort hotel you wish to visit to find out about pool-access availability. You must present your Walt Disney World® Resort ID card with your "DVC Member" designation on it to use the other pools. This offer is not available at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resorts.

Resort hotel pools may become unavailable from time to time due to capacity limitations. Due to the high occupancy that is expected, Disney Vacation Club Members may not "pool hop" during the following dates*:

April 3 - 11, 2004
May 28 - 31, 2004
June 28 - July 4, 2004
November 22 - 28, 2004
December 18, 2004 - January 2, 2005

*Other restricted dates may be added based on projected pool capacity.

 

[OneMoreTry]

Great, interesting report. Sounds like you rolled with the punches.

I think one moral is don't ask about pool hopping if the pool is obviously not at capacity. Sounds like it might be a good idea to have a laminated copy of the rules on hand, though.

 

[3DisneyNUTS]

But I think they were staying on points no? I would think that since they were on points for their vacaction at the cabins then it is a loophole. Had they been paying cash it is clear but being they were using their membership I would say it is ok to pool hop. Especially since the pool was not at capacity.

 

[Chuck S]

Originally posted by 3DisneyNUTS
But I think they were staying on points no? I would think that since they were on points for their vacaction at the cabins then it is a loophole. Had they been paying cash it is clear but being they were using their membership I would say it is ok to pool hop. Especially since the pool was not at capacity.

Since the pool was not at capacity, of course, no harm no foul...but to answer your specific point...

Obviously the Pool Hop rules SPECIFICALLY mentions staying at a DVC resort, and list those specific resorts BY NAME...there is no "loophole" or else the rules would have been written to say "staying on points at a WDW resort". It is understood that the website has not been updated to include SSR (since it is an on-site DVC resort).

 

[Lexxiefern]

Thanks for the report! Sorry you weren't able to stay at ASM