Two families at the Poly - another @ different hotel - help!

[Disneyorbust05]

Hi everyone!
My family and another family will be staying at the Polynesian in May. We have another family who wants to join us (as of this month) and they will be coming with us on this trip. However, the Poly is booked - but even if it wasn't I think they would prefer a moderate/value.

My question is - if they do stay in another hotel - will it be difficult trying to see them outside of the parks? I mean, they won't be able to use our pool with us (or vice versa), right? They have kids who would like to see our (and the other family's kids) - so we really hate splitting up hotel-wise.

How have those of you with split groups handle situations like this? Basically, do you just see each other for meals? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Scoootch]

You can visit each other at each other's resorts, they just do not allow pool hopping between resorts unless they are sister resorts (i.e. All stars can use each others pools and POR and FQ can use each others) or unless you are a DVC member staying at a DVC resort on points and then there are restrictions and rules that apply to us too.

As for just hanging out together for practically anything else....they allow that without any problem You could schedule meals together at your resorts...O'hana at the POLY as you may already know has both an awesome character breakfast and a wonderful Dinner with entertainment! Along with the other resturants available.

You may find that not having complete togetherness works out a little better anyway...meet up for meals and maybe for a few hrs here and there in the parks ....if you want to swim together there's the waterparks as well that you could all spend the day at together...the possibilities are endless.

Have a nice trip!

 

[gigi1313]

actually, if you are visiting a friend or relative at their resort, you can "pool hop" as long as the registered guest is a) with you and b) asks for permission from the front desk... we have had friends that live in the wdw area visit us for the day and take a dip in our resort pool w/no problems... it's certainly worth asking!

also, would the families staying poly not be willing to switch to a mod to keep the whole group together? i'm sure the poly is awesome, but i'd rather be with my friends than spending half my vacation time working plans to meet up with them...

 

[Melrosgirl]

We'll be traveling with friends in the fall. Staying at different resorts. Basically I think that it's gonna be a little bit of a pain meeting up with them. (All depends on when the bus arrives, etc.) Should be very interesting. Hoping it doesn't drive me too crazy (it's their first trip to WDW).

I tried so hard to convince them to stay at the same resort, but they wanted to stay at AKL. I just know it's gonna be hard to meet at designated times b/c I know the bus system, etc. is all based on timing.

Hmmm...maybe they didn't want to stay with us for other reasons, lol.

 

[Disneyorbust05]

Yeah, unfortunately we have (the 2 families) have had this vacation booked a long, long, long time and we have been fantasizing about staying at the Poly this entire time! We also chose it because it is on the monorail and that is VERY important to us since we all have small ones under the age of 4. If we were going back next year or the year after then compromising wouldn't be as big of an issue. But this is the vacation of our dreams and we want to do it BIG...lol!

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

We stay at Deluxes and my In-laws always stay at Values when we go. They cannot afford Deluxe but my FIL refuses to accept "charity" from his daughter/my wife (and believe me, we've tried to pay for everything), so we stay at separate resorts. It has never been much of a problem, just figure out times to meet, at parks, for dinner, whatever. We find that the separate accomodations make for a much more "pleasant" family trip!

 

[SB in KY]

We have often travelled with family and stayed at different resorts....the only place they did not graciously allow the kids to swim was Storm along bay...what difference does it make if you let your kids and a couple of your friends kids swim vs all 4 of your family swimming??....4 people in the pool is 4 people in the pool....we did always ask and explain the situation to the CM in the pool area and they always just smiled and said "have a good time"

Now I suppose if you had 15 friends and they all had 3 kids and everyone wanted to swim it might be a different story...but 2 families together won't ruffle anyones feathers.

Hooking up at appointed times can be slightly more difficult...but with a little patience it isn't so bad. You can always drive to the parks which really cuts down on the mystery of bus timing and makes it easier to arrive on time.

You can also (and I am probably going to get blasted for suggesting this) just drive to one resort or the other (i.e., your friends could drive to the Poly) and park, and everyone could travel to the parks together for the day. Now before everyone starts squawking....we have done it before....we just tell the guard at the hotel gate that we are meeting friends that are staying at this resort, they ask for the persons name and sometime their room number, they verify and wave us through. They don't ask how long we are planning to stay and I don't tell them. The only place they ever seemed reluctant to let us do this was at the AKL....I would figure at the Poly, CR or GF they might not want people doing that but why they cared at AKL was a mystery to me....and they did let my sister in finally but it took them about 5 minutes to decide it was OK to let her.

My niece lives in Orlando and frequently comes by the hotel to visit when we are there (and she doesn't even have a resort ID, obviously) and they never give her a hard time as long as she knows the name the reservation is under and the room number.

 

[ziggystardust]

We did this with my DBF's family a few years ago. The trip was originally planned with us and one other family. We were both to stay at the All Stars. Then another one of his sister's and her family decided to join us. She stayed at AKL. While planning, the original family that was going with us decided to split their stay - 1/2 All Stars 1/2 AKL.

Of course the traveling to and from the parks was easier when they were in the room right next to us. But we still managed to see them every day all day, thanks to great 2 way radios and the occasional cell phone call.

We worked out all the kinks in the planning stages. Planning what parks what days, what meals where. So even if one of the families got stuck we would have a general idea of where they were so we could meet up later. And when all the grown ups went out at night, one person drove to cut down travel time, but otherwise we really were fine with Disney transportation.

You will have a wonderful trip! Have fun!

 

[mkymouse1928]

SB in KY -- no flames here! We have actually done the exact same thing as you at the suggestion of the front desk! They even told us to make sure DNephews took a swim in the clown pool. BIL, SIL and boys were even staying OFF site, and it was all fine with Disney. They issued them a parking pass and we had no problems for the entire week.

Now, I wouldn't try just having them arrive without checking first, but as long as I have permission, I see nothing wrong with friends and family meeting at the resort.

It worked well, and we never had to worry about trying to meet in a croweded area.

 

[sweetinmaine]

Hi everyone!
My family and another family will be staying at the Polynesian in May. We have another family who wants to join us (as of this month) and they will be coming with us on this trip. However, the Poly is booked - but even if it wasn't I think they would prefer a moderate/value.

My question is - if they do stay in another hotel - will it be difficult trying to see them outside of the parks? I mean, they won't be able to use our pool with us (or vice versa), right? They have kids who would like to see our (and the other family's kids) - so we really hate splitting up hotel-wise.

How have those of you with split groups handle situations like this? Basically, do you just see each other for meals? Any advice would be appreciated!

Just got back from POR. While there, our daughter and her family stayed at the same resort as us. My son and his girlfriend stayed at the Contemporary. It was never a problem meeting up with them. Many times they ate at our resort, even buying a mug as they were able to use it all week. They swam with us in the quiet pool near our room. There was never a problem. The CM's said that they were welcome. BTW, the quiet pool never had more than 3 other people in it when we were there. The main pool was more crowded.

As for meeting up with them, the use of cell phones kept us in the know. We'd make arrangements on meeting places based on where the other was calling from. We even used them inside the parks to inform the others where we were in lines and what rides we were on. I never felt this was a problem. BTW, my son and his girlfriend preferred the POR over the CR hands down. The grounds were much more beautiful!