Visiting friends at a resort

[lborne]

We have friends coming to Disney and are staying at the Poly. One of the days they plan to just hang out by the pool and we would like to visit them as we live nearby. We were hoping to visit with them most of the day, use the pool facilities, rent the boats on the lake, and eat at the restaurants with them for lunch and dinner. I have not done this in many years and back then there was no problem. But I know now that security is a bit tighter. Will we have any problem? Do they need to get us put on a security list? Can we park at the Poly, or do we need to park at the TTC and take the monorail to the Poly?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lynne M]

The one thing you wouldn't be able to do use the pool. The Poly's pool does get crowded, and it's sized to handle people staying at the resort. The lifeguards or security may come around and ask to see a resort ID, and they may ask you to leave the pool area if you can't produce one.

But the dining, shopping, and renting boats will be just fine. Just tell the guard that you're there to visit friends, and you'll be able to park at the Poly.

Oops, thought of one more thing...the monorail resorts sometimes issue 3-hour parking passes to prevent non-guests from parking there to go to MK. It sounds like you want to spend the day there, so that might not be enough. If they do give you a timed pass, you can either use valet parking (which has no time restriction), or you can park at TTC and take the monorail over.

 

[lborne]

Parking at the TTC is no problem since my son's favorite rides are the parking lot tram and the monorail.

Is the beach area considered part of the pool area? I sure hate to have to be stuck in the room just to visit our friends. Is there a playground area for the kids? And is that also restricted for guest use only?

 

[tecdavidt]

If they are visiting friends at the resort, couldn't the friends host their non-resort staying friends as guests? Just a question. I realize Disney doesn't want non-resort guests using the pools but if you have guests visiting it makes sense to let them use the facilities. I have a feeling they don't get many resort guest having non-resort company but maybe it is a problem.

I would park in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, take the tram to TTC then walk to Poly. It is quicker to walk than to take the monorail. We learned that trick three trips back. It is also quicker to walk to the GF from the Poly than to take the monorail. Plus the bonus is exercise.

Kathy

 

[SmallWorld71]

Parking at the TTC is no problem since my son's favorite rides are the parking lot tram and the monorail.

Is the beach area considered part of the pool area? I sure hate to have to be stuck in the room just to visit our friends. Is there a playground area for the kids? And is that also restricted for guest use only?

I don't think the beach is considered part of the pool area; I've seen reviews on here where DISers visited the Poly and their kids played at the beach no problems. Also, when we were very early for an 'Ohana reservation, our kids passed the time doing some crafts with some really nice CM's in the lobby.

Either way, have your friends check with the Poly and see what they say. I know there is a lot more controversy surrounding the deluxes...but, when we were at POR in August we had friends come and visit. I figured they would have to park at DD and we would have to meet them there. However, POR concierge said that they could absolutely visit us at our resort and that they were welcome to use the facilities. We ended up letting the 4 kids (my 3 and their 1) swim for a while then we all took the boat to DD for dinner. You never know, the Poly could be a lot more relaxed about visitors than we are here on the DIS.

 

[allaboard]

One other thought if you can't park at the resort hotel for a long period of time. You could park at Downtown Disney and take the resort bus to Poly, spend the day with your friends, then take Downtown Disney bus back and do a little shopping before you go. Of course, since you live there, you may have done all the shopping you want to do at Downtown Disney. But at least there is another parking option.

 

[Lynne M]

If they are visiting friends at the resort, couldn't the friends host their non-resort staying friends as guests? Just a question. I realize Disney doesn't want non-resort guests using the pools but if you have guests visiting it makes sense to let them use the facilities. I have a feeling they don't get many resort guest having non-resort company but maybe it is a problem.

Kathy

The problem is, where do you draw the line? The Poly pool can only accommodate a finite number of people, and was sized based on the number of rooms at the resort. If they begin allowing guests to invite friends and family to share the pool, how many can you allow? Sure, if the OP and spouse visit the Poly pool, it's only two people. Who'd even notice? But....

If I invited my family and friends who live in the Orlando area to join me at the pool one day, that could be eight people. If just 5 other Poly guests decide to do the same, now you've got 40 extra people in the pool and using lounge chairs that can't be used by people who've paid to stay at the Poly. Should the Poly say that each guest can invite 1 other person? There are 800+ rooms at the Poly, and if even a tiny percentage of the guests invited one person, the pool would be overwhelmed.

The only fair thing to do is limit pool use to those who are paying guests of the Poly.

 

[kileybeth]

I know this is a hot topic so I will try to add my two cents as objectively as I can. Last year my family stayed at the POLY. It was a big one time splurge for us. I can say that the pool was packed every day. More than the pool tho, there were very few extra tables/seats to be had around the pool. My DH waited one day a good long time for a table to come available. My kiddos did not take advantage of playing in the sand at the edge of the pool as there were just to many others doing that. Fireworks on the beach? always a crowd. And you know why? The Poly is just a great place to be. The crowds in the Grand Ceremonial House I knew to expect as people waited for ressies and shopped. What I didn't expect were the crowds in the public restrooms and every seat in lobby to be occupied most of the time! Overall, my family just rolled with it and we still had a great trip. That said, (I know price is a touchy subject too)I paid $300plus dollars a night for those priveleges.(now closer to $400plus) I also have family in Orlando. A family of 5 with small kiddos and a family of 5 with grown 20 something kiddos. I would have loved to invite them over for a swim or just a day to hang out but we knew adding 10 more to the mix who had very little intention of ever staying on property? not so nice. We opted to meet them for dinner.

I think if it is off season you can have a little more flex probably but at busy times, Please lets let the guest have their amenities. I don't think Disney is in the buisness of chasing anyone away as I have seen but every so often they do check id's at crowded times. Why risk that type of embarassment?

We are staying at POR in a few more weeks. We will probably meet up with my family again at some point, off site or in DTD.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you'd like to meet up with your friends and go swimming as a group, why not just spring for some water park tickets and go there? The resort swimming pools have signs stating that they are for the exclusive use of the guests of that resort. However, that doesn't include the guests of the guests.

Like kileybeth and Lynne M said, where do you draw the line?