What would you have done? Saving pool chairs dilemma.......

[NEM]

Hi everyone,

I just returned from a 2 weeks at BCV. First let me say our room temp was great and so was the water pressure. Also, not a bug in sight.....so with all that out of the way....

I did encounter an interesting pool "saving chairs" dilemma and wanted to ask what would you have done?????

We (2 pregnant women, 4 girls, 7, 5, 18 month twins)had one of our pool/hotel/rest day planned and went down to the pool at 9:30am and I must say as I expected....all the tables and umbrella chairs were being "used". With our party of morning sick moms and baby girl twins we really try to get down early enough to get a place in the shade to set up camp for the afternoon.

Now, before I go on, let me clarify, that many times during the week, we would see the following on these "used" chairs:

1. Chairs with white folded towels only
2. Chairs with laid out white towels and the token one flip flop per chair, one magazine per chair, one t-shirt per chair - you get the idea....
3. The graduates of chair saving school with full on ice chests, half eaten food, and tons of stuff on these chairs - but they dont turn up for hours....

During the week would hang out at the pool and hours would go by with no one coming to those saved chairs....we would take what we could get and then move to a table when and if we saw one become available....well after several days of that, I was over the whole chair saving concept....

So, at 9:30am we went down to the pool to find all the "saved" chairs. I asked the lifeguard (nearby) if he had seen anyone at one particular table that had 4 folded white towels over the back of each chair...he said no, so we removed the towels and moved in....

Finally this older - 65-70 yr old couple come down at 11:30-11:45am saying they had just put their towels down 15 minutes earlier and that was their table and we "stole"it. The old man even asked the lifeguard to move us who confirmed to him they cant save chairs with towels if they are not in the area....

Anyway, they were a hair on the obnoxious side and I tried to explain that saving chairs was not cool if you were not using the pool and they had not been in the area in 2 hours (they did not even have wristbands yet). They huffed and puffed and basically pulled up 2 chairs and sat at the table with us saying it was theirs and then proceeded to smoke during our lunch....anyway you get the idea. And to be fair, they accused me of being obnoxious for removing their towels....maybe so.

My sister and I found it amusing - (6 of us, 2 of them), but I told her I would get ya'lls opinion and see what the consensus was. My take, was if only they thought twice about it before they did it again, then maybe it was worth the momentary aggravation.

During our time there, we saw so much chair saving going on and I just did not have the patience for it when I would see hours go by and then people coming back from the parks or their morning activities to go to the pool. And we do spend a good 40-50% of our time at the pool....so I see alot of this "chair saving" going on and it ticks me off...

There has to be a better way....

So, what would you have done?????


Sorry so long,

Michelle

 

[Mouse Ears]

So, what would you have done?????

Exactly what you did!

Honestly, we have never saved pool chairs/tables and have never encountered the problem, but then we have not spent much time at the pools on prior trips. Now that we are DVC members and staying at BCV, I expect we will use them more and I will ignore saves using only a white pool towel, especially if there are not good alternatives available at the moment.

Uncourteous people should not expect courtesy!

 

[officer tigger]

The only time I have ever saved chairs is when the group is right behind me. When my wife is still getting the kids ready. I try and get there a few minutes before the family.
I agree two hours is uncalled for. Good for you to move their stuff.

 

[jaysue]

You did the right thing

These are probably the same type of people who complain how rude everyone else is and then proceed to be the rudest of all

How pathetic that they thought to seek revenge or be petty by sitting at the table and then smoking on top of it all

This pool chair reserve thing is out of hand

Oh, and finally what a fine example these distinguished citizens set for your children.....

thanks
jaysue

 

[Tink Fans]

Michelle - Good for YOU! Been there, done that, however, no one has ever actually come to "claim" there chairs like in your case. A few months ago when we were at HH (our room overlooked the pool), we watched cm's actually picking all the stuff (white towels, the one shoe etc.) and move it to another location. There was one group who would come down and save approx. 10 -15 lounge chairs in one section. Oh yeah, and a table in the shade too. Very interesting to watch most days while drinking my coffee. I wonder if this is a regular cm routine at HH? Seemed like most people were too intimidated to actually sit in these chairs (not me!) even after the stuff was removed. Needless to say, they showed up, looked around for their stuff but never said anything to the people who were sitting in "their" chairs. I dread the day of confrontation with obnoxious, rude people like you encountered. Seems like cm's at all the resorts should do the same thing. Going to BCV in a few months for our first time since add on last year!

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Originally posted by Tink Fans
Michelle - Good for YOU! Been there, done that, however, no one has ever actually come to "claim" there chairs like in your case. A few months ago when we were at HH (our room overlooked the pool), we watched cm's actually picking all the stuff (white towels, the one shoe etc.) and move it to another location. There was one group who would come down and save approx. 10 -15 lounge chairs in one section. Oh yeah, and a table in the shade too. Very interesting to watch most days while drinking my coffee. I wonder if this is a regular cm routine at HH? Seemed like most people were too intimidated to actually sit in these chairs (not me!) even after the stuff was removed. Needless to say, they showed up, looked around for their stuff but never said anything to the people who were sitting in "their" chairs. I dread the day of confrontation with obnoxious, rude people like you encountered. Seems like cm's at all the resorts should do the same thing. Going to BCV in a few months for our first time since add on last year!

OK, let me get this right. If one is able to walk onto the pool deck to place towels on the chairs, does this mean the pool is open at this time? If that is the case, and someone can physically be down on the deck atthat time, then the rest of his party should be there too. What is the probelm? You know you are spending all or part of the day at the pool, you know the chairs fill up quick, why can't people PLAN on being dressed and ready to move in time to get down to the pool before the crowd? (If you are a chair saver and you are reading this, THINK about that concept, huh?)

Now, if people are going down there before pool hours, then it is a simple solution, the CM's should just ban anyone from being in the pool area before the posted hours.

I would of done exactly whatthe OP did. I think the older couple wanting there table and asking for it was rare. I think more times than not, if someone is saving a chair or table, they know it is wrong, they won't even bother asking for the space.

Good for you Michelle! Now if everyone started to be assertive like that, then saving chairs would become a waste of time, and people would stop.

 

[Jimmac]

I think I might have been tempted to tell them that they pulled up a chair just in time to help change some diapers!!!

 

[kathleena]

Not being much of a pool go-er (I tend to hit and run, so just get a chair for an hour or so), I'm not familiar with the situation. But I"m glad to know this for our October trip.

I think I would have done the same thing.

I am very, very surprised that they allow smoking around a pool. Maybe just naive, but sometimes those smoking ends drop off and the result on bare feet.......I would think this in the same category of glass.

Unfortunately, there is no way that all these people who "save against the rules" can be stopped from doing it. Unless Disney starts making it difficult to do it.

 

[floridafam]

Why can't the CM's simply remove all of the chair saving items?

I really think they should start doing this.

You did the right thing. Sorry you had to put up with his smoke to prove your point. He sounds like a real winner.

They need to put up signs saying this type of thing is not allowed and they need to have the CM's remove the items.

What did the lifeguard say to that guy?

 

[wdwdvcdad]

Here is a solution that works for me. If you see chairs saved, but no one apparently using them. Stand there for a minute. (If someone really was using them & saw you staking them out, they would probably saunter over). The, ask aloud "Anyone using these chair?" No one answers, take the chairs. If someone tells you they were using them, you can honestly tell them that they wer NOT using them. If they sat down, I would change the diapers right on the table/chair.

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Originally posted by Tink Fans
A few months ago when we were at HH (our room overlooked the pool), we watched cm's actually picking all the stuff (white towels, the one shoe etc.) and move it to another location.

I wonder why they don't do this at all the resorts. I know HH's pool is smaller than most so maybe it is easier for them police it, but it gets so annoying when you go to the pool at 9:00am and there are about 10 people in the pool (or on the deck) and not a single chair available!

Another of my pet peeves is when people don't bother to put their used towels in the bins when they leave the pool. Last month we went to the main pool at OKW around dinner time. There were towels all over the chairs yet very few people swimming. It was obvious that a lot of people had gathered up their belongings, went back to their room, and just left all of the used towels laying there. So it has the same effect as the chair saving since you don't know if this is just a leftover towel or if it belongs to someone that is actually in the pool. How hard is it to pick up your towels and throw them in the very-clearly marked bin on the way out?
Holly

 

[PoohBears#1fan]

Good for you Michelle , I think you did exactly the right thing, this bed saving exercise really annoys me.

I'd like to say that I'd have done the same thing, but I'm a wimp and would probably have let myself be intimidated into moving and then spent the rest of the day annoyed about why I didn't stand up for myself!

One thing I do have to say though is that while we were at SAB earlier this year I was impressed to see that the CMs will move towels that have been unattended for hours which is the ONLY time I've ever seen this happen - so good for them trying to keep on top of it, must be very difficult when there are people around who are that obnoxious.

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by floridafam
Why can't the CM's simply remove all of the chair saving items?
I really think they should start doing this.
They need to put up signs saying this type of thing is not allowed and they need to have the CM's remove the items.

My feelings exactly floridafam When we were at VB July 7-12 this was are only problem(minor one). We would go out to the pool at 8:00 am and about 30-50 front row chairs had white towels(personal ones also) over them and there was only 10-15 people at the pool.And those people that had towels over the chairs "DID NOT" appear until around 10:00 am.
We always still got front row chairs at that time so we didn't have any confrontations

. My problem is with the CM's that allow this. All CM's would have to do is REMOVE the towels, after they say"whose towels are these" and nobody responds.

P.S. Smoking around a pool should be banned for saftey and health reasons also.

 

[lurontravel]

I am continually amazed at how impolite and downright rude people can choose to be. Too bad that Disney obviously doesn't have a smoking policy at their resort pools like they do everywhere else (in lines at theme parks, etc...). So sorry that you were subjected to their rudeness and especially their smoke. I think I'd have been a bit less then polite back to them if it were my pregnant body and family around! (I get very protective). Maybe we should find out if there really is a smoking policy at the pools, and if so have them enforced in the future by the CM's.

Back to the towel and saving thing. If someone is leaving their coverup and sandals on a chair, one can reasonably assume that they are in the pool (provided the area isn't otherwise deserted), and that should be respected. I think that chairs should not be considered ocupied if there is simply a resort towel on it, and that it should be removed after 15 minutes by a cast member. I am sure that this would take more manpower, and thus increase our dues. This is probably not the best option. I think that we could reduce the chair saving if we instituted a "card towel". A "card towel" would be issued upon check-in for each member of the party, and if not returned upon check out, the room would incur a charge of, say, $20 per card not returned. Towels would only be given if a "card towel" were handed in. One towel per card. This would allow only one towel at a time per person, and people would not want to risk loosing their $20 towel to save chairs. This would also alleviate the problem that Minnie&Mickey (Holly) mentioned about people being too lazy to pick up and dispose of their own towels when they are done with them. It'd cost them $20 each time. This would also keep people from "using" 2-3 towels per person simultaneously that they never really actually use. This would help contain our costs as members, cutting down on the number of towels that are stolen, as well as laundering those towels that are not really used. It's kind of like us getting only a 4 towel sets in a studio/one bedroom, eight in a 2 bedroom, etc. One would still be allowed to refresh his/her pool towel with this system, and not have to launder it. I realize that there can be problems with this system, (someone takes your towel while you're in the pool, etc.), but I believe that if you walked over to the towel distribution area dripping wet, they'd believe you and issue you a new towel. I have seen this type of "card towel" in action at Hawk's Cay in the Florida Keys, and it seemed to work beautifully. I was initially a bit irritated with their system, but after the first day, I realized just how efficient it was!

Sorry so long!

 

[DVC-Don]

While at the VWL in February, I saw a CM going around the main pool at the WL removing white resort towels from the chairs now and again. If we see a chair (or 2) with just a white towel on it and nothing else, we'll remove it and give it to a CM and then use the chair if there is no one using it for 15 or 20 minutes.

 

[wdwdvcdad]

i disagree with banning smoking, and i am not a smoker. we're outside guys....Plus, there is a great deal of contradicting evidence about 2nd hand smoke, and the only studies that show a problem are those that study groups with extended periods of isolation with smokers.

 

[Richyams]

P.S. Smoking around a pool should be banned for saftey and health reasons also.

?????

Not sure I get the connection, is there something that makes smoking less healthy around pools? Aqualung cancer???

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by Richyams
Not sure I get the connection, is there something that makes smoking less healthy around pools? Aqualung cancer???

I know this is off topic..but to answer Rich's and wdwdvcdad's questions.........

June 2002 - American Lung Association

Secondhand smoke comes from two places: smoke breathed out by the person who smokes, and smoke from the end of a burning cigarette. Secondhand smoke causes or exacerbates a wide range of adverse health effects, including cancer, respiratory infections, and asthma.


Secondhand smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals; 200 are poisons; 43 cause cancer. Secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a known cause of cancer in humans (Group A carcinogen).

Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and other health problems. The EPA estimates that secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 heart disease deaths in nonsmokers each year.

Secondhand smoke is especially harmful to young children. EPA estimates that secondhand smoke is responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children under 18 months of age annually, resulting in between 7,500 and 15,000 hospitalizations each year.

Secondhand smoke is harmful to children with asthma. The EPA estimates that for between 200,000 and one million asthmatic children, exposure to secondhand smoke worsens their condition.

Secondhand smoke can make healthy children less than 18 months of age sick

; it can cause pneumonia, ear infections, bronchitis, coughing, wheezing and increased mucus production. According to the EPA, secondhand smoke can lead to the buildup of fluid in the middle ear, the most common cause of hospitalization of children for an operation.

Individuals can take several steps to reduce their exposure to secondhand smoke, including:
If you smoke, quit!
Keep smoke away from you and your family by asking people not to smoke in your home or around you.
Make sure your child's day care site and school are smoke-free.
Use no-smoking signs, buttons and stickers at home, at work, and in your car.
Eat in smoke-free environments.
Seek a smoke-free worksite.

Support clean air laws that protect you from secondhand smoke.
For more information call the American Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872).

Now back to the OP topic about saving chairs.......

 

[Cruelladeville]

Nick,
I was at Vero(what a lovely resort!) just before you were there, and the towel issue was so offensive to me that I decided against buying in to Vero--I figured to protest with my money During my week there, I went to the pool around 8 AM and maybe 3-4 other people were there, but nearly 100 chairs were saved!! The same towels stayed in the same place the whole time I was there! It was so very offensive--many of those people never showed up till 1 or 1:30 when I was leaving the area. I thought maybe I had mistakenly taken my vacation during the Rude Owners Week, but apparently it's a continuing thing. One thing about BW is that the guards seem to be pretty good about getting rid of the white towels of non-present guests, at least I have never had a problem there, or at OKW either. Why don't all the resorts do that

 

[wdwdvcdad]

in reply to ncligs.

1. of course smoking is bad, & the lung association wants to get rid of it all, so their point of view is obvious

2. it doesn't list how it came up with their numbers. I am dubious of the statistics and of the studies that are anti-2nd hand smoke. Plus, these estimations are simply that, estimations. Possible "junk science"?