Who's got the best pool bar???

[hrt2hrtmomdeb]

My fiance has to have his day of relaxation, beer and food all while wearing nothing but his trunks and staying as close as possible to the chlorine!! I'd like to know everyones thoughts on which places are the best in this area. I'm sure Beach and Yacht club are at the top but I've never stayed there and would like some input from Disers. I know most of the pool bars serve snacks but he's really looking for a good burger or sandwich. Please any pics or other info is greatly appreciated.

 

[Pooh Bear Hugs]

We don't drink much but the poly one has the best location for relaxing on the beach.

 

[Buzz2001]

CSR has a good pool bar that serves good burgers, nachos and chicken warps.

Francisco - Siestas bartender

 

[frdeb1999]

The one at the Poly is great. My DH has to do the same thing every evening. Very nice place to relax!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

YC/BC does have a great pool bar - they even have servers that come around that take your order!

I thought the GF had a good pool bar too - they had food offerings, or you could order off the room service menu and they would bring it to you.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

We stay at the YC/BC a few times a year and love it BUT SAB is soooo popular that getting a server takes forever (if it is too slow they don't have one). There is ALWAYS a line. Although we love BC, because it is always so busy there I think it is one of the worst.

My favorite is the one at GF. I love the grounds by the main pool and it is never crowded.

 

[Hopefully]

To the OP a question. Do you know that unless you are a DVC member you can only use the pool at the resort you are checked in at? So the pool choice would determine your resort choice.
We have had drinks at the Poly bar, SAB and at the Boardwalk bar and we found them all great. The lines at SAB were the longest and it was the slowest.
Having the beach right there at the Poly was really pretty and we definiitely relaxed there. The view from the Boardwalk bar, over the canal and looking at the Swan and Dolphin and off to the DHS was great too.
I don't think you would be disappointed in any of these.
Have a great trip.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

To the OP a question. Do you know that unless you are a DVC member you can only use the pool at the resort you are checked in at? So the pool choice would determine your resort choice.
We have had drinks at the Poly bar, SAB and at the Boardwalk bar and we found them all great. The lines at SAB were the longest and it was the slowest.
Having the beach right there at the Poly was really pretty and we definiitely relaxed there. The view from the Boardwalk bar, over the canal and looking at the Swan and Dolphin and off to the DHS was great too.
I don't think you would be disappointed in any of these.
Have a great trip.

We stayed at the BW and loved the pool bar there also. We had a great afternoon there but it did remind me that there are NO seats at the SAB pool bar. Only 2 long snaking lines. One for food and one for drinks. It does have a bigger seating area to eat BUT not big enough to handle a crowd.

 

[johnsonet]

I really like the pool bar at AKL. It's got a good bit of seating and is attractive and conveniently located to where I always like to sit
The bar at the Poly is nice too and sits on some great real estate Right by the Poly beach, next to the Volcano pool, you can see the Seven Seas lagoon, The Castle, the GF, the Wedding Pavilion, etc.
The SAB pool is my least favorite, although I've always had very friendly bartenders there! But it is BUSY and not conveniently located to where we hang out when staying at the BC.
I was at the GF Waterfall pool bar last week - and also enjoyed poolside service - and it's always nice too.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We've done alot of different pool bars in all our stays but we finally settled into one resort after 40 trips. Wilderness Lodge has a good pool bar as do all the other resorts and sandwiches from the CS is adequate enough, but I find with the grocery stop in route to WDW, where we pick up our own beverages, that relaxing in or at the pool with a cooler of our favorite brew, plastic bottle of hooch and some ice is a cheaper way of spending some quality time around the chlorine tub, beers really iced down, super cold, sweating cans makes the day, few cubes and a splash of JD hits the spot and in the evenings some chilled wine, romantic pool and nighttime lighting tops off the day. Disneys prices are skyhigh and 2 beers doesn't cut it with me and after paying 10 bucks for 2 when a 12 pack can be had, well, you do the math. We hit a Publix on 192 from the train station in Kissimmee and next to the grocery store is a liquor store, all just like home and about the same price. We get sandwich fixing and such, 3 liters of wine, fifth of JD and a 30 pack of Busch-lite and we're good to go for 10 days.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Hmmm...I'm not a heavy drinker, but I do enjoy afrosty poolside beverage while on vacation....

My two favorites are the ones at the Dolphin/Swan and the one at AKL. BC is one of few resortsI never stayed at. The bar at the BWK is also really pretty.

The bar at BWK looks like a Merry-go-round. I dunno, the Merry-go-round makes more think of kids, which makes me think kids and rinking don't go so well. So maybe I'm a bit odd in my thinking, but even though BWK's is really pretty, it just donesn't make me feel comfortable drinking so much. It is very pretty though.

The one at AKL has great bartenders and very good juice oriented cocktails. No straw though and no food. the food court is quite close though. Not sure if you can bring food wrappers near pool though as that starts to get closer to animals. AKL also doesn't allow straws. You can drink beverages poolside though. Plus, you get animals.

At either the Swan or Dolphin though you get several poolside options. Near Swan main pool you get food, and a sometimes open poolside bar. In the middle you get eh awesome grotto pool, with sometimes poolside drink service, and some of the best hot tubs anywhere. they are nicely tucked into lush landscaping, and the last bar is pretty close. The last option is over near the Dolphin. It's a cabana bar with multiple frozen drink machines, and very good pub food (I recall burgers, fries, dogs, salads). You can't use your room key to charge things in the parks, but you can charge food/beverages from the poolside bars on your room key. In all there are like four pools to choose from.

 

[kinggoofy]

We like to have a few "refreshments" while on vacation. We have tried the pool bars at Poly, BW, CSR, POR, POFQ, CBR & POP.

For us, our favorite is POLY. I also like the CSR pool bar from what I remember of it. We stayed there in 1998. The rest are "serviceable" and nothing special.

However, the ONE major flaw about the POLY pool bar is they only have 2 bartenders and the lines can get long which increases the waiting time in the hot sun.

Last year, the POLY had a pool bar waitress. She was excellent and always made sure to ask if me and DW needed anything. BUT, this past trip in April, she was not there.

KG

 

[TheRustyScupper]

From EXTENSIVE investigation, I found that after 2-3 drinks, all are equal.

 

[hrt2hrtmomdeb]

Thanks so much for all your replies.

We stay at the Poly a lot while I'm in love with the pool they don't offer anything but snacks. Captain cooks is only a few steps away but poor fiance isn't the adventurous food type and wouldn't have much of a choice there. Last year we actually walked over to the GF to grab food from gasparilla!

BUZZ2001- You rock! Awesome pics from the Coronado! That food is definitely more up my fiance's alley.

I never even considered how crowded it gets at YC/BC even being an issue! Thanks for pointing that out!!

Hopefully - That's why I'm asking the question! We haven't decided where we are staying yet. More than likely we will do a split stay. Even if we were DVC members I wouldn't pool hop. Too lazy I guess. LOL

pepe of ohio - Great thinking. Never even thought of that option! Thanks.

 

[cfknight]

I like the one at AKL, but if I had to pick just one, my vote would go to POR's
"Muddy Rivers" It has a big deck to sit on overlooking the pool.

 

[momjkm]

what are the WL pool bar--- anyone have an opinion? do they have a special drink menu or serve food?
Jill

 

[mrincredible2008]

csr was great last trip....looking forward to the pool bar at poly. I like to split my bar experience between the room bar for beer and easy mix drinks. But I got to have a few Sunken Treasures from the pool bars.

 

[johnsonet]

From EXTENSIVE investigation, I found that after 2-3 drinks, all are equal.

So true

 

[alldiz]

BW pool bar....fun atmosphere.
Kerri