Pool Hopping - a real perk?

[xdan0920]

Other than BCV, yes, it’s expected owners will follow the rules on their own.

But I did witness non guests being asked to leave RIV this winter. They were clearly from CBR and sitting close enough to the life guard and others that it was clear from their conversations they were not staying at Rv

So, they were asked to leave and they did quickly.

Never saw the value in doing it myself.

Never had the time to do it myself either. The only conceivable situation I can think of for doing it, would be if you are staying at GF/Poly and want to take a stroll to the Poly/GF. Other then that, the effort involved doesn't seem worth the payoff.

 

[peabody58]

Pool hopped once back in 2011 to experience the Scary Clown at BWV. Now we own BWV.

IMO, pool hopping is overrated and uses too much of our valuable time. Nice that it's available for those who want to utilize it, but it no longer something we use.

 

[The Jackal]

Other than BCV, yes, it’s expected owners will follow the rules on their own.

But I did witness non guests being asked to leave RIV this winter. They were clearly from CBR and sitting close enough to the life guard and others that it was clear from their conversations they were not staying at Rv

So, they were asked to leave and they did quickly.

Never saw the value in doing it myself.

BCV and BLT are the only two that I know of where you need a magic band/ room key or a special wrist band to enter the pool. All the other pools are unlocked for anyone to enter, though most if not all appear to have the same magic band/ room card scanner to unlock the gate. The scanners probably have broken and Disney has determined that not that many people besides hotel guests use the pools and it’s not worth the money to fix.

 

[Sandisw]

BCV and BLT are the only two that I know of where you need a magic band/ room key or a special wrist band to enter the pool. All the other pools are unlocked for anyone to enter, though most if not all appear to have the same magic band/ room card scanner to unlock the gate. The scanners probably have broken and Disney has determined that not that many people besides hotel guests use the pools and it’s not worth the money to fix.

RIV requires a magic band for both pools too. And they are locked so those people had to follow someone in.

 

[Shellyred8]

Does anyone recall when the Poly main pool was closed for extensive remodeling, did they give the guests a pass to Typhoon Lagoon (or BB)? I seem to remember something like that, but I don't remember the details. Or was it for a different resort???

 

[CMNJ]

Does anyone recall when the Poly main pool was closed for extensive remodeling, did they give the guests a pass to Typhoon Lagoon (or BB)? I seem to remember something like that, but I don't remember the details. Or was it for a different resort???

They did back in 2014. I wasn’t staying at the Poly at the time but they also extended the offer to those at Wilderness Lodge which also had their feature pool closed for major renovations too. We were staying at Wilderness Lodge (cash reservation not DVC) that fall. I overheard someone at the old villas pool (which was rather small and unimpressive) talking about how they were offered typhoon lagoon tickets or $50 off per night of their stay because of the pool situation there so I inquired about it at the front desk and was given the same options. We had a short stay at the time so a day at typhoon lagoon didn’t really make sense for us but getting another $50 off per night was great!

 

[Leight19]

I’ve never done pool hopping but for me I envision the value would be when traveling with friends/family who are at different resort. Perfect example is my sister and her family will be at akv while we are at poly this September. We are hoping to do boma breakfast on one of our non park days and being able to swim together after at akv would be nice.

Just to confirm though, this benefit was suspended with Covid and hasn’t returned yet right?

 

[LadybugsMum]

BCV and BLT are the only two that I know of where you need a magic band/ room key or a special wrist band to enter the pool. All the other pools are unlocked for anyone to enter, though most if not all appear to have the same magic band/ room card scanner to unlock the gate. The scanners probably have broken and Disney has determined that not that many people besides hotel guests use the pools and it’s not worth the money to fix.

Poly does too. I took my kids to the pool while we were waiting on our room to be ready and had to go to the front desk to get our MBs accepted at the gate to the main pool.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Before the restrictions began we use to pool hop at least once a trip on one of our non-park days. Great way to eat at another QS, shop at differently themed shops, and enjoy another resort. AKV was our favorite as we love the resort but don't love to stay there(due to distance from everything). That said we aren't dying without the benefit either. Id rather help to reduce crowding if needed.

BCV and BLT are the only two that I know of where you need a magic band/ room key or a special wrist band to enter the pool. All the other pools are unlocked for anyone to enter, though most if not all appear to have the same magic band/ room card scanner to unlock the gate. The scanners probably have broken and Disney has determined that not that many people besides hotel guests use the pools and it’s not worth the money to fix.

This still blows my mind about GF. We use our points at VGF frequently and it always pops in my mind how easy it would be to hop over from MK and take a dip, even have changing rooms that are basically open to al

 

[CarolynFH]

Just to confirm though, this benefit was suspended with Covid and hasn’t returned yet right?

Right. I'm in the group that thinks it will probably not return at all.

 

[sndral]

…AKV was our favorite as we love the resort but don't love to stay there(due to distance from everything). That said we aren't dying without the benefit either. Id rather help to reduce crowding if needed.
…

AKL/V’s pools were both restricted w/ no DVC hopping allowed up until 2019 https://www.disboards.com/threads/pool-hopping-for-dvc-members.3693058/#post-59468150 and of course there’s been no hopping since the 2020 shutdown.

Right. I'm in the group that thinks it will probably not return at all.

Now that they have fences & room key access gates around most of the pools it’s likely easier to just exclude all non resort guests rather than fuss w/ allowing access to the small subset of DVC members staying on their own points wanting to hop to a non restricted pool.

 

[Sammie]

I agree that the excluded list is so long that those on the approved list get the shaft on this. It is time for it to end.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

We pool hopped in March and didn't realize the restrictions other than Beach Club. We were staying at Poly and I've gotta think outside guests were there because the pool was really crowded. After Poly2 that pool is going to be beyond packed during warm weather.

We went to VGF where we own and it was fine but we were in the main pool which is huge. We also went to BWV and the pool was almost empty in the evening.

The second part of our split stay was at Jambo where the pool was packed but Kidani pool was closed.

I don't see us pool hopping now that I know the rules. I'd be so embarrassed to get kicked out of a resort pool. We probably will try and book a stay at BCV in the future to try Stormalong Bay though.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

AKV was one of the first pools to not allow pool-hopping. (I think Stormalong Bay pool was the only one until AKV opened.) Then BLT was restricted when it opened, so there were 3. It used to be a legitimate perk if you wanted to spend that much time going to another resort to swim. But it has evolved into basically just a perk on paper (to impress people buying into DVC who are starry eyed with all the possibilities.)

 

[sndral]

…After Poly2 that pool is going to be beyond packed during warm weather.
…

I’ve been wondering if Poly 2 opens as a new DVC rather than an add on to Poly 1 whether they’ll limit use of the Poly 2 pool to those staying in Poly 2 excluding cash guests as well as Poly 1 guests like they limited the BLT pool to BLT guests & excluded Contemporary cash guests.

 

[xdan0920]

I’ve never done pool hopping but for me I envision the value would be when traveling with friends/family who are at different resort. Perfect example is my sister and her family will be at akv while we are at poly this September. We are hoping to do boma breakfast on one of our non park days and being able to swim together after at akv would be nice.

Just to confirm though, this benefit was suspended with Covid and hasn’t returned yet right?

If someone is staying there, you are fine. Nothing wrong there.

 

[BeachClub2014]

We went to VGF where we own and it was fine but we were in the main pool which is huge. We also went to BWV and the pool was almost empty in the evening.

It feels legit to me if you're using the pool at one of your home resorts. Is that considered "hopping"?

 

[Sandisw]

I’ve been wondering if Poly 2 opens as a new DVC rather than an add on to Poly 1 whether they’ll limit use of the Poly 2 pool to those staying in Poly 2 excluding cash guests as well as Poly 1 guests like they limited the BLT pool to BLT guests & excluded Contemporary cash guests.

Seeing that it is all DVC, they certainly could make it Poly tower guests only. The other pools are not part of DVC...they are owned and operated by Poly resort...so those rules will be determined in conjunction with them.

Given the close nature of the pools, I would be surprised if it was restricted to only those at Poly tower...I think it would be more likely that all pools will be available to all guests staying at the complex...especially since it doesn't seem like this is will be a feature pool with slide....BLT has those features....

 

[DonMacGregor]

If someone is staying there, you are fine. Nothing wrong there.

Pretty sure that's not how it works. If @Leight19 is staying at Poly and their sister is at AKV, Leight19 can't swim at the AKV pool unless they are also on the AKV reservation.

"my sister and her family will be at akv while we are at poly this September. We are hoping to do boma breakfast on one of our non park days and being able to swim together after at akv would be nice."

 

[Brett Wyman]

AKL/V’s pools were both restricted w/ no DVC hopping allowed up until 2019 https://www.disboards.com/threads/pool-hopping-for-dvc-members.3693058/#post-59468150 and of course there’s been no hopping since the 2020 shutdown.

We bought in October 2018 so that makes sense.