DVC pool hopping?

Ashleybritton

Mouseketeer
Joined
Nov 10, 2014
Is it true that if I'm staying DVC you can pool hop at the Contemporary and Grand Floridian? We're staying at the boardwalk, but the GF pool is my favorite for some reason. I love the monorail coming by and the slide is perfect for my kids. I'd love to take a morning and drive to the GF pool if this is the case. Are you allowed to park there without a dining reservation, or do you have to take resort busses/monorail to get there? It's a lot of effort for a pool, I know, but we just love it there. Some of our best vacation memories are at that pool.

Thank you!
 
So there are date restrictions:

Blockout Dates
Resort hotel pools may become unavailable from time to time due to capacity limitations. Due to the high occupancy that is expected, you and your overnight guests may not pool hop during the following dates:
  • December 20, 2019 through January 2, 2020
  • May 22, 2020 through May 25, 2020
  • June 28, 2020 through July 6, 2020
  • September 4, 2020 through September 7, 2020
  • November 23, 2020 through November 28, 2020
  • December 18, 2020 through January 2, 2021
As a reminder, please be mindful of the limited number of pool chairs available, and refrain from leaving towels or personal items on unoccupied pool chairs.

There are also resort restrictions, that no matter the date you can't hop there:

Important Information
  • Pool hopping is not available at the following pools at any time—with no exceptions to this policy:
    • Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort – Bay Cove Pool
    • Disney's Art of Animation Resort – pools
    • Disney’s Beach Club Villas – leisure pool
    • Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa – pools
    • Disney's Polynesian Village Resort – The Lava Pool and leisure pool
    • Disney's Riviera Resort - Riviera Pool and Beau Soleil Pool
    • Disney’s Wilderness Lodge – Boulder Ridge Cove Pool and The Copper Creek Springs Pool
    • Disney's Yacht Club Resort and Disney’s Beach Club Resort – Stormalong Bay
  • Other restricted dates than those listed above may be added based on projected pool capacity or maintenance needs.
  • Alternative pool use is subject to change or discontinuation at the sole discretion of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
  • Complimentary alternative pool use (pool hopping) is not considered a Membership Extra. This benefit is offered to all Disney Vacation Club Members, regardless of how they purchased

So in short the only resort in the MK area you can hop to is Contemporary (and can't use the BLT pool) or FW (though that isn't much of a pool). In the beginning of 2019 (or very late 2018) the GF pools were added to the restricted list completely. Also you can't drive and park at the resorts unless you valet park. Parking is for day guests shopping and dining at the resort (and often times they restrict parking to those with reservations).
 
Thank you! So the Grand Floridian is sadly out. I'm halfway tempted to buy a cabana and get in that way...but I know that's silly. It looks like we can go to the Contemporary which would be nice after our Chef Mickey's breakfast. My kids love pools and this is a rest day for us.
 
Is it true that if I'm staying DVC you can pool hop at the Contemporary and Grand Floridian? We're staying at the boardwalk, but the GF pool is my favorite for some reason. I love the monorail coming by and the slide is perfect for my kids. I'd love to take a morning and drive to the GF pool if this is the case. Are you allowed to park there without a dining reservation, or do you have to take resort busses/monorail to get there? It's a lot of effort for a pool, I know, but we just love it there. Some of our best vacation memories are at that pool.

Thank you!
Are you a DVC member? You can only pool hop if you are a member.
Denise
 


Thank you! So the Grand Floridian is sadly out. I'm halfway tempted to buy a cabana and get in that way...but I know that's silly. It looks like we can go to the Contemporary which would be nice after our Chef Mickey's breakfast. My kids love pools and this is a rest day for us.

If you aren’t staying at GF and can not pool hop there as a DVC member, I’m not sure you would be allowed to rent a cabana at the resort.
 
So there are date restrictions:

There are also resort restrictions, that no matter the date you can't hop there:

So in short the only resort in the MK area you can hop to is Contemporary (and can't use the BLT pool) or FW (though that isn't much of a pool). In the beginning of 2019 (or very late 2018) the GF pools were added to the restricted list completely.

Yeah, they really stripped that DVC benefit to the bone. When it was just YC, it didn't bother me, but now it's almost every darned pool. At this point just do away with it and stop the torture of calling it a benefit.
 


If you aren’t staying at GF and can not pool hop there as a DVC member, I’m not sure you would be allowed to rent a cabana at the resort.

Cabana rental is explicitly okay, actually, for everyone. It's true at GF and, of all places, Stormalong Bay. I think Poly restricts the faux-cabanas at the Oasis to Poly guests only.
 
Cabana rental is explicitly okay, actually, for everyone. It's true at GF and, of all places, Stormalong Bay. I think Poly restricts the faux-cabanas at the Oasis to Poly guests only.
Actually the cabana rentals at Contemporary or Grand Floridian are open to anyone staying on property. Stormalong Bay is restricted to YC and BC guests. As for the Poly “patios” I’m not sure, also GF has “patios” too that I’m not sure about.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/cabanas/
All cabanas can be rented for a full or half-day. Those at Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa are available to Guests of any Walt Disney World Resort hotel. Cabanas shared by Disney’s Beach Club Resort and Disney’s Yacht Club Resort are available to Guests of those Resorts only.
 
Cabana rental is explicitly okay, actually, for everyone. It's true at GF and, of all places, Stormalong Bay. I think Poly restricts the faux-cabanas at the Oasis to Poly guests only.

Every time we have booked a SAB cabana we have had to prove that we were staying there, both the times we have booked in advance (by giving a reservation number) and when we booked day-of by scanning our MBs.
 
Yeah, they really stripped that DVC benefit to the bone. When it was just YC, it didn't bother me, but now it's almost every darned pool. At this point just do away with it and stop the torture of calling it a benefit.
I haven't done it yet, but I still like having it as a benefit. I believe you can still use the Contemporary pool (walking distance from MK) and the BWV pool (walking distance from Epcot and Hollywood Studios) for a nice mid day break during the hot summer months (which is when we have to travel), without having to return to your own hotel.
 
I haven't done it yet, but I still like having it as a benefit. I believe you can still use the Contemporary pool (walking distance from MK) and the BWV pool (walking distance from Epcot and Hollywood Studios) for a nice mid day break during the hot summer months (which is when we have to travel), without having to return to your own hotel.

I have not done that. I doubt I will in any case. I agree, I actually loved the benefit, but it's getting too difficult for members to remember which pools are okay and which are off-limits. I would hate to plan and walk from MK to Cont. just to find out that they had cancelled that benefit on me over the last few months.

Again, it was one thing when it was 1 or 2 pools. But the list has gotten ridiculously difficult to be beneficial anymore.

Again, just my personal opinion. Of course, take it with a grain of salt, because I am firmly parked under "the erosion of DVC benefits and staying onsite have got too far" camp.,
 
I have not done that. I doubt I will in any case. I agree, I actually loved the benefit, but it's getting too difficult for members to remember which pools are okay and which are off-limits. I would hate to plan and walk from MK to Cont. just to find out that they had cancelled that benefit on me over the last few months.

Again, it was one thing when it was 1 or 2 pools. But the list has gotten ridiculously difficult to be beneficial anymore.

Again, just my personal opinion. Of course, take it with a grain of salt, because I am firmly parked under "the erosion of DVC benefits and staying onsite have got too far" camp.,
I've been thinking that it would be much nicer if there was just simply a list of pools you CAN pool hop to. The list they provide of pools that are excluded does indeed make it difficult
 
I've been thinking that it would be much nicer if there was just simply a list of pools you CAN pool hop to. The list they provide of pools that are excluded does indeed make it difficult

You are of course correct.

Psychologically, if you say "you can pool hop to any of these 14 pools except these 10" it takes away from the benefit (significantly). If you change the message to "on top of using your own pool, you can enjoy these other pools", it's a much different message, isn't it?
 
You are of course correct.

Psychologically, if you say "you can pool hop to any of these 14 pools except these 10" it takes away from the benefit (significantly). If you change the message to "on top of using your own pool, you can enjoy these other pools", it's a much different message, isn't it?
Oh I agree 100%. I don't disagree. But at the end of the day, I'd rather deal with a poorly worded website that still allowed me to do what I want, than to have the privilege taken away.
 
Remember, you can hop to non-DVC resorts as long as they aren't on the list of no hopping. So if you want to check out the sea serpent at FQ, you can do it. We probably haven't hopped for 15 or more years since the last place we hopped was Stormalong Bay.
 
In the beginning of 2019 (or very late 2018) the GF pools were added to the restricted list completely.

doesn’t seem to eliminate the GF villas pool, though. At least not explicitly.

When it was just YC, it didn't bother me, but now it's almost every darned pool.

disagree.

OKW
SSR
BW
Contemporary
AK Jambo and Kidani
maybe GV villa pool
Pop
AS music
AS sports
AS movies
(And I personally value the Value pools because I like to swim rather than splash, and swimming is best done in large simple pools)
CSR
CBR
POR
POFQ
FW

Now maybe you don’t value those pools, but I certainly do. Our extended family day at CSR was fabulous (other than lovebugs), for one example!
 
doesn’t seem to eliminate the GF villas pool, though. At least not explicitly
It does explicitly limit the pool, IMO. The restriction lists “Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa – pools”. I assume it is plural to restrict both; it’s not the only resort that doesn’t list each pool by name.
 
If you aren’t staying at GF and can not pool hop there as a DVC member, I’m not sure you would be allowed to rent a cabana at the resort.
The only resort that limits cabana rentals to registered guests is Yacht)Beach Club. I have rent a Contemporary cabana for my daughter's birthday a couple of times. I'd love to rent a BC cabana just because but it's a hard no.
 

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