Walt Disney World: How to Pool Hop and Not Get Arrested

     Now that the word arrested has your attention, let’s talk about a topic that can make a lot of people get irritated quickly, Disney Pool Hopping. Pool hopping is simply staying at one resort and swimming at another. So how can you pool hop at Disney World and not get arrested for trespassing?

     There’s only one simple, legal, answer to that question, and that’s to join the DVC, the Disney Vacation Club. I have heard tales of people swimming in Disney Resort pools without staying on property, but you are of course taking the huge gamble of being thrown out when discovered, or worse, arrested for trespassing. That was not a risk I was ever willing to take, my mug shot winding up in the newspapers, my children crying as they stuff mommy in the squad car. I think people who do take this risk are clearly not thinking about the possible outcome.

     I am a Vacation Club Member. When we took the DVC tour, several things stood out in my mind. 1) The DVC building where they have tours was just fabulous. I’ve been in Country Clubs that weren’t as fashionable. It’s understated in a truly elegant way, but you feel important just standing in the lobby.  2) The cookies they give you in the waiting room are yummy, and the ice cream they give you when you leave is even better. 3) Pool Hopping is allowed for DVC members, with some stipulations. I heard this, and rational financial thought flew out the elegant-curtained windows.  Pool hopping, pool hopping, Disney Pool Hopping!!

     I love Disney pools, and while I have not stayed in all the Disney resorts, I have swam in a fair amount of their pools, the pools on the “Pool Hopping is O.K.” list. Truth be told, I’ve swam in more Disney pools than I have stayed in their numerous resorts. Why again was this possible? How do you pool hop without risking possible arrest and public humiliation when you’re caught swimming illegally?  Join the Disney Vacation Club.

     Once you’re in the DVC, or The Club as I lovingly call it, when you use your membership to stay at a WDW DVC  or Disnsy’s Vero Beach Resort, you and any guests staying with you are allowed to pool hop to certain Disney resort pools when they are not at full capacity.

Because of expected high occupancy, you cannot pool hop during the following dates this year:

• February 19 to 25
• March 31 to April 14
• May 26 to 28
• June 29 to July 7
• August 31 to September 3
• November 19 to 25
• December 16 to Jan 5 of 2013
• Disney has the option to add more blackout dates, if they choose, should the resorts fill to capacity.

Animal Kingdom Resort has a fabulous pool, but even a DVC membership won’t help you pool hop here.

Membership has its privileges, but there are certain pools even DVC members cannot ever swim in if they are staying at another resort.

• Bay Cove Pool at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
• any pools at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Stormalong Bay at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts
• the pool at Disney’s Beach Club Villas
• the pool at the Disneyland Resort in California

Vacationers pay a ton of money to go to Disney World. The nicer resort you stay in, the more money you will pay. It’s morally unethical to swim in a resort pool you did not pay to swim in. It’s also embarrassing if you get caught there illegally, so don’t take the risk.  Let the people who paid for those pool privileges enjoy them.

For the people who paid for DVC privileges, you will really enjoy the pool hopping option. The summer after we joined the DVC, we used our new points to stay at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. I’ll be honest; I was so broke, we decided not to put park tickets on our Disney Visa. We used a set of one day tickets from a prior trip, and we spent the next five days pool hopping.  I called it the GREAT DISNEY POOL TOUR. It was absolutely, positively fabulous. It was so great, it took the sting out of my DVC bill each month.

I know, I know, you don’t need to sleep in a fancy resort when you stay at the parks all day anyway. I realize it’s expensive. I said the exact things before we joined, and we still stay at inexpensive hotels on Disney trips when the points have run out, because they go fast. But when I hear people say that the DVC isn’t worth the money, I am the first one to pull up photos of my kids swimming in multiple Disney Deluxe Resorts and say…join The Club.

Would you like more information about the Disney Vacation Club pool hopping option? Call one of my favorite people in the (Disney)World, our personal DVC representative. His name is Aldemar Ramirez, he has the most amazing accent, and his number is 800-501-8669. Be sure to tell him Amanda Major referred you, because they frequently have DVC incentives if you know a member.

Thanks for stopping by for a photographical ride, and we’ll see you in the red van on the way to the DVC headquarters at Saratoga Springs to take a tour.  Save me a cookie.

Love Disney World photography? For a virtual Disney vacation in pictures, join Mouze Kateerz on Facebook and Mouze Kateerz on Pinterest. 

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