Disney World Hotels

I have a question. When you are a guest at one of the on property Disney Resorts, are you able to use the other resorts, i.e. pools and recreation areas?

Technically, no. However, those Disney resorts are MASSIVE. No one will notice/care if you use another resort's pool, at best, you MIGHT have to show your room key if you are really unlucky, but those are the same at all resorts, so you should be good to go. :)

They tend to be hotter on checking your I.D. / residency during the peak seasons, but as long as it's fairly quiet when you're there, they likely won't care...

Security can be dire - last time we went we stayed off-site on I'tl Drive and were still able to wander freely around the hotels, make purchases in the shops, use the facilities.... didn't once see a security guard!

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those are the same at all resorts

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Odd. I remember them having my resort name on them, but maybe not.

In addition to seasonal considerations, there are some pools that are more careful than others. In particular stormalong bay (yacht/beach club) is known to be pretty picky.

"Stop right there and slowly put down the over-priced T-shirt!"

Seriously, in the scheme of things, checking which guest is in which hotel isn't a priority for them. As long as you stay in the public areas and aren't wondering around the hallways where the guest rooms are, I don't think you'd have any problems.

A group of us were there last year. We were staying in one of the All-stars, but some of our party went to breakfast one day at the Grand Floridian, and we went to the Wilderness Lodge one evening.

In fact, it's a pretty shrewd move by Disney-- let the guests see all the other hotels and they're already planning where they'll stay on their next trip.

One more caveat: when it's busy, the hotels with locations convenient to theme parks will be pretty curious about why you are there---it helps to have a reservation at one of the hotel's restaurants. You may only get a three hour pass for the lot; if you need more time, use the valet.

However, RGB is right: you can visit any hotel, any time, for almost any reason---pool hopping being the one notable exception.

Well, that and stalking guests.

If you are a Disney Vacation Club Member, you can pool hop at all of the resorts except Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Yacht and Beach Club. It's a pretty nice perk! I don't know about normal guests though and the pool hopping policies...

I have no idea how they are about that, but I doubt they're going to check if you go to that specific hotel while you're in the pool.

That being said, try to get to the all star sports pool, that Goofy statue with the water cannon is really entertaining. :)

- Josh

Well,

Having taken a trip to a disey park and staying on property, the 'official' stance is that pools are restricted to guests of that particular resort only. However, any other recreatonal activities (i.e. boat/bike rental, golf, tennis, campfire programs, boat cruises, etc) are open to anybody at any resort.

Your "Key to The World" card does NOT explicitly state your room number or resort. I suppose thats all in keeping with modern hotel room security standards. However their is a code number on the keycard that staff could use to tell which resort you are a guest of.

Now, common sense will dictate that they aren't going to start checking roomkeys unless it is obvious you aren't a guest there, or the pool is getting crowded. Remember Disney is all about putting a positive carefree guest experience first, so as long as people aren't being disruptive and there is plenty of pool to go around, they likely wont care. Still, bear in mind what the 'official' rules are, you might just save yourself that embarassing, awkward situation should you find yourself with a lifegurard who decided to do a random keycard inspection.

Along with that, anybody can use the restaurants, gift shops, lounges and other common areas of the resorts, and since most everybody there is dressed in theme-park casual, the only way you are goin to attract security to yourself is if you start causing a disruption or start acting in a suspicious manner, (i.e. standing in front of a room door trying a stack of keycards out on it...)

Also note resorts nearest the parks may enforce parking restrictions if you are not a guest. When you check in you are given a parking permit for your dashboard that clearly states which resort issued it.

The pools at the "Deluxe" resorts are more likely to check IDs. I've stayed at three moderate resorts and one value resort and have never seen ID checking any of them. I have, however, seen ID checks at the Yacht and Beach Club and at Animal Kingdom Lodge.