Best hotel pool for 5 and 3 year old?

[dm11]

We are going to WDW in May for a week and trying to settle for a hotel. One thing that is important to us is good pool for young children. Things like zero depth entry, spray areas, maybe small slide, etc. So far we are thinking between Polynesian, Contemporary, BLT, GF and AKL. They all look nice on photos but it is hard to tell which one would be the best for young children (3 and 5).

Any advice and firsthand experience would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Brandon.]

The Caribbean Beach resort had a great pool specially for the little ones, there was a specialized section iirc that was for real little ones(like fountains, play set and small slides), then the main pool had a walk in section.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Polynesian and GF have zero entry, slide and spray area - both are nice and I haven't stayed at the others - but if you're looking for awesome as far as the pool area goes, have you considered Beach Club or Yacht Club? They share what is in my opinion the best pool on property. It's huge, sand bottomed and has a sweet slide from across the walkway atop a pirate ship. My husband and I stayed there on our honeymoon and LOVED it.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Here is the view of Stormalong Bay (BC/YC pool) from Google earth:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&t=h&ie=UTF8&ll=28.370712,-81.557645&spn=0.000991,0.00751&z=17

 

[dm11]

Thanks for the tips. We’ve kind of narrowed down to MK resorts because of the monorail. AKL was late addition because of theming we think kids would love, to compensate for remote location.

 

[The MadHatter]

stormalong bay....best
plus hurricane hannahs for the adults

 

[4everDory]

Another vote for the YC/BC and Stormalong Bay! There's a great sand/water area on one side of the pool for kids to play in, and there's a small slide, too, at the entrance to the steps for the "big kid" slide. Don't forget, you can walk to Epcot from YC/BC! To get to MK, you can take a short bus ride, or take monorails there after spending some time at Epcot (if you have a park hopper). To get to DHS from YC/BC, you can take a boat. AK is only a short bus ride away, too. We love staying here, b/c of its central location.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

While we didn't stay at any of the resorts in your list of options, they were some of our finalists as well. Our kids are 2 and 4...and they didn't care for the pics of the Contemporary's pool. I remember them liking the AKL pool, but Poly was one of the resorts where they oooo'd and aaaaa'd over the pool pics. I think the freaky clown pool at Boardwalk was the only deluxe resort pool that they really hated.

 

[mhaftman7]

I also agree. Stormalong at BC/YC is the best. Not only are you short walk from EPCOT, a short ferry ride from DHS, and you can pick up the monorail in EPCOT. But the sand bottom pool and water slide are very nice. Plus you can rent the water sprites out in the bay there. Very fun time. If you can afford it, go with the concierge floor.

 

[bmarkelon]

We just stayed at BLT with our 5 and 3 yr old. They loved the zero entry, kiddie slide and big slide. You can't beat having the choice of walking into MK or jumping on the monorail. Plus you can hop over to the Contemporary's pool too.

 

[ginnyfavers]

Out of the resorts you are considering, I would recommend the Polynesian. Nice beach right by the zero entry area of the pool, and a slide the 5 year will like, a waterfall for the 3 year old. Plus there's a snack bar right there, at Captain Cook's.

AKL's main pool is overly busy, crowded, large, and it's not my favorite. BUT the new Kidani Village dvc area's pool is fabulous! Don't know if you're interested but having a one bedroom villa over there with a full kitchen, two bathrooms, a washer and dryer and view of the animals on the savanna, plus the fabulous pool... that's almost a dead heat with the Polynesian. Plus there's the best bathroom for the grownups on all of Disney property, no kidding. Fabulous.

 

[Snow White 610]

This is great info! Besides CBR, any other moderates offer zero depth entry?

 

[dm11]

We narrowed it down to Poly and BLT. And then the decision was made for us - studios at BLT are gone so Poly it is

Thanks to everybody for great info.

 

[Sari8970]

We stayed at BLT the last 2 years and we spend most of our time at MK so it's great because we even walked a bunch of times instead of waiting for and dealing with the monorail (although the monorail is the easiest transportation around when 2 kids are in a double stroller).

My kids are now 2 and 4. The little kiddie slide is awesome, the zero depth entry is great and they had an amazing time at the spray fountains.

We had a 1 bedroom and having a full kitchen was great, especially since my kids are early risers. We brought bagels with us and had groceries delivered to give us some of the regular foods they eat (my kids are really bad eaters and really picky too). We ate breakfast before the parks, went back for lunch and an afternoon nap for the little one (and took my older one to either the pool or on a boat ride and didn't even have to get off at the other properties because he just loved being on the boat) and then ate dinner before going back to the parks. We even did this on the days we went to the other parks and then just went to MK at night.

I know you said you booked the Poly, but you can always keep checking to see if something opens at BLT. That's how we ended up being able to stay at BLT last year. The first year was easier because we booked it before it even opened and then went right after opening.