Why are Bay Lake Tower guests allowed to use the Contemporary pool?

[Innkeeper's Club]

I'm not positive. I do know the Beach Club has a "quiet pool" behind the Villas which is supposed to be for DVC members only. BUT, they don't have anyone checking anything, and it doesn't seem to be a problem.

Really because I can honestly say that's the first time I ever heard anyone say that about the Beach Club Villas quiet pool.

I do know for a fact that the quiet pool at the Boardwalk Villas doesn't have anyone checking to make sure it's only for guests staying there, however that's also for guests staying at the Boardwalk Inn should they feel like going over there.

 

[captainkidd]

That's one of the thing I love about the Wilderness Lodge. No nonsense about the pools. They're both open to anyone staying at the Lodge or Villas.

 

[tjkraz]

Personally I think you're reading too much into this. Why is the Bay Cove pool exclusive to DVC members? Because that's what DVC/Disney decided to do. Period. End of story.

Whether or not it mirrors the pool setup at other resorts is irrelevant.

 

[jakeman]

It's a logistical issue...but it's one that Disney itself created. There's really no good reason for BLT to be closed off. You could argue that non-guests don't have a reason to enter but that's still a pretty thin argument, IMO. Non-guests enter every other Disney resort and they have never felt the need to...protect (?)...guests from having to mingle with the non-guests.

BLT has the unique situation of having almost no amenities save the pool and the lounge at the top. It's actually a little annoying to me when we stayed there.

Given that there is no revenue to be brought in by having open access to the hotel, then there is no reason to allow access to non-guest. The risk outweigh the rewards in this case.

 

[tjkraz]

BLT has the unique situation of having almost no amenities save the pool and the lounge at the top. It's actually a little annoying to me when we stayed there.

Given that there is no revenue to be brought in by having open access to the hotel, then there is no reason to allow access to non-guest. The risk outweigh the rewards in this case.

The original premise was that non-BLT guests cannot use the pool because the entire resort is gated. I disagree with that assertion. Pool use isn't restricted because it's gated, rather the resort is gated because Disney decided to restrict the pool.

Disney was not obligated to gate the entire resort. If they had skipped the key card locks, there would be no additional security risk to guests. It would be no different than Animal Kingdom Lodge, Grand Floridian, Poly and 20+ other Disney resorts where anyone driving or bussing to the resort has unfettered access to the property.

 

[jakeman]

The original premise was that non-BLT guests cannot use the pool because the entire resort is gated. I disagree with that assertion. Pool use isn't restricted because it's gated, rather the resort is gated because Disney decided to restrict the pool.

Disney was not obligated to gate the entire resort. If they had skipped the key card locks, there would be no additional security risk to guests. It would be no different than Animal Kingdom Lodge, Grand Floridian, Poly and 20+ other Disney resorts where anyone driving or bussing to the resort has unfettered access to the property.

I think you are focusing on the pool too much and may be losing site of the forest because of the trees.

Disney is about generating revenue from it's guest. With the current set up of BLT the only revenue generating area is the lounge at the top which is exclusive for DVC members as other guest can use the Contemporary tower.

I don't even think the DVC pool has a pool bar.

The bottom line is, why would Disney allow non-guest access to an area when there is no benefit to Disney? No revenue is being generated there and all the standard risk are still present.

Access is limited to BLT for the simple reason is a guest in that area, who isn't staying there, is a guest who is not in an area where they can spend money.

 

[tjkraz]

I think you are focusing on the pool too much and may be losing site of the forest because of the trees.

That's because this is a discussion specifically ABOUT the pool.

I agree that there is no reason for non-guests to be there, no restaurants, no shops, etc.

However, IF Disney wanted to allow CR Tower guests (or any others) to use the pool, they easily could have skipped the gate. Cause and effect. Pool use isn't restricted BECAUSE of the gate....rather the gate EXISTS because they wish to restrict pool use.

I don't even think the DVC pool has a pool bar.

Yes, it does.

 

[jakeman]

That's because this is a discussion specifically ABOUT the pool.

Just because the discussion is about the pool doesn't mean you just ignore what the root cause is. Apologies if I missed the point of the discussion, but I was under the impression we were searching for the reason the pool was restricted.

However, IF Disney wanted to allow CR Tower guests (or any others) to use the pool, they easily could have skipped the gate. Cause and effect. Pool use isn't restricted BECAUSE of the gate....rather the gate EXISTS because they wish to restrict pool use.

Of course that is the case. I looked back through the thread and apologies again if I overlooked it but I didn't see anyone stating anything contrary to that.

It seems like the discussion centered around why the pool is cordoned off not the semantics of cause and effect.

However, the bottom line is you can't discuss why the pool is restricted without discussing the overriding financial motivation behind the decision.

 

[Annielkd]

Ok... I was wrong. I looked this up and I had been told that each Villa had a quiet pool only for DVC members or people purchasing Villa accomidations. I just found out that Beach club does have a quiet pool for DVC members but all Beach club accomidations can use that pool. I had thought that it was only for DVC. So, your question as to why Bay Lake Tower has it's own pool can only be answered by a former post. "Because Disney wanted it that way." is apparently the only answer.

 

[tjkraz]

It seems like the discussion centered around why the pool is cordoned off...

As has been stated several times, the only answer we're going to get is "because that's what Disney wants."

For every justification we could throw out for the locks / gate, there's an exception immediately available.

No there are no gift shops or restaurants at Bay Lake Tower. By that measure, non-guests don't need to be granted access. However there are also no gift shops or restaurants on the upper floors of the Beach Club or BoardWalk but Disney didn't install key readers in the elevators. There are no keyed doors separating resort lobbies--where revenue-generating facilities are located--from the wings of villa and hotel rooms.

Pool hopping is prohibited at Bay Cove Pool. But it's also prohibited at the Beach Club pools--only one of which is mildly policed--and at the Jambo pool which has no gate or other barrier.

If you want to argue that there's no money to be made by allowing pool hopping to BLT, the same could be said of any other pool. The Contemporary gift shops and restaurants are 2 minutes away from the Bay Cove Pool. A DVC member hopping over to Bay Cove could easily end up spending money at nearby venues. And there IS a bar at Bay Cove.

There simply is no parallel for the setup and policies at Bay Lake Tower. At the end of the day, it is what it is. At risk of repeating myself, the existence of the gate has no real bearing on the policies Disney chose to adopt.

 

[roydavid7771]

That's where I think DVC sounds like hypocrites because they let Bay Lake Tower guests swim at the Contemporary, however they don't let Contemporary guests swim at Bay Lake Tower. They should have extended that rule to Contemporary guests or not allowed Bay Lake Tower guests to swim there to make things fair for both sides.

Fair's got nothing to do with it. First, Disney policy is what it is. Second, previous posters have mentioned that pool hopping it is a perk of being DVC members, and even then there are certain exceptions to that perk. Personally, as a DVC member, I could see how allowing non-DVC members to utilize DVC amenities would annoy me. For the costs of membership, I would like to think that there are perks that go along with it. Noto go off topic, but I know a hot topic of discussion is the use of the Top of the World Lounge at BLT. I'm sure that would start a few discussions here!