We are staying at the Poly in August (me, DH, DS5, DS8, DS10, MIL, FIL) and family friends of ours will be staying at the four seasons (husband, wife, two sons ages 8 and 10 - they are doing universal). We would like to meet up with them on one of our two resort days and give the kids a chance to hang out, but we’re not sure what to do.
We can’t swim at each other’s pools. We have dinner reservations for B&C for our family - I set up a reservation finder to see if we can get them in, too. We would be willing to skip B&C if it meant doing something with them.
I was able to get a reservation for all of us at Whispering Canyon, but would there be more for us to do in that area before or after we eat?
I’ve also considered mini golf, but I’m not sure that would work well with such a large crowd.
You could take the Wildnerness Lodge tour! It takes like an hour. I’m not sure the schedule. But just walking around the grounds there is nice.
You could also get a dole whip at Poly, take the monorail to MK, then take a friendship boat to Wilderness lodge. That could be a fun afternoon activity.
Between Whispering Canyon and B&C for a large group, I’d keep the WC reservation. As @Jeff_AZ said, the WL grounds are great. The group could explore and watch the “geyser” go off. Then you could take to boat to FW if the kids are into playing outside - they have a playground. There’s an arcade if they prefer inside. FW also has bike rentals and lots of area to explore.
Or take WL boat over to MK and then ride the monorail around (I consider it a “ride” )
If the kids like to shop, maybe hit all the souvenir shops in CR, GF and Poly. Also, depending on the time of day, Poly usually has resort activities. At least last time we stayed there (pre-Covid), they had hula dancing and lai making. If in the evening, there’s usually a Disney movie Under the stars. Of course, Poly has the beach, maybe play in the sand together? Poly also has boat rentals and fishing excursions.
I love all of these suggestions, thank you! We will probably wait until that day to make a final decision of what we do, but I love the idea of using the different transportation options as a ride - I had already wanted to do that at some point so including our friends is a good option.
I’m leaning towards whispering canyon followed by exploring fort wilderness or activities at the poly, depending on what’s a available that day.
And I think our friends might love the dole whip and fireworks on the beach option. Thanks everyone!!
Yes, you can bring them into the pool at the Poly w/ you. When they come to the resort they will tell the gate guard they are meeting friends, give them your reservation name and room number. And you will have a MB or access to the pools at the Poly and you can all go in together. Easy Peasy. I like the quiet pool, but the kids might like the other one better.
If a couple of adults want to hang with kids at pool or take them to FtW to the playground - right next to Crockett’s Tavern - while other adults could do a monorail loop.
I’m only talking about the quiet pool right now, but when I’ve stayed there and used the main pool area as a short cut no one was ‘guarding’ the gate; I banded in and walked through w/o issue. You need a MB to get into the pools (or room key card). I’ve visited the quiet pool w/o a reservation but w/ a friend staying there @LTinNC82 and @ThorKat visited @Dreamer at the pool while she was staying there.
I will add that @LTinNC82 was having an issue once w/ tapping into the quiet pool area and a CM was hesitant to let us in. I don’t remember what she said, other than she was a registered guest.
I would say one or two people could probably get in without drawing too much attention (if you could figure out a way to park - ADR or Disney transport). But strictly speaking, I don’t think it’s allowed and you would draw attention with an entire family joining you.
I disagree… I understand the principle of it, so if you feel uncomfortable doing it then I wouldn’t. But no one monitors the pool gate and only one person needs to tap in and many can just follow. They don’t make every person in a party tap in to get into the pool area. I think they monitor the pool gate at B/YC but I’ve never stayed there so I don’t know. I’ve been a registered guest at KV, CR, OKW, BW, Poly, all mods and values and I’ve never seen a pool gate being monitored.
ETA: I personally wouldn’t be bothered by a family having visitors, but I guess I can see where it might bother some
At BC/YC they give you a wristband that is a specific color for the day. They check in one guest by magic band or card and ask for the number in your party and then they put the wristband on you. (We have had one monitor who handed us the wristbands to put on ourselves, but mostly they put them on us.) The wristbands may also be because you have to leave the pool area to get to the slide.
So I’ve had 1 non resort guest visit me at OKW, AKL, WL and Poly and they always had to give my name and sometimes room number to get through the gate to visit. We’ve been to the pool too and as long as I tapped in with my band and could open the gate, no one gave me a 2nd look. Granted this was me and 1 person for a total of 2 people and not 2 distinct families of 4 so I’m not sure how that would work.
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