Disney pools to be gated?

Not surprising really. Water + People (esp. Kids) = Major Liability

In fact, when I stop and think about it, I'm surprised they haven't done this yet.

Fair enough. I just hope the fences are in keeping with the theming and not ugly. Also I think the shut down hours should be between midnight and 6am. (Not 11pm til 7am as stated in the article)

They should make it midnight since some of the pool bars are open 12 pm to 12 am.

Hrmm - very interesting. This is the first that I've heard of it, though I know that some of the newer pools have been built gated. The Art of Animation Pools and the Samawati Springs pool at Kidani Village. The pools at the Disneyland Hotel and the Grand Californian are also gated.

The part of that rumor I mind is having the gates locked to everyone for off hours. This is another one of those things where we'll have to just wait and see.

I saw this the other day and the thing that gets me is, there are an awful lot of articles coming out with "This is breaking information not yet announced by Disney (technically that makes it a "rumor"), " comment!

And this is not "breaking new" , this rumor has been going around for years.

Posted today. They finally named a Disney spokesperson!

http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-77557565/

The article won't load for me.

huh? Loads right away for me.

hows this:

By Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel
11:06 am, September 26, 2013
Walt Disney World says it will begin stationing lifeguards at its largest hotel pools during all operating hours and then locking them down overnight, six months after a young boy drowned while a pool was unguarded.

Disney says its largest and most popular "feature" pools will begin opening at either 7 a.m. or 9 a.m. and closing at 11 p.m. Lifeguards will be on duty at all times while the pools are open.

But guests will no longer be permitted to swim in the feature pools after hours. Disney plans to install fences around any of those pools that are not already gated, a process that will begin in the coming months as hotels roll through their regular renovation cycles.

Only smaller and unguarded "quiet" pools at some hotels will remain accessible at all hours.

Disney has about two dozen hotels and time-share resorts across its sprawling property.

"These changes make it easier for guests to understand when our pools are open and when a lifeguard is present," Disney World spokeswoman Bernadette Davis.

Disney would not say whether a specific event triggered the move. But it follows the death of 13-year-old Anthony Johnson, who was pulled from a pool at Disney's Pop Century Resort at about 9:30 p.m. on March 10. Johnson, who was on vacation with his family from Missouri, died two days later at Florida Hospital Celebration.

Though that pool was open from 7 a.m. until 11 pm., lifeguards were only on duty from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Disney said it had posted signs warning that guests who chose to swim while the pool was unguarded did so at their own risk.

[email protected] or 407-420-5414

Thanks mrhub Looks like the rumor is finaly coming true, but apparently does not include the 'quiet' pools.

The 'quiet' pools don't have lifeguards at all. At least one of the quiet pools at Coronado last year didn't have lifeguards.

I have NEVER seen a lifeguard at a quiet pool, although once i saw a lifeguard make a 'walk through' at one of the quiet pools at SSR.

The article also mentions lifeguards being on duty longer then what they are now.

I'm kind of crushed this is really happening.

Access to a hot tub after a day at the park is actually the reason we stay at deluxe hotels. It's almost a medical necessity for me (though I can limp along without the hydrotherapy but it means more time in the ECV). Now we'll either have to leave the parks early or I'll always need to stay in a 1 Bedroom Villa for the in-room hot tub, and I can't stretch while in that.

Our home resort, Animal Kingdom Lodge, doesn't have a quiet pool. Are there resorts with quite pools that have hot tubs next to them? Is the courtyard pool at Grand Floridian (the one without the slide) considered a quiet pool? Are the DVC Pools considered feature pools? I guess that I'll need to be putting a call into member services in the morning.

Either some of the pool bars will open earlier then they do or the hours of the cms will get cut because of this. Unless the pool bars will have special access for an hour.

Wow... that kinda stinks. Also... a fence would at least work weird at AKL. Unless its this HUGE Animal Fence... lol

But personally... while what happened is tragic... and im not going to start throwing blame around to either the parents, the boy, or Disney... I hate it when things like this happen and it effects everyone who do follow the rules. Oh well........ I just want to know if it applies to the hot tubs. Me limey the hot tubs.