Give up a park day for the pool... why?!

[SorryI'mNotSorry]

i see a lot of people who say they do an "off" day or a pool day as a day off from the parks. Why? Are there not pools where you come from? It seems like such a huge $$$ expense to go on a vacation like this to spend a day swimming in a pool. Am I the only one who doesn't get this? I must be one of only a few because I see so many people talking about this. What do you all say? Is it worth it to spend a day relaxing at the pool or a waste of time/money?

 

[mesaboy2]

After a few days in today’s WDW, some downtime is welcome.

 

[LisaDKG]

We looooove our resort days and since we are from Canada, a pool day in October or even December is soooo exotic!

 

[Roxyfire]

Multiple reasons, maybe people want a day to relax. Maybe they want to save money on park tickets. Maybe they are staying at a nice resort or dvc and want to actually enjoy it (thats me). It can get incredibly hot during the summer, so it's not that unusual to at least take a break or not be in such a rush. To be honest, I live in the North and there's maybe a couple weeks out of the year that it's nice enough to use a pool. Even on the hottest days, I enjoy the opportunity to cool off even if the water isn't necessarily cold.

 

[leahlefler]

Our pool day this time is the day we fly in. We land at 10 am and could do a park that day, but are choosing not to this time. In 2015, we flew in, checked in, and turned around and went to EPCOT. We were EXHAUSTED that night as we had been up at 3 am to fly in. This time, we are going to be up at 3 am for an early flight, but will just check into the hotel, have lunch at Disney Springs, and relax at the hotel for the rest of the evening. Then we can hit the ground running the next day.

We're from Western NY and the winters are brutal - so having a day at the pool in February is a pretty cool thing to do (and the kids crack up seeing people wearing fleece when it is 60 degrees outside)!

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I could go to WDW and not step foot in a park. I enjoy the resorts as much as the parks. But we go every year. We didn't take a day off on our first trip. We just learned we are a lot happier if we do.

 

[Ava]

We don’t often take a full day off for resort/pool time, but we’ll do a 1/2 day at the park and spend the other 1/2 at the pool one or two days out of our week. Otherwise the kids would never get to swim, and I’d never hear the end of the whining.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

I could go to WDW and not step foot in a park. I enjoy the resorts as much as the parks. But we go every year. We didn't take a day off on our first trip. We just learned we are a lot happier if we do.

THIS! We are fortunate to go a few times a year and enjoy our resort time almost as much as our park time- as do our kids.

 

[Kelly loves Food]

I live in MA - where it is normally chilly this time of year but was 80 degrees today in October!!! - and I have a pool. I'm also pretty excited to spend some time at the pool next week at the Poly. Is it worth the $$$ to spend valuable park time at a pool? I'm not sure. But a vacation is a vacation and I'm also paying for the resort and its amenities. Plus, its fun for the kid to experience something different, even if its just a different pool. And I agree that downtime is needed from all the go,go,go at the parks.

 

[KimBean]

i see a lot of people who say they do an "off" day or a pool day as a day off from the parks. Why? Are there not pools where you come from? It seems like such a huge $$$ expense to go on a vacation like this to spend a day swimming in a pool. Am I the only one who doesn't get this? I must be one of only a few because I see so many people talking about this. What do you all say? Is it worth it to spend a day relaxing at the pool or a waste of time/money?

We have 11 days and only 10 days of tickets.

On day 6 we are going to AOA for animation drawing class, then to mini golf, boardwalk for afternoon snack (ample hills) and dinner at raglan road and hopefully a swim back at ASMu.

We think it will be a nice refresher in the middle of our trip. We have 10 days in parks, 30 FP, going at low time and we will ride everything we want and many things 2-3 times.

 

[CynBeth]

We are adults with no kids that try to go every few years and we do not take any days off. Because of food allergies we have to do all meals TS so lunch and dinner are the times we rest and recharge.

 

[MickeyMouseLvr]

We enjoy a little down time to relax and take advantage of the resort.

 

[Jerzetta]

We do an "off" day on the night we have the Christmas party and our plan is to go to Disney Springs or go to the pool and then nap and then hit the party.

 

[DisneyCAL]

I could make the argument that it would be a waste of money not to spend a day at the resort. If at a moderate or deluxe, you may very well spend way more money on your stay rather than your park tickets. So why not take in a resort day and enjoy the amenities. We spent 5 hours in the pool one day, enjoyed breakfast in bed, played cards in one of the lounge areas. We felt refreshed for the next day. But this depends on where you stay and for how long. Some of our best memories are in and around the resort.

 

[BigB0882]

People do that because it is their vacation and they can do what they want. I would not personally do this because I don't like spending time in pools anyway but I can see the draw. It is a relaxing day, saves a little money and allows people some time to go eat some resort restaurants if they are on the dining plan and don't want to have to leave the parks for a meal. Makes sense to me.

 

[BaymaxForever]

We make our first day down there (arrive around noon on Friday) a resort/pool day. Then mid-week-usually Wednesday- we have a resort/pool day bc we have done the holloween party on a Tuesday night. By then we need the rest and have used the day to chill at the vacation homes pool or resorts’ pool. Even though we go in sept/oct-the heat is so draining and kids always love a pool! Also, it helps us recharge and for the last two full days there.
Last trip was at AKL and we felt that we didn’t have enough resort time for all they offer and we want to make sure we spend more time there on our next trip. We usually buy 5 day tickets and 1 party night for an 8 night stay. If you also consider the high cost of staying at some of the Disney resorts, I like to think I’m getting my $’s worth out of them as well...otherwise I could just go off-site!

 

[Pooh2]

We went down in July to visit family for three days and never set foot in the parks. We enjoyed Coronado Springs Resort and also went over to enjoy a meal and walkabout at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

 

[soccer mom]

There are just two of us now. Our four kids are grown. We go every year now. Over 20 times total. Last year we didn't even go to a park. My DH rolls his eyes when I say this, but Disney World is my cottage up north, my cruise, my fantasy island. It's hard not to do Disney like a commando, but you should try it. After a few 14 hour days in parks it will feel good! You're paying for that resort, too, and Disney makes it worth it!

 

[figmentedfollies]

I think the reason changes from person to person/family to family. For instance, I simply get too tired/too overstimulated from the parks that I NEED a day at the resort/pool to make me a passable human being. Since I am on vacation, I don't need the stress, you know? Also, I have am lucky enough to have been able to visit WDW several times and plan on visiting in the future. Things will be there when I go the next time and I don't feel the need to do EVERYTHING during my week. It should still be there when I come back.

But everyone vacations differently. What works for me, but might not work for you.

 

[Haley R]

Last year we didn’t do a pool day and I wish we would have. We just went all day every day and it got exhausting. This year we had an entire day to sleep in, go on a run, walk by the river at POR, went to Disney springs and swam for three hours. It was amazing to go swimming in February! We’re from Iowa and you definitely can’t do that here.

Next year we’re taking our niece and doing the after hours event so we’re using that as a relaxing pool day before the event starts.