Hot take: Stormalong is not a top pool on property

[Disdreaming479]

Agree with the criticism. My teens felt creeped out by having to leave the pool area in swimwear to access the slide.

 

[TinkB278]

I was so disappointed with stromalong bay when we stayed there. The lazy river was especially disappointing, it was super drop, super small, and the water was so hot it felt like bath tub water. I will never stay at bcv for the pool again.

 

[crisi]

We stayed at BCV for almost 3 weeks this summer. It was a great resort as a whole but we actually found ourselves essentially going to the Quite pool fairly often because the main pool just was okay.

Issues we personally had:

• No kids splashpad (just a small slide across the walkpath that still is like 3 feet deep)
• Lazy river is very very very lazy (like so slow that you essentially have to swim if you want to make it around)
• Slide you have to exit the pool, go through a regular walkway, and no accessible for younger kids without parent supervision
• Whirlpool which does move fast was very small (area can often be fairly crowded - they needed to take those jets over to the lazy river)
• Its all segmented and spread out (as someone had posted in a thread I read its hard to keep tabs on the kids if you dont lay down the rules of where they can't go)

Personally prefer the layouts of BWV, RIV, VGF, AKV. Others as well seem to have better layouts but haven't stayed there so can't say for certain.

For a teenager I can see this pool climb the rankings but for having younger kids this would be last on our personal list of places we have stayed.

That's been my take for years. There are some things I really like about it - when our kids were little we owned BWV which has no zero entry and a bad toddler pool - but because Luna Park was closed we were able to hop over there - and its a better pool than BWV for that age. But the age at which its ideal is the age at which you want to keep an eye on your own kids - and that's almost impossible at SAB due to sight lines. Once they are past the age where you want to watch them like a hawk, they'd rather be at a waterpark.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

My kid loved the sand area when very little. There are usually a ton of very little kids out there playing in the sand. This is a rare feature with hotel pools that aren't on an actual beach. And Disney provides the sand toys. The kdis are usually awesome about playing together out there.

But sure, other than that there isn't much for really little kids.

I didn't think that was much of a "hot take." It's the first thing anyone says about this pool.

Same here. We loved the sandy bottom part for years. The kids were contained, could do more than swim (play in sand) and close to the food

 

[TikiRob]

Never been, but I like the idea of this take gaining traction so I might be able to book Beach Club.

 

[Wakey]

Too busy and takes forever to walk somewhere around it.
My favourite pool is High Rocks at Saratoga.

 

[Alison S]

We are late evening swimmers. It was really weird to have to walk along the path in my bathing suit to get to the slide especially when there's people all dressed up and carrying drinks walking by! The lack of splash pad for younger kids is a huge downside too. I'd much rather have that than the beach area.

One plus was how we felt like we had it almost all to ourselves in the evenings, since it's so big.

We liked the lazy river and felt it was going at the right speed.

 

[PatMcDuck]

oh there are definitely disadvantages of SAB. BCV was our home resort for 10 years. That slide. It is slow, straight, and you walk across a public sidewalk to climb the stairs. (much nicer at BW where you can watch your kids walk up the steps from the pool, and be nearby when they land). Next issue, is the lazy river. I don't remember it being slow at all, so perhaps that is a new problem? MY problem with it-- it is SO DEEP. (in one area). I have never been in a lazy river over my head. I took my son in there and had to be helped out (he is a special needs adult and I forgot it was so deep one trip). Keeping track of kids would be another problem but my kids were a bit older when we bought in there (when it was first opened).

My boys did like the quicksand in the middle, if you stood still you sunk in. It was kinda cool, part of the filter system I think, but I think that might be gone?

We sold our BCV and bought back in at WL BR, we just prefer the WL vibe. Personal preference.

 

[disneyfan123]

And, there are about 10 tubes in total too, and once people are in them, it's worse than trying to find an open lounge chair. Once you've tried the pools at Aulani, everything else is mundane (and THAT lazy river is awesome).

This x1000! This is our exact experience; we were at Aulani in January and BCV in July, and Stormalong Bay just can’t compete with Aulani’s pool.

 

[Sammie]

It sounds better than what it is in reality and depends on the age of the children and their swim ability. I saw a child get nailed walking to the slide by a surrey bicycle. The 8ft drop off at the lazy river stairs is problematic. as many are not expecting it. It will not be repeated on property due to these issues and the fact it requires water park lifeguards due to size and hidden spots.

 

[Doug7856]

Our favorite resort pool is High Rock Springs at SSR. It's well designed, enclosed and has a relaxed feel that's great for families and adults. Other favorite pools are at the Poly and Kidani Village.

In our 20 years of ownership, we've only been to Beach Club once and had no strong desire to return.

 

[paults]

Was there last Oct with Grand kids and they loved it. 14 and 12 and so it my DD and SIL

 

[Bosstime]

Did the little ones try the pool inside the ship? My daughter could spend hours in there playing on the kids slide and with the views and nice water, even non patient parents can be pacified.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Wasn't my favorite pool on property. Then again, didn't go with kids. I did like the sand bottom though. While there is nothing wrong with the pool itself, I booked BC over BW because of how amazing the pool was supposed to be.

As I said. Its a good pool but doesn't stand out to me as a must do.

 

[ain0004]

We stayed years ago and did not like it. The kids younger, We are going to try to do it again. However walking at 7 months is stressful, isn't looking the best, Now that my youngest is 15 and the other 21 and 19, Its see you later! I have found the older the kids get more their preference change.

 

[tom1944]

I was not a fan of the slide, it hurt going down it, the sections of the tube have lips that didnt feel great. I did it a few times and was like yea im done, im too old for this. Then I was sad about getting old. It also got real old real fast having to walk out of the main pool area to get back over to the slide too.

I thought the pool, slide, and the kid area at the Paddock pool at Saratoga Springs was better. That slide is really fun. Kid area is great, basically a playground with water.

Only other pool area of DVC we did was Bay lake tower and it was pretty meh.

My 4 year old granddaughter loved the BLT tower.

I think she went down that slide 500 times

 

[Aussie RJ]

The favourites in my house are the Beach Pool at VGF and the Luna Park pool at BWV. No one liked exiting the pool area to get to the slide at Stormalong Bay. And the sand can stay at the beach.

Honourable mention to the High Rock Pool at SSR.. underrated.

 

[DeeCee735]

We stayed at BCV for almost 3 weeks this summer. It was a great resort as a whole but we actually found ourselves essentially going to the Quite pool fairly often because the main pool just was okay.

Issues we personally had:

• No kids splashpad (just a small slide across the walkpath that still is like 3 feet deep)
• Lazy river is very very very lazy (like so slow that you essentially have to swim if you want to make it around)
• Slide you have to exit the pool, go through a regular walkway, and no accessible for younger kids without parent supervision
• Whirlpool which does move fast was very small (area can often be fairly crowded - they needed to take those jets over to the lazy river)
• Its all segmented and spread out (as someone had posted in a thread I read its hard to keep tabs on the kids if you dont lay down the rules of where they can't go)

Personally prefer the layouts of BWV, RIV, VGF, AKV. Others as well seem to have better layouts but haven't stayed there so can't say for certain.

For a teenager I can see this pool climb the rankings but for having younger kids this would be last on our personal list of places we have stayed.

Agree. We have felt this way since the early 2000's when we first bought and we were allowed to pool hop there. I had to run after my kids the entire time - preteens. It was nerve wracking. It can be awesome for the older kids or parents who like the slide themselves, but we don't like the fact that kids have to leave the resort area to get on the slide. Now that we have grand kids, we still feel the same way.

Dee

 

[crisi]

Never been, but I like the idea of this take gaining traction so I might be able to book Beach Club.

Good luck. So many people are INVESTED in SAB being awesome. And even without SAB, BCV would be an in demand resort due to its location and theming - and because its relatively small in relation to the total number of rooms in DVC.

 

[thelionqueen]

Couldn’t disagree more. I’m at this pool daily on every trip! So relaxing and fun..no better pool anywhere imo