Which are the best pools at the Walt Disney World Resort?
One of the things we’re looking forward to on our upcoming vacation is trying out the pool at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. We’ve stayed a 12 of the 31 Walt Disney World Resorts so far, and we’ve tried out about a dozen pools. So far, these are the 10 best that we’ve personally enjoyed.
10. The Piano and Calypso Pools – Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
The first Disney Resort we ever stayed at was Disney’s All-Star Music Resort. We could see the Piano Pool from our room, and although it didn’t boast anything else, the shape alone was fun and the water was cool and relaxing. The Calypso pool was busier, and had a great sculpture of the Three Caballeros that squirted water into the pool.
9. Ol’ Man Island – Port Orleans Riverside
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| Photo: The Blogorail |
The only moderate feature pool we’ve been in. I’d love to take our kids back to this one sometime. I think they’d enjoy the old fashioned swimming hole theming, and the 95-foot water slide! Lisa and I enjoyed the Muddy River pool bar during our stay.
8. The Main Pool – Disney’s Contemporary Resort
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| Photo: Disney |
We were staying at Bay Lake Tower, but went over to the Contemporary because of the option to get food. The pool was fun and Bella enjoyed the 17-foot-high curving waterslide. It was her first of many Disney waterslides.
7. The Main Pool – Disney’s Old Key West Resort
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| Photo: Disney |
I’m forever grateful to this pool for helping me recover from running the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. Bella enjoyed the waterslide, Jackson gradually overcame his fear and started to swim, while I let my muscles relax in the water.
6. The Luna Park Pool – Disney’s BoardWalk Inn and Villas
Also known as the “Crazy Clown” pool. We happen to love the circus themed area. Bella wasn’t brave enough to tackle the 200-foot waterslide that ends with you coming out of the clown’s mouth and into the pool.
She did make friends with all the elephants though.
5. The Paddock Pool – Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
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| Photo: Disney |
This being our home resort, we’ve stayed here the most. However, we’ve never really enjoyed the feature High Rock Spring pool. The resort is very spread out, and the main pool is usually quite a walk from our room.
On our last visit to our home resort, we were closer to the new Paddock Pool. It’s a great pool with zero-entry, a snack bar, and a 146-foot waterslide. It’s less crowded than the main pool, and we had a blast!
4. Uzima Pool – Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge is our favorite resort so far, and the Uzima Pool is awesome! It’s such a relaxing atmosphere to enjoy as you wade into the cool water surrounded by the lush trees of the Savannah. The nearby bar makes it a true oasis, and the small waterslide makes it fun for the kids.
3. The Big Blue Pool – Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
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| Photo: Disney |
The pool themed after Finding Nemo is an attraction in and of itself. We’d walked by on a few visits to the resort and were amazed by it. In November, we got our first opportunity to enjoy it! The weather was a bit chilly for a dip in the pool, but we just couldn’t pass up the chance to “just keep swimming”.
This is the largest swimming pool at any Disney Resort at over 308, 527 gallons of water! It has underwater speakers so you can still hear the music while you swim, and it features a water “sprayground” for the little ones.
2. Stormalong Bay – Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts
Stormalong Bay is the top pool on most lists you’ll find, for good reason. It’s practically a water park, covering nearly 3 acres. Stormalong Bay features a sand-bottom zero-entry pool, a lazy river, and a shipwreck which you can climb to reach the 230-foot waterslide!
With a snack bar and suntanning deck, you could spend the whole day here. The only reason this is probably not number one on our list is that we stayed here when our kids were not big enough to enjoy all the aspects of it.
1. Samawati Springs Pool – Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas, Kidani Village
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| Photo: Disney |
The top spot on our list goes to the Samawati Springs Pool over on the Kidani Village side of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. For us, it combines seclusion and tranquility with a lot of fun! It boasts a 128-foot waterslide, plus a small slide for the little ones.
It also features Uwanja Camp, one of the best water playgrounds we’ve seen. There are three different zones with many ways for the kids (and sometimes adults) to have fun getting wet.
Now, obviously there are some great Disney pools we’ve yet to try. Stay tuned to see where the Wilderness Lodge pool ends up on our list. Eventually, we’ll get to try them all.
In the meantime, we’d love to hear which pools are your favorite. Let us know in the comments below!