# Sunniest, Warmest DVC Resort Pool in Winter



## Lisa P (May 27, 2013)

I know the DVC Resorts all have heated pools.  They vary by the amount of sun / shade offered, how warmly they're heated and/or whether they tend to be breezy from a lake vs calm air.  Sometimes, resort pools are positioned to be in shade from nearby buildings during the hottest part of the day - nice in the hot Florida summers, but not so much for wintertime swimmers.  We've sometimes found smaller, quiet pools to be warmer than the larger feature pools, especially if the large pool has deeper areas, waterfalls or long slides.

So in choosing resorts for a winter vacation, we would like to see recommendations for people who would like a pool area that's absolutely as warm as possible, not too breezy, and very sunny.  Your thoughts?


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## bnoble (May 27, 2013)

I've never thought about this.  Off the top of my head, the OKW pools should all get plenty of sun, because none of the buildings are particularly tall.


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## cory30 (May 27, 2013)

The main pool area of Kidani seems to receive direct sun pretty much the entire day (we have been there in November, January and April) although the kids splash area remains shaded and can be chilly on less than hot days. Also, there is not much around the Kidani pool to block wind/breeze so this can be an issue on cooler days. The Jambo pool had sections that would be in the shade of the buildings by mid afternoon.

OKW was very sunny the few times we have used that pool and portions of BCV receive sun for the majority of the day.


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## Rsauer3473 (May 27, 2013)

*Google Earth may help*

Get on Google Earth and zoom to WDW. You should get a good idea of sun on the pools. Make sure the map is oriented toward the north at the top so you can tell the time of day. 
OKW looks good; we like the south end pool. Boardwalk is ok as is Beach Club. A lot of shade around Wilderness and AKV. Kidani may be ok. 

Even in Florida temperatures can vary a lot. Sometimes shade is a blessing.


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## Lisa P (May 27, 2013)

Thank you each for your responses.  I had not thought to look at any satellite maps - great idea!

AKV: Jambo's main pool looks shaded by buildings; foliage around Kidani's pool.
BCV: mixed sun and shade at both Stormalong Bay and the quiet pool.
BLT: completely shaded from afternoon sun by the tower.
BWV: appears fully sunny.
OKW: looks pretty sunny at most of the pools.
SSR: looks very sunny at all of the pools.
VWL: plenty of shade from tall trees, some from buildings at main pool.

If anyone's experience confirms or refutes this, please let me know.  On an upcoming winter trip, we'll have a few people along who love to swim whenever possible but they get chilled easily.  Since they get a bigger kick out of pool time than the parks, and they're hoping for some swim days, I'd favor SSR, OKW or BWV for that particular trip.

Thanks again!    Other thoughts are welcome.


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## Twinkstarr (May 28, 2013)

If you are going in Jan-Feb, good chance one of the main pools will be closed for cleaning, etc. 

We usually go down for MLK weekend(kids get a 4 day break then), luckily the year we stayed at BCV, the BWV pool was closed. Following year we were at BWV and Stormalong Bay at BCV was partial closed(I think the part with the slide).


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## C30NY (May 30, 2013)

We have stayed at SSR during presidents week and the main pool was warm enough to swim.  We also stayed there last august and use the smaller pool with the big slide they added recently, and that would appear to have sun all day as well.


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## Lisa P (May 30, 2013)

Thank you both for the tips.  I'd forgotten that the feature pools are sometimes shut down for maintenance for a while in the winter.  Hope they'll announce those in advance.  On DisBoard's Rehabs page, it says SSR's "Grandstand Water Pool closed 5/13/2013- 5/31/2013" and GF will close the "Beach Pool- 5/30/2013-6/1/2013".  But I don't know how far head they normally announce these.  No mention of anything at all, at the official Disneyworld website.


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