OLCC River Island

BocaBum99 · May 21, 2006

JLB said:
Sounds like fun BB. Wal Mart has pedometers in the sporting goods section. Let us know what unit you want us to guess in~~~feet or yards or whatever.

If you don't mind contributing it, we can see how many folks we can pass the OL' Pedometer to. It can be an ongoing award, sorta like the Golden Fleece award. Maybe it could be like a scavenger hunt~~~how far is it from such and such to the nearest such and such?

I'm ready to guess when you say what units of measure.

So that folks who have not been there understand, in walking from River Island to Splash Lagoon, it is like walking the two main thoroughfares in a major subdivision, and crossing both of them at some point. Sometimes the traffic is pretty heavy and sometimes it is pretty light.

Okay, I'll go to Walmart tomorrow and pick one up. This could be really fun passing the pedometer. Stay tuned....

gjw007 · May 22, 2006

Vodo said:
I enjoyed the pictures. Thanks! In addition to enjoying the lazy river, my 5-year-old daughter is going to love the sand too. Tell me though, in the pictures, it almost looked like there was sand right up to the edge of pool. Is that true? Or is it just a light colored pool decking? I can't imagine that they'd want to be dealing with all that sand in the pool, but the pictures sure made it look that way. Also, what are they charging to rent the cabanas? There's pretty much no chance we'll be renting one, but I'm curious.

Cindy

Cindy;

I liked the hammocks and the sand as well. No, the sand does not come up to the pool. The material between the pool and the sand is roughly the same color as sand. I will have to check prices on the cabanas.

BocaBum99 · May 22, 2006

Okay, I picked up a Walmart signature series pedometer and a thermometer. We should be good to go later today.

I took a drive over to River Island this morning and walked around. River Island is magnificent. Whoever said it wasn't a waterpark, should come and see it first hand. It is huge. If it had a wave pool and a few more water slides, it would rival Typhoon Lagoon. This water park is going to put OLCC on the timesharing map once again. It is bigger than most resorts I've been stayed at.

By the way, it's not far from Splash Lagoon to River Island. I think it may be closer to walk there then to walk across River Island when all is said and done. It is certainly farther to walk from the far parking lot at Typhoon Lagoon to the entrance of Typhoon Lagoon.

JLB · May 22, 2006

We're gonna spend the day with fellow TUGger/TS4Msers. I will check back later and make my guess.

riu girl · May 22, 2006

We will be staying at OLCC in December.

1. Does anyone know if RI will be heated during the winter months?
2. Does anyone know how much $ the blue lazy river inner tubes are to rent?

Thank you

timetraveler · May 22, 2006

riu girl said:
We will be staying at OLCC in December.

1. Does anyone know if RI will be heated during the winter months?
2. Does anyone know how much $ the blue lazy river inner tubes are to rent?

Thank you

1. yes it will be heated year round.

2. I don't know what exchangers will be charged. :shrug:

gjw007 · May 22, 2006

I checked the prices on the cabanas. It is $75 per day for Monday through Friday and $89 per day on Saturdays and Sundays. The blue tubes are $4 rental for the single units and $7 for the double units.

Vodo · May 22, 2006

Wow! It never occurred to me that they would charge to use the tubes. The Fairfield properties provide them free of charge for their lazy river pools. Is it okay to bring your own?

Cindy

JLB · May 22, 2006

BB:

Just checking in to see what units you want us to guess in. Have you made the walk yet so you know the distance?

I'm ready to guess, so will just go ahead and do it. I'm guessing in feet and you can convert it to whatever. From the entrance to River Island to the entryway of Splash Lagoon (not just from parking lot to parking, but to the entrances), I will guess 2100 feet (.4 mile).

Fellow TUGgers are here now. We've been running around all day and just had burgers and sweet corn.

timetraveler · May 22, 2006

gjw007 said:
I checked the prices on the cabanas. It is $75 per day for Monday through Friday and $89 per day on Saturdays and Sundays. The blue tubes are $4 rental for the single units and $7 for the double units.

Gary..what are the rental fees for owners. I know at the lake, OL owners get a nice discount on jet skis, tube rides and anything lake activity oriented.

BocaBum99 · May 22, 2006

I have the measurements

It took me 4 tries, but I have the distance between the front entrance of Splash Lagoon to the front entrance of River Island. I measured the distance using a GoWalking pedometer. And, the final two measurements I made were within .5% of each other.

The pedometer measures steps in increments of my step which is 30 inches. The final measurement is in 1000th of miles. It took me between 11 and 12 minutes to do the walk at a fairly leisurely pace.

Make your guess in thousandth of miles. For example: you could guess 5.365 miles. The answer is the average of the last two measurements. The winner is the person who makes a guess closest to the actual distance.

I have pictures of the start, finish, the path I took and the pedometer readings. I'll post them to the server when I get a chance.

I will send the pedometer and instructions for how to use it to the winner who will use it to measure the distance between two other points determined by the winner.

Good luck.

gjw007 · May 23, 2006

timetraveler said:
Gary..what are the rental fees for owners. I know at the lake, OL owners get a nice discount on jet skis, tube rides and anything lake activity oriented.

Vickie;
I'm not sure. The price I quoted are what they have listed on the board. I will check. Oh, I have seen other floation device other than the blue RI items but most of them are after 5 PM.

JLB · May 23, 2006

ditto . . .

So rather than being a resort amenity, it is more like a water park attraction that you don't have to leave the resort to get to, the same as the golf courses. That's as opposed to the other pools or Splash Lagoon, which are available to all guests without charge. Would that be accurate?

I'm debating between bringing an old ski waist belt or my water wings.

Vodo said:
Wow! It never occurred to me that they would charge to use the tubes.
Cindy

JLB · May 23, 2006

Re: I have the measurements

Then just convert my guess to 400/1000s of a mile. In the format you requested, that would be .400.

Oh yeah, how many other people did you encounter on your walks?

BocaBum99 said:
The pedometer measures steps in increments of my step which is 30 inches. The final measurement is in 1000th of miles. It took me between 11 and 12 minutes to do the walk at a fairly leisurely pace.
Good luck.

timetraveler · May 23, 2006

JLB said:
ditto . . .

So rather than being a resort amenity, it is more like a water park attraction that you don't have to leave the resort to get to, the same as the golf courses. That's as opposed to the other pools or Splash Lagoon, which are available to all guests without charge. Would that be accurate?

It's the same as the water activities on the lake, the same as our goofey golf. Some of OL's features are free, some are not.

Vodo · May 23, 2006

gjw007 said:
Vickie;
I'm not sure. The price I quoted are what they have listed on the board. I will check. Oh, I have seen other floation device other than the blue RI items but most of them are after 5 PM.

Do tube rentals end at 5:00, or is that just when folks get back from the theme parks and start bringing their own floats? I guess what I want to know is whether it's permitted to use your own tubes or whether they force you to rent theirs.

Thanks!
Cindy

JLB · May 23, 2006

I really didn't want to be the first to say it, but I sense Cindy is close to saying it (maybe not), but if after all this hype RI is a paid attraction, that would be a bit disappointing. I sense I felt about the same as I sense she felt, judging from her post, when I saw that there is a charge for using RI.

The cabanas are a tad pricey, aren't they?

Vodo · May 23, 2006

I certainly don't mind that they offer tube rentals, albeit for a little more than I feel they should cost (think about a family of four using RI maybe four times during their week - that's $64 just for tubes). But if people aren't also allowed to provide their own floats at no cost, then I do take issue. Pools are not an amenity that should require a rental to be fully enjoyed. I originally expected that OLCC, like the Fairfield properties with lazy rivers, would provide the tubes free of charge since a river pool is pretty useless without a tube. Absent free use of the resort's tubes, I would expect that folks would be allowed to provide their own. If that's not permitted, it does become pretty much a fee-for-use amenity.

Cindy

timetraveler · May 23, 2006

JLB said:
The cabanas are a tad pricey, aren't they?

I gather you have never rented a cabana in Vegas or Hawaii?
OL's price is very reasonable for a cabana, when you consider what they cost elsewhere.

BocaBum99 · May 23, 2006

I just called for pricing on the Cabanas and inner tubes. One price fits all. owners and exchangers pay the same price.

The cabanas are $75 from M-F and $89 for Sat and Sun. The cabana comes with 2 tubes, refrigerator, television and 4 lounge chairs. You get it from 9 am to 6 pm.

The single tubes are $4 per day plus a $2 deposit. The doubles are $7/day plus a $2 deposit.

I think I'll get one of those cabanas when I am staying at a different resort.

snowlady · May 23, 2006

Deleted--same info given above

timetraveler · May 23, 2006

Wow, Boca, that's a steal of a price for a cabana. If people think $75 or $89 is high for a cabana outfitted with what you mentioned, then they evidently have never rented one at a resort before. I think the most expensive if I remember was when we stayed at the Four Season's Wailea on the island of Maui. It had the same inventory....(well minus the inner tubes) :rofl:
Plus a beverage person a few feet away, ready to hand you chilled moistened rolled washcloths and a fresh spritz of Evian in the face if you so desired.

Nothing like a Four Season Resort, to spoil you beyond belief.

Carl D · May 23, 2006

Many places do not allow people to bring their own tubes for safety reasons. If tubes or rafts are not transparent, it may not be possible for lifeguards to see what or who is underneath them.

Carl D · May 23, 2006

timetraveler said:
Wow, Boca, that's a steal of a price for a cabana. If people think $75 or $89 is high for a cabana outfitted with what you mentioned, then they evidently have never rented one at a resort before.

Well, I believe with a little leg work you can find an entire 2br unit at OL for close to that amount.

JLB · May 23, 2006

I consider myself to be a fairly observant person. I read the OL Enewsletter. Few topics have been discussed and hyped here more the past year that RI.

I do not recall ever seeing any mention that anything in RI would cost money to use. There has been considerable talk about the clubhouse, or some portion thereof, being exclusive to owners, but no mention of there being a fee to use RI. RI has been discussed frequently in comparison/conjunction with discussions about Splash Lagoon, and the other pools, and they do not have a charge for use.

I'm sure someone will quickly correct me if I'm wrong, but Gary's mention of a charge above is the first that it has been mentioned. I am 100% certain that it is the first I have noticed it mentioned.

I doubt that I am the only one that finds that a little surprising and disappointing. After all of this buildup I feel let down.

I do understand now why it has been said that this new attraction is being paid for by developer funds rather than owner funds. It is an income-producing attraction.

Not on the same scale, but I do not believe BCWC charges to use their lazy river.

So, what can you do at RI without paying a fee?