OLCC River Island

[Carl D]

I think he's included a cabana photo in his earlier website link.

Found it in Gary's link.
Thanks

 

[BocaBum99]

Boca, is the cabana fully shaded? Do you have full view of River Island? They need to add that fan for me because I have these hot flashes that you wouldn't believe. :annoyed:

River Island does sound nice, I have to admit. The heat would be a killer for sure, at this time of year. Have fun!

Yep, I am going to grab one of those 7,500 point exchanges.

Cindy,

Yes, it is fully shaded. It is like a tent and the walls of the tent are like curtains that slide fully open. So, you can open all walls or close off some to block the sun.

The cabanas are right next to the lazy river. So, we were lucky to have a cool breeze that ran over the water. It was nice. But, the summer is going to be blazing hot. Fans are a must. I'd bring one next time.

We had a great view of the units, one of the bars, the Lazy river and more.

 

[BocaBum99]

I think Gary included a cabana photo in his earlier website link. It looks pretty nice. Could maybe be a little more spacious, and the aforementioned fan would be a good thing. Boca mentioned that it included four "lounge" chairs, but the picture shows only four standard chairs. I wonder if there are actually four loungers adjacent to the cabana or whether my interpretation of "lounge" chair is off track? I assume there's cable or satellite on the television? Does the $89 rate apply to only weekends or would it also apply to the upcoming Monday holiday? We have some family joining us now and my nephew is not much of a pool lounger; he might however kick back in a cabana for a few hours while the rest of us "play."

Cindy

Cindy,

I was wrong about the lounge chairs. The cabana comes with 4 chairs. It is a bit small, but functional. There are lounge chairs just outside of the cabana that you can pull up close. That's what we did.

 

[Vodo]

So if you wanted to bring your own small fan or if you have other electronic devices, is there an electrical outlet accessible in the cabana?

Thanks for all the great info!

Cindy

 

[ajsmithtx]

We will be renting a cabana on Monday. The price on the holiday is $75.00 not the weekend price.:whoopie:

 

[riu girl]

We will be renting a cabana on Monday. The price on the holiday is $75.00 not the weekend price.:whoopie:

Have a great time. The cabanas sound like a lot of fun.

Can anyone tell me what the complimentary beverages in the fridge consist of?
And I assume that the television in the cabana offers childrens channels? If so, does anyone know which ones?

Thank you

 

[BocaBum99]

So if you wanted to bring your own small fan or if you have other electronic devices, is there an electrical outlet accessible in the cabana?

Thanks for all the great info!

Cindy

Yes, there are plenty of electrical outlets behind the television.

 

[BocaBum99]

Have a great time. The cabanas sound like a lot of fun.

Can anyone tell me what the complimentary beverages in the fridge consist of?
And I assume that the television in the cabana offers childrens channels? If so, does anyone know which ones?

Thank you

My refrigerator had 2 cokes, 2 diet cokes, 2 sprites and 4 bottles of water. The table had 2 oranges, 2 apples, 2 bananas, a box of cookies and a box of crackers.

I really didn't watch TV, but my kids found the cartoon network. I think it's the same cable line up as in the rooms.

 

[riu girl]

Thanks for the info.

 

[JLB]

If this specific question has been asked, I apologize for not seeing it. The extended family is here at the lake for Memorial Day, the folks that will be with us at OL. They want to know if you can use swim noodles at RI. They are not clear, but they would certainly not hide a person underneath.

Or is the tube rental policy more a way of controlling how many are using the lazy river pool (plus make money, of course), no one being admitted without an official OL tube?

Is there a capacity limit at RI?

If that is the case, on a busy week like Christmas week I can see a lot of people beating a path between RI and Splash Lagoon, if they get to RI and it is at capacity. I guess we will be the ones there to report on that, huh?

 

[BocaBum99]

If this specific question has been asked, I apologize for not seeing it. The extended family is here at the lake for Memorial Day, the folks that will be with us at OL. They want to know if you can use swim noodles at RI. They are not clear, but they would certainly not hide a person underneath.

Or is the tube rental policy more a way of controlling how many are using the lazy river pool (plus make money, of course), no one being admitted without an official OL tube?

Is there a capacity limit at RI?

If that is the case, on a busy week like Christmas week I can see a lot of people beating a path between RI and Splash Lagoon, if they get to RI and it is at capacity. I guess we will be the ones there to report on that, huh?

I seem to recall someone mentioning that there is a 350 person limit in the lazy river and about an 800 person limit in all of River Island. There are many entrances, so I don't know how they can regulate that.

During my stay there, there were a lot of people who had their own flotation devices, but they were asked to remove them by the life guards. So, they are clearly enforcing the rules.

They did allow kids with water wings to use them to float.

One thing you should know is that the pools are really for the water slides and for water volleyball and for small kids. They weren't really swimming pools like the olympic sized pool in the west village. Well, you can say the same thing about Splash Lagoon. There are a lot of similarities between Splash Lagoon and River Island. It's just that River Island is a lot bigger and has better water slides and a huge lazy river.

 

[suekap]

We will be staying at olcc for the first time. We have rafts that fold up into a small circle. They are made out of a mesh like material with a small tube all around the edge. Anyway, we are planning on bringing them to use in the pools, will they be ok?

 

[JLB]

From what those who are there have been saying, they will not be OK at RI, but will be at the other pools.

Perhaps by December (when we're going next) they will have their policies firmed up.

We will be staying at olcc for the first time. We have rafts that fold up into a small circle. They are made out of a mesh like material with a small tube all around the edge. Anyway, we are planning on bringing them to use in the pools, will they be ok?

 

[ajsmithtx]

350 is the correct number. Rent the RI tube and there will be any issues.

 

[gjw007]

I agree with the others that it appears that they are enforcing the rules on the tubes. The first week I was here, there was no mention of them in the information sheet given but the second week they clearly state that only RI issued floatation devices will be allowed in RI. It also mentions that other floatation devices are welcomed to be used in the other pools. RI has a capacity of 864 and as someone else reported, 350 tubes. The tubes on weekends go fast as I went to rent some on Sunday but they were all rented by 12:30 PM when I went to check on the rental.

They are also enforcing the height requirement for the slide at RI. It is 48 inches. My friend's 5-year old was not talll enough and she was very unhappy not to be able to use the slide. There really should be a smaller slide that younger children can use. We ended up spending the day at Splash Lagoon as the 5-year old really loved the slide the last time she was here. I also wish that there was an Olympic-size pool in this area for swimming along with the lazy river.

 

[ajsmithtx]

I meant to say, use the RI tubes and there will not be any issues. Yesterday all the tubes were all rented after 12:00pm. The cabana was great. I also saw small kids turned away from the slide.

 

[JLB]

Just to make it perfectly clear, when the two of you say you went to rent tubes and there weren't any left, does that mean that they did not allow you to use the lazy river?

 

[ajsmithtx]

Just to make it perfectly clear, when the two of you say you went to rent tubes and there weren't any left, does that mean that they did not allow you to use the lazy river?

Our tubes came with the cabana. If none are available, then you walk or swim the river.

 

[JLB]

So there is not a river occupancy limit, just a limit to the number of occupants using tubes, correct?

Our tubes came with the cabana. If none are available, then you walk or swim the river.

 

[gjw007]

So there is not a river occupancy limit, just a limit to the number of occupants using tubes, correct?

There is a capacity limit to River Island of 854 and a limit to the number of tubes that you can rent at 350 tubes. You can read the pool capacity on one of the signs that provide the pool rules. I never saw the pool capacity limit reached but the tube limit has been reached several times. Although the the tube capacity was reached, many of them were outside the water as they had already been used for awhile and the renters were doing something different for a period of time. I assume that they were planning to use them again before they left RI.

When the limit of tubes rented is reached, you can still swim in the river island including floating around. Most of RI is between 2'8" and 3'3" so I wish it were deeper. There are a few areas under the bridges where it reaches 4'1". The only reason I didn't stick around was because the 5-year old couldn't use the slide. We stayed for maybe a half-hour before going over to Splash Lagoonn

Just to restate, there are two limits: (1) there is a limit to the number of people allowed in RI at 854 and (2) there is a limit to the number of tubes that are available to rent at 350. If the limit to the number of tubes is reached, you can still swim in RI as long as the pool capacity is reached.

Updated: I took a picture of the sign and put it at the bottom of the page for the pool section of my quick 'n' dirty webpage to avoid any more confusion about the pool capacity. Hopefully it works! The pool capacity is at the bottom of the sign. I have been stating 864 but it is actually 854. I wished the sign was more specific in stating that only River Island-issued floatation devices may be used rather than resort-issued floatation device.

Also, while not directly related to RI, there was a model of the newly remodeled Golf Villas on display. The washer/dryer is now enclosed, there is a full screen patio door to keep bugs out during the period of the year when they are a pest, the master bathroom has the normal size tub with jacuzzi spray nozzles, the kitchen/living room is tile to the step and from there it is carpet, and there are new kitchen applicances such as the stove. In the RI villas the stoves still have the heating coils where the stoves in the newly remodeled Golf Villas have the smooth surface that makes cleaning so much easier. As per my experience, the Golf Villas are nice. There is still CRT televisions rather than flat screen but there is a desk next to the television for a laptop computer.

 

[timetraveler]

Thanks Gary and Tony! Timely, helpful info. I'm assuming they are holding 2 tubes back for each cabana rental.

Now if I could just ride around in that tube with a banana split from Paizan's. :whoopie:

 

[Mel]

They are also enforcing the height requirement for the slide at RI. It is 48 inches. My friend's 5-year old was not talll enough and she was very unhappy not to be able to use the slide. There really should be a smaller slide that younger children can use.

COuldn't agree more - only it's not just the younger kids. My kids are short, so my 8YO won't be able to use the slides - she won't just be disappointed, she'll be angry, as she watches kids younger than her going on the slides.

 

[ajsmithtx]

Thanks Gary and Tony! Timely, helpful info. I'm assuming they are holding 2 tubes back for each cabana rental.

Now if I could just ride around in that tube with a banana split from Paizan's. :whoopie:

Yes, they will hold 2 tubes for you.

 

[JLB]

Our oldest great-niece is here this week. Wouldn't you know it, she is 47 1/2 inches tall. She has between now and December to eat her spinach.

- - - - - -

Quote:
Originally Posted by gjw007
They are also enforcing the height requirement for the slide at RI. It is 48 inches. My friend's 5-year old was not talll enough and she was very unhappy not to be able to use the slide. There really should be a smaller slide that younger children can use.


COuldn't agree more - only it's not just the younger kids. My kids are short, so my 8YO won't be able to use the slides - she won't just be disappointed, she'll be angry, as she watches kids younger than her going on the slides.
__________________
Melinda Towne

 

[lawgs]

jlb

just get her some higher heeled "water shoes"

smilawgs