I will be going with the family to Disney for five days then to Sarasota to visit some family. I am doing a Tri in August and will only have one week to "prepare" after I return. I know that I can run easily wherever I go, but would like to swim a few times. Anyone have experience swimming at Disney? There is a bunch of pools - but do any of them have lap times? Particularly early in the AM? Any help in Sarasota would be welcomed too.
Former Member
For the record, the resort we were at in Disney (Pop Century) had three swimming pools open 24 hours. Lifegaurds from 10:00am to 10:00pm. The rest of the time it was swim at your own risk. It felt odd to be doing a workout at 6:00 am in a pool shaped like a bowling pin!:)
Sarasota was much easier - a week membership at the Y.
Originally posted by Scansy
For the record, the resort we were at in Disney (Pop Century) had three swimming pools open 24 hours. Lifegaurds from 10:00am to 10:00pm. The rest of the time it was swim at your own risk. It felt odd to be doing a workout at 6:00 am in a pool shaped like a bowling pin!:)
Sarasota was much easier - a week membership at the Y.
So Paul, was Pop Century part of the All-Star resorts? I'm staying there in September, after the USMS convention. The bowling pin was actually long enough to do a workout in? Great! Last time I was there, the Might Ducks pool was the best they had to offer. If no kids were in there, it was possible to work out.
Meg
Originally posted by Scansy
For the record, the resort we were at in Disney (Pop Century) had three swimming pools open 24 hours. Lifegaurds from 10:00am to 10:00pm. The rest of the time it was swim at your own risk. It felt odd to be doing a workout at 6:00 am in a pool shaped like a bowling pin!:)
Sarasota was much easier - a week membership at the Y.
A pool shaped like a BOWLING PIN!! That is funny! :D How long was it? Did you swim at the new Y in Sarasota - the one out near the interstate? That's a great pool - they had Y Nationals there a couple of times.
To respond - yes the pool was shaped like a bowling pin. It was about 3'0" deep on the edges and about 4'6" deep at the drain. There were stairs at the "top" and "bottom" of the bowling pin. At first I tried to go across the wide part near the bottom of the bowling pin because I could push off of a real wall - but the pool was too narrow there. It was push, glide, 3 strokes and turn! So I ended up going from top to bottom. Pushing off on the stairs was interesting, so I had to take an extra split second to make sure my feet were on the front of the stair firmly. A couple of times, I missed..... That's another story.
There were three pools. The Pop Century resort has an area for the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's. The decorations were all from that particular decade. The bowling pin was in the 50's, there was a "hippie flower" shaped pool in the 60's area and a computer shaped pool in the 90's. It just worked out that at the time I was swimming, they were doing maintenance on the other pools, so the bowling pin it was. I didn't measure exactly, but did pace it off - I estimate it was about 40 yards long. There were no kids there at 6:00 in the morning. In fact, there was nobody period.
The Pop Century was near the All-star resorts - basically across the street. But we didn't get into the All-star area at all so I don't know what the pools are like there. It would be a long walk to the pools at Pop Century. If you find a pool, don't ask if it is OK to workout in it early in the morning. I did that at first and was told no. But then I just did it and nobody said anything to me.
In Sarasota, I was working out at the Y on Potter Park Drive. Just off of Central Sarasota Parkway. It is fairly new and a great Y. I wish my Y here at home was that nice. It was 2 miles from where we were staying and I am trying to prep for a sprint tri on August 7th. I was running to the Y, swimming then running back. The humidity took some getting used to though.
