Pool Changing Areas, Showers, and Amenities at the Disney Resort Hotels
Imagine it’s your travel day to Walt Disney World. You were up exceptionally early for your flight and arrived at the hotel just a little before lunchtime. Unfortunately, your room isn’t ready, and you don’t have any significant plans for the day. So you find yourself sitting at the resort’s food court for lunch, hoping to get the text that your room is ready sooner rather than later. It’s hotter than you anticipated, and you don’t feel like doing anything until you change into something more suitable. You realize it’s warm enough to swim, and spending the afternoon at the pool doesn’t sound so bad. The kids would enjoy that, and you could find a spot in the shade to relax and enjoy the warm weather. Anxiously, you look at your phone again, hoping the room notification will magically appear.
I say it all the time: You don’t know what you don’t know. In the example above, the busy mom worked hard to plan their family vacation. Their travel plans went smoothly, but that all stopped when they arrived. Had she known ahead of time, she could have packed a separate swim bag, stored their luggage with Bell Services, and headed straight to the changing area at the pool. Nearly every pool (feature and quiet pool) has changing areas with showers and other amenities. You’ll want to locate the pool restrooms, and you’ll find these areas inside.
When You Might Need a Pool Changing Area
We’ve already discussed one example of when you might need to use the changing areas at the pool. Here are a few more:
- Check-Out Day (If you have a later flight, you can spend the day at the pool. If you’ve already checked out of your room, you can shower and change at the pool before you head to the airport.)
- Before Dinner (Say you spent the afternoon at the pool and have two or more adults who need to shower. You don’t want to leave the pool so early, so one person might return to the room to shower, and the other might use the shower at the pool.)
- You’ve been at the pool all day and want to shower and do a few things around the resort before you return to the room. Whether your kids need a quick rinse or you need to wash the chlorine out of your hair, you can do so at the pool showers.
Amenities: Most pool restrooms have a small curtain with a divider between the shower and changing areas. Each pool shower has built-in toiletries (body wash, shampoo, and conditioner). Fresh, complimentary towels are typically stacked near the shower. If you can’t find one, you can grab one from the towel bin at the pool.
Hairdryers: We get a lot of questions about hairdryers at the pools. In the past, every resort pool had a hair dryer available. Once, we got drenched in a downpour at Magic Kingdom before a dining reservation at the California Grill. So I went to the resort’s pool changing area to freshen up and dry my hair. It was a lifesaver. You couldn’t do that at every resort, but the Contemporary Resort’s changing area sits outside the fenced pool area in a public restroom. Anyway, I was once more confident about finding a hair dryer at the pool. But, in my experience, hairdryers have become more of a hit-or-miss item.
Lockers: Most resort pools have a locker area inside the pool restrooms. Some have an older key system, where you pin the key to your swimsuit until you’re finished. The newer lockers have a coded entry. They are all available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Accessible Showers: All the resort pool showers are either wheelchair accessible or have an accessible option.
Fitness Centers: Some of the pools at the deluxe resorts have nearby fitness centers. Often, the fitness centers have better shower areas than the pool. This especially goes for the Ship Shape Health Club at Stormalong Bay and the Zahanati Fitness Center at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Also, if you need the shower at Disney’s Boardwalk’s feature pool, use the one inside the Muscles and Bustles Health Club.
Here are a few photos of what to expect. We’ve labeled each photo with its location. We don’t have every changing room photographed, but as you can see below, they are all similar.
Final Thoughts
We hope you found this guide helpful to your planning process. If you missed it, we have a separate article with 12 Tips for Planning Your Arrival Day at Disney World. For more about the pools at Disney World, you might enjoy one of the following:
- The Hidden Kiddie Pool at Disney’s Beach Club
- The Complete List of Water Slides at the Disney Resort Pools
- A Parent’s Guide to the Splash Pads at Disney World
- The 10 Best Disney Resort Hotel Pools Ranked
You might also enjoy our complete overview with FAQs for the pools at Disney World or preview the entire list of Disney World Resorts.
In the Comments
Were you aware of these changing areas at the resort hotel pools? Do you have any other tips for when to use them? Let us know in the comments section below.
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