Are floaties allowed in pools?

[2beagle 2]

Wondering if I could bring a floatie for my kids to use at the Meadow Pool? Are they permitted?

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[Travisma 1,317]

The booklet you get at checkin says complementary life jackets are provided.  In their typical fashion, floating, tubes, etc are not addressed as being allowed or not.  

We were at the Fort around 4th of July, and one day we saw floaties, round tubes, noodles, and small rafts.

other days we didn't see anything.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That's a good question.

I dug deep into the TCD photo archives to find some photos of the signs posted at the pools.  The most recent ones I could find are from 2009, when the pool reopened after its most recent refurbishment.  Here are all the signs that were posted at the time:

Nothing about floaties on any of those signs.

I'm pretty sure I have seen kids using them.

This issue has been addressed on the Disney Parks Moms panel, which is sponsored by Disney, but sometimes has wrong information.  For what it's worth, this is a post from last year (it must have been around when the Inside Out movie came out based on the clever writing) :

Are small rings and arm floaties allowed in the Resort pools?

Hi, Veronica!

Last week, I turned my work week "Inside Out" and decided to spend a couple of days at Walt Disney World Resort with my younger daughter. She was positively filled with Joy at being able to play in our Resort hotel pool. However, I had a lot of Fear at the prospect of her going without her arm floaties in that big pool! There are life jackets provided at each Resort,  but she is one of those "little kids" who thinks life jackets are for "babies," so Disgust and Anger began to take over our pool day. I thankfully discovered that there was no reason to let those silly emotions lead to Sadness on our fun day, as small swim rings and arm floaties are more than welcome in the Resort pools.

What a great long weekend we had together and I am sure you will have just as much fun! Thanks for your question, and please stop by if you (or the little voices in your head!) think of anything else before your trip.

Brandy

 

https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com/question/small-rings-arm-floaties-allowed-resort-pools-288312/

So, I say bring the floaties!

ETA:

It just occurred to me that I snapped some photos of the Fort pool on July 4th this year, and maybe I could spot a kid with floaties in one of the photos.  Here's a kid wearing some on July 4, 2016, so I say yes, it's OK:

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I think they're allowed but the boy in that picture is actually wearing a puddle jumper. They are made of foam and a coast guard approved floatations device. There's also a foam part that goes across the chest. That's what we always used with Z, and he still wears one on our boat.

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[McMonsters..........Kelly 48]

We bought swim wings at the gift store a year or so ago when we forgot our puddle jumper.  

[Beckers 1,136]

That answer TCD C&P... Gag. Seriously there's so much fluff in it, I'm not even sure what their answer was. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

17 minutes ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

I think they're allowed but the boy in that picture is actually wearing a puddle jumper. They are made of foam and a coast guard approved floatations device. There's also a foam part that goes across the chest. That's what we always used with Z, and he still wears one on our boat.

Puddle Jumper? Things have changed since the TCD twins were small.  Truth be told, we never used floaties on our kids. They all could swim before they could walk.  When we went out on a boat, they wore life jackets, because that was the law.

7 minutes ago, McMonsters..........Kelly said:

We bought swim wings at the gift store a year or so ago when we forgot our puddle jumper.  

Good point- they do sell those in the Trading Post and at the gift shops at the other resorts and at the water parks too.

5 minutes ago, Beckers said:

That answer TCD C&P... Gag. Seriously there's so much fluff in it, I'm not even sure what their answer was. 

You clearly do not appreciate clever writing.  Didn't you apply to be on the Mom's Panel?  Maybe you ain't fancy enough for them.

TCD

[2beagle 2]

Actually, I'm thinking more like swim rings, or something like this:

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

11 minutes ago, 2beagle said:

Actually, I'm thinking more like swim rings, or something like this:

 

Oh.

The convoluted response from the Disney Mom's Panel I quoted above says that small swim rings and arm floaties are OK (at least I think that's what it says).

That item in the photo looks more like a raft-type situation.  My guess is they won't allow it, but good luck finding a clear statement of the rule published anywhere.

From being around other public pools, the issue seems to be not having objects in the pool which would block a lifeguard's view of the pool bottom.  A solid ring like the one in your photo creates a visual impairment for the lifeguard.  The other issue is having a kid who can't swim on one of those things, which are very easy to tip. That's why I think they'll say no to it.

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

You clearly do not appreciate clever writing.  Didn't you apply to be on the Mom's Panel?  Maybe you ain't fancy enough for them.

TCD

I did and surprisingly I made it past round 1 (twice !). Unfortunately my sarcasm level is much higher than my sugar coating level :)

[2beagle 2]

Well, I picked up this ^ particular floatie on clearance. Hoping we can use it, but if not, it will get use at some point!

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[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

47 minutes ago, Beckers said:

I did and surprisingly I made it past round 1 (twice !). Unfortunately my sarcasm level is much higher than my sugar coating level :)

Too bad.  They might actually gain readers if they had someone like you writing the responses instead of that lady who got an A+ in Creative Writing 101.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

46 minutes ago, 2beagle said:

Well, I picked up this ^ particular floatie on clearance. Hoping we can use it, but if not, it will get use at some point!

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I think the best you can do is bring it and see what happens.  You shouldn't get yelled at, as there is no rule posted against it.  As Travisma noted, however, there are lots of unwritten rules that vary depending on who's in charge.

TCD

[keith_h 420]

57 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I think the best you can do is bring it and see what happens. 

That was my thought. I'm a firm believer in it's better to beg for forgiveness that ask permission .

[McMonsters..........Kelly 48]

4 hours ago, 2beagle said:

Actually, I'm thinking more like swim rings, or something like this:

 

Last August we stayed at Saratoga and Port Orleans with the baby version of this and asked the guards if we could use it.  They said as long as they could see through the mesh sun awning it was ok. 

[2beagle 2]

2 hours ago, keith_h said:

That was my thought. I'm a firm believer in it's better to beg for forgiveness that ask permission .

My thought as well. I'd rather have it, and chance being told no, than not even bring it. And if they don't approve if it, maybe the Trading Post will have something permissible. 

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Last time I saw a floatie in a pool, they made everyone get out and had to drain the pool.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Just now, ftwildernessguy said:

Last time I saw a floatie in a pool, they made everyone get out and had to drain the pool.

No that was a floater.....or a Baby Ruth

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

TCD, puddle jumpers are a new style life jacket... Someday you'll put that knowledge to good use. They're particularly awesome for kids like Z who can't "sink" the back of a traditional life jacket. Unlike me, he's only in the 10% for weight. He can swim so he doesn't need it, but in lakes I make him wear one, and on boats he legally has to.

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[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

9 hours ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

TCD, puddle jumpers are a new style life jacket... Someday you'll put that knowledge to good use. They're particularly awesome for kids like Z who can't "sink" the back of a traditional life jacket. Unlike me, he's only in the 10% for weight. He can swim so he doesn't need it, but in lakes I make him wear one, and on boats he legally has to.

I figure they must be a good item, because they seem very popular.  I hope that I will get a change to put that knowledge to good use some day.  I like the fact that the child has a better range of motion and can still "swim" while wearing it- those old life vests didn't allow that.

TCD

[keith_h 420]

10 hours ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

TCD, puddle jumpers are a new style life jacket... Someday you'll put that knowledge to good use. They're particularly awesome for kids like Z who can't "sink" the back of a traditional life jacket. Unlike me, he's only in the 10% for weight. He can swim so he doesn't need it, but in lakes I make him wear one, and on boats he legally has to.

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Something like that would have been nice when I was a kid. We used to go houseboat'ing with relatives throughout the summer at Lake of the Ozarks when I was a kid (this is before it was developed). We were required to wear life vests any time we went swimming. I was a beanpole back then and most of the time the ties on the vest would ride up under my chin and armpits making it near impossible to swim.  

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

21 hours ago, Beckers said:

I did and surprisingly I made it past round 1 (twice !). Unfortunately my sarcasm level is much higher than my sugar coating level :)

And that's why we love you here!  :)

[djsamuel 322]

17 hours ago, ftwildernessguy said:

Last time I saw a floatie in a pool, they made everyone get out and had to drain the pool.

I was just waiting for that!