Holiday News
I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and share a little bit of news.
The main construction going on around the resort right now is the Oasis pool. It looks like it is coming along nicely and some say ahead of schedule. On the other hand the same comments were made for the Lava pool and it did not open early so my guess is they are still on track for a Spring opening.
The buildings going up will be for a bar and grill as well as bathroom and shower facilities. There is a new hot tub and pool going in and as many noticed the pool is zero entry and goes to around 3.5’ deep. Making shallow pools is nothing new for Disney. Just like with the removal of the diving board at the original Nanea pool in 
the 80s and then the creation of the Volcano pool in 2001, followed by the resurfacing of the East pool in 2011 to make it shallow. Back in 2011 when they changed the East Pool I was told that no Disney pools would be constructed and be deeper than 5’. The East pool after 2011 was about 3’ around the wall and 4’ 6” in the middle which is about the deepest part of the Lava pool over near the waterfall.
Oasis Pool
The new Oasis pool will also have a hot tub and let’s hope it has less problems than the one at the Lava Pool. There will be similar rules as to unattended kids under 12 are not allowed and no food or drinks are allowed in the hot tub. Maybe it will be easier for the lifeguards to monitor it at this pool, if there are lifeguards.
The new Oasis pool will also be fenced off and not open 24 hours like the old East Pool was.
During construction people have been worried about getting rooms facing the pool construction and at times it has been noisy but for the most part the majority of people that have sent me in reports that had rooms facing the construction said it 
was not a problem. Some even enjoyed watching the construction. For a while the construction side of Samoa was closed because they were doing work to the paths between the pool and the longhouse. Later they opened up the path but the rooms were still closed off because of work to the side of Samoa. Rumors were flying that the support work going on around Samoa and now around Niue was that they were adding balconies to the second floor rooms. This was false (as reported on my Facebook page). The bottoms of the supports were rotting and needed to be replaced. If you notice the old supports still on most of the original longhouses, you will see the wood beams went right into a metal bracket to the ground. This allowed moisture to rot the bottoms so they moved the brackets up (as shown in the photo). This work is now done and rooms on the east side of Samoa are being occupied. The DVC longhouses I am told were done when they were being renovated but the other original longhouses will still need to be completed so you will see rooms closed off for months to come for this work to be done. Even the Lava Pool side of Samoa is yet to be done.
Hot Tub and Lava Pool
Speaking of Hot Tub. It seems that the hot tub at the Lava Pool has been operating well lately. The only other reported problems are the influx of kids using it to do cannon balls or adults bringing drinks in. In some cases one spilled cocktail can mess of the balance of chemicals or even mess with the filters enough for them to shut it down and in some cases drain it. Let’s hope the problem with the hot tub is taken care of.
As of December I got a report that the life guards are scanning bands at the Lava Pool to check to see if kids are under 12. If they are under 12 they are not allowed in the pool area without someone over the age of 18 with them. The bands will tell them their age and if they are under 12 without an adult they will be escorted from the pool area. During the same time a friend was there and her kids were scanned, others reported that lifeguards were not scanning unattended kids so it sounds like the enforcement is sporadic.
Tambu Lounge hours
As of December 6, the Tambu Lounge is experimenting with new early hours. It is now open at 9:00 AM for its full drink menu. I am not sure how long they will test this out or if it will become permanent. Food will not be served early. They will start to serve food at 5:00 PM.
Holiday Activities
Here are the list of Holiday activities from the Resorts December Activities sheet.
