Hi Melissa,
Welcome back to planDisney!
While your guests may visit a dining location with you at your resort (keeping in mind that you may need an
advanced dining reservation or you may have to mobile order for them if visiting a
Quick Service location), pools are intended for guests that are staying at that resort hotel. It sounds like you may have been familiar with a service that is currently suspended,
Complimentary Alternative Pool Use ("Pool Hopping") for Disney Vacation Club (DVC) members. If you are considering a cabana rental, please review the
details for cabana rentals. At this time, cabanas at resort hotels are intended for guests of those resort hotels.
If the family comes to your resort hotel to enjoy dinner, consider another activity that you might be able to do together. We just returned from a visit to the Walt Disney World® Resort and we stayed at Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort. If we had invited anyone to join us during our visit, I would have included them on our dining reservation and then we could have invited them to join us at Chef Mickey's when we dined there and, perhaps, later, we could have enjoyed a drink at the
Outer Rim which has fabulous views of Bay Lake.
Melissa, I am excited that you are traveling with family and planning to visit with a friend and their family! There are a number of experiences in the
Enchanting Extras Collection that might be great for the whole group. Consider a few possibilities. And always double-check the policies and procedures at the resort hotel's front desk when you arrive. In the meantime, start packing. Your trip is less than two weeks away!
Magic and memories,
Donyell