Dec. 24--Disney World is building "zero-entry" pools that mimic beaches at a growing number of its resorts. More Walt Disney World swimming pools are being built or refurbished to resemble beaches or lakes. 

The concept, called "zero entry," is taking Walt Disney World resorts by storm this year. Not only has the recently opened Animal Kingdom Lodge's pool been built in the new style, there's also a new one at the posh Grand Floridian resort and another has been recently rehabbed at the Polynesian. 

"Zero entry," also called "zero grade" and "zero barrier," refers to the water's depth at the edge. Unlike a traditional pool, which usually has a ledge elevated above the water and can be entered by diving or using a ladder or steps, the zero-entry pool offers a gradual ramplike entrance and exit, in which the cement bottom grades gently down. 

Zero-entry pools may still have a deep end up to almost any depth and be suitable for diving in that area. 

Zero-entry features can make a pool more expensive to build. The costs can run several thousand dollars higher, depending on the size of the pool, said Alan Cooper, president of Artesian Pools in Orlando. 

"If the ground won't support a long grade, then you have to shoot a lot more cement down there," he said. 

Disney World is planning to refurbish more resort pools as zero-grade facilities, but they gave no details on which hotel pool would be next. 

"We have been getting very good guest comment," said Greg Hale, vice president of design and engineering at the attraction. 

Among those who find zero-entry pools especially inviting are the handicapped, disabled, elderly and parents with toddlers. 

In effect, the zero-grade area offers a shorelike setting, in which one may wade or rest in shallow water. 

"If someone has a wheelchair, they can roll it right into the pool and swim out of it," said Marilyn Waters, a Disney World spokeswoman. "Then they can swim back and into their chair again." 

Hale said Disney World has purchased several wheelchairs that are made specifically to roll into and out of the water "without becoming corroded or polluting." 

Although Disney World is the defendant in a lawsuit filed last year by Access Now Inc., a Miami-based nonprofit organization -- alleging that its parks lack accommodations for the disabled -- Waters said the wave of zero-entry pools at its resorts is unrelated to the suit's allegations. 

Still, she said, a major reason for building such pools is "accessibility." 

The case is scheduled for trial in April in Orlando federal court. 

-----To see more of The Orlando Sentinel, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.orlandosentinel.com 

(c) 2001. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. DIS,