FDR State Park - Pool — Attraction in Town of Yorktown

This is a great place. It's just a large swimming pool but it's fun. It has many areas for you to sit and picnic, you can also BBQ in certain areas where there are park grills. Just know that the swimming pool is one area fenced in and the recreational area is outside of that. You can bring beach chairs in by the pool and please do because there are no chairs. No kind of food is allowed inside pool area. You can setup outside and just enter to the pool whenever you want. The price for the pool entry is $3.00 per person. Don't matter your age, unless your under 1 year old, then it'll be free for that child. You need to get there early if you want good spots under the shade but besides that, if you don't mind the sun or care about a seating area, heck, you'll find a spot. However, once the afternoon kicks in (after 2pm) you're in trouble. The crowd gets massive in the PM, it's not bad but expect not to have elbow room. There is a line to enter, boy, there's a line to enter but it takes forever because you have to go thru bag check before buying you tickets and don't be slick trying to put one person on line to buy "x" amount of tickets because everyone has to be present at time of purchase. After that, you're free to enter return outside to setup outside of the pool area. No food is allowed into the pool area. None. However, you can enter with chairs, towels, clothing, umbrellas, blankets, etc. They all locks in case you want to get a locker. They have a consession stand / food, where you can buy food. One of my pictures shows the pricing. Expect to pay some good money for food there. They close the pool around 2pm to clean it, everyone has to get out the pool. This is a great time to exit, if you have your food in the car. You can return to the pool anytime because they give you a bracelet which allows you to re-enter. Other than, expect long lines to enter, expect long lines to buy food because the crowd does grow. I went on the weekend which might be a bit different than a weekday but maybe that's why it was full. One thing, people are allowed to play music but if you get one of those guys that is deaf, expect to hear the music all the way from the parking lot. Good...

Extremely Disappointing and Mismanaged Experience

I visited FDR Pool yesterday with my family, and it was one of the most frustrating and disappointing experiences we've had.

First, they charge $3 per person to get in, and you're required to wait in a long line just to be searched. You're not allowed to bring in your own food or drinks — instead, you're expected to purchase from their vendors. They do have a grassy area outside the pool where you can leave items like coolers and snacks, so I left some water and food for my children there.

At no point were we told that there was no re-entry allowed. After being inside for a while, I stepped outside briefly (about 10 minutes) to grab water for my kids, only to be told I couldn’t come back in. I had already paid, gone through security, and still had belongings inside — but they refused to let me re-enter.

They claimed the pool was “over capacity,” yet I watched new guests being allowed in while I stood outside. I was told I'd have to go back through the entire line — the same one I already waited in earlier — just to try and re-enter. Eventually, a park ranger escorted me back in only to retrieve my belongings, and then told me I had to leave.

The situation was incredibly unfair and poorly handled. It felt like they cared more about controlling the crowd (and collecting more money) than actually managing guests fairly. What made this worse was the impact on my son, who is on the autism spectrum. Long waits and sudden changes are extremely hard for him, and this whole ordeal caused a lot of distress for him and for us.

This experience was heartbreaking and completely unacceptable. FDR Pool needs to do a much better job with communication, re-entry policy, and overall management. We won’t...

FDR is a great place to spend the day, it is a very short drive from New York City. This park delivers a sense of peace in comparison to the bustling streets of New York City. There is a lot to do here, commonly when the summer ramps up barbecuing is a common sight plus there's a giant pool. I'm going to try to make this short so let me start in the beginning, the majority of the time you arrive if you're using GPS you going to arrive at a toll gate directly when you get off the highway. If you're looking to barbecue and see the parks and the fields you're going to make a left after the tollgate. When you make that left you're going to see parking spots to your right. even when people throw birthday parties here I've never seen people struggling to find parking. However if you want to go visit the pool and I do recommend you go visit the pool you're going to have to go straight. directly after the tailgate a short drive later you're going to be greeted by a parking lot. You're going to get out the car, go down some steps, walk straight and see people behind the kiosk to get your wristband. which cost $3 per person. Now these three dollars it's completely worth it, you'll be in a gigantic pool equipped with a sprinkler play area in the shallow end. Just beyond that is the food court. Be warned eating at the food court there's going to be a lot of bees at the tables there, the bees they're not afraid to come after your soda and slushies. If you're good with that, then you're good to go... Guaranteed to leave a memory when you get there in a good way. You may even want to visit...