Several Disney resorts at DisneyWorld, such as the Grand Floridian and the Beach Club, for example, advertise their white sand beaches. But when they say 'beach', do they mean pool-side beach or lake-side beach? In other words, what are these bodies of water on the resorts' territory that have beaches? Are they essentially pools, or are they lakes, maybe even salt-water lakes? as strange as it sounds, this question is actually important to me.

Why woould anyone want to get married at Disney World is a better question.

the "beaches" referred to are lake side beaches. they look pretty and are used for water sports, boating, sunning, etc, but aren't really recommended for swimming. First, the lakes are posted with cautions regarding certain types of indigenous parasites. Second, there's probably a fair amount of urban runoff that drains into the lakes after thunderstorms, oil spills from boats, etc. The lakes do seem to support a thriving water fowl population, though.

for pictures, there are probably some at:

http://66.78.8.208/~hhstech/index.htm

sorry, previous URL is bad, this one should work!

http://www.bruceandkris.com/

The Beach Club has sand around the pool area. The Grand Floridian has the beach area by the "lake" (man-made, don't know if you can actually swim in it). Not a strange question!

The lakes at Disney are mostly manmade (freshwater) and not conducive to swimming. But they look nice!

bathing from the beaches in walt disney world resorts is actively discouraged - but the pools are great!