The answer on your other question was directed at legal and technical aspects of where you can put a pool. That information is important, because you have provided no photos or site drawing, and your description suggests a steep drop off. You said that you "Need someone to talk sense into me."

I agree with Mystic Pools, LLC. about keeping the pool close to the house so it's easy to check on the kids. In fact, depending on the age of your children, you may need a fence around the pool. If you put the pool in the lower area, it will definitely need a sufficiently tall fence around it. Water, as a pool or a fish pond, is an attractive nuisance, and you must guard against both your children and any neighborhood children harming themselves.

You seem to have this vision of a playground for the kids, and everything that the kids might want to do has to be in the same area. It does not. Your question about the steps down to the lower area are about ease of access for you. Children, unless very young, will not have trouble going down and back up countless times. Consider though, that if you build a deck that overhangs the drop off, you could add a dumb waiter to lower items from the upper area to the lower. HERE is a drawing of one. This, too, has risk where children are concerned and access should be restricted.

Pool near house. You want to be NEAR the house. I'm going to ramble a little, so bear with me.

Friend has enormous backyard, and for some reason, put the pool way off in the far corner. When there are gatherings at the house, the kids run all over the place, but the adults stay in the shade near the house. Except me, because I'm nutty about watching the pool. So I notice I'm often the only adult out there in the blazing sun watching the pool, while all the adults are adulting back near friend's house. Sigh.

Trampoline and swingset: Well, swingset will be outgrown in no time. So who cares where it goes. I'd put it down lower. The trampoline is interesting because even older kids love ours. I also like to keep an eye on the trampoline, even for the teens, but given a choice, the pool seems more dangerous, (need to keep closer eyes), but also more permanent and beautiful, if it's done right. So keep it near the house.

I have to agree. We are just finishing up a pool and the pool area is just off our back porch. There's no way I'd want my kids swimming without me very close by (I'm usually right by the pool, but can see it from my kitchen window and feel like I'm right beside them if I'm sitting on the covered back porch). Until we built our pool we were always waking next door to use the neighbors' pool and it was such a drag to have to haul towels, swim fins, kkckboards, etc over there. And that sounds like what it would be if you decided to put your pool far from the house, a huge hassle.

I rented a house with a pool down maybe 15 steps down, with a lovely pool house, tennis court a few steps below for nice viewing. That far off pool was just a pain, thankfully we didn't buy it, instead bought a house and installed a pool close by and spent a fortune creating a large cantilever deck for enjoying the space around our pool, while being close to the house.

Pool can end where this caution tape is, at the end of the dirt level, or go 20 steps down in that grass sunny spot.