We went thru the same debate - solid vs mesh. About 25 years ago, we decided to go with a solid Merlin cover. Our pool is surrounded by oak and pine trees that not only shed leaves in the fall, but also pollen and needles in the spring before we open it. The leaves are one thing, but keeping a pool clean from oak pollen is something I'd rather not deal with on a covered pool. It's bad enough keeping the cover cleaned. Our first Merlin cover lasted about 22 years. Not bad we thought, so we went with another when it needed replacement. This one however is from McEwen. Our IG gunite pool is custom shaped and about 700 sq ft.
Now that we are retired, we snowbird to Fla. As such, we don't have the opportunity to clean the cover when it needs it. I've gone thru 3 Little Giant auto pumps, now on our 4th. We don't get a lot of snow here, about 15-20" year, but it does freeze often. While we are away, I hook up a temperature controller (just like one someone that brews beer would use) to automatically turn power on/off to pump when near freezing. You don't want power to your pump if the water is near freezing. To prevent leaves and pollen from clogging up the pump, I put it inside a covered storage container where I've drilled many, many holes along the bottom so that water can seep in, but hopefully not too many leaves. This works pretty well. I do keep an eye on it while in Fla with a wifi smartcam. I've only had to call my son once to ask him to clear out the leaves while we weren't there.
To the OP, if you plan on opening in April, keep an eye on all that falling pollen. It can make a mess of your if unchecked.