rescue21

We have a Wilkes pool that is 16'x24' surrounded by decking. The decking is plywood covered with a thick textures vinyl/plastic material. The vilyl is cracking an pealing up in spots. I know this isn't a new topic as I saw one with the same issure started in 2005 but wanted to see if I could get some fresh ideas. I will need to address the decking issue fairly soon and was wondering what options I may have... I have seen remove the vinyl and sand and paint, Cover with carpet of some sort (which may or may not be bad), and replace with the newer decking... A couple thoughts were to remove ALL the old decking and replace with either lumber decking material (1x6 or 2x6 deck boards) or a trex type product, removing all the old decking and decking support and building a real deck around the pool, replace plywood as needed and tileing over top... Thoughts, suggestions.... please