At Aulani Now & It’s Amazing

[scoobdoo]

The kids club is fully open? Very important for us to enjoy there

not fully open, not open at all. kids club at the four seasons is open tho.

 

[Kristie71]

We are here now for 9 nights, checked in yesterday, which didn’t go so smooth. A couple things both plus and minus:
1. The cast members here are the friendliest most gracious I have ever encountered.
2. Crowds are very low and even at noon you could still find plenty of seating, albeit by Ama Ama or the beach.
3. Check in was a little frenetic. They valeted our car for check in but didn’t tell us that until we came back out literally five minutes later. No one was directing people where to go. We did Online Check in but no one was at the Online desk initially so we went into the main line only to be told we could have used the online desk.
4. Operations have been updated but there isn’t any notice of updates. The gym, which we use daily, is now temporarily closed. They said it was because of the 9/13 mandate but 9/12 the site or app never said it was closing. Yes, we could do other activities, but that is a big thing for us to do daily so notice would have been nice. They finally admitted they didn’t plan for it or staff for it….yet the salon and spa are still fully open. Also, character meet and greets are no longer listed in the app so if you don’t check your tv for the day before you go poolside you won’t know where or when. Mickey and Pluto were at the Olelo Room early this morning doing meet and greets. Several characters were rotating out on the landing by the lazy river.
5. The hours of operation at the food service don’t align. We went to Mamas today as the website and sign outside say it’s open 11a to 5p. Nope, it’s now only open Fri to Sun. Off the Hook hours are posted as 11a to 9p but at 10am today people were getting food and drinks.

I totally get the changes due to ever changing restrictions, crowds, cancellations and they have to balance guest amenities with payroll and costs…just communication of updates would be much appreciated and avoid some disappointment.

BTW…we love it here! Just sharing some things we encountered. And again, the cast members are beyond amazing!!!

Bummer about the gym. My body does not adjust well to the time change and i normally hit gym when the sun come up when i vacation in HI.

 

[Truther3]

The gym closed due to a “Disney decision”. We were first told that it was because of the regulations but those state 50% allowed. My wife who enjoys morning gym to get her going called and asked and then was told it was their decision to close. Not happy especially since they could simply have someone check to make sure it wasn’t to packed. But more mad that they lied about it.
not sure why the shut AMA AMA down as that is such a beautiful place to eat

 

[scoobdoo]

The gym closed due to a “Disney decision”. We were first told that it was because of the regulations but those state 50% allowed. My wife who enjoys morning gym to get her going called and asked and then was told it was their decision to close. Not happy especially since they could simply have someone check to make sure it wasn’t to packed. But more mad that they lied about it.
not sure why the shut AMA AMA down as that is such a beautiful place to eat

It just speaks to overall cost cutting by DIS and it's not a good trend.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It just speaks to overall cost cutting by DIS and it's not a good trend.

It's very hard to offer your full suite of services when you're on the tail end of a global pandemic and the governor of the state in which you operate a thousand-room resort just told people not to come. Not to mention the nationwide hiring crisis.

I give Disney a "pass" on cuts until we're fully out of COVID. If we get to a world where all restrictions are dropped and travel has returned to 2019 levels and they're still not offering a kids club and daily housekeeping, I'll be right there with you.

 

[corgi_monster]

The gym closed due to a “Disney decision”. We were first told that it was because of the regulations but those state 50% allowed. My wife who enjoys morning gym to get her going called and asked and then was told it was their decision to close. Not happy especially since they could simply have someone check to make sure it wasn’t to packed. But more mad that they lied about it.
not sure why the shut AMA AMA down as that is such a beautiful place to eat

The gym opened back up a few months ago and it remained open even when the 50% capacity restrictions were in place. The recent closure of the gym is more likely due to the Safe Access program that started on 9/13. Aulani would need to have someone checking vaccination/testing status for everyone 12+ who enters the gym. Not a huge deal to have an extra cast member there, but if they had to turn someone away that would be just another point of friction the resort doesn't want to deal with.

There are a number of businesses here on Oahu that have chosen to temporarily close, change to takeout-only, or impose stricter vax/testing requirements than are required by law - Aulani being one of them. For example, Ulu Cafe could legally accept takeout orders from anyone regardless of vax/testing status (so long as the food is consumed off premise) but they choose not to. You can't even buy a bottle of water or dole whip from the Little Opihi snack stand down on the beach if you're not a resort guest with proof of vax/testing. The local Disney community is pretty bummed

It just speaks to overall cost cutting by DIS and it's not a good trend.

I hear you on the cost cutting at WDW (to the point that I'm cancelling my 2022 trip to go to DL or TDR) but I don't think Aulani has suffered too much under Chapek. Aulani did have the gym open for a few months - they tried to offer this amenity. The things that haven't returned to Aulani (poolside and beach parties, some group activities, Aunty's, Luana Lounge, and refillable cups) are more likely due to sanitary issues and not wanting people to gather. Ama Ama is being reimagined and I believe they share a kitchen with room service so that's why in-room dining hasn't returned.

We were there in November right when Aulani reopened and have had staycations every other month since - Aulani has done a good job of reopening amenities when/where reasonably possible and they've done so without astronomical price increases *cough cough Christmas Party and Annual Passes **

 

[corgi_monster]

The tricky part is if the business only does takeout, they don’t need to check. If they do takeout and indoor seating, then they need to check, to my understanding. Giovannis has sit down as well as takeout but it is solely outdoor so hmmmm, the vax check/negative Covid test applies to indoor seating. So not needed imho.
Indoor seating is the barrier & key to unlock the mystery on Oahu.

I think that's Maui's Safer Outside program that you're referring to - unvaccinated people can dine outdoors only and there's no testing option for indoor dining.

Oahu's Safe Access program says unvaxed/untested people cannot dine indoors or outdoors in restaurants: https://www.oneoahu.org/safe-access-oahu/#customer-establishments

The reason I ask about Giovanni's is because the DOH license could be tied to the truck or the property. It's a grey area that is unique to just a few businesses.

There's actually a lot of grey area with this new program because DOH licenses are sometimes tied to entire property lines/TMK's (as opposed to the actual eatery) and that's not always an accurate reflection of "off-site" vs "on-site" dining. For example, Rainbow Drive Inn's newer secondary parking lot with picnic benches is a different property/TMK from the restaurant/kitchen. Technically, you could order your food, cross the boundary line, and enjoy your boneless chicken on the benches. Then there's the case of Aulani where the dining facilities and hotel rooms are on one property and were (for the most part) permitted collectively, technically making the hotel rooms "on-site". So if a vaxed person brings food from Off the Hook up to the hotel room for their unvaxed friend, the unvaxed friend technically shouldn't be eating the food in their room. Ridiculous! But at Hilton Hawaiian Village the Roundtable Pizza is permitted at a separate address within the HHV property so different rules apply and you could eat the pizza in the room. The intentions of the law are very clear, but establishments like Aulani kind of get screwed by the blanket definition of "on-premise". I think that's why the resort is being so overly cautious with their implementation of the Safe Access rules.

 

[808blessing]

Read that link for the original source of info before I posted. Hmmm everyone is just figuring it out. Last night at a neighborhood restaurant, verification was quick-I had it digitally (local option) and it went faster than the manual writing of my party’s vax card.

 

[scoobdoo]

just booked a 5-night stay in late April and absolutely praying there's normalcy at Aulani by then: Aunty's and signature dining open and no masks in that beautiful lobby.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

just booked a 5-night stay in late April and absolutely praying there's normalcy at Aulani by then: Aunty's and signature dining open and no masks in that beautiful lobby.

I'm going mid-Feb and I've loaded up the itinerary as much as possible to avoid disappointment if Aunty's isn't open by then. My big "wish list" back-to-normal items I'm watching are the airline mask mandate, valet parking, refillable mugs, and daily housekeeping.

I'm not optimistic, but doing my best to stay positive.

 

[OKW Lover]

My big "wish list" back-to-normal items I'm watching are the airline mask mandate, valet parking, refillable mugs, and daily housekeeping.

I believe Valet Parking is available now

 

[dina444444]

I believe Valet Parking is available now

I think so as well. They put my rental car in valet during check in a few weeks ago before I got my room key to move it to self parking.

 

[OKW Lover]

I can confirm that valet parking is available now

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I can confirm that valet parking is available now

Yaaaaaaaas!