At Aulani now - seems packed

[Cinderpamela]

So if you leave your stuff like maybe a pool bag & books & other personal items & go for a walk or down to the beach for awhile or back to your room for lunch for example and are gone for more than an hour they'll just TAKE YOUR STUFF? That seems wrong. I mean I understand if you've gone down early to "save seats" that should be enforced but if you're obviously still really USING the seats and have just gone somewhere else for awhile that doesn't seem right. Especially if you've gone for lunch or something. I won't like having to feel like I'm on a time clock whenever I get up to explore another area for awhile.

Annie, its pretty much if your whole group is gone for a long period of time, and only during the busy seasons. For example during Christmas when we were there, it was crazy busy (like get your chairs saved and have some one there guarding them at 8 am type of busy) the castmember came over to my DH while the rest of us were in the pool and asked about our chairs. My DH responded that yes those were all our chairs and we were still using them.

We tried to keep at least one from our group hanging out by our lounge chairs just to be on the safe side.

Unfortunately a lot of people would leave towels on chairs and even if they had left the pool deck, would not pick up after themselves, so you could think "that chair is taken" when the reality was it was just someone who expected others to pick up after them. I saw a lot of cast members having to do that all the time.

Since your DS is older you will have the luxury of being able to hang around the adult pool if its hard to get chairs. We did that a couple of days and with our DS who was 16 we were not questioned , but when DS who was 12 at the time came over, then a CM was quick to point out that this was an adult only area.

 

[wanderlust17]

I think that's more than fair honestly. I mean if there is a huge demand for chairs I don't think people should expect to be able to just leave for over an hour and still have chairs when they get back when there are other people that would like to sit by the pool.

 

[Dvc808]

I think it is just plain rude for people to save a lounge chair with a towel and not even use it! Many others look and want to actually use it and none are "available" because people are just greedy! I can see if u want to put a bag and some other personal stuff but do you really need more than one chair?! And another note, when people are done with their towels and such, why can they not put it away in towel bin so others know that the chair is available? It probably the way they were raised I think!

 

[kkmcan]

When we were there about a week and a half ago it was busy and we were aware of the 1 hour policy but I never saw anyone's stuff being moved by CM's. Nor did any CM ask if we were using all of our chairs.

We did not take 4 chairs even though there were 4 of us. We took 2 and there was almost always 1 of us at the chairs just because we tend to all go our own ways and do 20 minutes or so of lazy river or slides or whatever and then head back to our chairs to relax for a bit. Our last day there we had trouble finding a chair but it was noon by then and we knew it would be that way heading out that late in the day. It was just after we checked out. We did manage to find 2 chairs together right there by the huge firepit and those actually turned out to be very nice and quiet. Not a lot of foot traffic.

We also always cleaned up after ourselves (turning in our used towels) so someone else could come along be able to use the chairs.

We figured out to swim in the morning. It was quieter and more peaceful, less hot and we had the pick of whatever chairs we wanted. We'd stay through lunch and then head inside around 1:00 to clean up and shower. That 1:00-5:00 time is super busy and hot.

 

[Fuhnuh]

We did not take 4 chairs even though there were 4 of us. We took 2 and there was almost always 1 of us at the chairs just because we tend to all go our own ways and do 20 minutes or so of lazy river or slides or whatever and then head back to our chairs to relax for a bit.

This is what we do also because DD13 and her friend are almost always gone. I always feel guilty taking 4 chairs for the day when we only use all for for a small amount of that time. I just get up and go do something and girls take my chair or if they both want to sit DW and I go for a walk or swim. I know this wouldn't work for everyone because I did see families that used all their chairs regularly (and those who hardly use them at all). I guess it's a personal choice, but props to others who do this.

 

[Daddio]

The resort this week has been running at 98% occupancy. Definitely the busiest I have ever seen it.

~ David

 

[christine*]

I'm headed to Aulani in 10 days or so. Is it expected to be busy then? This thread kind of made me nervous...

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

The resort this week has been running at 98% occupancy. Definitely the busiest I have ever seen it. ~ David

Where did you find this info.. Can you get it for other DVC resorts?

 

[DisSarahK]

I'm headed to Aulani in 10 days or so. Is it expected to be busy then? This thread kind of made me nervous...

Don't be nervous! I'm here right now and we are having a great time! We've found a chair or two every day (we share since we don't all use them at once) and we've done fun activities like lei making, the menehune adventure trail, and the mini canoe building/racing.

Lines for the slides aren't bad at all, either, and my children have made me do the lazy river a zillion times.

Tomorrow is day five here for us and we are loving it.

 

[poohj80]

Best times for the pool/slides are first thing in the morning and when everyone else is eating dinner (slides open until 8, pools until 10). We were never told of the 1 hour rule until the 3rd day but we're always going back to our chair for one thing or another. There was one afternoon where we went to the beach first and then pool around 2 and could not find a chair anywhere. We ended up just piling stuff next to a rock for awhile.

 

[gourt]

We just returned from Aulani yesterday. The 1 hour rule is definitely enforced - and it's great! There were too many people dropping off stuff and not coming back to the pool area. And it made me crazy to see people leave and not pick up their towels so others can use the chairs. I didn't see the pool people take personal items, but they did pick up a lot of used towels when they realized that family had left the area.

We were told about the 1 hour rule every time we got our wristbands and towels.

To Daddio's point (hi David- thanks for helping us rent points!), we heard from a concierge that the resort was running at full capacity last week, full of us spring breakers. Even saw Britney Spears there one day. My DD didn't believe that it was her so we did a Google search, and sure enough, there's a papparazi photo of her at an Aulani cabana. As my DD said, "whatevs"

 

[poohj80]

We just returned from Aulani yesterday. The 1 hour rule is definitely enforced - and it's great! There were too many people dropping off stuff and not coming back to the pool area. And it made me crazy to see people leave and not pick up their towels so others can use the chairs. I didn't see the pool people take personal items, but they did pick up a lot of used towels when they realized that family had left the area.

We were told about the 1 hour rule every time we got our wristbands and towels.

To Daddio's point (hi David- thanks for helping us rent points!), we heard from a concierge that the resort was running at full capacity last week, full of us spring breakers. Even saw Britney Spears there one day. My DD didn't believe that it was her so we did a Google search, and sure enough, there's a papparazi photo of her at an Aulani cabana. As my DD said, "whatevs"

We never saw her but heard she was here.

 

[DPCummerbund]

Don't be nervous! I'm here right now and we are having a great time! We've found a chair or two every day (we share since we don't all use them at once) and we've done fun activities like lei making, the menehune adventure trail, and the mini canoe building/racing.

Lines for the slides aren't bad at all, either, and my children have made me do the lazy river a zillion times.

Tomorrow is day five here for us and we are loving it.

That's good to hear! How crowded are the lazy river and the pools? People have different definitions of "crowded", so I thought it might be better to use photos. Lacking enough photos of Aulani, I found these. For those of you who are there now, how does Aulani compare?

Not Crowded:

Crowded:

 

[poohj80]

The Lazy River has not been as crowded as the bottom photo. The most crowded has been the lines for the slides between 10-4ish.

Current slide line:



Lazy River at access near bottom of slide (most congested):



Current pool and beach crowds:

 

[DenLo]

Aulani limits the number people on the Lazy River simply by restricting the number of tubes. We went up one afternoon took the last two tubes and started to get in. A family then came up and complained about no tubes to a CM. And the CM stated they could enter the lazy river without tubes otherwise, they would have to wait until people return their tubes. So I would not expect to see crowds like in the second photo.

 

[poohj80]

Double post, sorry.

 

[christine*]

Thanks for posting pictures of the pool and crowd! Detailed posts like DPCummerbund and poohj80 are why I love disboards!

 

[jerseygal]

Check out Atlantis during PEAK SEASON or resorts in BEAUTIFUL LOCATIONS! CROWDED!

Glad to hear that there is an enforcement systems for those traveling during BUSY PEAK HOLIDAY TIMES!

Crowds just "come with the territory" for those choosing to travel during peak times!

 

[poohj80]

Both slide lines opened yesterday.

 

[SGDisneyFam]

It is definitely packed. There are for sure places they can improve things as far as crowd control. Ulu cafe is ridiculous for breakfast in the morning. Not DL efficient there for sure

Chairs are almost all full all the time. But the 1hr rule makes some available.

The pools and slides aren't crowded or packed at all for the amount of people here. It will be a lot better now that both slide lines are open again and not tubes and non tubers crowded into one line.

The thing that bothers me the most is the check in for the free activities in Aunties. There must me a more efficient disney like way of handling this. (As I stand in line for 50 minutes waiting so far with 10 minutes before they start taking names for the spots) , and back far enough there's a good chance my kids will end up on the waitlist for them.