Aulani Cabanas

[4DisneyAddicts]

Do you need an armband to access the cabana? I only ask bc that is how it iswith DCL on Castaway Cay.

How many people to a cabana? Can our teens come and go to visit/check in?

 

[Girimama33]

Do you need an armband to access the cabana? I only ask bc that is how it iswith DCL on Castaway Cay.

How many people to a cabana? Can our teens come and go to visit/check in?

Yes. Only Aulani guests can be in the cabana area. There is seating for 6, but we had a group of 13 that had booked cabanas and the Executive Lanai with no issue. Most of the time we were all off going to the pool, etc. Your teens can be in there as long as they are on your reservation and have a wristband.

 

[AZMermaid]

Is there a separate wristband for the Cabanas or just the general Aulani guest one. My understanding is they are supposed to be for 6, but they don't seem to enforce that as the PP stated. My opinion (which doesn't matter much, ha ha) is going over 6 is okay as long as there are not more than 6-7 people in there at a time or it isn't a steady stream of people in and out all day long. I guess if you go over and you have the edge Cabana it has less of an impact on others than if you have the middle one. So, if I was planning on going over the number, I would ask for the cabana on the edge of the group, if that makes sense.

 

[Girimama33]

Is there a separate wristband for the Cabanas or just the general Aulani guest one. My understanding is they are supposed to be for 6, but they don't seem to enforce that as the PP stated. My opinion (which doesn't matter much, ha ha) is going over 6 is okay as long as there are not more than 6-7 people in there at a time or it isn't a steady stream of people in and out all day long. I guess if you go over and you have the edge Cabana it has less of an impact on others than if you have the middle one. So, if I was planning on going over the number, I would ask for the cabana on the edge of the group, if that makes sense.

There is nothing they give you that indicates you have access to a cabana. You just pay the rate in the morning at Rainbow Reef, and you go to the cabana. There are no cabana police.
When assigning the cabanas, they do not take into consideration what you are suggesting. They accept requests based on the booking order.

 

[AZMermaid]

There is nothing they give you that indicates you have access to a cabana. You just pay the rate in the morning at Rainbow Reef, and you go to the cabana. There are no cabana police.
When assigning the cabanas, they do not take into consideration what you are suggesting. They accept requests based on the booking order.

My understanding (and I could be wrong- not been yet) is they call the night before and ask you what Cabana you would like (in order of booking like you said). Couldn't you (general you) at that point say "I plan on having 13 people can I please have an end Cabana if available?" If someone ahead of you has requested those Cabanas already, then well, you tried.

 

[AZMermaid]

This made me think of another question- we have two cabana days booked for June. I booked them about 10 months ahead, so I gotta think I am high up on the request ladder for those dates. The first day, I requested near the bridge (as my kids will be 3 and 4.5). The second day, I did not request a spot because I have read the bridge ones are super loud and wanted to see for myself before deciding if we wanted the bridge area again or the family pool ones. We also may cancel it all together. My kids can swim, but the cabanas are pretty far back that it still seems to defeat the purpose of having seating if we can't watch them swim from our seats. Anyway, I didn't request an area. Do I get basically (probably) first choice, or am I after later bookers that requested? Or should I put a request on the second booking?

 

[4DisneyAddicts]

This made me think of another question- we have two cabana days booked for June. I booked them about 10 months ahead, so I gotta think I am high up on the request ladder for those dates. The first day, I requested near the bridge (as my kids will be 3 and 4.5). The second day, I did not request a spot because I have read the bridge ones are super loud and wanted to see for myself before deciding if we wanted the bridge area again or the family pool ones. We also may cancel it all together. My kids can swim, but the cabanas are pretty far back that it still seems to defeat the purpose of having seating if we can't watch them swim from our seats. Anyway, I didn't request an area. Do I get basically (probably) first choice, or am I after later bookers that requested? Or should I put a request on the second booking?

I booked cabanas for a few days of my late June/earlyJuly 2015 stay. I did receive email confirmations. When I asked when I make requests for location, she said she should have done that when she booked it, but I can go back in and add it as a request. I told her I wanted to research it first. So it sounds like if you wait until you get there, your choice may not be available.

The woman who booked it for me said there were a couple by the mehune bridge and the rest were in a different area. The cabana will be mostly for the 4 adults in our group, with teenagers stopping in. 2 younger kids (9 and 10) will probably be with us most of the time. She did book us in a family cabana. I don't want noisy, but would be be okay in the area that is not by the mehune?

 

[Girimama33]

My understanding (and I could be wrong- not been yet) is they call the night before and ask you what Cabana you would like (in order of booking like you said). Couldn't you (general you) at that point say "I plan on having 13 people can I please have an end Cabana if available?" If someone ahead of you has requested those Cabanas already, then well, you tried.

I am not sure if they call people th night before, since I had booked the last cabana for all of my days. They just called with the cabana # we were going to be at the night before.
I can't speak about what a larger party would/should request.

This made me think of another question- we have two cabana days booked for June. I booked them about 10 months ahead, so I gotta think I am high up on the request ladder for those dates. The first day, I requested near the bridge (as my kids will be 3 and 4.5). The second day, I did not request a spot because I have read the bridge ones are super loud and wanted to see for myself before deciding if we wanted the bridge area again or the family pool ones. We also may cancel it all together. My kids can swim, but the cabanas are pretty far back that it still seems to defeat the purpose of having seating if we can't watch them swim from our seats. Anyway, I didn't request an area. Do I get basically (probably) first choice, or am I after later bookers that requested? Or should I put a request on the second booking?

We had the Menehune Bridge both days, and I was thankful for it. My DD loved the Menehune Bridge area the best. I could sit in the cabana and still keep an eye on her for the most part (she is older than yours). I would not have been able to have done that if our cabana was at the Ka Maka Landing.
I would put a request in for the Ka Maka Landing first (they seem more popular), and then I would change it if necessary.

I booked cabanas for a few days of my late June/earlyJuly 2015 stay. I did receive email confirmations. When I asked when I make requests for location, she said she should have done that when she booked it, but I can go back in and add it as a request. I told her I wanted to research it first. So it sounds like if you wait until you get there, your choice may not be available.

The woman who booked it for me said there were a couple by the mehune bridge and the rest were in a different area. The cabana will be mostly for the 4 adults in our group, with teenagers stopping in. 2 younger kids (9 and 10) will probably be with us most of the time. She did book us in a family cabana. I don't want noisy, but would be be okay in the area that is not by the mehune?

I answered your question and gave you a link on the other cabana thread.
The three areas are:
The adult pool (3)
Ka Maka Landing (3)
Menehune Bridge (2)

You either want to get a cabana by the adult pool or the Ka Maka Landing.
I loved the Menehune Bridge cabanas the best when we had our cabana days. My DD loved to play there, but the cabanas are more centrally located vs the others that are off to one side of the resort. You do hear a lot of rushing water though, but I wasn't trying to sleep so it did not bother me at all.

 

[AZMermaid]

We had the Menehune Bridge both days, and I was thankful for it. My DD loved the Menehune Bridge area the best. I could sit in the cabana and still keep an eye on her for the most part (she is older than yours). I would not have been able to have done that if our cabana was at the Ka Maka Landing.
I would put a request in for the Ka Maka Landing first (they seem more popular), and then I would change it if necessary.

I am thinking the bridge ones would work best for us too- it is just that slight chance we would prefer the family pool ones the second day that is holding me back. But, you are right. My husband and I could enjoy the cabana while the kids played on the bridge and when we all go swim, we can just walk to the pools. In the family ones, we are either all in the cabana- or all out. I am calling next week to reserve Chip and Dale's Surfs Up. I think I will add on a request for the bridge for the second day as well. I am glad to hear you liked them. I teach first grade- so I am not sure why I think I will be bothered by the noise, lol!

 

[4DisneyAddicts]

I have a cabana booked for a couple days of our upcoming summer trip. We have an additional famly joining us so we decided to try to book another day at either the executive lanai or another cabana day. Unfortunately they are all booked. One family has the lanai booked for our entire stay.

Has anyone had any experience with calling back and finding openings? Just wondering if it is worth my time to keep calling back, or just wait until we get there, hoping they cancel with the 24 hour window.

 

[Anal Annie]

I have a cabana booked for a couple days of our upcoming summer trip. We have an additional famly joining us so we decided to try to book another day at either the executive lanai or another cabana day. Unfortunately they are all booked. One family has the lanai booked for our entire stay.

Has anyone had any experience with calling back and finding openings? Just wondering if it is worth my time to keep calling back, or just wait until we get there, hoping they cancel with the 24 hour window.

We had one reserved for our last day and after we got there we didn't feel it was necessary or worth the money so we canceled it while we were there. Definitely worth checking on again with a phone call or while you're there as you never know when someone else might do the same. I don't know if they keep a "wait list" or anything.