Aulani Trip Reports PLEASE!!

I'm so disappointed to hear that because it's not fair for all the other paying guests that won't get a seat or have to deal with the crowd because of other people bringing in their friends and family and letting them use the pool facilities without actually staying there. I was wondering about this and if people would be doing this against the rules and apparently it is happening. I really hope that they start enforcing the rules more and come up with a better system. Knowing some locals, they may bring their extended ohana and have a huge pool party leaving paying guests to find empty chairs else where. Very disappointing...

I personally didn't see the sharing of the cards but can see how that would happen since all you have to do is show say 5 cards to get 5 bands. They really didnt look at the cards for names, etc. and check it against a list. At the Marriott Koolina, we had to show our room card which they checked against a master list and would mark something down I'm guessing to show that someone already came by for a pool band.

I think there will be adjustments in the future as Disney figures things out.
 
According to a picture posted of the prices at "Malibu Joe's Beach Rentals," the "Length of Stay Recreation Includes unlimited Rainbow Reef experience & beach rentals $99" Presumably, "beach rentals" would include the items listed above that notice on the sign, namely "Snorkel Set," "Single Kayak," "Double Kayak," "Stand up Paddle Board," "Beach Umbrella," and "Double Chase (sic) Lounge Chair."

They told us that the Double Chase Lounge Chair was not included. I overheard that the price for this was $30 for half day and $40 for whole day.

Single and Doulbe Kayaks, Paddleboards, Beach Umbrellas, snorkel equipment and Rainbow Reef were all included. I felt it was definitely worth it for my kids since they used the Paddle Boards at least twice everyday, tried kayaking and snorkeled in Rainbow Reef. It definitely kept them busy. The teen club did not seem that good and there was never anyone in there.
 

They told us that the Double Chase Lounge Chair was not included. I overheard that the price for this was $30 for half day and $40 for whole day.

Single and Doulbe Kayaks, Paddleboards, Beach Umbrellas, snorkel equipment and Rainbow Reef were all included. I felt it was definitely worth it for my kids since they used the Paddle Boards at least twice everyday, tried kayaking and snorkeled in Rainbow Reef. It definitely kept them busy. The teen club did not seem that good and there was never anyone in there.

They obviously have some things to work out. The sign should indicate the double isn't included. And they should learn how to spell "chaise."
 
Anyone know how much it is to rent a cabana at Aulani?
Just got off the phone (I was interested too)
$275 per day(9am-6pm) includes 32" tv, wi-fi, fruit tray, bottled water, ceiling fan& "upgraded furnishings" and hold 5 people( all must be registered guests)
Half day is $150- half day is walk-up day of rental only.

Apparently you can only book a cabana after you've checked in. I'm going in Novber and they can't reserve one for me today.

Aloha
 
They obviously have some things to work out. The sign should indicate the double isn't included. And they should learn how to spell "chaise."

You're right, they should specify that! I was looking forward to using it. That's kind of a bummer :sad2:
 
Earlier that was my DH posting LOL (I told him to make sure to put Mr Rparmfamily LOL!) but anyway, yes, there was a LARGE group next to us all day on Sunday. Over 20 people. And more were coming, and while I didn't see any actual handing over of keys, they seemed to have no problem getting wristbands. Hubby was getting aggravated but I told him there was no way for us to know if all these friends/family didn't stay there. Seriously, I saw at one point 5 more people walk up to the guy next to us and he said most of us are here, some are over there and gestured to across the pool area. We were by the Menehune kids' area and I think we were nearly the only people not with this group. They literally had an entire huge area to themselves, probably 10-15 chairs at least by us. Sunday was pretty crowded so this did not help. I think they are going to have to get very strict once the rest of the resort opens. It was clear that only the 2 large areas next to the lobby were open with like 4-5 other sections not open yet. The pool area will be nuts then. The lagoons were empty, appeared most were at the pool. The pool area is HUGE and awesome, the slides were great, my toddler LOVED the Menehune area and the little slides. :) The 2 infinity hot tubs are amazing, there is also a hidden hot tub and then one with a waterfall into it by the main pool. There is an "adult/quiet" pool off to the side of the resort with nothing fun by it but a bar :) but it is not signed as adult/quiet but I swear I read it somewhere, maybe on here. I really didn't see many kids there but I also wasn't there much, usually at the main pool.

My big kids loved Auntie's (though they were also still getting the groove of it, check in/out was sometimes nutty and on the paper it says they get snacks every 2 hrs and my son said he only got water but my DD said she got pretzels one time. They call you when the kids are ready to be picked up so we kept our cells with us at all times. I wasn't sure if you could leave the resort while they are at Auntie's, but we didn't anyway.

We ate several times at One Paddle, Two Paddle and mostly got the Angus burger kids meals ($6.95?) and we thought they were great. The taro chips weren't bad, and the fruit was great. I also ate the kalua pork (with kimchee, which I took off because I don't care for kimchee) but the pork was great and the sea asparagus salad was good.

They had Mickey head ice cream for $3.25 and we ate those. :) Brought our own sodas and plastic cups and just got ice out of the machine. We also brought our own snacks and made meals in the 1br. I think I was the 1st person to use that oven, it had the new oven smell when I turned it on LOL.

Overall the resort is top-notch, very detailed, very Hawaiian (and I mean native Hawaiian not kitschy Hawaiian) and it all flowed very nicely .
 
I personally didn't see the sharing of the cards but can see how that would happen since all you have to do is show say 5 cards to get 5 bands. They really didnt look at the cards for names, etc. and check it against a list. At the Marriott Koolina, we had to show our room card which they checked against a master list and would mark something down I'm guessing to show that someone already came by for a pool band.
I think there will be adjustments in the future as Disney figures things out.


This sounds like an excellent idea and I hope you recommend it to Disney.
 
It is concerning that there already issues with people cheating the system to get pool access. I can't imagine what it will be like when the resort is completely finished. I really hope Disney get's their act together fast in coming up with a better system. The pool area is one of the main reasons to stay at Aulani. There are lot of cheaper nice beach resorts around the world or even on Oahu. I guess I am most surprised by the fact that Disney didn't anticipate this happening and already have the correct process in place.
 
Just a quick request of any beach pictures plus any other pictures on the beach( chairs,double chairs ect...)Also can you take the kayaks outside the lagoon or are you limited to their area.Thank you
 
Just a quick request of any beach pictures plus any other pictures on the beach( chairs,double chairs ect...)Also can you take the kayaks outside the lagoon or are you limited to their area.Thank you

You can only take the Kayaks inside the lagoon area. I don't think you would want to go outside since a few of the days it was extremely rough outside the lagoon.
 
Just got off the phone (I was interested too)
$275 per day(9am-6pm) includes 32" tv, wi-fi, fruit tray, bottled water, ceiling fan& "upgraded furnishings" and hold 5 people( all must be registered guests)
Half day is $150- half day is walk-up day of rental only.

Apparently you can only book a cabana after you've checked in. I'm going in Novber and they can't reserve one for me today.

Aloha
I would check with another CM on that. I have a cabana already booked for our November stay!
 
I am visiting Aulani in December as a DVC "guest". I have been told that ONLY DVC members are offered complimentary self-park. All other guests (DVC and non-DVC) will be charged $35/day. Ouch! Looks like we may not rent a car after all.

What do you mean by 'DVC Guest'?
 
You can't take SUP's or kayaks out of the lagoon, and I wouldn't recommend it anyway, the water in that area can be rough, has reef and breaks against rocks. :)

Personally I'd recommend doing a kayak adventure,etc at Kailua Beach, though that's on the other side of the island and you'd need a car. You can rent kayaks at the beach, but go early, and check the surf report first. You can kayak out to the bird sanctuary there and it's gorgeous.

I also recommend Germaine's Luau. We loved Germaine's, we've been there twice.
 
Are the beverage stations for the mugs distributed around the resort,or do you have to run to one place.Still trying to bring costs into line.We are looking into renting a car for 10 days and pay the parking(we do intend to tour a couple of days) just to have the convenience of it avaible for groceries restaurants ect.. Or we may rent per use decisions decisions :confused3
Then there is the cost of airport transfers:surfweb:
 
Are the beverage stations for the mugs distributed around the resort,or do you have to run to one place.Still trying to bring costs into line.We are looking into renting a car for 10 days and pay the parking(we do intend to tour a couple of days) just to have the convenience of it avaible for groceries restaurants ect.. Or we may rent per use decisions decisions :confused3
Then there is the cost of airport transfers:surfweb:

I saw beverage stations in the gift shop and at the quick service restaurant called One Paddle Two Paddle.
 
What do you mean by 'DVC Guest'?

DVC Guest I think means that a DVD Mbr reserved a Villa for a non-DVC mbr. Just came off a two night stay at Aulani with a DVC Guest and we were both able to get the parking free. You must tell the front desk that the reservations are under DVC. That's what worked for them.
 



















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