Aunty's Beach House/Aulani Activities

[moredisneyplease]

Anyone been recently? i know when i go to WDW i keep those activity sheets for the scrapbook.......does anyone have an activity sheet from Aulani? I'd love to see a copy of it if they even have them.

Also:

How did your kids like Aunty's? Loads of activities to keep them busy for a few hours? Do they separate the kids according to age? i have a 4 and a 6 year old and would love to keep them together.

Any/all feedback would be greatly appreciated!

thanks!

 

[spleen]

I know my 3 yr old and my 6 yr old were at Auntie's at the same time and they participated in a lot of the same activities together. There were enough cast members around that if one got bored doing that activity, there were plenty of other things going on that they found something else to do. They loved it and would have spent the whole time at the Beach House if it was up to them. They actually preferred being in there instead of at the pool which given the 2 fish I have, is really saying something.

 

[moredisneyplease]

I know my 3 yr old and my 6 yr old were at Auntie's at the same time and they participated in a lot of the same activities together. There were enough cast members around that if one got bored doing that activity, there were plenty of other things going on that they found something else to do. They loved it and would have spent the whole time at the Beach House if it was up to them. They actually preferred being in there instead of at the pool which given the 2 fish I have, is really saying something.

Thanks for the feedback!!! What other activities did they like? Did they like the menehune trail? What about the rainbow reef snorkeling area? Does that cost? I think it does so I want to make it sure its worth the money

 

[spleen]

Thanks for the feedback!!! What other activities did they like? Did they like the menehune trail? What about the rainbow reef snorkeling area? Does that cost? I think it does so I want to make it sure its worth the money

They did crafts together, storytelling together, dress up together. There's a video game table in the garage section which is like a world's biggest iPad - all touch sensitive games and they seemed to like playing with that as well. They kind of liked the menehune trail (my wife and I LOVED it). We never did rainbow reef though the kids spent enough time staring through the underwater viewing windows. Rainbow reef is pretty pricey. But we live in Hawaii so paying money to snorkel someplace just seems wrong ...

 

[bethy]

Aunty's gets rave reviews pretty much everywhere. FWIW though my kids didn't like it. It basically felt like a school and/or daycare to them and honestly that's really what it is.

It's clean, well-themed and had lots of neat activities but it wasnt' for us. If we had insisted our kids would have survived hanging out there but we were there for a family vacation and so we stuck together as a family the whole time.

I basically learned that going on a Disney Cruise would probably never be worth it for us. Aulani is great though due to the BEACH and the cool pool with plenty of places to hang out (at least there were when we were there in December).

Rainbow Reef does cost money and I'm not sure I'd do it again. I think we'd rather snorkel in the ocean. I do appreciate the idea of a safe place to learn for the kiddos. =)

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

For our daughter (age 5) Aunty's Beach House was awesome.

Your 4 & 6 year old will be kept together.

There are tons of activities that your child can do, DD5 did crafts, coloring projects. They did a lesson where they taught the kids to "surf" on land.

It really does look like a house on the inside. There is a reception area in front where your children will get a tracker / wrist band. They can't get out of Auntie's Beach house....

Then you move into one of the areas that your little ones will spend most of their time. It looks like a giant family room. There is a faux skylight above (where interesting things happen from time to time). There is a faux fireplace. A dress up area where the kids can try on various disney costumes. Then play areas for other stuff.

Down one of the hallways is a huge media room where kids can watch movies (I think that's only for the older kids). Then another room with Xbox, Playstation, Wii, and PC game systems (again for the older kids).

Then in the back is the kitchen area. There are tables where the kids have snacks (free) or meals (a relatively small charge). There are also 4 or 5 Microsoft Surface gaming tables with custom made touch screen games. If you don't know what Surface is - it's like a 42" iPad.

Off the kitchen is the "garage" where all of the crafts are done.

Off the kitchen / garage is the back yard area. There are several activity areas out there.

We spent most of our time together as a family, but we checked DD5 in so we could have one adult dinner. She had so much fun she asked to go back so we let her go for a few hours the next morning after breakfast.

Now, we were there when only Phase 1 was open (in the first month it was open) and the resort was not very crowded. Auntie's Beach House was WAY over staffed at the time when we were there. DD5 almost had 1 - 1 attention with a "camp counselor" / staff member while she was there.

 

[bethy]

I should add that I would have used Aunties a few times if it had been just DH, me and our two older girls (ages 10 and 6). But we had a baby with us anyway whom I wouldn't leave with anyone. So on this trip adult only time was not an option for us anyway.

(Not even in the one bedroom villa where you could hear every single noise made within the villa - from any location. )

We found ourselves most frustrated for our 10 year old. She really felt too "old" for Aunty's but she was too young to even do the tween activities. Those started at age 11. And the really cool things like the spa where you made your own spa products, etc you had to be 13(I think? or even older?) for that. She kind of fell through the cracks. I also wish there had been some more activities for kids outdoors - like surfing lessons on the beach etc. However you can at least find someone to do them if you are willing to pay - which is something.

 

[mkymsehi]

Here are photo's of Auntie's House on my FB wall.

Mostly of the movie room that houses all the WDW Florida -Downtown Disney Adventure's Club artifacts. Some of the other rooms are shown in a few photos.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150298945879269.355976.792524268&type=3&l=0b7d552b29

 

[taaren]

DS5 liked Aunty's once he got in but I was pretty displeased with the staff. Aunty's was the low point of my trip there. Here's a link to my mini-TR.

 

[moredisneyplease]

thank you everyone for your feed back! I really appreciate you taking the time to post your facebook pages and TRs!

 

[thewelts]

We spent 7 nights at Aulani soon after they opened in December 2011 (DVC Studio). My son was 7. We loved the resort, but my son refused to stay at Auntie's. He spend two short sessions there and he was miserable. I can understand why, it felt like a lock-down daycare facility.

For us, as parents, we wanted/needed some couple-alone time. One night we had a nice dinner at AmaAma and then enjoyed the wonderful Laniwai Spa on a separate afternoon. It was hard to enjoy these activities knowing that my son was unhappy.

Has anything changed/improved over the past 2 years? My son is now 9 and clearly Auntie's is NOT an option for us. He is too young for Painted Sky (not that he would like it there anyway).

I would love to see Disney offer organized "outdoor" activities more like a camp or class.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions. We would love to return and give Aulani another try, but we would need a better childcare option.

 

[kahluacream]

I think Aunty's is best if you sign your kids up for a specific activity they will enjoy. Mine loved "eruption disruption" where they made (and exploded) a volcano with a cast member dressed as a mad scientist. He was great! Stitch's space goo was also popular.

Both of these activities appeared on the Iwa a couple times during the week we were there in June. Sign up at the club when it opens at 8 to make sure your kids get a spot... I registered mine for dinner (around $8 per child) followed by eruption disruption (free) at 6 pm. This gave us parents time for a nice dinner at AMA AMA while the kids were having fun.

 

[tripletsmama]

Does anyone know of any childcare options for those under 3? I think my girls will love the beach house, but my DS will be 1 when we travel. Would love to do a date night with DH, but I know
DS is too young for the club.

 

[dsneygirl]

My DS was just shy of 6 and he loved Aunties! We went almost every morning together for the open house and he probably spent 2 hours there every day.

He did Volcanic Eruption 3x he loved it so much.

 

[SuperRob]

Rainbow Reef does cost money and I'm not sure I'd do it again. I think we'd rather snorkel in the ocean. I do appreciate the idea of a safe place to learn for the kiddos. =)

A nice perk for Rainbow Reef is that when you're done, you can take the equipment out the lagoon (or somewhere else) and snorkel on your own. You get the equipment for the entire day.

 

[DenLo]

Here's the recent You Tube on Auntie's Beach House and things to do with kids at Aulani. Remember Auntie Beach House is free except for lunch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4hJj8SABdo

 

[dsneygirl]

A nice perk for Rainbow Reef is that when you're done, you can take the equipment out the lagoon (or somewhere else) and snorkel on your own. You get the equipment for the entire day.

It took all week to convince my DS to try Rainbow Reef and he finally did on the last day. We went 3x, a length of stay would have been smart on Day 1 for us.