Aunty's Beach House - confused...

[Skpnw]

Hi. I have been reading the threads about Aunty's Beach House and I am a bit confused. Most of the comments mention that one should line up early in the morning - what is the line for? A spot or is that the line for signing your child up for the specific daily activities like the goo and the volcano.

I know there are premium experiences that you can reserve ahead of time. I will consider one of those if that can "guarantee" me a few hours of kid-free time.

Another question - if I just want to drop off my children for a few hours (and not sign them up for another specific), do I need to reserve that in the morning or can I just show up at noon and drop them off to let them play?

Ideally, I would love to have my children participate in a few of the "free" scheduled activities but I would also like to use it as time away, both for me and them. Just wasn't sure if I could just wing it for that particular purpose.

thanks so much for any insight!

 

[yolie912]

Hi
Aunty beach house only takes reservations for their daily activities the day of. You are lining up to sign them up for one of their free activities not the premium ones. You can make advance reservations for Surfs up or fish are friends. Space goo is free and that's why parents line up early because they fill up fast.

Yes, you can drop them off for free play when ever you want.

Hope this helps!

 

[Skpnw]

Awesome - this helps a lot that free play is not a "wait in line" thing!! You made my day!

 

[Skpnw]

So, my husband brought up another point.

Can we leave the resort area when we use Aunty's Beach House? Let's say we want to eat at Roy's. Is that allowed or do we have to stay on property?

Are the rules a little different if we book a premium experience (could we go to Roy's then)?

thanks

 

[E&Cmom]

How much is the "Fish Are Friends" activity and if anyones kids did it did they like and did you find it worth it? My 11 year old want to do it.

 

[Cinderpamela]

If you haven't already, you might want to check out the Aunty's Beach House page on the Aulani Website: http://resorts.disney.go.com/aulani-hawaii-resort/families/auntys-beach-house/

There are also some good details here on the Aulani page:http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-resorts/aulani-hawaii-resort/#auntys

 

[3monkeys4me]

So, where do you line up at?

We are only going to be at Aulani for 3 1/2 days ( we are spending 2 days on Oahu, most of it we will be staying at a friend's house). My youngest would love to do the Keiki Hula and maybe one other activity but I expect we will be spending most of our time at the pool and beach areas as a family.

So, I need to line up somewhere in the morning? Where? And at what time?

I am hoping it wont be too crowded, since we are there the week before Christmas break but I am not going to count any chickens.

 

[abthomas]

My kids did the Fish are Friends. They were 7 and 11. They both really enjoyed it. The price was $72 each. That included lunch. A DVD. And a drawstring backpack. I used Disney Visa points! So it was a freebie. I would recommend.

 

[Mazz519]

So, my husband brought up another point.

Can we leave the resort area when we use Aunty's Beach House? Let's say we want to eat at Roy's. Is that allowed or do we have to stay on property?

Are the rules a little different if we book a premium experience (could we go to Roy's then)?

thanks

We just did this two weeks ago when we were there... my 10 yr old DS didn't want to come out to eat with us so he went to Aunty's... They don't ask if your leaving the resort and Roys is about 3 blocks from the resort. They have your # in case they need to contact you... I wouldn't go Waikiki but Roys should be fine

 

[AZMermaid]

I did read one report of people being turned away when Auntys was at capacity for free play, but only one, so I have to think that was rare. But, it could happen I guess.

I think I have read people start lining up around 6 to sign up for the free classes. I think they open at 8. I know I have read many people who got in line at 7:30 and that was too late. But, hopefully, someone who has experienced it first hand will chime in!

 

[3monkeys4me]

I did read one report of people being turned away when Auntys was at capacity for free play, but only one, so I have to think that was rare. But, it could happen I guess.

I think I have read people start lining up around 6 to sign up for the free classes. I think they open at 8. I know I have read many people who got in line at 7:30 and that was too late. But, hopefully, someone who has experienced it first hand will chime in!

Ugh. That wont be happening for us because there is no way I am spending my vacation waiting in line for two hours for an activity that my kid may or may not want to participate in.

The more and more I read I have come to the conclusion that we likely wont be using Auntys at all. It is a bit of a bummer, I was hoping to find something that my 5 year old who doesn't like water play could do while her siblings were enjoying the pools/beaches. Oh well. I will admit there is a part of me that is second guessing our decision to stay at Aulani. We do love Disney but it doesn't seem like we will be using most (any?) of the amenities that make it special. At least the youngest will be excited to see the characters. My older two are not interested in them anymore. In any case, I'm sure we will have a great vacation overall.

 

[AZMermaid]

You can drop her off for free play anytime- she just won't likely get to do any of the planned activities.

I really wish they would open half the spots for the free activities for pre-booking, like 60 days out and have the other half for same day reservations. Or- charge a small fee ($5-10?) to make the line reasonable in the morning! My kids are up at 5:30/6 normally, so for us to be downstairs early isn't really a huge deal- especially with the time change, but not something I want to do every day!

 

[AZMermaid]

Or charge $5 to prebook even! I would totally do that!

 

[yolie912]

I agree! I mean who likes to wake up super early on VACATION!

 

[3monkeys4me]

You can drop her off for free play anytime- she just won't likely get to do any of the planned activities. I really wish they would open half the spots for the free activities for pre-booking, like 60 days out and have the other half for same day reservations. Or- charge a small fee ($5-10?) to make the line reasonable in the morning! My kids are up at 5:30/6 normally, so for us to be downstairs early isn't really a huge deal- especially with the time change, but not something I want to do every day!

I would consider dropping her off for free play, but honestly we can do that at home. For free. We have great places that offer free play for kids her age so she does that frequently. Just not really special at all, ykwim?

And if she isn't there, she doesn't know what she is missing. If she meets some friend that then leaves to do an activity she can't do, she is bound to be disappointed. I don't mind paying for activities, and will loon more into the paid for one but the only one that I know she would love us the hula dancing. It is offered as a family activity, but as of now we have something the one day that it us offered for our trip. I could reschedule the outing, but that makes everything more complicated the rest if the time.

Since we have several friends that live in the area I'll ask around and see if I can find someone that can teach her a bit.

And who know, maybe I'll luck out and get her in. I'm just not willing to spend 2+ hours waiting in line for something like that. I'd rather just book her the mani pedi in the salon.