Do you get to pick the cabana you want? If so, which is the best?

[sasha]

Hi All! We're leaving for Aulani in 3 months from today. Woo Hoo!!! We've never been before so I'm a little confused about the cabanas. I just called Aulani to book a cabana for our last day there and unfortunately got a CM that was less than helpful, and honestly, borderline rude. I was under the impression that we could pick a cabana, but she said we couldn't. Is this right?

Also, when I asked her to tell me about an executive lanai, she sounded bothered and asked if I wanted a cabana or casabella. I was just trying to see what the lanai was since I read it's for 8 people. Is the executive lanai sort of like a cabana? The reason I ask is there are 5 in our family, but we are traveling with friends (a family of 3). Are they really strict in the cabanas about having only 6 people in there? Do our friends have to find their own pool chairs or would they be able to come in and out of our cabana?

Lastly, when I asked the CM if any of the cabanas have views of the ocean, she rudely replied, "No, they are by the pool. If you want to see the ocean you should get a casabella on the beach." I thought I read that some cabanas are better than others. Is it just luck and you get what they assign you?

Sorry, but for $425 per day, I just wanted the CM to answer my questions, but she seemed too rushed and bothered. Hoping someone here can help me. TIA!

 

[skunkvette]

We rented cabanas for several days in March.

We could not pre-select our cabana locations when we reserved over the phone but they did note our preferences.

I would called down the day before each rental to again state our preferences and it all worked out fine.

Cabanas hold four people, with two additional chaises outside of the cabana that allow six total to sit, with two out in the sun. One hot day we managed to squeeze all six under the shade tent.

The adult pool trio are set back away from most activity and are very quiet and secluded. We found them most relaxing.

The three at the family pool area are the closest to an "ocean view" with a glimpse if you stand on your toes.

Two cabanas at the kids area were not our preference as we were a group of adults. These two view the interior pool area and the Menehunie play area.

We did not use the Executive Lanai, it is larger but lacks the shade and privacy we were looking for.

Good luck, Aulani is beautiful !

 

[LottiesMommy]

We rented some in June of 2015 and have some rented again for December of this year. I think the CM was correct in that you can't reserve an exact Cabana, but like skunkvette wrote, you can have a preference noted such as "not kid area". We looked at the lanai for one of our days since it was open and it has a much better view of the ocean, but it didn't have the privacy/shade or tv which my husband wanted/needed for napping.

We didn't have experience with having too many people in the cabana, but we certainly didn't feel like anyone was watching over the cabana area on a routine basis looking for rule breakers or anything. I would imagine if you are not bothering the other nearby cabana users that they wouldn't notice if once in a while other people stopped by.

Just FYI - In addition to not seeing the beach, you also cannot see the pool from the family cabanas (adult cabanas I think can see the adult pool). You can see the menehune bridge area from those cabanas near the play structure, but again, it is not really a pool and that play structure is kind of loud with all the running water. The cabanas are relaxing and provide great retreats, but you can't sit in them and see the pool or the beach really. If you want an amazing view and don't care as much about privacy or the tv, then I would go with the executive lanai (or lower veranda casabellas) since it has lots of room and an amazing view.

Have a great vacation.

 

[crystal1313]

I totally agree with LottiesMommy and skunkvette. We did not rent a cabana. We did reserve the Ama Ama Casabellas but ended up cancelling once we realized our kids didn't sit still all that often and how far they were from the pools. It was a gorgeous view though! Our room actually faced the adult pool cabanas and they were pretty set back from the adult pool and I think I only noticed one of the cabanas being used during our entire stay. We usually got pool chairs near the Menehune bridge play area and were near the cabanas there. If your kids are smaller, and will play there often, they were pretty neat. And you are close to Ulu cafe for drink refills. It was for sure louder in that area, but we enjoyed it. =)

 

[sasha]

Thank you so much for the responses! You answered all of my questions and even gave me great advice!

We decided to rent the cabana on the last day since we have a red eye flight and would like a place to keep our belongings and not stress about finding chairs by the pool. I wil definitely request something that's not by the kid area, and call the day before to make sure they have our request. There are 2 teenagers and 1 tween in our travel party so I think they would appreciate a place to hang out, but we don't need to be by the kids splash area. I also think we *may* reserve the executive lanai on one of our resort days just so we don't have to worry about reserving pool chairs. The casa bellas look cute, and I want a little bit of shade since I'm not a sun person.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[crystal1313]

The deck at the Executive Lanai can get super hot! Don't forget your flip flops!! I made that mistake trying to rush and find a restroom for DS8 at the beach, we cut through that area and ouch, was it ever hot!!

 

[Poppins2010]

I have sort of a follow up question for you folks... the casabellas - these are on the beach, is that right? Anyone have experiences with these? Are they reserved, or something that you get while at the resort? Thanks!

 

[crystal1313]

There are the beach casabellas that can be reserved the day of in the morning, I believe they are $75 a day. Then they are the casabellas on the Ama Ama deck that can be reserved in advance. The Ama Ama deck casabellas are more money. Here is a link:

https://resorts.disney.go.com/aulani-hawaii-resort/activities/poolside-cabanas/

Here is a link to my trip report (just got back 7/18) and I took photos of the casabellas.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/15th-anniversary-trip-trip-report.3525196/page-2

Post 34 =)

 

[Regan117]

We rented two cabanas for each day we were there, and they did let us choose whether or not we wanted to keep those same two for the entire trip. They said they are assigned in order of booking and any preference specified by those who booked.

 

[twodogs]

Agree with all above. Call and make sure the request for the Kamaka pool deck area is noted on your reservation (they won't offer the adult cabanas since you have kids with you). And be sure to say you do not want the kids' water area ones. It will be assigned in the order that people requested them, so earlier is better. We were given the same cabana all 3 days we reserved, but they didn't ask me each night if I wanted the same one the next day. I should have told them that but it worked out that we were in the same one the whole time, perfect.

 

[Luv2trav]

How far in advance can you book these?

 

[BCV23]

How far in advance can you book these?

We've reserved at the 11 month window after making our DVC reservation. They do ask for your reservation number.

 

[nkereina]

I have sort of a follow up question for you folks... the casabellas - these are on the beach, is that right? Anyone have experiences with these? Are they reserved, or something that you get while at the resort? Thanks!

There are the beach casabellas that can be reserved the day of in the morning, I believe they are $75 a day. Then they are the casabellas on the Ama Ama deck that can be reserved in advance. The Ama Ama deck casabellas are more money. Here is a link:

https://resorts.disney.go.com/aulani-hawaii-resort/activities/poolside-cabanas/

Here is a link to my trip report (just got back 7/18) and I took photos of the casabellas.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/15th-anniversary-trip-trip-report.3525196/page-2

Post 34 =)

As crystal1313 mentions, you can rent the casabellas on the beach the morning of or you can reserve the casabellas near Ama Ama in advance. We reserved the casabellas near Ama Ama in April for our September stay.

The ones near Ama Ama have an upper deck and lower deck. The upper deck holds a total of 4 people (two casabellas) and the lower deck holds 6 people (three casabellas). You must reserve the entire deck, you can't just reserve one casabella. So even though we are only two adults, we reserved the upper deck which has two casabellas/four chairs. These are $150 for the day. The lower deck with three casabellas is $225 for the day. The executive lanai is $325 for the day and has two casabellas, two regular loungers, and a table and chairs. When you reserve them, they just

@crystal1313 - thanks for linking your post with the photos. Would you say the Ama Ama casabellas are mostly in the shade or mostly in the sun? I know you can put the awning and umbrellas down for sun exposure, but it looks like there's a lot of foliage over the deck area. We're the kind of people that like to be in the sun, so if they're mostly shaded, we may reconsider. Thanks!

 

[crystal1313]

@crystal1313 - thanks for linking your post with the photos. Would you say the Ama Ama casabellas are mostly in the shade or mostly in the sun? I know you can put the awning and umbrellas down for sun exposure, but it looks like there's a lot of foliage over the deck area. We're the kind of people that like to be in the sun, so if they're mostly shaded, we may reconsider. Thanks!

I took those photos early morning, around 9am I think. I would say they would be pretty shady until the maybe around noon when the sun is up more, since the sun was still somewhat behind the resort in those photos. I would think in the afternoon they would have a lot more sun since it would be in front of the casabellas more, since they face west. I kept forgetting to take photos until the last morning, so now I wish I would have taken some in the afternoon! I do know that the deck the casabellas are on get very hot in the sun! Don't forget your flip flops!!

 

[twodogs]

I'm linking my TR which shows the view from Cabana 4, which is in the Kamaka Grotto:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/mahalo-aulani-three-generation-first-timer-trip-report.3522920/

 

[Regan117]

As crystal1313 mentions, you can rent the casabellas on the beach the morning of or you can reserve the casabellas near Ama Ama in advance. We reserved the casabellas near Ama Ama in April for our September stay.

The ones near Ama Ama have an upper deck and lower deck. The upper deck holds a total of 4 people (two casabellas) and the lower deck holds 6 people (three casabellas). You must reserve the entire deck, you can't just reserve one casabella. So even though we are only two adults, we reserved the upper deck which has two casabellas/four chairs. These are $150 for the day. The lower deck with three casabellas is $225 for the day. The executive lanai is $325 for the day and has two casabellas, two regular loungers, and a table and chairs. When you reserve them, they just

@crystal1313 - thanks for linking your post with the photos. Would you say the Ama Ama casabellas are mostly in the shade or mostly in the sun? I know you can put the awning and umbrellas down for sun exposure, but it looks like there's a lot of foliage over the deck area. We're the kind of people that like to be in the sun, so if they're mostly shaded, we may reconsider. Thanks!

Just be aware that if there is a private event at Ama Ama, there will not be any rentals available for that day. So it's best to call in advance to check

 

[Regan117]

Cabanas 3, 4 and 5 at Kamaka Grotto are the best, in my opinion. Nice location to both pools, food locations and the view of the ocean.

 

[nkereina]

Just be aware that if there is a private event at Ama Ama, there will not be any rentals available for that day. So it's best to call in advance to check

Hmm interesting... haven't heard this before. How often does that happen? They let us reserve it for each of the days we were looking for. I would assume they'd black out the day or contact us if a private event is scheduled?

 

[Regan117]

Hmm interesting... haven't heard this before. How often does that happen? They let us reserve it for each of the days we were looking for. I would assume they'd black out the day or contact us if a private event is scheduled?

I think they can contact you to cancel if someone rents out that space between now and then. For our vow renewal, we had Ama Ana patio and both the upper and lower deck areas. They blocked off the entire area from that morning around 9am to set up even though the event wasn't until 4pm. We were originally scheduled for a different location and switched to Ama Ama about 45 days out. So I assume anyone who had a rental reserved for that day was cancelled or moved.

 

[Sakura1017]

I totally agree with LottiesMommy and skunkvette. We did not rent a cabana. We did reserve the Ama Ama Casabellas but ended up cancelling once we realized our kids didn't sit still all that often and how far they were from the pools. It was a gorgeous view though! Our room actually faced the adult pool cabanas and they were pretty set back from the adult pool and I think I only noticed one of the cabanas being used during our entire stay. We usually got pool chairs near the Menehune bridge play area and were near the cabanas there. If your kids are smaller, and will play there often, they were pretty neat. And you are close to Ulu cafe for drink refills. It was for sure louder in that area, but we enjoyed it. =)

Which casabella did you originally rent at AMA AMA they had a gorgeous view?