Here now -- another report

[vikequeen]

We are here now, and since I had a minor meltdown on a thread here a few days ago in anticipation of arrival, wanted to post an update to say how fantastic we have found the resort to be. I take it all back. We arrived yesterday and are staying in a 1BR ocean view DVC unit. Last year we stayed at the Marriott a short walk from here. A few thoughts

• The grounds are beautiful -- we visited but did not stay here last year. didn't appreciate how amazing everything was until we spent the entire day here.
• This room is smaller than what we had last year, at the marriott but the functionality is much better. Disney did every detail right.
• So far, all service has been amazing.
• Pool chair situation is crazy busy. By 845, chairs were pretty much gone. We went down at 730 (because of time differences, we'd been up since 430 anyway . . .) and there were many, many people there already even though pool doesn't open until 8. This was much worse than the situation at the Marriott last year. We saw a lot of staff doing their best to identify the chair hogs.
• I was not able to book a character breakfast online -- all reservations taken. But if you go in person they have much, much more availability. I was pretty much able to have any time or date I personally wanted (and got a res for tomorrow). That was a huge relief.
• The dole whip and shaved ice are delicious.
• Food options here are much much better than the marriott.
• Beach Casabellas also book up by early morning at peak times. But if you get there shortly after it opens you should be able to get one.
• No waiting for the rainbow reef. DS11 loved it. We will do again.
• The scavenger hunt is not to be missed for kids in the right age range. DS9 loved it.

overall, we are very happy. trying to hit the Dole Plantation tomorrow. happy to answer any questions if I can help.

 

[jtba]

so glad to hear it! have fun!!!

 

[twodogs]

I'm so relieved that things are going better than you thought. Have you had any luck with Aunty's? So,glad it's going great!!

 

[cmph]

One thing I keep wondering about the pool chair situation is - when in the day does this "clear up"? If we wanted to go for a later swim (like late afternoon or early evening), would others have abandoned their chairs by then? We're going in May, and I know it'll be busy, and honestly - I don't feel like dealing with the chair stress! I think if I head into it with the attitude of "we won't have a chair, so we'll just grab towels and head back to the room when we're done" in the early part of the day, then I won't feel frustrated. Or are we in trouble if we don't get the towels first thing too? Thanks in advance!

 

[AdamEfimoff]

?Are the standard rooms a bit too small?

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

One thing I keep wondering about the pool chair situation is - when in the day does this "clear up"? If we wanted to go for a later swim (like late afternoon or early evening), would others have abandoned their chairs by then? We're going in May, and I know it'll be busy, and honestly - I don't feel like dealing with the chair stress! I think if I head into it with the attitude of "we won't have a chair, so we'll just grab towels and head back to the room when we're done" in the early part of the day, then I won't feel frustrated. Or are we in trouble if we don't get the towels first thing too? Thanks in advance!

In my experience, the crowds thin starting around 4:30 - 5:00 when folks start heading out for dinner. That is typically when we would move up to the pool deck from the beach, and when we went on the slides since there were virtually no lines!

 

[misha-ginger]

One thing I keep wondering about the pool chair situation is - when in the day does this "clear up"? If we wanted to go for a later swim (like late afternoon or early evening), would others have abandoned their chairs by then? We're going in May, and I know it'll be busy, and honestly - I don't feel like dealing with the chair stress! I think if I head into it with the attitude of "we won't have a chair, so we'll just grab towels and head back to the room when we're done" in the early part of the day, then I won't feel frustrated. Or are we in trouble if we don't get the towels first thing too? Thanks in advance!

I think the chair business is very dependent on when you go. I was there last week and I was still able to get chairs in shaded areas by the pool after 8:30. There were chairs in the sun that were still open after 9. But the resort wasn't crazy last week. I heard it was supposed to be near capacity this week. We did find that lots of chairs opened up after the organized activities at the pool ended around 4.

 

[vikequeen]

Yes, the hotel is very full and busy right now. I can't comment on size of standard room as we are in a 1BR DVC unit. We spent the morning at the plantation and didn't try to hit the pool until about 230. It was very hard to find a spot. Staff was super helpful though. They found us a few single spots (if we just wanted 1 chair to dump stuff on). they were clearly keeping track of who hadn't been back for awhile. We luckily found 2 chairs together near the pool. the past two days, the pool has stayed very busy until 4ish. Based on conversation with someone poolside who has been here since last week, it was definitely better last week. so your experience will be highly dependent on crowd levels when you go. Getting towels at any time of day is never a problem. And when I tried the reef out this afternoon at about 3 pm (was supposed to be with my son, but he bailed on me), I was the only one in it. But the line for the slide was ridiculously long and we only did it once. I can confirm it is a very fun slide I was disappointed last night that the pool music was incredibly loud, until at least 930. we are still somewhat on central time so trying to go to bed early. even with earplugs, I could still hear it in the room. but that is my only significant complaint so far (and its not a big one . . just an observation to pass on as an FYI).

 

[crystal1313]

I am so glad that you are having a great time!!! What time are the pools open until? I had read in other reports that people were upset they closed at 8pm. We are going in July and I was hoping they would be open a bit later than 8. Thanks so much for the reports!! =)

 

[vikequeen]

I am so glad that you are having a great time!!! What time are the pools open until? I had read in other reports that people were upset they closed at 8pm. We are going in July and I was hoping they would be open a bit later than 8. Thanks so much for the reports!! =)

They open at 8 am and most close at 8 pm. I was in the adult infinity hot tub yesterday (which is beautiful) and it has a posted close time of 10 pm.

 

[crystal1313]

Thank you!!

 

[ngl]

Thanks so much for this info and happy things are working out! We head there next week and are expecting large crowds. Do the beach chairs seem to be more available than pool? Thanks again!

 

[JoeA]

Thanks so much for this info and happy things are working out! We head there next week and are expecting large crowds. Do the beach chairs seem to be more available than pool? Thanks again!

Others should chime in here as well, but I was there 2 weeks ago and yes - beach chairs seemed more plentiful. We were also able to get 3 chairs together in an area between the grotto and adult pool at 10:30 or so, as well.

 

[Rubygoose]

We just got home from our stay. We were there from Sunday March 13th to Monday March 21st. We didn't have any issues getting a chair until Sunday the 20th - even on Saturday, we were able to find a chair in the afternoon (we were out and about before that, so I don't know how busy it was in the morning.) From the 13th to the 18th, we could get 2 or 4 chairs in any section that we wanted at any time of day, but on Sunday the 20th, we grabbed chairs at 7:30am before going to our reservation at Ama Ama and I'm glad we did because we ended up spending most of the morning/day at the pool and saw people sitting on the cement because they couldn't get a seat.

As for the beach, we didn't have any problem getting a chair at any time during our stay. You can even grab a little chair and bring it right up to the shore if you want.

 

[misha-ginger]

They open at 8 am and most close at 8 pm. I was in the adult infinity hot tub yesterday (which is beautiful) and it has a posted close time of 10 pm.

Lucky you. Last week the infinity hot tub was closed the whole week. I kept hoping they would have it open before we left but no such luck

 

[skunkvette]

Lucky you. Last week the infinity hot tub was closed the whole week. I kept hoping they would have it open before we left but no such luck

Same here.

The adult hot tub was closed all week, the spa tub was closed the one day that we had spa time and the family hot tub was closed one day and packed all others.

 

[vikequeen]

Itinfinity tub was open one day closed again yesterday. I hope they get it fixed. It was lovely.

FYI we spent yesterday on the beach. The construction noise is loud at times. Jackhammers all day and it is ugly. But it did not ruin our day. DH hardly noticed it. Weather wasn't great and the beach casabella next to us didn't sell all day. Today we are taking our time going down but DH went to reserve one. By 815 there was only one left. So if you want one of those you should plan on arriving at 8 at busy times. Esp if the weather is nice as it is supposed to be today.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

Same here.

The adult hot tub was closed all week, the spa tub was closed the one day that we had spa time and the family hot tub was closed one day and packed all others.

Do we know why it was closed?

 

[skunkvette]

Do we know why it was closed?

I passed the adult hot tub every one of our eight day stays and only saw someone working on it one morning, looked like he was setting or patching tile. There was an Aulani banner hanging across/blocking the tub entrance all week.

I will say that adult tub was bone dry. When I asked different cast members the best answer I got all week was "repairs".

The Jacuzzi in the spa was "broken" we were told when we checked in at 8:30 on the morning of our couples treatment. No one knew how long it would be down , and the cold plunge pool did not look like a good substitute for me.

The adult pool was down on day for "a pump problem", the main pool closed one day for a bio issue (there were signs posted) and I never found out why the main hot tub closed on another day.