Quick Review from a first Aulani visit, long time Disney guy

[Michael623]

There are 3 complaints I hear about Aulani on several threads on which I will address:

1. Parking (fee). Being a DVC member I didn't have to pay the $37 dollars but I can say that the parking is close, convenient, well lit at night and plentiful. No complaints about the parking at all but again, it was free.

2. Lack of stuff to do after 8pm. Coming from the east coast I could barely keep my eyes open past 7 so the lack of evening stuff never had an impact on me. I can see where it would bother some but not me.

3. Pool Chair availability. This is where the wheels come off. Anyone who says that the chair situation isn't that bad is absolutely lying. It was by far, the worst part of my vacation. Nobody needs that kind of stress on vacation. I was speaking with a CM who said it was not a particularly busy time and there were no pool chairs at 8am as the pool is opening. No chairs in the entire pool complex and believe me I looked everywhere. One day I walked 2500+ steps (according to my FitBit) and ended up giving up without finding a chair. People reserve chairs as early as 5am so the rumor goes. I spoke to a woman who went jogging every day at 6:30 and she said at least half of the chairs were occupied by then. You would walk by a bank or chairs and each one would have a shoe on it it period. So one person is reserving at least 2 chairs. All I wanted was a single chair for my family of 3 and couldn't get it. I saw people stashing their shoes and towels along the rock walls and in the shrubs so they would have something for when they got out of the water. It was insane. They need to find a way to better police this. I don't know what to suggest but they really need to do something. This could really ruin a vacation.

Other than this and maybe a need for more counter service food variety, my trip to Aulani was an excellent vacation. Outside of Aulani I highly recommend the Aloha Stadium Swap meet and the beach near Paradise Cove to swim with the turtles. I do not recommend Germaine's luau, some of the worst food I've ever had and I'm not a picky eater. It makes Golden Corral seem gourmet.

We will go to Aulani again.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

You know I forgot to mention the pool chairs in my review, but I agree - I too went during "down time" and it was horrendous. Towels on pretty much every chair with no one around. My secret place where people weren't doing that was the little sitting area outside of Ama Ama facing the beach. I could at least get ONE chair there usually.

I'm from New York, and I guess we differ there because I can stay up all night! After 8pm it was a drag that there was nothing offered really in terms of activities or space for adults only. Do you agree it would have been nice to be offered?

 

[automaticsoap]

Is the chair situation that bad at the adult pool too?

 

[Scoobypop]

There is no problem getting chairs at the adult pool, at least my three visits which have been in December, January and February. Can't speak for other times of year.

 

[SingingMom]

Is the chair situation that bad at the adult pool too?

Not as bad in the adult pool area, but sometimes it was filled. We were good for at least two chairs each time, but sometimes the third one was a hit or miss. (we are a family of 3 adults) It was interesting to see the differences in "policing" of the Adult area. The age was 18 and older, yet some people had their children with them on the lounges. Once or twice, we noticed younger children in the pool, but other guests made comments, so the parents removed them.

At the end of the week, after we had been there practically every day, a CM approached my daughter and told her she had to leave the pool because it was for 18 and older. She's 21. lol Found it comical that the actual "children" in the area were not addressed, but DD was singled out. She just smiled and said, "I'm 21" and that was that.

 

[twodogs]

Maybe their business model is to make chairs so scarce that people will be persuaded to rent the cabanas and Executive Lanai. And they recently increased the price on these by about 25%, so obviously they are not having trouble renting them out. We are going for the first time starting in the middle of Memorial Day weekend (not my choice, but work schedules dictated...) and throughout the following week and weekend. We have a party of 6, including my parents and my children, so we have rented a cabana for one day the first weekend and one day the last weekend. We were hoping to be ok getting a least a chair or two otherwise on the week days that we are there, but now I'm not feeling so good about that. We are very fair skinned so we will not be ok to be in the sun all day. Not sure what to do about this now...

 

[Regan117]

The pool chair situation sucks and it's why we rented two cabanas for each of the 9 days we are there. I can't imagine 18 of us trying to find chairs!!! It just sucks to have to spend $325/cabana ($650/day) to get something that should be available to us anyway...

 

[Gorechick]

Regarding the chairs, when I was there a few weeks ago, there were many early risers like myself who got chairs between 6 am and 8 am when the pools opened. There were still chairs to be had until about 9 or 10 am. I did see CM's going around folding towels on chairs around noon when it was pretty busy. It's their way of checking who's really using the chairs. If the towels are still folded after an hour, they remove them and free up the chairs.

 

[twodogs]

The pool chair situation sucks and it's why we rented two cabanas for each of the 9 days we are there. I can't imagine 18 of us trying to find chairs!!! It just sucks to have to spend $325/cabana ($650/day) to get something that should be available to us anyway...

I think the price is now higher, unless you are by the adult pool (we have to have one that can have kids...sigh):

Each cabana costs $425 for a full day, and advance reservations are required. Private dining is also available at an additional charge. For cabana reservations and arrangements, please contact the Lobby Concierge.

For couples or small groups wanting a little more peace and quiet, there are additional cabanas available at the adult-only Wailana Pool. Cost is $325 for the full day. Guests who are 18 years of age or older are permitted in this area.

Disney Vacation Club Members: Enjoy 10% off your cabana rental when you present your DVC card.

 

[sleepymouse]

Well I know what I will be doing first thing in the morning Aulani should hire a couple of extra employees to monitor and enforce their chair policy. Also, it would be nice if we lived in a world where everyone was kind and considerate of others. For example, we are a family of four, and I have no intention of ever claiming 4 chairs. We have no need for more than 2 because my boys (10 and 5) are not going to be relaxing in a lounger for extended periods of time. We just want somewhere to park ourselves (and some belongings) from time to time to take a break, allow 1 parent to chill and read, or eat some lunch.

 

[Regan117]

I

I think the price is now higher, unless you are by the adult pool (we have to have one that can have kids...sigh):

Each cabana costs $425 for a full day, and advance reservations are required. Private dining is also available at an additional charge. For cabana reservations and arrangements, please contact the Lobby Concierge.

For couples or small groups wanting a little more peace and quiet, there are additional cabanas available at the adult-only Wailana Pool. Cost is $325 for the full day. Guests who are 18 years of age or older are permitted in this area.

Disney Vacation Club Members: Enjoy 10% off your cabana rental when you present your DVC card.

I booked ours last year, so we still get grandfathered in for the previous rate. I made sure to ask But yes, they are $425 now and that is even worse.

 

[Mokat76]

I


I booked ours last year, so we still get grandfathered in for the previous rate. I made sure to ask But yes, they are $425 now and that is even worse.

That is an obscene amount of money for this. Not to mention it takes up valuable real estate where chairs for average visitors ought to be. Not slamming any of you renters, but I'm getting more and more irritated at Disney's incessant drive to wrest more money from everyone.

 

[Regan117]

That is an obscene amount of money for this. Not to mention it takes up valuable real estate where chairs for average visitors ought to be. Not slamming any of you renters, but I'm getting more and more irritated at Disney's incessant drive to wrest more money from everyone.

I don't think having cabanas is an issue. "Average visitors" should just have more chairs. I think the cabana option is a nice one and wouldn't want to see it taken away in favor of lawn chairs, because I like the idea of the cabana..I just don't want to HAVE to spend $850/day to have enough seats for our group. I just think they should find somewhere else to fit chairs.

 

[mommy2eee]

Other than this and maybe a need for more counter service food variety, my trip to Aulani was an excellent vacation. Outside of Aulani I highly recommend the Aloha Stadium Swap meet and the beach near Paradise Cove to swim with the turtles. I do not recommend Germaine's luau, some of the worst food I've ever had and I'm not a picky eater. It makes Golden Corral seem gourmet.

We will go to Aulani again.

Thank you for the information! We are going to Aulani in April. Planning on doing the Aloha Swap Meet on a Sunday after Pearl Harbor. We're there places to eat there?
How did you get to the beach by Paradise Cove to swim with turtles? Something we want to try!
Thanks!

 

[Michael623]

I'm not sure how to quote but I wanted to quote scoobypop, when I said there were no chairs I meant anywhere, including the adults only. I walked by every chair in every corner of the pool complex 3 times two different days without seeing an open chair at 8am. The only viable options were getting there before 7am or waiting until after 10am when chairs would start to open. The only think I wanted to do was have someplace to put 3 towels so when we came out of the water we didn't have to drip up to the room. 1 chair is all we needed and I couldn't find that.

For mommy2mee the Swapmeet starts winding down by noon so going after Pearl Harbor may not be in your best interest. They had concession stands open with stuff like hotdogs but we weren't going to eat there so I didn't look that close. For the turtles you need to go out to the street from Aulani and take a left and go pass the hotel next to Aulani that is being renovated and then turn into the parking lot at the Paradise cove luau. Look for the path that goes off towards the ocean. I can say that the beach here is all ground coral as apposed to the beach at Aulani and as a result is murder on your feet. It is no more than a 10 minute walk.

 

[Mokat76]

I don't think having cabanas is an issue. "Average visitors" should just have more chairs. I think the cabana option is a nice one and wouldn't want to see it taken away in favor of lawn chairs, because I like the idea of the cabana..I just don't want to HAVE to spend $850/day to have enough seats for our group. I just think they should find somewhere else to fit chairs.

Good point. It just irks me that when they clearly don't have enough room for all their guests, one of their solutions is taking up precious real estate with expensive, exclusive perks. It's poor design on their part.

I can't imagine having to get two. I feel for you on that. I know you'll enjoy them but dang!!

My first trip is coming up in June. I'm looking forward to everything the OP gave such glowing reviews to. I'm dreading the poolside anarchy.

 

[SingingMom]

I don't mean this to sound snobby, but what is the appeal of the Swap Meet ? Do you really want to waste Hawaii time at a flea market?
What am I missing?

 

[Regan117]

Good point. It just irks me that when they clearly don't have enough room for all their guests, one of their solutions is taking up precious real estate with expensive, exclusive perks. It's poor design on their part.

I can't imagine having to get two. I feel for you on that. I know you'll enjoy them but dang!!

My first trip is coming up in June. I'm looking forward to everything the OP gave such glowing reviews to. I'm dreading the poolside anarchy.

Yeah it certainly ideal. I am going to wait and see how much we need it/use it and judge from there whether or not we need them for the whole trip. It's crazy expensive - I could have another villa for that much!

 

[alohamom]

I can say that the beach here is all ground coral as apposed to the beach at Aulani and as a result is murder on your feet.

WOW-thanks for posting this Michael623, this is something I didnt know and will make sure we have water shoes or sandals-THANK YOU!

 

[ratt1345]

I am just reading this thread, so I would like to add my two cents regarding the pool chair issue. My wife and I were there back in October 2015. We were there from a Thursday to the following Thursday. The only day that we had an issue with finding a chair was on the Saturday. Thankfully it didn't bother us too much because we spent most of the day at Pearl Harbor. Otherwise, we would get down to the pool area anytime and find two chairs for us to lay down on. I guess we were just there at the right time.