Timeframe for reserving your chairs @ the pool.

[Paul Stupin]

We are here now. I’d say that 95% or more of the beach chairs had something on them when I was strolling by at noon yesterday. We only needed one to drop our bags and ended up settling for dropping them in the sand behind an occupied chair after asking the owner if they minded (they were gracious and offered us to use the chair itself for up to 45m while they were grabbing lunch).

FYI, I took an empty chair from a chairhog holding about 8 l-10 mostly empty chairs in front of AMA AMA for hours, but he either didn’t put anything on one of them or it got cleared before I showed up, so after the 45m mark past when I arrived, I put my kid’s flip flops on it and around the hour mark I climbed on it, he lost his mind and started screaming obscenities in front of his own kids. He kept telling me he had a right to use them because he had been holding them since 5:30AM (it was about 11AM) and I referred him to the sign that chairs not being used for over an hour were subject to being cleared.

The shortage of ocean view chairs (and failure to explain and enforce the chairhog policies, which are already quite lenient) is definitely creating these situations where people are waking very early to hoard chairs just in case they might need them. I think there’s a similar situation at the pool but we never try to get more than a random chair to drop stuff over there, so I can’t say for sure…but I can say that if you go down around 7:30 the week of NYE, the prime chairs are gone.

We saw that same guy yesterday making a scene and yelling about people saving chairs all day and he couldn’t get one in that same spot. He was kicking chairs and screaming obscenities at the cast members. Surprised he didn’t get kicked out. Guess he wanted to prove a point today and saved a whole row the entire day even though he was only using a couple of chairs.

Some people are just jerks.

Hyperspace…
Am so glad you stood up to that chair hog! I just don’t understand why Aulani lets the rules slide, and empowers these jerks by doing nothing, forcing law abiding guests to either tolerate their entitled selfishness or deal with it themselves. I reclaimed two myself in the early morning a few years ago, when another chairhog left a bunch of chairs covered with towels unattended before 8 am.
Sorry, not allowed!
He came back, threw a fit, and stormed off when I didn’t yield. Then a cast member to which he had complained came over and tried to give me some awkward lecture, saying I should have gone to a pool attendant. I told him I couldn’t find any, which was true. He left but still tried to tell me I was wrong.
Will be there in a week, and will no doubt see the same group of vacationing chairhog couples who, like us, go every January, and send down one early rising guy every morning at 6:15 to stake out the best Ama Ama loungers, covering them with towels they’ve carried up to their rooms the day before. Personally, I think this behavior is obnoxious as well, but my wife’s and my workaround is now just to rent in advance one of those newly installed casabellas in the same location.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Hyperspace…
Am so glad you stood up to that chair hog! I just don’t understand why Aulani lets the rules slide, and empowers these jerks by doing nothing, forcing law abiding guests to either tolerate their entitled selfishness or deal with it themselves. I reclaimed two myself in the early morning a few years ago, when another chairhog left a bunch of chairs covered with towels unattended before 8 am.
Sorry, not allowed!
He came back, threw a fit, and stormed off when I didn’t yield. Then a cast member to which he had complained came over and tried to give me some awkward lecture, saying I should have gone to a pool attendant. I told him I couldn’t find any, which was true. He left but still tried to tell me I was wrong.
Will be there in a week, and will no doubt see the same group of vacationing chairhog couples who, like us, go every January, and send down one early rising guy every morning at 6:15 to stake out the best Ama Ama loungers, covering them with towels they’ve carried up to their rooms the day before. Personally, I think this behavior is obnoxious as well, but my wife’s and my workaround is now just to rent in advance one of those newly installed casabellas in the same location.

Unfortunately the answer is to have more pre-paid seating.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Unfortunately the answer is to have more pre-paid seating.

True, but the answer is also to have management grow a backbone and do their job.

 

[AstroBlasters]

True, but the answer is also to have management grow a backbone and do their job.

Fair. Maybe they can hire some of the offense and defensive lineman from the University of Hawaii to enforce the rules during the offseason.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Fair. Maybe they can hire some of the offense and defensive lineman from the University of Hawaii to enforce the rules during the offseason.

Exactly!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Thanks for the moral support, @Paul Stupin.

We were able to book the maile (sic) deck clamshells and/or verandas for the rest of the week and it is a 100x more relaxing day. If you’ll be here soon, my pro tip is to request clamshells 6/7 (furthest left facing the beach) because they had the most shade for much of the day.

I agree they need to make more paid seating (and some of it should be split for half day, 8-12 and 1-5) and they need to hire more people to enforce the rules (which are already on the lax side). Unfortunately they save money by not having anybody around and chair hogs tend to get hysterical and confrontational while people who just don’t have chairs simply waste time roaming the property or settle for a chair far from their ideal spot.

 

[DRussell83]

Hyperspace…
Am so glad you stood up to that chair hog! I just don’t understand why Aulani lets the rules slide, and empowers these jerks by doing nothing, forcing law abiding guests to either tolerate their entitled selfishness or deal with it themselves. I reclaimed two myself in the early morning a few years ago, when another chairhog left a bunch of chairs covered with towels unattended before 8 am.
Sorry, not allowed!
He came back, threw a fit, and stormed off when I didn’t yield. Then a cast member to which he had complained came over and tried to give me some awkward lecture, saying I should have gone to a pool attendant. I told him I couldn’t find any, which was true. He left but still tried to tell me I was wrong.
Will be there in a week, and will no doubt see the same group of vacationing chairhog couples who, like us, go every January, and send down one early rising guy every morning at 6:15 to stake out the best Ama Ama loungers, covering them with towels they’ve carried up to their rooms the day before. Personally, I think this behavior is obnoxious as well, but my wife’s and my workaround is now just to rent in advance one of those newly installed casabellas in the same location.

We will be there on January 11th (my bday)-19th! Maybe I will see you around the Ama Ama chairs - we reserved those special ones for the 12th and 18th and just going to chance it the rest of the time! Its just me and my husband - very excited for the adult only pool!

 

[Paul Stupin]

Thanks for the moral support, @Paul Stupin.

We were able to book the maile (sic) deck clamshells and/or verandas for the rest of the week and it is a 100x more relaxing day. If you’ll be here soon, my pro tip is to request clamshells 6/7 (furthest left facing the beach) because they had the most shade for much of the day.

I agree they need to make more paid seating (and some of it should be split for half day, 8-12 and 1-5) and they need to hire more people to enforce the rules (which are already on the lax side). Unfortunately they save money by not having anybody around and chair hogs tend to get hysterical and confrontational while people who just don’t have chairs simply waste time roaming the property or settle for a chair far from their ideal spot.

Thanks for the recommendations re the casabella seating on the Maile deck! We’ll definitely request those numbers. And, you’re right, it’s definitely more relaxing. Just being able to avoid that 6-7 am dash to get those lounge chairs in front of Ama Ama is a game changer.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Thanks for the moral support, @Paul Stupin.

We were able to book the maile (sic) deck clamshells and/or verandas for the rest of the week and it is a 100x more relaxing day. If you’ll be here soon, my pro tip is to request clamshells 6/7 (furthest left facing the beach) because they had the most shade for much of the day.

I agree they need to make more paid seating (and some of it should be split for half day, 8-12 and 1-5) and they need to hire more people to enforce the rules (which are already on the lax side). Unfortunately they save money by not having anybody around and chair hogs tend to get hysterical and confrontational while people who just don’t have chairs simply waste time roaming the property or settle for a chair far from their ideal spot.

How mush are the clamshells and are they one per person? Also, how far in advance can you reserve them?

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

We just left the property and I’m not certain but I think they were $110 per clamshell (2 loungers) before 10% DVC discount?

 

[Budzooka]

We rented casabellas on the beach for $85. Made for a nice relaxing day.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We rented casabellas on the beach for $85. Made for a nice relaxing day.

My wife refers to them as “heat domes”

 

[Paul Stupin]

We will be there on January 11th (my bday)-19th! Maybe I will see you around the Ama Ama chairs - we reserved those special ones for the 12th and 18th and just going to chance it the rest of the time! Its just me and my husband - very excited for the adult only pool!

They’re usually bookable the day before. Have fun! We’re getting there on the 12th.

 

[thegreatdonaldo]

How mush are the clamshells and are they one per person? Also, how far in advance can you reserve them?

They are available 90 days before by calling. Some are day of, only.

I found this website to be incredibly helpful:

https://alohaaulani.com/cabanas-and-casabellas/

 

[pineapplepalms]

We were there over Christmas/NYE and there were definitely lots of people saving chairs early when I looked down from the balcony. We went to the pool in the afternoons and never had a problem finding a chair or two near the splash pads (Menehune Bridge or Keiki Cove). All the chairs by the hot tub near Off the Hook were also available. Personally I am not interested in spending valuable vacation time saving chairs when we’re not in them most of the time anyway. Our kids are little and not interested in lounging around yet.

 

[BL2020]

The OP was describing peak times during local Hawaii school breaks, is anyone able to post those general dates/periods? Would like to avoid those dates if possible, as well as holidays and other peak times. Looking forward to visit but this thread is stressful! Really hate chairhogs, but it's even worse to let them get to me during vacation. Not too picky about where I'm sitting, but it would be nice not to have to strategize about it, this is Hawaii, not rope drop!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

The OP was describing peak times during local Hawaii school breaks, is anyone able to post those general dates/periods? Would like to avoid those dates if possible, as well as holidays and other peak times. Looking forward to visit but this thread is stressful! Really hate chairhogs, but it's even worse to let them get to me during vacation. Not too picky about where I'm sitting, but it would be nice not to have to strategize about it, this is Hawaii, not rope drop!

I don’t know all of them but I’m guessing the last 10 days of December and first 5-7 days of January are close to the top, Thanksgiving week was very busy too. I think that the point chart is probably a good clue— in general, high point periods will be more crowded.

 

[jimmymc]

The OP was describing peak times during local Hawaii school breaks, is anyone able to post those general dates/periods? Would like to avoid those dates if possible, as well as holidays and other peak times. Looking forward to visit but this thread is stressful! Really hate chairhogs, but it's even worse to let them get to me during vacation. Not too picky about where I'm sitting, but it would be nice not to have to strategize about it, this is Hawaii, not rope drop!

I found this: https://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/DOE Forms/2024-25calendar.pdf

Spring Break is March 17-21, last day of school is May 30.

 

[pineapplepalms]

The OP was describing peak times during local Hawaii school breaks, is anyone able to post those general dates/periods? Would like to avoid those dates if possible, as well as holidays and other peak times. Looking forward to visit but this thread is stressful! Really hate chairhogs, but it's even worse to let them get to me during vacation. Not too picky about where I'm sitting, but it would be nice not to have to strategize about it, this is Hawaii, not rope drop!

If you’re not picky I don’t think it matters too much! Christmas and NYE were a busy time at Aulani but we were still fine without camping out. There are also a ton of chairs on the beach that are not as popular since they’re farther from the pools, so we dumped our stuff off on one of those chairs one of the days.

 

[808blessing]

Yes, just google HIDOE Calendar and all the years will come up. There are quite a few Hawaii only holidays as well in March, June and August. I think lots of neighbor island people love to go to Aulani on holiday.

Also, I am a wake up early and secure my chairs kind of person. So peaceful.

One of my friends said she morbidly liked to watch the inevitable chair drama around 8am a few years ago. I havenʻt seen much but she usually goes to the prime time kids/grandparents spots. We use them for the first half of the day when it is busiest. It works for some people.

They took some of my favorite chairs and made them paid. Sadly.