Auntie's Beach House & Teen Club

[pamelaj]

I think that guest mentality, like yours, is why they have not opened with their limited capacity. I am not implying anything bad, just the Disney guest are way more demanding then regular people. Due to State regulations, they can not have more then a certain amount of people in one area. I believe that it just went up to 25 people, but was 5 and then 10 for a very long time. So if they opened Aunty's, but with limited capacity, you know that there would be plenty of people that, to put it nicely, would complain that their kid was not one of those able to get in. I have seen way too many posts, from various sites, from people who will only go to Aulani because of the free child care. No one wants that kind of a nightmare guest issue. I'm not saying that staffing and costs are not an issue, but I doubt that they are the only reasons why it is not open yet. And I don't think that you can compare Aulani with the Four Seasons. That place is always dead and the fact that anyone can just walk in, and there is room for your child, is proof that they don't have anywhere near the amount of kids that Aulani has.

I don't think the fact that I was able to relax more at the spa because I knew my kids were safe and happy means that I am demanding. We didn't go to Aulani for the kid's club. Plenty of resorts have kid's clubs. We thought it was a nice benefit, amongst the many activity options that Aulani offered. I'm sure they are guests that would complain if their child is #11 when the capacity is 10 kids, but there are also plenty of us who would wait in line until a spot opened up or return later. We've had to do that already, when we visited at a busy time.

 

[Kmk2]

LOL. The aulani is a mess. There are no services.

“Services” are:

- room service (aulani doesn’t currently have)
- did I mention I could order through an app (the aulani app is a joke)
- kids club (good luck waiting for aunties)
- I came into my room and there were gifts for the kids and their names written in sponges in the bathroom.
- room upgrades (Disney says what???)
- Open beachfront restaurant (when is ama ama opening again, don’t hold your breathe)
- free treats (fruits, frozen pineapple, face spray) in the loungers I don’t have to act like an maniac to reserve at like 8am
- Actual service at said loungers - like people coming by every 15 minutes.
Edit - they let me into my room (it had it’s own hot tub) with a magic type band at 11 many hours before check in.

I could go on for a dozen more examples

The aulani has superior theming, obviously. But I know service. And the aulani is a joke at the moment

 

[Kmk2]

I don't think the fact that I was able to relax more at the spa because I knew my kids were safe and happy means that I am demanding. We didn't go to Aulani for the kid's club. Plenty of resorts have kid's clubs. We thought it was a nice benefit, amongst the many activity options that Aulani offered. I'm sure they are guests that would complain if their child is #11 when the capacity is 10 kids, but there are also plenty of us who would wait in line until a spot opened up or return later. We've had to do that already, when we visited at a busy time.

that person always responds negatively to childcare. Ignore

 

[Kmk2]

"Calm" does not mean "better," it's just different.

I'd take "fun" over "calm" any day of the week. "Calm," to me, means "boring."


Yes it is. Both directly and indirectly. They sell premium experiences for the kids, and they drive spa revenue when parents have a place to drop their kids.

Directly - how? Do they charge and I missed it? And the spa they assume dad will watch while mom is at the spa and vice versa. It is certainly saving them money.

And trust me the lines and lack of availability for food and lines for anything and 30 people joining hands and taking over the lazy river are not fun. I was there last week. It’s too many people in too few amenities. This was new and unwelcome.

 

[Kmk2]

I think that guest mentality, like yours, is why they have not opened with their limited capacity. I am not implying anything bad, just the Disney guest are way more demanding then regular people. Due to State regulations, they can not have more then a certain amount of people in one area. I believe that it just went up to 25 people, but was 5 and then 10 for a very long time. So if they opened Aunty's, but with limited capacity, you know that there would be plenty of people that, to put it nicely, would complain that their kid was not one of those able to get in. I have seen way too many posts, from various sites, from people who will only go to Aulani because of the free child care. No one wants that kind of a nightmare guest issue. I'm not saying that staffing and costs are not an issue, but I doubt that they are the only reasons why it is not open yet. And I don't think that you can compare Aulani with the Four Seasons. That place is always dead and the fact that anyone can just walk in, and there is room for your child, is proof that they don't have anywhere near the amount of kids that Aulani has.

It has less rooms. The Four Seasons brand has some of the best hotels Big Island, Lanai etc in Hawaii.
And you love to say Aunties is free. People stay in hotels for their amenities. This is why we stay in hotels around WDW - their amenity is proximity to something we love - WDW. Aulani is just another hotel in Hawaii. They need to distinguish themselves— with things like Aunties.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Directly - how? Do they charge and I missed it?

Apparently.

PREMIUM EXPERIENCES
Available at a fee, these highly interactive activities showcase the wonders of Hawai‘i—and include souvenir keepsakes. The following Premium Experiences and their components are subject to change:

Kakamora Chaos with Moana

Spend a fun-filled 90 minutes interacting and playing traditional Hawaiian children's games with a special guest from across the sea—Moana! Plus, Moana will teach her new friends a game from her home island of Motunui—the Kakamora Relay!

Please Note: This event does not include meals.

SURF'S UP! – A Surfin', Fishin' and Dancin' Party!
Shake a fin and party with some of your favorite Disney Pals with some fun-filled surfing and fishing activities—plus boogie to your favorite surfin' tunes! Activities include:

Play surfing games with Chip 'n' Dale
Decorate your own mini wooden surfboard
Learn about colorful Hawaiian fish with Goofy
Dance with your Disney Pals

Fish Are Friends
Little ones love this up-close encounter with the colorful tropical Hawaiian fish of Aulani Resort! During this experience, children can:

Learn how animal specialists train, feed and care for the marine life at Aulani Resort
Prepare fish food and feed it to the fish
Enjoy lunch
Receive a DVD of Disneynature Oceans and a “Fish Are Friends” logo cinch bag

For the most up-to-date activities information, please refer to the daily Resort schedule, or Daily ‘Iwa, upon arrival at the Resort.

 

[Kristie71]

It has less rooms. The Four Seasons brand has some of the best hotels Big Island, Lanai etc in Hawaii.
And you love to say Aunties is free. People stay in hotels for their amenities. This is why we stay in hotels around WDW - their amenity is proximity to something we love - WDW. Aulani is just another hotel in Hawaii. They need to distinguish themselves— with things like Aunties.

Wow! ***** ***** *****, sounds like that is your main purpose to all your posts. Maybe you should had done your research BEFORE going to Aulani.

 

[Kmk2]

Wow! ***** ***** *****, sounds like that is your main purpose to all your posts. Maybe you should had done your research BEFORE going to Aulani.

I own DVC at aulani and this is my 4th time going. Comparing apples to apples - two open hotels is my “main purpose”. And holding Disney accountable for major cuts masquerading as public health measures is my point. Look at the TripAdvisor reviews recently. They are brutal. Disney will continue these cuts until there is pressure from DVC owners and reviews calling it out, bc for the time being they can get away with it.

 

[Lilsia]

I don't think the fact that I was able to relax more at the spa because I knew my kids were safe and happy means that I am demanding. We didn't go to Aulani for the kid's club. Plenty of resorts have kid's clubs. We thought it was a nice benefit, amongst the many activity options that Aulani offered. I'm sure they are guests that would complain if their child is #11 when the capacity is 10 kids, but there are also plenty of us who would wait in line until a spot opened up or return later. We've had to do that already, when we visited at a busy time.

I'm sorry, I probably worded that wrong. I was saying that, for people that will ONLY go to Aulani if they are able to take advantage of Aunty's (which I have seen plenty of people post that fact) would most likely be furious if they got there and were not able to get their child in if they opened it with limited capacity. If you made your spa appointment, and then that day could not get your child in, wouldn't you be angry and demand some kind of compensation? Many would, sadly and we all know that is how people are. They wouldn't just say "oh well, too bad for us". I think that at someplace like Aulani, it would be asking for trouble to open at a limited capacity, which is what the State is still in.

 

[Lilsia]

that person always responds negatively to childcare. Ignore

Aunty's is not classified as "child care" that is why they can not open like actual child care facilities and is limited to the gathering limits. No one NEEDS Aulani to watch their kids so they can work, like what child care is. This is a child's activity center. So there is no point in them opening when they can only have a limited amount a children. It's not worth the hassle.

 

[RedVines2001]

I think that guest mentality, like yours, is why they have not opened with their limited capacity. I am not implying anything bad, just the Disney guest are way more demanding then regular people. Due to State regulations, they can not have more then a certain amount of people in one area. I believe that it just went up to 25 people, but was 5 and then 10 for a very long time. So if they opened Aunty's, but with limited capacity, you know that there would be plenty of people that, to put it nicely, would complain that their kid was not one of those able to get in. I have seen way too many posts, from various sites, from people who will only go to Aulani because of the free child care. No one wants that kind of a nightmare guest issue. I'm not saying that staffing and costs are not an issue, but I doubt that they are the only reasons why it is not open yet. And I don't think that you can compare Aulani with the Four Seasons. That place is always dead and the fact that anyone can just walk in, and there is room for your child, is proof that they don't have anywhere near the amount of kids that Aulani has.

I see your point about a limited capacity Aunties and the potential for unsatisfied guests and why Disney would choose to avoid that at this time. However I would suggest that the opinions you’ve been reading on various boards are not necessarily representative of all Disney guests, especially DVC members. I personally would not have a problem with a 25 person cap and a time limit on aunties beach house and I would be super excited to even get an hour for my kids for my whole trip. And most importantly I understand that acting like an entitled donkey to CMs won’t (and shouldn’t) get me any accommodation. Maybe a little bit of naïveté and optimism on my part, but I’m sure a lot of others here would agree with me on that.

What I would add is that I personally pick Aulani over other resorts not because they HAVE childcare, but because of the QUALITY of the childcare and the kid experiences that only Disney can deliver. There are other resorts that offer childcare but I personally wouldn’t put my kids there.

I agree with Pamelaj that Aunties beach club is a big reason why I choose Aulani and even Oahu for my Hawaii trips. To me it’s kind of like a Disney cruise experience on land. And i think the longest I’ve left my kids at Aunties was two hours and even that made a big difference in our trip. And trust me Disney made money off me from the bar which they placed directly across from the entrance of Aunties. Now I don’t know if I would defer a trip to Aulani because of Aunties being closed but it would definitely be a significant consideration.

 

[scoobdoo]

LOL. The aulani is a mess. There are no services.

“Services” are:

- room service (aulani doesn’t currently have)
- did I mention I could order through an app (the aulani app is a joke)
- kids club (good luck waiting for aunties)
- I came into my room and there were gifts for the kids and their names written in sponges in the bathroom.
- room upgrades (Disney says what???)
- Open beachfront restaurant (when is ama ama opening again, don’t hold your breathe)
- free treats (fruits, frozen pineapple, face spray) in the loungers I don’t have to act like an maniac to reserve at like 8am
- Actual service at said loungers - like people coming by every 15 minutes.
Edit - they let me into my room (it had it’s own hot tub) with a magic type band at 11 many hours before check in.

I could go on for a dozen more examples

The aulani has superior theming, obviously. But I know service. And the aulani is a joke at the moment

if it’s seriously that bad there right now this surely deserves its own thread…

 

[RedVines2001]

Wow! ***** ***** *****, sounds like that is your main purpose to all your posts. Maybe you should had done your research BEFORE going to Aulani.

This isn’t what I took away from Kmk2’s post. There’s a difference between *****ing and calling something out. I agree with Kmk2 in that this smells suspiciously like Disney using Covid as an excuse to test the waters regarding Aunties to see if they can make it more of a money grab. To the one time cash guest it may not be as big of a deal but to DVC members who bought into the property after being promised certain amenities this sits a little different. And you know that Disney dangles Auntie’s beach house as a marquee amenity to prospective DVC buyers. I think it’s perfectly reasonable for a DVC member to hold Disney accountable about a feature included in their property interest that was promised to them at time of purchase, especially when DVC did such a poor job with their membership at large during the pandemic and the fact that members are not being cut a break on their dues/points during their current stays

I'm sorry, I probably worded that wrong. I was saying that, for people that will ONLY go to Aulani if they are able to take advantage of Aunty's (which I have seen plenty of people post that fact) would most likely be furious if they got there and were not able to get their child in if they opened it with limited capacity. If you made your spa appointment, and then that day could not get your child in, wouldn't you be angry and demand some kind of compensation? Many would, sadly and we all know that is how people are. They wouldn't just say "oh well, too bad for us". I think that at someplace like Aulani, it would be asking for trouble to open at a limited capacity, which is what the State is still in.

Totally get you. But to deny everyone an amenity because of the entitled behavior of some of the guests is throwing the baby out with the bath water.

If this was legitimately part of the consideration for Disney than the guest behavior problem is probably way worse than I thought. One the other hand it may not be the motivation behind the closure at all, ie the money grab. I tend to think it’s the latter.

 

[The1nonlymekels]

Apparently.

PREMIUM EXPERIENCES
Available at a fee, these highly interactive activities showcase the wonders of Hawai‘i—and include souvenir keepsakes. The following Premium Experiences and their components are subject to change:

Kakamora Chaos with Moana

Spend a fun-filled 90 minutes interacting and playing traditional Hawaiian children's games with a special guest from across the sea—Moana! Plus, Moana will teach her new friends a game from her home island of Motunui—the Kakamora Relay!

Please Note: This event does not include meals.

SURF'S UP! – A Surfin', Fishin' and Dancin' Party!
Shake a fin and party with some of your favorite Disney Pals with some fun-filled surfing and fishing activities—plus boogie to your favorite surfin' tunes! Activities include:

Play surfing games with Chip 'n' Dale
Decorate your own mini wooden surfboard
Learn about colorful Hawaiian fish with Goofy
Dance with your Disney Pals

Fish Are Friends
Little ones love this up-close encounter with the colorful tropical Hawaiian fish of Aulani Resort! During this experience, children can:

Learn how animal specialists train, feed and care for the marine life at Aulani Resort
Prepare fish food and feed it to the fish
Enjoy lunch
Receive a DVD of Disneynature Oceans and a “Fish Are Friends” logo cinch bag

For the most up-to-date activities information, please refer to the daily Resort schedule, or Daily ‘Iwa, upon arrival at the Resort.

Are these current activites or activites from the past?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Are these current activites or activites from the past?

I mean the entire facility has been closed due to COVID, both free and paid experiences alike, but this was the offerings list up until the closure.

 

[jkips]

It's very disappointing that Aunty's isn't open yet. Aulani is a similar price point at the Four Seasons without the extra attentive service.

The main reason that's been justifiable has been the additional activities available including Aunty's. With schools fully opening in the fall (fingers crossed) and vaccines readily available for whoever wants them I'm hoping/expecting Aunty's to not be closed much longer. At some it becomes unjustifiable for Disney to keep it closed. As an Aulani DVC owner with a trip planned for Christmas this year I'm hoping to not be disappointed.

 

[scoobdoo]

It's very disappointing that Aunty's isn't open yet.
At some it becomes unjustifiable for Disney to keep it closed. As an Aulani DVC owner with a trip planned for Christmas this year I'm hoping to not be disappointed.

Couldn’t agree with you more. It’s absolutely unacceptable for Disney to keep it closed at this point.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It's very disappointing that Aunty's isn't open yet. Aulani is a similar price point at the Four Seasons without the extra attentive service.

The main reason that's been justifiable has been the additional activities available including Aunty's. With schools fully opening in the fall (fingers crossed) and vaccines readily available for whoever wants them I'm hoping/expecting Aunty's to not be closed much longer. At some it becomes unjustifiable for Disney to keep it closed. As an Aulani DVC owner with a trip planned for Christmas this year I'm hoping to not be disappointed.

Couldn’t agree with you more. It’s absolutely unacceptable for Disney to keep it closed at this point.

I don't know this to be the case, but is it possible that it's out of Disney's control, i.e. the State of Hawaii won't ALLOW these types of facilities to operate?

 

[scoobdoo]

I don't know this to be the case, but is it possible that it's out of Disney's control, i.e. the State of Hawaii won't ALLOW these types of facilities to operate?

The Four Seasons' kids club is open next door.

 

[monsterkitty]

The Four Seasons' kids club is open next door.

I'm wondering if it's because there isn't the demand at the Four Seasons so they don't have to worry about capacity.

The Marriott Ko Olina doesn't even have their Keiki Club listed on the site right now so that makes me wonder if that's even open. It was not when we were there in March.