We bought into Aulani and the villas at
disneyland as we were paying $1-1.5K a night. We will recoup our investments in short order.
I think it comes back to half empty, half full perspective. Stayed at the Four Seasons on Maui a few years back, it was very nice, and I was slightly annoyed at check in because they didn't have the ginger lemonade in the lobby that they had the previous visit (it was delicious, I wanted to bottle it and take it home), but I didn't go on social media and complain. We were in Paradise, I quickly forgot about it.
Speed Slide down the whole trip, ok bummer, but we'll do it next time and there was lots of other fun stuff to do.
I wasn't horribly impressed with the Ama Ama food on the last trip, but our service was great, and the view was magical. Not sure if we'd go again, might though if the menu changed significantly. The food at Off the Hook was amazing, and we can't wait to eat there again the next trip.
If you're going to let a broken elevator button, or torch that's out, or a small water feature not working, or not getting a lei ruin your trip, I think there might be other issues at play. We live in a culture of complaining, that celebrates it and encourages it for any minor misstep, slight or inconvenience, whether it's intentional or not. It's a constant feedback loop (even now, I'm complaining about those who complain). Just look at twitter, facebook comments, these forums, people are sharing their unpleasant experiences with minor experiences being magnified to major failures. It reminds me of this cartoon. I try and remember where we are, and how lucky we are to be there, and not to let minor issues ruin the experience for us or the kids.