The pool seating situation is not for the weak!

[GeneralTso]

Here now (1/4/17) and it's a busy holiday week. Hasn't tapered off yet.

I am amazed that Disney did not plan for more seating at the pool. Space constraints maybe? The competition for the free chairs is intense. I've watched it from my balcony.

We rented a cabana yesterday (that was pure luck as they are sold out). Got a cassabella for today but my husband was in line for that at 7:30am and was 5th. There are only 8 of these.

Unless you have a runner (someone willing to get up early and get out there!), the chances of getting a "good" spot is slim.

I watched chair patrol go through several times yesterday and mark chairs by folding towels and putting them over the top. They really do monitor. That's rough for people doing an activity that takes more than an hour, i.e. catamaran trip, snorkling, stand up paddle board.

I watched innocent families stroll down around noon and look so bummed there was no place to sit.

They could have doubled the number of cabanas and sold them out.

Oh, and the adult pool is pathetic. Sure, it's quiet. That's because it's set way off to the side and is sad. If it's quiet you want, that's what you'll get. There's nothing pretty about it. It looks like a motor lodge pool. All that's missing is a chain link fence and parking lot on the other side. Really disappointing.

So, if you're planning a trip here, take heed about the pool time strategy unless you will be here during a slower time. This place is magical, really gorgeous. The food is amazing. It's really wonderful.
We did 5 days in the North Shore before coming here and it was a great combo. Haleiwa is wonderful. Laid back, chill beach community. We loved it. Rented a Home Away right across the street from the beach. Perfect. Loved the vibe there. Love the vibe here. Aulani is the luxury resort vibe. Manicured lawns, waterfalls, everything perfect.

 

[finest14]

We're arriving on 1/14. It will be interesting to see how crowded it is then.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We usually go I mid may. Have been there four times and going again this year. My strategy is to get down to the pool about 730. Put stuff on four chairs. Get my coffee. Sit until towel booth opens. Put towels on chairs. Go to room to make breakfast for everyone. Come back to chairs, muss up towels and wait for rest of family. While we go away from time to time for lazy river and slides we tend to hang out at chairs all day reading. I'm an early riser so getting up early is not a problem for me.

 

[nkereina]

We did not have this experience in September, but it was a much slower time of year. How are beach chairs? Lounge chairs were plentiful all times of day on the beach when we were there.

We had reserved the casabellas near Ama Ama about 6 months in advance. Cabanas were able to be reserved at that time too. The beach casabellas can only be reserved morning of which we did one day, and we were literally the only ones in a beach casabella. They were all open. This is probably because they weren't necessary since beach chairs were always available.

I watched chair patrol go through several times yesterday and mark chairs by folding towels and putting them over the top. They really do monitor. That's rough for people doing an activity that takes more than an hour, i.e. catamaran trip, snorkling, stand up paddle board.

I guess the flipside of this is that these people shouldn't be using pool chairs to store their stuff when they're off doing other activities that are not at the pool. The pool chairs are meant for people at the pool. I suspect this is why the CMs monitor and use an hour as their marker.

 

[Anne Marie DeBoard]

We're arriving on 1/14. It will be interesting to see how crowded it is then.

We are arriving Jan 13th in the evening. Me, husband, two girls - 16 and 13

 

[finest14]

We are arriving Jan 13th in the evening. Me, husband, two girls - 16 and 13

Cool! We're a family of 3 with a 14yo son. Should be fun!

 

[KBinCO]

i guess i don't get wanting chairs if you're not going to be sitting in them?

We aren't big loungers so getting a chair isn't big for me, but I usually like one just to put our stuff on. Are there other places to put our things/towels if we can't get a chair? We arrive in a month.

 

[CalifLynn]

We are arriving March 13th (Spring Break) really worried about the crowds that week, love having a pool chair. I'm so envious of those that can travel without the restrictions of school breaks. We have been to Hawaii for the last 4 years either in mid-Dec. (before the Christmas Crowds) or after New Years and it has been so lovely the weeks we picked, but now that our DD in high school it is impossible to avoid the crowds.

 

[RobynPrincess]

Would you say September is low season? We are planning our first trip here then

 

[frank808]

i guess i don't get wanting chairs if you're not going to be sitting in them?

We aren't big loungers so getting a chair isn't big for me, but I usually like one just to put our stuff on. Are there other places to put our things/towels if we can't get a chair? We arrive in a month.

You can do what we do and we just put our stuff on something off to the side on a rock.
When aulani first opened 5 years ago it was not this bad with the chair situation. That lasted maybe 8 months and then it started to get bad. Hence the new pool and moving of the starlight hui to the new location. But the starlight hui is no more.

 

[CalifLynn]

Would you say September is low season? We are planning our first trip here then

I haven't been to Aulani or Oahu in September, but went to Maui one year in September and it was not crowded at all!

 

[RobynPrincess]

I haven't been to Aulani or Oahu in September, but went to Maui one year in September and it was not crowded at all!

Thank you very much!

 

[keaster]

We have reserved the executive lanai for our first full day there. Since we are two families together we are splitting the cost. While the pool chair situation can be crazy, we've found the beach is great, never a problem getting a chair there!

 

[nkereina]

Would you say September is low season? We are planning our first trip here then

It was in our experience. We were at Aulani in late September and had no issue getting pool chairs. There were always several chairs available all times of day in front of Ama Ama - not pool front and center, but still pretty close.

 

[Elima2015]

i guess i don't get wanting chairs if you're not going to be sitting in them?

We aren't big loungers so getting a chair isn't big for me, but I usually like one just to put our stuff on. Are there other places to put our things/towels if we can't get a chair? We arrive in a month.

We were there two years ago in early February and most often were able to find at least a single chair to drop our things on. I never "reserved" chairs early in the morning or while we were away from the pool and didn't find chairs to be a hardship for us -- though we don't lounge in them as we have very young children. I carried a tote bag with swim suit covers ups and would just set that down on the ground (out of a pathway) if a chair wasn't near by. We never had a problem finding multiple chairs at the beach.

 

[ehrawn]

This is not a supply problem; it's a FOMO problem and completely irrational. We are Oahu residents and frequently stay-cation at Aulani. We've gone in high-season and in low. We've seen primarily foreign visitors, and primarily American guests. As soon as chairs start getting reserved, the rest go quick. Unless you are there before 7:00 am or after 4:00 pm, you will not get more than one chair. Most frustrating is that, at the same time, at least 25% of the chairs will be unoccupied. This isn't Disney's fault; it is ours as greedy guests. We make a point to only grab one chair for our gear, no matter how big our party is, and we try eat snacks in our room or at the restaurant seating. If we need to eat poolside, we will ask our neighbors to temporarily share a chair or two. Most are amenable to friendly people, so a quick smile and kind words go quite a long ways. I don't have a solution, but other than refusing to partake in the madness.

 

[nkereina]

Unless you are there before 7:00 am or after 4:00 pm, you will not get more than one chair.

I think there should be an asterisk on that because it's really dependent on the time of year. We were there in late September which is a lower season, and there were chairs available near the pools well into mid-morning. There were consistently multiple chairs together throughout the day in front of Ama Ama which is only steps from the main pool deck. We never rushed down for pool chairs yet never had a problem. That said, weekend days were noticeably more busy likely with local or long weekend guests.

 

[kathleendsm]

I always wonder why pools at Aulani and other resorts (or cruise ships) don't offer more lockers to store your towels/shoes/phones/etc for those who don't really want a chair, but are down at the pool. It seems like such a simple solution.

 

[Rabb it]

Jeez, it sucks the adult pool is so lame

 

[GeneralTso]

Indeed, first week of January is super busy--all the New Year vacation folks.
This week, they were not allowing people to put towels on chairs until 8am. Any left at 7am were removed.

All beach chairs/umbrellas were taken as well. We saw families just set up with beach towels and made little "areas" for their family on the grass or beach.