Aunty's Beach House was a dissapointment

[fairytalelover]

We are used to the kids' clubs on DCL. Our 11 year old loves their clubs and can't wait to check in multiple times a day and play for hours, make friends etc.... At Aunty's Beach House he got to check in and play for the three events he was registered for but that was it for the entire week. Every time we went to check him in they were at capacity so they wouldn't let him in. Big disappointment. Seems to me that they need to expand their kids club to accommodate everyone. They advertise their kids club as one of their selling features but it's not really a feature if you can't use it.......

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

I agree. It was a big disappointment for our kids too. Such limited amount of space and activities. The pool party I thought might compensate for the lack of Disney interactions, but it was too short and the engagement with the kids was few and far between. While we enjoyed our visit to Aulani, it didn't live up to the hype that it advertised for kids activities.

 

[fairytalelover]

I agree. It was a big disappointment for our kids too. Such limited amount of space and activities. The pool party I thought might compensate for the lack of Disney interactions, but it was too short and the engagement with the kids was few and far between. While we enjoyed our visit to Aulani, it didn't live up to the hype that it advertised for kids activities.

Exactly what we thought. We have been wanting to go to Aulani for years and we fell for the hype over the kids' activities. Another let down was the menehune water play area. They wouldnt let our 10 year old play there because he was too tall. He was really sad. Was looking forward to that since he saw it on the info dvd.

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

Exactly what we thought. We have been wanting to go to Aulani for years and we fell for the hype over the kids' activities. Another let down was the menehune water play area. They wouldnt let our 10 year old play there because he was too tall. He was really sad. Was looking forward to that since he saw it on the info dvd.

I totally agree. My ten year couldn't go in the play area and my three year old was too scared to go by herself(without her big brother). They had watched the videos online so many times in the months before our trip. While it had always been a huge dream to go to Aulani, the expense of the flight, the distance from home and the lack of kids activities just make us long to return to WDW. Glad we went, but definitely a one and done situation.

 

[fairytalelover]

They sent us a survey and we filled it out and told them in detail what our issues were. If they hear from more people maybe they will change things

 

[Minniesgal]

Fur us that was a theme with the whole of Aulani. As a general rule the facilities are way lower in capacity than that number of rooms needs.

We went in a quiet time at about 60$ occupancy. Would hate to see the resort full

 

[APears]

I totally agree. My ten year couldn't go in the play area and my three year old was too scared to go by herself(without her big brother). They had watched the videos online so many times in the months before our trip. While it had always been a huge dream to go to Aulani, the expense of the flight, the distance from home and the lack of kids activities just make us long to return to WDW. Glad we went, but definitely a one and done situation.

Out of curiosity, why couldn't your 10 year old go into auntys beach house play area? It's for 3-12 year olds....

 

[fairytalelover]

Out of curiosity, why couldn't your 10 year old go into auntys beach house play area? It's for 3-12 year olds....

Because every time he tried to go they turned him away saying they are at full capacity and to try back later. It was ridiculous

 

[APears]

Because every time he tried to go they turned him away saying they are at full capacity and to try back later. It was ridiculous

My question was to DisneyWorldbuff...

 

[fairytalelover]

She was referring to the menehune water play area. They wouldn't let my 10 year old there either.

 

[cmcgardner]

I can see how the Beach House situation would be frustrating but I am surprised you thought the 10 year old could play at the Menehune Bridge area.

Disney clearly states on the Aulani website:

Little ones—under 48 inches tall—can have big fun at this interactive splash zone.

We went to Aulani when my youngest was 6 and she was already too tall. It didn't bother us one bit as I think it is fair to have a safe space for little ones. When my kids were little I loved having areas designed just for them. The water slides, lazy river and the rest of the pool area are great for older kids.

 

[Amw1064]

My daughter was 12 1/2, almost 13 when we went to Aulani. She only went in the club for just one tween activitiy but thought it looked like a lot of fun.

 

[pamelaj]

I would be frustrated if the Kids Club was always full too. I think part of avoiding that is traveling at the less crowded times, if you want to make sure your kids can go. We went for 6 nights in January (2014) and 8 nights in November (2016) and only saw a full sign at Auntys one time between the two trips. The staff also recommended that you sign them up for an activity on the day you want them to go and they can stay once the activity ends.

 

[jodybird511]

I'm surprised you had that much difficulty getting into Aunty's. We were there right after Christmas, and the resort was clearly at capacity (staff even told us that it was the busiest they had EVER seen the resort), and we were never turned away in the 9 days we were there.

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

My question was to DisneyWorldbuff...

Sorry, just saw this. Yes, was referring the water play area. Not Aunty's.

 

[kdonnel]

Have they fixed it yet so you don't have to wait in line in the morning? The pic is from April 2014 and shows parents lined up to sign their kids up for Aunties.



Not sure what they can do better except maybe start charging for time in Aunties as a way to limit participation. Kind of like the HOT (High Occupancy Toll) lanes in some states. Have the price be on a sliding scale. As demand ramps up, the price ramps up. As demand lessons, the price drops. The cost could be based on the number of children at the resort that day and would vary every day.

There is a stretch of I-85 by me that has a lane that ranges from $.19 to over $13.00 to travel the 19 miles depending on demand at the time.

Aunties could range from free to expensive.

 

[lizard1]

I was disappointed in Aunty's as well, but it was because my kids found it boring, not because we couldn't get in. I had to force my 11 and 9 year olds to go for the scheduled activities. The only one who wanted to maybe try to go back was my 6 year old, but she wasn't about to go without her older siblings who didn't care for it. We have never used a Disney kids club before because we always just plan to do activities that everyone can participate in while on vacation, so we don't have any experiences to compare to, but if a club is going to advertise entertainment for kids up to 12, their activities should engage the older set as much as they do the younger set.

 

[fairytalelover]

we would definitely not pay for Aunty's if they started charging and I dont think many people would. Most people are used to Disney Cruise kids clubs where the activities are so fun that kids dont want to check out and they are never over full. In my opinion they should expand Aunty's to have enough room for the capacity of the hotel at any given point as DCL does

 

[jodybird511]

I personally adored Aulani and our trip, but I would agree with fairytalelover about the capacity issue--I believe this is the cause of many of the complaints that I do read about Aulani--too many people for the amount of X...(i.e. pool chairs, activity sign-ups, food reservations, etc.). Again, we had a fantastic time and can't wait to get back, but I agree the resort capacity vs. availability of most everything is an issue.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am in the beginning stages of planning a trip. We would go over Thanksgiving. Would that be a terrible time as far as capacity issues? I have no clue on how quickly a lot of books up so I haven't even looked at availability. It doesn't really matter to me what year we go.