Aulani crowd management

[WestCoastDVC]

Does anyone know how Aulani crowd management has evolved over time for peak travel periods (Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July)? I have seen a lot of reviews from a few years ago complaining about lines and crowd management generally but not as many for the last couple of years. Has Aulani gotten better at this? Have recent pool refurbishments added capacity for pool chairs etc.?

 

[abdgeek]

Does anyone know how Aulani crowd management has evolved over time for peak travel periods (Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July)? I have seen a lot of reviews from a few years ago complaining about lines and crowd management generally but not as many for the last couple of years. Has Aulani gotten better at this? Have recent pool refurbishments added capacity for pool chairs etc.?

Not sure what you mean by crowd management, but I’ve been to Aulani during all the times you mentioned except Thanksgiving. Yes the main pool area will be crowded and you may have difficulty finding a chair, but there will be chairs at the adult pool and beach. In December, DVC members were able to get pool bands and towels at 8am while everyone else had to wait until 9am each day. 4th of July is equally crowded but the crowd usually thins out a day or two days after. Aulani usually has fireworks on the beach—the fireworks are done by the area resorts—but nothing is guaranteed. Other than lines to check in if you don’t do online check in, I’m not sure what other lines people may be referring to. If you want to eat at the table service restaurants at Aulani you need to make reservations ahead of time. They do not always have walk up reservations available. There is normally a line early in the morning for Aunty’s Beach House, but you would need to research that if you have kids.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

Nope, it’s just crowded and you’ll need to get up at 6:30 and sit in a chair until your family comes down or rent a cabana. Line for auntys will wrap around the building by 7 am. Make sure you have dining res.

 

[nkereina]

The only change that I'm aware of that seems to have somewhat helped the pool chair situation is that they do not permit people to "save" chairs until 8am. In other words, like PP references, if you come down at 6:30am, you will need to sit with any chairs you are "reserving" until at least 8am. Anything left unattended prior to 8am will be removed. They also seem to be more proactive about monitoring chairs throughout the day, using the folded towel method as a way to monitor chairs that seemingly haven't been touched in a while. If the towel remains unchanged, they'll remove it to open the seat up for others. Policies like these are relatively new and may have helped a bit, but its still a bit of a madhouse and difficult to find a seat if you try to come down mid-day.