Status of Refurbishment

they also appear to have “moved” the pool party on sunday to the luau stage on the halawai lawn.

seems like they should keep this there, they use more characters (easy for them to switch characters in and out)...the games are safer (no slipping on the wet floor) and it could have the ability to pull people away from the pools for at least a bit (seems like it will take a little time before most people figure it out tho).

could probably also use a few tweaks to make better usage of the stage (maybe a few removable props/signage).
 
Not much to report on check in today, other than what everyone else has reported. Had to get over to Target to supply our DVC Villa so not so much resort scouting. At check in they gave us an updated map (See attached—Refurb zone is in red and gold star is Menehune Bridge) and a note about the refurb. Also on check in they asked directly if we knew about the refurb and went over the resort credit.
 

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Menehune bridge is in fact open and fully operational correct? We will be there next week!
 


Thanks for sharing the map. We are there in a couple weeks for Thanksgiving week with my kids and my parents and I'm a little concerned about the seating situation. My kids are always early risers and when you throw in the time change we've never had an issue getting down there before everything officially opens to grab some prime chairs but this trip I'm not even sure what the best chairs for us to grab will be.
 


My kids are always early risers and when you throw in the time change we've never had an issue getting down there before everything officially opens to grab some prime chairs but this trip I'm not even sure what the best chairs for us to grab will be.

We go home Wednesday and during this trip we have always able to find open lounges in front of the cabanas between the infinity pool and what’s normally the adults only pool (just south of the restrooms). The cabanas are in the back with some reserved lounges in front of the cabanas, but there is a row of open lounges right in front. We always found three open ones for our family no matter what time we went.
 
We had no problem grabbing chairs on the ledge near the path down to the beach, behind little Opihi's. It was the perfect spot for us because it was between the beach and the pools.
 
I’ve now been at the resort for a few days this trip. My family and I were most recently at the Aulani in June so I have a decently recent non-construction trip to compare it to. Here are my main thoughts around it so far:

1) The open pools are decidedly more crowded. My 4-year old and I spent a lot of time at the infinity pool (Ka Maka Grotto) in June and we were able to practice her swimming without many others around. This trip there are constantly people — mostly kids — coming between me and her. All of the people that would have previously been at the center main pool (Waikolohe) are now split between the infinity pool and the previously adults only pool.

2) Getting to Aunty’s Beach House is significantly more out of the way with the construction. Since the center of the pool area is sectioned off we now need to effectively go all the way back to the Pau Hana room to be able to cut across to the other side of the resort from the kid’s club. It‘s by no means a deal breaker but makes an already large resort with a lot of walking distance even longer.

3) The bubbles are no longer bubbling up as people go through the tunnel of the lazy river (Waikolohe Stream). I asked a lifeguard about this and her answer was they still ”turn them on sometimes.” After the pools were closed tonight I did see a lot of maintenance people with lights and snorkeling gear in the water in the area so I’m hoping this is just a temporary issue and not a permanent switch.

4) The Menehune Bridge area is going in full force. There are a couple changes that I noted here. First, the multiple goards/buckets that would fill up with water and tip over on unsuspecting people below previously have now been replaced with just one large canoe that only tips over once every about 8 minutes. Second, although the tiles look the same they now appear to be less slippery. We had chairs in front of this area one day in June and saw no less than 20 people slip and fall in one day on the wet tiles that day. It was dangerous and a liability. Yesterday we had the same chairs and didn’t see one person fall. This is a big improvement.

Conclusion: Even with the construction going on it’s still a great resort to be at with the family. Most of the facilities are up and going full steam ahead and it’s still the best resort we’ve found to spend days with the family at. BUT the construction is disruptive and I would gladly trade the $50/day credit that Disney is offering as compensation for the inconvenience for a fully operational resort.
 
given some of the recent weather events (like hail...ya thats right...hail on oahu) making things rather unpredictable it seems likely that unless they built in a significant amount of extra time for the refurb...it will run late.

the bubbles in the cave for the lazy river, like the water that "falls" on you...are probably both tied into some common plumbing with the main pool, so it is possible they turn them off or leave them off if construction needs to do certain things. hopefully they fixed it by now but the "safe" light for the tube slide was broken for a bit and the life guards had to use a "count to 30" system for when the next person could go.
 
We are checking in on the 27th yay! Just seeing how the refurb is going from those there now!
 

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