Trip Report: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Just got back last night First let me say I am a BIG Disney fan and Aulani was a bucket list item. When my daughter scheduled a business trip and the Aulani was the least expensive hotel for the company, so she invited me, she also brought along the DG4 so it was an all girls trip.

I arrived at 6 am on Friday 5/13. Although I had done on-line check in I did not expect our room to be ready. The welcome at Aulani is very nice, leis for the women, kukui nut leis for the men and little menehune necklaces for the kids. The bellmen said the room was not ready so I left my luggage with them. However, I went up to the check in desk to make sure they had my credit card connected to my room key only and to ask for a microwave in the room. They informed me that the room was in fact ready and gave me the room cards. We had a standard view room on level 4 just above the main lobby. Upon arrival to the room, none of the key cards would work. I went to the house phone located by the elevators and called the front desk. They sent someone up. His master key worked, however ours wouldnt. He ran down to make new keys, nope still wouldnt work. So he sent up someone to change the battery in door reader. Nope still wouldnt work. So they sent up someone to reprogram the door. Success! Microwave was also delivered during this time.

Although room was just a standard view (hence parking lot), we were low enough that all we saw was trees and leafy plants, quiet and nice view as far as we were concerned. The layout of the room was nice. Granddaughter loved the small stairs to climb into bed and to reach the sink for brushing teeth and washing up. From day 1 the TV would pixelate and pause making watching very difficult not that we were in the room watching TV much. On our last day the TV was totally out, they sent someone up. I asked if it was a loose wire. He said no they run for so many hours then they need to be programmed. Sounds archaic and unproductive to me. The fridge is a small, but unlike most hotel fridges this was on steroids. The milk would freeze solid over night. It got so we would have to get up at 3 am and leave it out so when we got up at 7 or 8 it would be drinkable. Wouldnt freeze the water so dont understand...there was not a temperature adjustment anywhere we could find.

Left the housekeeper a tip with a note to leave extra towels, body wash and lotion. She took the tip, but actually left LESS of the items I requested, lol. One day housekeeping didnt even come until 3 pm. Vacuuming wasnt something they did very well.

Daughter had her key coded to her expense account. They said all charges would go to that card. Any charges for the little ones meals we should use her personal card. Unfortunately, all charges went to personal card, so company will be a bit miffed at having to pay her directly. Photo Pass is supposed to be connected to your room. However the only pictures that came up were an entirely different family, so we had to view at Gift Shop. Mickey & Minnie meet and greet didnt even have a photographer there so it was only my camera. Guess I saved a few dollars on those, ha ha. Overall, happy with room, disappointed with quality, not typical Disney quality. More on resort tomorrow.

Since I arrived so early, I had a quick breakfast at Ulu. The breakfast wrap was $9 but a good size. I ate half and saved the rest for breakfast the next day. They didnt have the malasadas out. I passed on the caramel pillow, but should have had it. Had it later in the trip and it was delicious! I walked around for awhile, checked out the gift shops. If you have the Disney Visa be sure to bring it to the shop. If you spend $50 or more you get 10% off. Even if your card is tied to your room, you must present the card. They dont have purchase with purchase deals like the parks or cruise, but the 10% is nice. The high end gift shop opened late.

I was able to get in on the Disney Family Fun Animation. We started by sketching Donald then we all got to paint a cel. We were able to choose from Mickey, Minnie or Stitch. Wish they had more colors available. If you choose Stitch you have to mix your own colors to what you think he should be. I went with Mickey, he was easiest.

The rest of the day was a rush as I had to help my daughter plan/prepare her company picnic. So we rushed around Ko'Olina shopping for food, drinks and such. Didnt get any other play time around the resort that day. Busy night making goodie bags and counting candy for picnic games and filling water balloons. Shouldnt have painted my fingernails, it all came off tying balloons. Off topic here, but those fill 100 balloons at a time arent that great. They dont seal the balloons very well. If you dont plan to throw them immediately after filling they will all leak out. We had to tie off every balloon. Very sore fingers after 200 balloons.

Picnic in morning, so resort time started that afternoon. Granddaughter had reservation at Kings and Queens of Comedy, but we were worn out from picnic so she didnt go. But we did get her band for her Aloha Party with Aunty the next day. She was able to see the club through the window and was excited about coming back.

She ended up only going to Aunty's once. Not because she didnt want to go, but because she loved the pools, river and Menehuene bridge so much more. We dropped her off for the Aloha Party as we went to the spa.

I get a massage every month on my back porch by my waterfall and pool, so I am picky about massages. I thought this one was pretty expensive. But after, I can honestly say it was one of the best massages I have ever had and worth every penny. They give you a little surprize at the end and there was absolutely NO PRESSURE to buy anything. They didnt make suggestions, point out their products or anything. That is the one thing that can ruin a good massage is when they high pressure you. They do add an automatic 20% gratuity, so dont over tip unless you want to. Make sure you arrive early to take advantage of the soaking pools, the relaxing lounges, snacks and saunas. We werent able to try everything because we were worried about baby wanting out the Aunty's.

Our worries were unfounded, when we arrived at Aunty's they had extra room in Stitch's Space Goo, so they offered her to stay and she wanted to so we went off for a drink. We had drinks at Off The Hook, a mai tai and blue Hawaiian. At $13 each I thought they were pricey, but the do NOT skimp on the alcohol. In fact we had to go to the drink station for some punch to water down the mai tai, lol. So worth the money if you ask me.

Tami0220 said:

I thought this one was pretty expensive. But after, I can honestly say it was one of the best massages I have ever had and worth every penny. They give you a little surprize at the end and there was absolutely NO PRESSURE to buy anything. They didnt make suggestions, point out their products or anything.

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Thanks so much for reporting this! I seriously hate the upselling at spas. I know that is how they make the money but I am there to relax, not be sold.

alohamom said:

Thanks so much for reporting this! I seriously hate the upselling at spas. I know that is how they make the money but I am there to relax, not be sold.

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It was soooo relaxing. They explain where everything is, all the soaking pools, loungers, snacks, etc. A few little surprizes I wont spoil. Daughter and I each had an 80 minute massage. We did a couples so that we could be in the same room. I was having problems (my internal plumbing was backed up for 3 days) I hadnt mentioned anything, but somehow he knew. He ended the massage by discreetly massaging my tummy under the covers. That day I was back to normal. It was magic Just the right amount of pressure too. I didnt want to spend the money to upgrade to deep tissue, which is what I get at home. But told him I like it firm. It was perfect

Spent most of Saturday in the lazy river. Granddaughter loved it. She was too small for her own tube and really didnt want to sit on our laps so she free floated as we hung on to her life vest. One thing I found extremely distressing was a mother came up to us and asked if we had another child. No. She said she had found a 4 year old boy who had fallen out of the tube and was not wearing a vest. He couldnt swim, and no one parents or otherwise were near by. we were appalled. She turned him over to a life guard. The river is very fun with different water falls and squirts throughout. There are 2 water slides one you use a tube the other is without. We never got to try the tube one but the other was long, dark and fun. Little one was a little scared but didnt cry. We spent the rest of the day in the large pool having the little one jump to us. Friday there were loungers aplenty, the remainder of the trip we were always able to find some, but it took a bit of looking. We were warned as we picked up our daily wrist bands that there was no saving chairs longer than 1 hr and not before 8 am. Always loungers on the beach.

I had researched the daily Ewa calendar online before I left. I had made an itinerary of things I wanted to do. That went out the window, lol. We did do the Starlit Hui, we got in line about 6:15 with some sandwiches and snacks. We were second in line and were seated at about 7:15, right in front. That was nice because throughout the show they invite the little ones up for different dancing activities. Great show, dont miss it.

Cant remember if I mentioned it earlier, but was disappointed that the meet and greets didnt always have a photographer. It was kind of hit and miss. Yes, they will take your photo with your camera so that will save you some money, but it is nice to have a professional sometimes. There were photographers here and there through the lazy river, and the meet and greet with Goofy is at the river so you can get pics with him up to his shins in the water with you.

We did not do the character breakfast or dinner as we dont eat that much and I cant justify spending $40 for a small plate of food to get our pics with a character. Even at $17 a pic I dont eat $23 of food. However, food is expensive. And I couldnt find it in print anywhere but they charge a $3 service fee for room service. They may not at a 15% gratuity on bar drinks at the bars, but they DO add 20% gratuity on room service. So double check.

Each gift store has pin trading books, and there is also a small selection at the Disney Cruise office down the hall off the lobby.

We did do 2 of the interactive scavenger hunts. The inside one gives you a little token at the end. They were fun, wish we could have done them all. The younger ones will need a little help.

Just like Castaway Cay, Aulani has a property cat! She is very friendly and hangs out at the Ulu Cafe. Very sweet cat and probably very well fed, lol

Birds abound, one day we had malasadas. Got them at Ulu but took them over to the pool by Off the Hook. Turned our heads and a very pretty bird with a beautiful head stole one right off the table. It was almost as big as he was. A cluster of birds promptly attacked it. Fortunately I had bought a dozen. They are yummy, but like I say try the Caramel Pillow, not really caramel, just caramelized brown sugar and butter but heavenly.

We did hit the ABC store across the street for milk, juice, sandwiches, chips, etc. A little cheaper than Aulani. We looked for the turtles on the beach by the Cultural Center but there was a luau, wedding and too many people. Very nice beach tho. Had dinner one night at Monkeypod. Try the mai tai, isnt as strong as Aulani but they do something different with a macadamia nut foam floating on the top. I dont even like macadamia nuts, but it was awesome, I had 2.

Cheapest place I found bags & boxes of macadamia nuts for gifts was Long's in Waikiki, otherwise Walmart.

The beach is big and sandy. I wore water shoes but would have been fine without. There were many beach activities free and pay. But again, even tho I had an itinerary of activities I wanted to do the little one just wanted to play in the river and pools. I loved the secluded cove of the beach area. We saw one small fish and a pretty good size crab (maybe about 6" across). I wish we would have had a longer time to stay to take in more of the activities.

One more thing about the room, we found it to be dark. Not dark depressing or just dark color, just not enough lighting. However, on the plus side there are outlet galore. So with all the phones, tablets, etc you can charge them all at once and still have many left over.

The tub in the bathroom is large and love the overhead rain shower.

I loved the short vacation. If daughter has another business trip there I will definitely tag along. Unfortunately, she has a list of family and friends that want to join her on upcoming trips. I loved spending time with my granddaughter I dont get to see her but twice a year, but I think if I were to go again, I would like time with hubby or myself. Oh, that is another story. As it was a girls trip hubby stayed home. On the 2nd day which was the hottest day of the year in Arizona he overdid it and had a full blown, ambulance, emergency room sun stroke. Worried about him the rest of the trip. I said from now on he goes where I go. He is recovering nicely. Since returning I have slept for 3 days, lol. Good to be home, sad to be away from Disney.

Tami0220 said:

The beach is big and sandy. I wore water shoes but would have been fine without. There were many beach activities free and pay. But again, even tho I had an itinerary of activities I wanted to do the little one just wanted to play in the river and pools. I loved the secluded cove of the beach area. We saw one small fish and a pretty good size crab (maybe about 6" across). I wish we would have had a longer time to stay to take in more of the activities.

One more thing about the room, we found it to be dark. Not dark depressing or just dark color, just not enough lighting. However, on the plus side there are outlet galore. So with all the phones, tablets, etc you can charge them all at once and still have many left over.

The tub in the bathroom is large and love the overhead rain shower.

I loved the short vacation. If daughter has another business trip there I will definitely tag along. Unfortunately, she has a list of family and friends that want to join her on upcoming trips. I loved spending time with my granddaughter I dont get to see her but twice a year, but I think if I were to go again, I would like time with hubby or myself. Oh, that is another story. As it was a girls trip hubby stayed home. On the 2nd day which was the hottest day of the year in Arizona he overdid it and had a full blown, ambulance, emergency room sun stroke. Worried about him the rest of the trip. I said from now on he goes where I go. He is recovering nicely. Since returning I have slept for 3 days, lol. Good to be home, sad to be away from Disney.

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My sister and I are going in January with a couple coworkers. I have inflatable solar lateness for camping that fit nicely in luggage. Maybe I'll bring those to brighten things up. Thanks for the trip report.

Laterns

Thanks for your report!