Vernie822
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2014
Hi everyone! I do plan on writing a trip report, but we're on our last day (tears) at Aulani and I thought I'd write up a few thoughts while I drink coffee on the balcony and my new hubby snoozes 
We did 3 nights at the Grand Wailea in Maui, followed by 6 at Aulani in a studio villa. Tomorrow morning we leave bright and early for Disneyland!
Things that have really helped us...
We saved a bundle on food/drinks by stopping at Target in Kapolei one exit from Aulani. In fact we brought a Target gift card to use on food so it wasn't a huge hit to our budget. We bought the following..
* Case of 24 small waters ($3ish)
* 12-pack of Diet Coke ($3.50ish)
* Coffee creamer ($3)
* Ham, cheese and Hawaiian rolls for sandwiches ($12 total if I had to guess)
* Bagels ($2 for market pantry brand) and cream cheese ($3.75)
* Pineapple (pre-cut because we're in a studio, so we probably paid more for convenience at $6 but it was so worth it)
* Chips and Cheetos (2 for $7) and dip
* Pre-made margarita ($22), Barefoot Riesling ($4.99, this was the Riesling closest to my liking that I could find but.. it was good!), and Smirnoff Vodka ($18)
So as you can see above the prices weren't terrible. Grabbed a package of batteries and maybe a few other small things I'm forgetting and we spent around $100. Most of that was alcohol. I would say those prices are comparable to what we pay at home with a few things being more expensive.
We ate breakfast in the room all but 1 day, and lunch in the room 3 times. That saved us a ton for sure. We're totally happy with coffee and a bagel so that was fine by us.
Because of the timing of our flights (Maui to Oahu was at 7 pm) we actually had a good 3.5 days in Maui, and only 5 full days at Aulani. We leave super early tomorrow. If I could have re-done it, I would've maximized my time at Aulani and probably spent a full 7 days/nights. There is so much to see and do that we didn't want to leave!
The public grills are nice and are free to use from 4-8:30 pm. We wish they were open for lunch. We had every intention of using them but we didn't.
We ate lunch at Off the Hook pool bar yesterday because my husband wanted to watch the Steeler game. I had fish tacos (2 for $14, came with a side salad/fries/fruit/chips) with salad and they were fantastic. Husband had the burger with cheese and bacon added, fries as his side ($16 total). I had a Maui Brewing Company Bikini Blonde Lager ($7.50) and he had a Diet Coke ($3) so this lunch cost us close to $50. It was our only "splurge" lunch day so we were okay with it but wouldn't do it every day.
Mixed drinks were $13 by the pool. Do yourself a favor, bring your own tumbler and make your own drinks in the room! Saved us a bunch. I did vodka/water/Crystal Light.
HYDRATE. There are water stations around the pool which is really nice. Keep your water bottles handy so you can fill up. Staff has told us that people do pass out occasionally.
Towels on chairs was a problem. Not so much early in the morning, but come noon, if you were just getting there, good luck finding a seat by the pool. There were only 2 of us and we had a hard time finding a seat. One day we set our towels down at the pool, were gone for maybe 45 minutes in the ocean, and someone new had sat down next to us and totally took over one of our chairs that had our stuff on it. Sign says you can only be gone an hour, but whatever - we were having so much fun that we just collected our stuff and moved! The lagoon always had plenty of seating.
Paradise Cove turtles is a MUST DO! We saw a huge sea turtle and the waters were great for snorkeling. I would NOT suggest walking there via the beach - definitely go to the entrance of Aulani, back to the water, and make a left towards Paradise Cove, past the Four Seasons. All Hawaii beaches are public (which is so nice) so it's a quick walk and not worth driving IMO.
Snorkeling gear was worth it at ~$40/person for the week. DVC discount gets you 10% off which was nice!
Ulu Cafe has Dole Whips, you just have to ask! Loved the Mickey pretels (Little Opihi), Mickey ice cream sandwiches, and Mickey bars!
Make sure you take advantage of PhotoPass Photographers! They are out on the beach from 6-7 pm every night so we got a lot of sunset pictures!
Ama Ama was worth doing for dinner, it was delicious and the prices were in line with a Disney signature.
Malasadas at the resort are good.. we're heading to Leonard's today so I'll let you know how they compare.
Olelo Room is a great spot for happy hour from 5-7! Mixed drinks around $7 and lots of food options under $10. We saw some families there too!
Not a ton of food options nearby. You have Ama Ama, Makahiki, and the Olelo Room. Four Seasons next door has Noe, Fish House, and a few others. Four Seasons is VERY close so that's an easy option. If you're into signature dining experiences, definitely look into those. We wanted to go to Noe eventually but we ran out of dinner slots!
Roy's is within walking distance; we went there last night and the food was delicious.
Monkeypod is across the street in the plaza; we ate there a few nights ago. Overpriced IMO, but we did enjoy our food.
Paradise Cove Luau was great! We did the Orchid Level seating which is kind of in between the deluxe (right up front) and the regular (on the wings). The show was great and the food was pretty good for a mass-produced buffet. The staff told me they seat 1300 people and in the summer they're packed every night. With your luau purchase you get a "Cove Card" - the Orchid package came with a $16 cove card per person. You can use these in the shops or at the bar. Drinks were between $7-10 each so we each got two mixed drinks in addition to the Mai Tai punch they serve you when you walk in. For the price (I think we paid close to $105 a person), I felt as if it was worth it. I don't think it's necessary every time, but for a first trip we liked it a lot. Drinks were strong, that's for sure!
Looking into the lagoon from Aulani, there is a Four Seasons to the right, and an empty plot of land to the left - Photopass girl last night said that's slated to be an Atlantis, but it's just on the table right now and nothing is set in stone. So take that w/ a grain of salt.
All in all, an amazing vacation so far, I'll post a lot more later once we're home and settled in!
We did 3 nights at the Grand Wailea in Maui, followed by 6 at Aulani in a studio villa. Tomorrow morning we leave bright and early for Disneyland!
Things that have really helped us...
We saved a bundle on food/drinks by stopping at Target in Kapolei one exit from Aulani. In fact we brought a Target gift card to use on food so it wasn't a huge hit to our budget. We bought the following..
* Case of 24 small waters ($3ish)
* 12-pack of Diet Coke ($3.50ish)
* Coffee creamer ($3)
* Ham, cheese and Hawaiian rolls for sandwiches ($12 total if I had to guess)
* Bagels ($2 for market pantry brand) and cream cheese ($3.75)
* Pineapple (pre-cut because we're in a studio, so we probably paid more for convenience at $6 but it was so worth it)
* Chips and Cheetos (2 for $7) and dip
* Pre-made margarita ($22), Barefoot Riesling ($4.99, this was the Riesling closest to my liking that I could find but.. it was good!), and Smirnoff Vodka ($18)
So as you can see above the prices weren't terrible. Grabbed a package of batteries and maybe a few other small things I'm forgetting and we spent around $100. Most of that was alcohol. I would say those prices are comparable to what we pay at home with a few things being more expensive.
We ate breakfast in the room all but 1 day, and lunch in the room 3 times. That saved us a ton for sure. We're totally happy with coffee and a bagel so that was fine by us.
Because of the timing of our flights (Maui to Oahu was at 7 pm) we actually had a good 3.5 days in Maui, and only 5 full days at Aulani. We leave super early tomorrow. If I could have re-done it, I would've maximized my time at Aulani and probably spent a full 7 days/nights. There is so much to see and do that we didn't want to leave!
The public grills are nice and are free to use from 4-8:30 pm. We wish they were open for lunch. We had every intention of using them but we didn't.
We ate lunch at Off the Hook pool bar yesterday because my husband wanted to watch the Steeler game. I had fish tacos (2 for $14, came with a side salad/fries/fruit/chips) with salad and they were fantastic. Husband had the burger with cheese and bacon added, fries as his side ($16 total). I had a Maui Brewing Company Bikini Blonde Lager ($7.50) and he had a Diet Coke ($3) so this lunch cost us close to $50. It was our only "splurge" lunch day so we were okay with it but wouldn't do it every day.
Mixed drinks were $13 by the pool. Do yourself a favor, bring your own tumbler and make your own drinks in the room! Saved us a bunch. I did vodka/water/Crystal Light.
HYDRATE. There are water stations around the pool which is really nice. Keep your water bottles handy so you can fill up. Staff has told us that people do pass out occasionally.
Towels on chairs was a problem. Not so much early in the morning, but come noon, if you were just getting there, good luck finding a seat by the pool. There were only 2 of us and we had a hard time finding a seat. One day we set our towels down at the pool, were gone for maybe 45 minutes in the ocean, and someone new had sat down next to us and totally took over one of our chairs that had our stuff on it. Sign says you can only be gone an hour, but whatever - we were having so much fun that we just collected our stuff and moved! The lagoon always had plenty of seating.
Paradise Cove turtles is a MUST DO! We saw a huge sea turtle and the waters were great for snorkeling. I would NOT suggest walking there via the beach - definitely go to the entrance of Aulani, back to the water, and make a left towards Paradise Cove, past the Four Seasons. All Hawaii beaches are public (which is so nice) so it's a quick walk and not worth driving IMO.
Snorkeling gear was worth it at ~$40/person for the week. DVC discount gets you 10% off which was nice!
Ulu Cafe has Dole Whips, you just have to ask! Loved the Mickey pretels (Little Opihi), Mickey ice cream sandwiches, and Mickey bars!
Make sure you take advantage of PhotoPass Photographers! They are out on the beach from 6-7 pm every night so we got a lot of sunset pictures!
Ama Ama was worth doing for dinner, it was delicious and the prices were in line with a Disney signature.
Malasadas at the resort are good.. we're heading to Leonard's today so I'll let you know how they compare.
Olelo Room is a great spot for happy hour from 5-7! Mixed drinks around $7 and lots of food options under $10. We saw some families there too!
Not a ton of food options nearby. You have Ama Ama, Makahiki, and the Olelo Room. Four Seasons next door has Noe, Fish House, and a few others. Four Seasons is VERY close so that's an easy option. If you're into signature dining experiences, definitely look into those. We wanted to go to Noe eventually but we ran out of dinner slots!
Roy's is within walking distance; we went there last night and the food was delicious.
Monkeypod is across the street in the plaza; we ate there a few nights ago. Overpriced IMO, but we did enjoy our food.
Paradise Cove Luau was great! We did the Orchid Level seating which is kind of in between the deluxe (right up front) and the regular (on the wings). The show was great and the food was pretty good for a mass-produced buffet. The staff told me they seat 1300 people and in the summer they're packed every night. With your luau purchase you get a "Cove Card" - the Orchid package came with a $16 cove card per person. You can use these in the shops or at the bar. Drinks were between $7-10 each so we each got two mixed drinks in addition to the Mai Tai punch they serve you when you walk in. For the price (I think we paid close to $105 a person), I felt as if it was worth it. I don't think it's necessary every time, but for a first trip we liked it a lot. Drinks were strong, that's for sure!
Looking into the lagoon from Aulani, there is a Four Seasons to the right, and an empty plot of land to the left - Photopass girl last night said that's slated to be an Atlantis, but it's just on the table right now and nothing is set in stone. So take that w/ a grain of salt.
All in all, an amazing vacation so far, I'll post a lot more later once we're home and settled in!
