1st DVC Member Trip - Aulani

[VGCgroupie]

We spent 5 nights at Aulani this August. Spoiler alert the lows were not at Aulani, Aulani was amazing.

I had originally planned on 4 nights, but last minute found a studio to add a night to the beginning of our trip since we recently became DVC blue card holders, we wanted to take advantage of some happenings on Monday/Tues morning.

My best advice I can give from our trip is, don’t prebook and plan too much. It’s hard to get everything in. We cancelled many things that were able to cancel because we just didn’t have enough time. I saw so many people say book excursions, go see the island. For us, there was traffic that took up time and we found ourselves wanting to be back at Aulani every time we left.

At the resort I booked everything I could and actually cancelled a few things because again not enough time to fit it all in. I found having so many bookings made things feel rushed and a bit stressful. I imagine many people do this so if you didn’t get a booking you wanted, be sure to try and get it on standby, chances are you will get in.

Things we had planned but didn’t get to do. Animation class, storytelling, Moana meet n greet DVC, Movie on the lawn, Moana show, scavenger hunt, Byodo Temple, a 2nd Ukulele class, sight seeing on the island with Shaka App, another trip to secret beach at night for sunset, walk to Marriott to fish feed.

Bring more cash than you think you need, there are many people to tip.


Often your experience will be way different than what others report in their trips.

We will be going to back to Aulani, we absolutely loved it. The resort is beautiful, the CM are so nice. We felt right at home.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Day 1 arrival day.

We flew out Monday morning via Hawaiian Airlines. No complaints with Hawaiian Air, they were great. We booked a Lei greeting via Hawaiian Air for our arrival. We made our way to baggage claim and there was a nice lady waiting for us with a sign with our name on it and our Leis. Aulani couldn’t store our Leis prior to check in so unfortunately they did not hold up in the car. I was hoping to use them for our photos.


Car rental - We picked up our car from Alamo that we rented via Costco. I highly recommend using Costco for a rental if you can, I changed my reservation 3 times to save money when prices would change. We had to take a shuttle to the rental car area, it’s not walkable despite what Ive seen some others say online.


Drive and checkin- It took about 30 min to get to Aulani from the airport. We stopped at the DVC desk and picked up our swag, a blue backpack bag and to register for the members party that night. I also tried to register for Welcome Home Weeks offering for Tuesday morning and was told it was full. Disappointing.


We checked in at the DVC desk and were very happy that the CM helped me in changing the room that was assigned to me. I was afraid being DVC they would say your room is what you get no changes. It wasn’t an upgrade it was just a different floor in a different area. We got a Studio Ocean View room 954. I will attach pictures below. The CM gave my son a necklace for being DVC and he was thrilled. He wore that necklace everyday. *magical*


Pearl Harbor - Our room wasn’t ready at 12 so we headed to Pearl Harbor. Hawaii in August is hot! Keep that in mind when people recommend mornings for outdoor activities, they are right. Parking was hard to get at this time of day. I read tons and tons of things and it seemed that you HAD to prebook the AZ memorial in order to do anything else, this isn’t the case. So if you want to skip that you can. It was so hot, we decided to skip what my son really wanted to do, the battleship tour and sub tour since it’s mostly outdoors and we were running low on time. We did the VR and it wasn’t amazing, we expected better, but no big deal it wasn’t very much money. We did the aviation museum and the special Disney art aviation exhibit. My son LOVED the flight simulator and made the trip at Pearl Harbor more worth it for him.


Back to resort - The drive was about 35 minutes back to Aulani. We stopped at Down to Earth Market to get some food. Food counter was very reasonably priced, it’s a vegetarian store so keep that in mind if stopping there.


Room was ready at 3pm, but we arrived back round 5:30pm


Members party - The party started at 6:30, we got there about 6:20. My advice is get there early, as we were in the very back. My son got to dance with Max, super cool! Party was over at 8:30pm and we were exhausted. At this point we had a 21 hour day, without sleeping on the plane.



Walmart delivery - Scheduled Walmart to deliver at 9-10pm and it was super easy and convenient.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Tuesday, day after arrival


Casabella same day and beach rentals - My husband headed down at 7:30am to see if there were any beach Casabellas. There were only 2 people in line. We got a beach Casabella for $85. Then he was able to also book fish feeding for that day too. Over our stay it appeared that the beach Casabellas didn't get fully booked everyday. Side note: There were pool chairs and beach chairs all available at 8am but we decided to just pay for the Casabella instead.


DVC Activity - We headed to the Welcome Home Weeks event to see if we could get in on stand-by, and we got in! We did Ukulele Lessons and Tote Stamping.


Character breakfast 10:15 Was great. We saw Mickey, Minnie, Stitch, Pluto. Mickey photos are $45 to purchase


My son had an Aunties free time booked at noon but we cancelled so we could fully utilize our time in the Casabella. It was really nice to have a home base for our stuff and not worry about it, but in reality we really only sat in it for about 1 hour total.


We spent until 5pm on the beach. Rented boogie boards and a nice guest gave us a tube since they were leaving. The Lagoon is amazing. The waves are gentle and just enough to have fun but not get knocked over. Perfection.


Rainbow Reef - This day we did rainbow reef snorkeling, pretty cool (not just the water! Ha!) and totally worth it. I almost bought a wet suit for my son since people said it was so cold. It was fine. Fish feeding, my son was like eh when I booked it, but he loved it once feeding them.


Pool - We finished the day in the pool. After 5pm chairs are very easy to come by.


Free activity - 6:30pm Shakaoke (karaoke) at Aunties Beach House. My son is a total ham and loves attention. He had the best time.


Back to the room. Realizing, the view is gorgeous but we honestly didn’t spend any time enjoying it.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Wednesday day 3

Pool chairs - While we didn’t get any there were plenty of pool chairs at 7:45am.


Secret beach / photo shoot - We walked to Secret Beach to have sunrise photos taken. I had spoken to a photographer about sunset photos, she insisted sunrise is better, so I made plans around sunrise. I ended up booking a different photographer and he said sunset is better as the mountain blocks the sun at secret beach in the AM. I didn’t fully trust that and since I had already planned around sunrise I booked sunrise. He was correct. There was no sun in our photos.

The walk to secret beach was a little rough in a long dress and sandals. I don’t know how people walk so gracefully down this beach in photos and a dress… I was not graceful.. at all. Also living in Arizona for 15 years my body was in shock and I was sweating so much. Haven’t gotten our photos back yet but I hope he can work some sort of magic on my ungraceful sweatiness.


We cancelled our character breakfast this day since we had the canoe ride rebooked.


Canoe ride x2 - Aulani and Waikiki

Aulani canoe sailing - The day we arrived we booked the canoe sailing at Makiki Joes for Tuesday but it was cancelled so we did Wednesday instead even though we had another canoe ride booked same day. https://www.disneyaulani.com/activities/aulani-beach/

The canoe sailing experience at Aulani is great. The captain’s were so nice. They were great with kids, they shared so much info about the coastline and island. 10/10. Not having to leave Aulani to experience this was worth the premium price.

We were starving so we got some very expensive Acai bowls at ULU Cafe then headed upstairs to get ready to head to Waikiki. We had planned to eat in Waikiki prior but again low on time


Waikiki canoe surfing - I had seen some people rave about this on FB. I was honestly so excited for it and so was my son. 46 min drive to get there, had to park in a parking garage at the fancy a$$ mall and walk down to the beach. The beach was gorgeous, the water so so blue. This is a gorgeous beach with a TON OF PEOPLE. Not many families. This was just not my vibe at all. I was already longing to be back at Aulani.

This is a long one. But worth a read if you are considering it. We meet the captain and he gives a slight run down of the canoe and how it works. Im a bit nervous because Im not in the best of shape, and Im helping row the canoe. It’s me, my husband and 9 year old son. They have 3 men that go along to help row. My son was excited to help row since the canoe sailing at Aulani its motorized. He grabs the paddle placed next to him and the captain proceeds to almost yell “no no put that down Im not chasing any paddles today”! My son was behind me and I could feel his sadness the whole ride. The caption could have told him in a nicer way. As we begin to row out I hear the captain talking crap about our effectiveness of rowing. The entire ride he is yelling how and when to row which I did expect but I guess I expected it to be a more lighthearted situation not so military like. Riding the waves was pretty cool but there was zero joy on this boat from anyone, us or the men running it. One wave he yells to row harder so his man in the front began rowing super hard and in a different direction so I had the equivalent of buckets of water thrown directly in my face over an over and over, all while being told to keep rowing. We get back to beach and my son is very very sad walking off so as a mom im following him and my husband who isn’t going to let us walk off alone on a super crowded beach begins to follow and I heard the captain again talking crap because we hadn’t helped push the boat back in (he didn’t tell us he expected this in the beginning or my husband would have stayed) This in my opinion isn’t something for a family with kids to do, the guys were not not family friendly at all.

We had planned to eat in Waikiki afterwards and sight see on the Shaka App but we all just couldn’t wait to get back to our sanctuary, Aulani.

50 min drive back.
We got to the pools at 3:30 there were no pool chairs so we went to the beach and there were plenty of chairs there. We spent time in the beach until sunset. Then some time in the pool.


Premium star gazing experience - 8:15 booking thinking maybe less people or less little ones, wrong. Not worth it imo. I know its title is star gazing, but I saw reports of others seeing the moon and saturn etc. We saw only stars and not many, it could be partially due to parents who cant control their kids and take time away from the activity. The guy running it was super nice and cool but he didn’t know how to keep things in order when 5 year olds take over, or when a 8 year olds take multiple turns as does his parent.


Back to the room. Again realizing we have a beautiful view but was too busy to enjoy it.


Split stay - We did a split stay so went spent time packing to move rooms. Was regretting that choice for sure. Was feeling like this day was a total bust except the Canoe Sailing offered at Aulani.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Thursday resort only day -

Aunties Premium - Dropped my son off at Aunties for the premium surfs up activity at 8:30am-11:30am. He loved it. .

We relaxed a bit and then spent the next 1.5 hours packing to move rooms, again regretting that choice. We called bell services to get our bags which took about 35 minutes.


Casabella Maile Deck prebooked - We prebooked a casabella on the Maile deck. We didn’t make it our casaballa until about noon. Again very nice to have a home base for our stuff especially since its checkout day for our split stay.

Lazy River - Amazing. We enjoyed the lazy river, there is something special about floating down the river and waving hi to Donald Duck.

Rainbow reef again - Bought the week long pass but only got to use it twice since they close it at 3pm

Pool Party - Super fun for the kids. Tip: be towards the stairs closer to the Ewa Tower

Ordered food from the poolside menu, they easily accommodated our dietary needs. This is the day I drank way too many tropical itch drinks.

Had to leave the casabella by 5:30, got our stuff to take to the room. Room was again ready at 3pm. This time a 1 bedroom island garden view. It may have been the drinks but when I walked in I was elated, gitty, as happy as a kid on Christmas morning, after being in a studio for 3 days this room was HUGE. The island view also had ocean view. Room 1571.

Sunset Photos - We went back down to do some sunset photos with the photopass photographers. Holy flash batman! Still glad they offer these photos.

We had animation reservations but cancelled for various reasons.


Back to the room to start some laundry! Actually pretty excited about that.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Friday day before departure

Had breakfast reservations but cancelled the day before, woke up shaky and could barely stand and was confused as to why.. then i realized… too many drinks the day before. Needless to say I was so relieved I cancelled that 7am reservation, also I now realize 7am breakfast with an 8am Aunties is too tight of a squeeze.

Free Aunties - Dropped my son off at 8am for free Aunties Beach House time. Then spent a much needed hour in bed. Again he loved Aunties.


Kualoa Ranch - We booked the Hollywood movies tour and the UTV tour back to back. They said to arrive no later than 45 min early, you do not need that much time. Our 1st tour was at 12:20. The drive from Aulani was 1 hour 5 minutes. The drive is really pretty.

The Hollywood Movies Tour was Id say 50/50 movies and farm food history. Had we known that we wouldn’t have booked it, we would’ve chosen another tour. The jokes weren’t great and overall the tour was meh. The ranch however is gorgeous. If I chose again I may have chosen the Jurassic Tour or maybe only the UTV.

We had UTV booked at 2:15, I was worried since we were at the back of the pack I thought we would get so so so dirty based off others reports. We got dirty yes but it was not horrible. The UTV tour was amazing and totally worth it.


We had plans to go to the Byoda Temple and do some other site seeing but we just wanted to get back to Aulani.
1 hour 15 min drive back.


Luau View Room - We didn’t attend the Luau but we could watch from our balcony and made food in the room, amazing.


I spent the night doing laundry and starting to pack up after the Luau while my husband and son went to the pools.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Saturday Checkout Day

We woke up, finished packing. Called for bell services, only about a 10 min wait this time.


Character Breakfast #2 - Todays breakfast the characters didn’t come around as often and we had to wait even though we were done eating for Max, but my son finished his signatures on his surfboard during our breakfast so he was happy.

We planned to do the scavenger hunt today but didn’t have time.


Glass Bottom Boat - We booked Ko’Olina Glass Bottom Boat for 1pm. The drive over to the marina was 6 minutes. The boat ride was 1 hour. The glass bottom is only sections of boat but still totally cool. The 2 guys running it that day were very nice and were great with kids. My s on got to drive the boat which made his day. Great views of Aulani. We saw fish, turtles. The fact that this is so close to Aulani is a huge plus imo. No traffic to deal with.


DVC presentation, villa tour - We toured the grand villa.. it is stunning. We went to Hoku Hideaway and told them we needed to leave for airport so they gave us a one on one presentation and we got our DVC hats!


Airport - People on FB said get to the airport 3 hours early minimum. We left Aulani at 4:10 and was through security by 5:15 even with dropping off a rental car and getting gas. This airport is easy peasy. I was sad we could’ve have possibly done the scavenger hunt due to all the extra time, oh well, more for next time! We had ramen before boarding.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Room 954 - Ocean View Studio Ewa Tower

 

[VGCgroupie]

Room 1571 Island Garden View 1 bedroom Ewa Tower, Luau View

 

[princesses2]

Sounds like you had a wonderful first trip. Love the view from your Island/Garden 1 bdrm. That's the view I was hoping for on our 1st trip but we got 1663 which overlooked the parking lot. We did get mountain view above the parking lot and being so high up, the morning sunrises were very nice. I agree with you on don't plan too much. I found the drive back and forth to be tiring especially in the hot, humid weather. We wanted to just enjoy the resort more. Though after reading your review, maybe we shouldn't have passed on the Kualoa Ranch. We will try it next time.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Sounds like you had a wonderful first trip. Love the view from your Island/Garden 1 bdrm. That's the view I was hoping for on our 1st trip but we got 1663 which overlooked the parking lot. We did get mountain view above the parking lot and being so high up, the morning sunrises were very nice. I agree with you on don't plan too much. I found the drive back and forth to be tiring especially in the hot, humid weather. We wanted to just enjoy the resort more. Though after reading your review, maybe we shouldn't have passed on the Kualoa Ranch. We will try it next time.

We got very lucky with our room. I was afraid of that parking view.

 

[Finerfam]

Loved reading your feedback on the different activities! What a bummer about the Waikiki canoe surfing experience though...do you remember the company you booked with? I was looking into this as an option but would be so upset if the people running it were rude and grumpy. Also curious what company you booked the glass bottom boat ride? Sounds like a fun excursion!

 

[VGCgroupie]

Loved reading your feedback on the different activities! What a bummer about the Waikiki canoe surfing experience though...do you remember the company you booked with? I was looking into this as an option but would be so upset if the people running it were rude and grumpy. Also curious what company you booked the glass bottom boat ride? Sounds like a fun excursion!

Waikiki Beach Services for the Canoe Surfing.
https://www.waikikibeachservices.com/royal-hawaiian/canoeing/

The Glass Bottom Boat we booked via Groupon actually, but they also book direct on their website.
https://hawaiiglassbottomboats.com/ko-olina-tours/

 

[Finerfam]

Oh man, that was definitely the outrigger canoe company I had seen good reviews about too. I'm so sad for you that it wasn't great! I'll have to do some more research on it. I would have a 5yo (almost 6) and a 10yo (almost 11) so I also have to check age restrictions. Did they provide a life jacket for your son or did you have to buy or rent one?

 

[VGCgroupie]

Oh man, that was definitely the outrigger canoe company I had seen good reviews about too. I'm so sad for you that it wasn't great! I'll have to do some more research on it. I would have a 5yo (almost 6) and a 10yo (almost 11) so I also have to check age restrictions. Did they provide a life jacket for your son or did you have to buy or rent one?

I had read great things too. No life jacket. But we didn’t ask for one since I read it’s pretty safe. The canoe only holds 6 so with 2 littles I’m not sure it would workout since they definitely expected us to bear a good portion of the rowing.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Great trip,report!

 

[VGCgroupie]

Great trip,report!

Aww shucks thank you

 

[wishiwasindisneyjen]

Loved your trip report, thank you for sharing

 

[eticketplease]

As others mentioned great reporting and thanks for the pictures.

Did you visit the lounge offered to Aulani visitors at HNL? Curious if it is worth going or just sticking with a priority pass lounge.

https://www.koolinalounge.com/

 

[VGCgroupie]

Loved your trip report, thank you for sharing

Thanks!

As others mentioned great reporting and thanks for the pictures.

Did you visit the lounge offered to Aulani visitors at HNL? Curious if it is worth going or just sticking with a priority pass lounge.

https://www.koolinalounge.com/

We had reservations at the lounge but decided not to go since it's in Terminal 2 and we flew out of Terminal 1. Instead we balked at the price of whoppers at BK, walked a bit further looking at all the menus and then settled on a place right by our gate that had ramen for the same price as a whopper meal. As soon as we were done eating it was boarding time.
Edit to add I have heard the lounge doesnt have much other than seating and AC, not like a priority lounge.