Disney announces O'ahu Resort name
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts has announced that its new Hawai'i resort will be called Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, Ko Olina, Hawai'i. Planned to feature
481 two-bedroom-equivalent Disney Vacation Club villas and 360 hotel rooms, the resort is scheduled to open in 2011 on the island of O'ahu.
Aulani means "the place that speaks for the great ones" or "the place that speaks with deep messages."
Nearby to historical sites on the western side of O'ahu, Aulani will be located on 21-acres of oceanfront property in the Ko Olina Resort & Marina development. Design plans call for amenities to engage every member of the family. Among the recreational highlights planned for the resort are pools and sunset-facing hot tubs, a snorkeling lagoon, a variety of kids' club and other play programs for children, and a river suitable for tube floating through a specially created volcanic outcropping.
The resort, located near a golf course, marina, white-sand beach and crystal blue lagoon, also will include an 18,000 square-foot spa designed with families in mind, two restaurants and more than 50,000 square feet of ballroom, meeting space and event lawns.
A new Web site,
www.DisneyAulani.com, provides updates and background information about the resort project, including the latest conceptual art.
