We just finished a terrific week at Aulani.
This is probably my favorite Disney resort property as far as the resort itself. Between the pools, lazy river, water slides, beach, hot tubs, snorkeling, and other actitivities, there's a ton to do. And we loved the theming, which, to us, seemed somewhat like a hybrid between the Polynesian Villiage and Animal Kingdom Lodge, which are our two favorite Disney World resorts.
While we didn't do everything the resort had to offer (for example, we skipped the snorkeling and Auntie's Beach House), I'll provide comments on some specific areas:
Water activities (pools, water slides, lazy river):
The resort only has one main family pool, which can get crowded in the afternoon. There are two water slides: a tube slide and a body slide. Overall, we preferred the tube slide (body slide is entirely in the dark) although it usually had a longer line (typically 5-15 minutes for the tube slide whereas the body slide was sometimes a walk-on). The lazy river always provided a relaxing alternative when other areas became more crowded (we usually saved this for the afternoon). Overall, we spent 4 of our 5 days at Aulani exclusively at the resort mostly doing water activities and were never bored.
Restaurants:
Ulu Cafe (quick service): we ate here a couple of times for breakfast and dinner and really liked the flatbreads. We also thought the hot breakfast platter was a relatively good value by (expensive) Aulani pricing standards.
Makahiki (buffet): we did this once for breakfast and once for dinner. Our character breakfast included Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy (we saw Chip, Dale, Donald, and Stitch elsewhere around the resort but they weren't at breakfast). I've eaten at most of the breakfast buffets at Disney World and Disneyland (character or otherwise), and from a food quality perspective, I'd rank it only behind Boma and maybe Storyteller's Cafe. Dinner does not include characters and we were somewhat hesitant to try it because of several mediocre reviews. However, I thought the dinner buffet was pretty good (MUCH better than the Luau food at the Polynesian Cultural Center) as it included several higher quality items like prime rib, jumbo prawns, crab legs, and sushi.
Ama Ama (table service): we did this twice for each of breakfast and dinner and it was the star of the show, at least for dinner. Breakfast was at least somewhat reasonably priced (by Aulani standards) but only marginally higher quality than the food at the buffet (and the high carb options like pancakes and french toast were way too sweet, even for pancakes and french toast). Dinners were absolutely fantastic from start to finish and we were treated with gorgeous sunsets on both occassions (I honestly wonder if some of the disappointment with the Makahiki dinner buffet results from people going to Ama Ama first - my advice, if you plan to go to both Makahiki and Ama Ama for dinner, save Ama Ama for last).
Car rental:
We rented a car for one day from the Alamo desk at the resort in order to see Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation, and Polynesian Cultural Center (very packed day). This was quick and easy, and since we returned after the Alamo desk closed, we were allowed to simply check the car in with valet service in front of the lobby.
Departure day:
We booked a redeye back to the mainland that left Honolulu at 10 pm. So we simply checked everything we didn't need for the day with bell services and enjoyed the resort (we used the Luana Lounge to change clothes before departing).
Thoughts on DVC:
Not being DVC owners, we got a bigger DVC sales pitch here than at any other Disney resort, I suppose because Disney hasn't yet sold it out. My instinct is that if I were to buy into DVC, I wouldn't buy Aulani as my home resort because I'm guessing the 11 month booking window would only be necessary at peak times when the airfare would be too expensive for my blood. Along those lines, I have a sister who goes to Disneyland 4 or 5 times a year and Hawaii about once a year but got talked into buying direct into Aulani. I think she would have been better off buying a GCH resale.
This is probably my favorite Disney resort property as far as the resort itself. Between the pools, lazy river, water slides, beach, hot tubs, snorkeling, and other actitivities, there's a ton to do. And we loved the theming, which, to us, seemed somewhat like a hybrid between the Polynesian Villiage and Animal Kingdom Lodge, which are our two favorite Disney World resorts.
While we didn't do everything the resort had to offer (for example, we skipped the snorkeling and Auntie's Beach House), I'll provide comments on some specific areas:
Water activities (pools, water slides, lazy river):
The resort only has one main family pool, which can get crowded in the afternoon. There are two water slides: a tube slide and a body slide. Overall, we preferred the tube slide (body slide is entirely in the dark) although it usually had a longer line (typically 5-15 minutes for the tube slide whereas the body slide was sometimes a walk-on). The lazy river always provided a relaxing alternative when other areas became more crowded (we usually saved this for the afternoon). Overall, we spent 4 of our 5 days at Aulani exclusively at the resort mostly doing water activities and were never bored.
Restaurants:
Ulu Cafe (quick service): we ate here a couple of times for breakfast and dinner and really liked the flatbreads. We also thought the hot breakfast platter was a relatively good value by (expensive) Aulani pricing standards.
Makahiki (buffet): we did this once for breakfast and once for dinner. Our character breakfast included Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy (we saw Chip, Dale, Donald, and Stitch elsewhere around the resort but they weren't at breakfast). I've eaten at most of the breakfast buffets at Disney World and Disneyland (character or otherwise), and from a food quality perspective, I'd rank it only behind Boma and maybe Storyteller's Cafe. Dinner does not include characters and we were somewhat hesitant to try it because of several mediocre reviews. However, I thought the dinner buffet was pretty good (MUCH better than the Luau food at the Polynesian Cultural Center) as it included several higher quality items like prime rib, jumbo prawns, crab legs, and sushi.
Ama Ama (table service): we did this twice for each of breakfast and dinner and it was the star of the show, at least for dinner. Breakfast was at least somewhat reasonably priced (by Aulani standards) but only marginally higher quality than the food at the buffet (and the high carb options like pancakes and french toast were way too sweet, even for pancakes and french toast). Dinners were absolutely fantastic from start to finish and we were treated with gorgeous sunsets on both occassions (I honestly wonder if some of the disappointment with the Makahiki dinner buffet results from people going to Ama Ama first - my advice, if you plan to go to both Makahiki and Ama Ama for dinner, save Ama Ama for last).
Car rental:
We rented a car for one day from the Alamo desk at the resort in order to see Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation, and Polynesian Cultural Center (very packed day). This was quick and easy, and since we returned after the Alamo desk closed, we were allowed to simply check the car in with valet service in front of the lobby.
Departure day:
We booked a redeye back to the mainland that left Honolulu at 10 pm. So we simply checked everything we didn't need for the day with bell services and enjoyed the resort (we used the Luana Lounge to change clothes before departing).
Thoughts on DVC:
Not being DVC owners, we got a bigger DVC sales pitch here than at any other Disney resort, I suppose because Disney hasn't yet sold it out. My instinct is that if I were to buy into DVC, I wouldn't buy Aulani as my home resort because I'm guessing the 11 month booking window would only be necessary at peak times when the airfare would be too expensive for my blood. Along those lines, I have a sister who goes to Disneyland 4 or 5 times a year and Hawaii about once a year but got talked into buying direct into Aulani. I think she would have been better off buying a GCH resale.
Bill
I agree that Aulani is the best resort Disney has built. Planning our next trip back there now… 
