Aulani Villas & Views -- REVISED 07/22/2017

[wdrl]

LOTS of morning sun and a decent amount of highway noise. Other than that about what I expected for Standard View. I requested close to lobby and high floor and this met those requests. Only there one night and then moved to Ocean View.

Thanks for sharing, eandesmom! I've added villa #657 to the list in Post #1.

The view from #657 isn't great, but its a tiny bit better than the view from #457. But the point costs are a lot cheaper than an Ocean View.

Interested to see what Ocean View you ended up with, and whether you think Standard View and its lower point costs is better/worse than Ocean View.

 

[eandesmom]

Thanks for sharing, eandesmom! I've added villa #657 to the list in Post #1.

The view from #657 isn't great, but its a tiny bit better than the view from #457. But the point costs are a lot cheaper than an Ocean View.

Interested to see what Ocean View you ended up with, and whether you think Standard View and its lower point costs is better/worse than Ocean View.

I actually thought it was hysterical we ended up in 657...directly above the "worst view at Aulani". It is a tiny bit better and I am glad we saved the 6 points for the one night but I would choose Ocean View every time. I would not have been happy to be there for a week and I don't think for me, I'd have been happy in Island view for a week either as that's just going up in floors..so more island but still brutal morning sun and no sunset. Really depends on the use though, it could be perfect for many.

I haven't uploaded those pictures yet but will, we absolutely loved our Ocean View room, 1084. It had some cons as well but the pro's far outweighed it. We use our lanai a LOT so the view was pretty key.

I do think that if I were to be booked in an Island View room in the future I'd definitely (for me) try to avoid the Ewa Short Wing. Though the noise would likely be equal in the other building it might be less direct morning sun due to the angle and possibly a less industrial view on the one side. If nothing else, one could compare.

I do feel that the non angled rooms are better on the interior if you are trying to fit 4 in a studio. The angled rooms make it tight if you had that sofa open. The non angled balcony, to me, felt quite a bit bigger as well although the angled was big enough.

 

[Jenifurby]

Rm 851 Ded 2br island view

View to the Right

Straight out:

To the left:

Down Below, Makaloa garden and walkway to conference center.

 

[eandesmom]

Looking out from the Lanai to the right





To the left







Straight out




And...a Panorama



We absolutely adored this room and spent a good 2 hours a day, possibly more, on the lanai. I have some sunset/evening pictures I will add to this once I get them uploaded. I will say, we could not see the actual sunset. The JW Marriott blocked it. My DH thinks that at different times of year, that might not be the case. It is possible that a higher floor might see over the JW Marriott but we didn't think so.

Only negatives to the location would be pool noise and valley noise. We were right above the slide entries so heard lots of screams. It was happy noise and we didn't mind that at all. We could occasionally hear live music from Off the Hook. The only thing that we did mind was phones. It took us a bit to figure out where it was coming from but the phones echo in the valley, we think coming up from AMA AMA and it was pretty annoying, loud and frequent, starting at about 8am and going until 8-9pm. For several days we thought it was coming from a nearby room but ultimately figured out it was probably the restaurant.

Big picture it was a small annoyance for an amazing location. My only wish is there were actually functioning stairs as an option versus the elevator every time (we tried!).

 

[wdrl]

Rm 851 Ded 2br island view

We absolutely adored this room and spent a good 2 hours a day, possibly more, on the lanai. My only wish is there were actually functioning stairs as an option versus the elevator every time (we tried!).

Thanks, Jenifurby and eandesmom, for sharing your photos! I've added your villas to the list in Post #1.

Eandesmom, I'm a bit confused about your comment about stairs. I would think the fire safety code would require access to stairs. Or was it that the stairs weren't convenient to your villa's location?

 

[eandesmom]

Thanks, Jenifurby and eandesmom, for sharing your photos! I've added your villas to the list in Post #1.

Eandesmom, I'm a bit confused about your comment about stairs. I would think the fire safety code would require access to stairs. Or was it that the stairs weren't convenient to your villa's location?

You would think wouldn't you? We could access them but no ground level exit without setting off a fire alarm so they were unusable beyond floor 3.

 

[wdrl]

You would think wouldn't you? We could access them but no ground level exit without setting off a fire alarm so they were unusable beyond floor 3.

We were in the Waianae Building (villa #304) and both staircases near our villa (one near villa #xx01 and the other near the elevators near villa #xx12) allowed us to exit on the first floor. Next time we go to Aulani I'll have to check out the stairs. Can you wait until October 2014 for an answer?

 

[eandesmom]

We were in the Waianae Building (villa #304) and both staircases near our villa (one near villa #xx01 and the other near the elevators near villa #xx12) allowed us to exit on the first floor. Next time we go to Aulani I'll have to check out the stairs. Can you wait until October 2014 for an answer?

Well we tried and couldn't exit, had to go back up to 3 and down to the elevator , it was quite strange and surprising. That said, we didn't look for another staircase, only tried the one at the end cap by the grand villas as that was closest to our room. There may well be another set that does have full access, I would think there has to be.

 

[DenLo]

Well we tried and couldn't exit, had to go back up to 3 and down to the elevator , it was quite strange and surprising. That said, we didn't look for another staircase, only tried the one at the end cap by the grand villas as that was closest to our room. There may well be another set that does have full access, I would think there has to be.

I would report that to management at Aulani. That is a fire hazard.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Are there any dedicated studios? Also I am reading how noisy OV rooms are. Does the location of the room make a difference with regards to noise? I don't really like to be higher than the 10 th floor. Will that pose a view problem? Also can you include areas of the building in your room requests? Thanks.

 

[carissa1970]

Are there any dedicated studios? Also I am reading how noisy OV rooms are. Does the location of the room make a difference with regards to noise? I don't really like to be higher than the 10 th floor. Will that pose a view problem? Also can you include areas of the building in your room requests? Thanks.

Yes, there are dedicated studios. Regarding the noise, I think it must depend on the person. We had a 1 bdrm on the 4th floor, directly above the kids' water play area, and never once did the noise bother us. In fact we never heard "noise". Once the sliders are closed, it is almost impossible to hear anything. Even sitting on the balcony we just heard water, some laughter, and music periodically from the bar area. It was great! Of course, being above the water slides I can understand hearing screaming.

 

[wdrl]

Are there any dedicated studios? Also I am reading how noisy OV rooms are. Does the location of the room make a difference with regards to noise? I don't really like to be higher than the 10 th floor. Will that pose a view problem? Also can you include areas of the building in your room requests? Thanks.

No, there are no dedicated studios at Aulani. Just like at BLT, AKV-Kidani, and now VGF, DVD is designing resorts with only Grand Villas, two-bedroom lockoffs, and two-bedroom dedicated vacation homes.

We were in villa #304, a pool view studio on the third floor overlooking the Menehune bridge and water play area. The water feature was turned on around 8:00 AM and ran until 6:00 PM, and it was noisy due to the splashing water, sounds from the kids, and the background music that is played in Waikolohe Valley. It was noisy enough that it was difficult for me to carry on a cell phone conversation while on the balcony, but not noisy enough to interfere with normal conservation with someone sitting with me on the balcony.

As carissa1970 posted, the villas have really good soundproofing and when we closed our balcony door we didn't notice any of the noisy.

More importantly, we found the noise to be a "white" noise that was easy to ignore. I actually enjoyed hearing the music and other sounds.

Views are so subjective that its hard to answer that part of your post. The Ocean Views start on the 6th floor and you can check the views from some of these OV villas by looking at the list in Post #1.

As for room requests, I'm not sure how specific you can be with your request. I know when we go back to Aulani in October 2014, we'll ask for an Ocean View Studio that overlooks Waikolohe Valley as the primary request and high floor as a secondary request.

 

[carissa1970]

No, there are no dedicated studios at Aulani. Just like at BLT, AKV-Kidani, and now VGF, DVD is designing resorts with only Grand Villas, two-bedroom lockoffs, and two-bedroom dedicated vacation homes.

We were in villa #304, a pool view studio on the third floor overlooking the Menehune bridge and water play area. The water feature was turned on around 8:00 AM and ran until 6:00 PM, and it was noisy due to the splashing water, sounds from the kids, and the background music that is played in Waikolohe Valley. It was noisy enough that it was difficult for me to carry on a cell phone conversation while on the balcony, but not noisy enough to interfere with normal conservation with someone sitting with me on the balcony.

As carissa1970 posted, the villas have really good soundproofing and when we closed our balcony door we didn't notice any of the noisy.

More importantly, we found the noise to be a "white" noise that was easy to ignore. I actually enjoyed hearing the music and other sounds.

Views are so subjective that its hard to answer that part of your post. The Ocean Views start on the 6th floor and you can check the views from some of these OV villas by looking at the list in Post #1.

As for room requests, I'm not sure how specific you can be with your request. I know when we go back to Aulani in October 2014, we'll ask for an Ocean View Studio that overlooks Waikolohe Valley as the primary request and high floor as a secondary request.

Sorry...obviously didn't understand what "dedicated" meant. Now I do.

 

[eandesmom]

Are there any dedicated studios? Also I am reading how noisy OV rooms are. Does the location of the room make a difference with regards to noise? I don't really like to be higher than the 10 th floor. Will that pose a view problem? Also can you include areas of the building in your room requests? Thanks.

I agree with wdrl, for us the pool/valley noise wasn't an issue at all. I'm not sure I would call it white noise when the slide people actually screamed but to me it was happy vacation noise and it made us laugh and smile and we enjoyed it. I will say the phone ringing was annoying but almost comical once we finally figured out what it was. There was also construction noise but that wasn't terribly loud from where we were but I imagine it could be in the other building.

The soundproofing in the room is phenomenal, with the door closed you didn't hear a thing. I do think any OV room facing the pool will have some noise (as of course will pool view rooms). Ewa long wing from the slides, Ewa short wing from Makahiki character breakfasts /music from O'leo, and Wainaea side from the Menenhune Bridge/play area or the pool.

If that is really a concern then I'd look to request the Wainaea side that faces the island and ocean, not the side that faces the pool. Currently there is construction on that side and that is noisy but once complete I would think they may be the "quietest" OV rooms at the resort.

You can be as specific as you like in an email request, which is what I always do. General rule is the less specific you are, the better change you have but in our case I requested Ewa long wing, highest floor possible (10th or higher) and a room ending in xx72, xx78 or xx84. At check in, which I deliberately didn't do online as we arrived late the night before and had 1 night in a standard view, the lovely Malia informed me the only room with a high floor available was in the Wainaea building, the only thing in the Ewa long was on the 6th floor. Seeing that we were disappointed with that she said "let me see what might be coming up soon" and went back into the system. After a good 5 minutes of poking around she found a room that met our exact requests in 1084. What I learned from that is that they are (at least at Aulani) looking for actual available rooms, versus ones scheduled for checkout that day) first.

Though the room was still occupied when she checked us in at 10:30, amazingly we got the "ready" text at 11:30!

 

[Rizzo1]

I am sure that someone has already written and replied about my next question. So, I apologize in advance if someone has.

We will be visiting Aulani in a couple of weeks and would like to know... if you have stayed in the one bedroom garden vew, which room would you recommend and which room should we NOT request?

BTW, I must commend all for your wonderful pictures! I especially liked the night shots from the lanai.

Thanks and I will post my report after my return. All I have to do is learn how to post the pics. Yes, I am a bit challenged when it comes to that. So, if anyone would like to share the 'how to' on that, yep, I welcome it!

 

[Rizzo1]

Can anyone tell me about the quality of food at AMA AMA? We have reservations for dinner there on one of the nights.
We also have a 15 year old son. Is the menu there one that teens would like? He's not a picky eater per se, but one never knows.
I also read the post where dinner and wine for two was $175.00. Was it worth it? My DH and I are not wine drinkers, so maybe our tab will be less. We don't mind paying a little bit more, if it is worth it... after all, we are on vacation and if worth it, this will be our 'splurge' dinner.
Or, does anyone have any other suggestions? Where did you dine and think it was exceptional service and food?

 

["Got Disney"]

I have a question about booking here when it is not my home resort....we want to go for 10 days and get an Ocean view in a 2 bedroom or a 1 bedroom starting like June 6th....can anyone tell me how hard it is at that time? or what my chances would be? we would be ok with a pool view or what ever....if it came down to it...

 

[Cinderpamela]

Can anyone tell me about the quality of food at AMA AMA? We have reservations for dinner there on one of the nights.
We also have a 15 year old son. Is the menu there one that teens would like? He's not a picky eater per se, but one never knows.
I also read the post where dinner and wine for two was $175.00. Was it worth it? My DH and I are not wine drinkers, so maybe our tab will be less. We don't mind paying a little bit more, if it is worth it... after all, we are on vacation and if worth it, this will be our 'splurge' dinner.
Or, does anyone have any other suggestions? Where did you dine and think it was exceptional service and food?

We really enjoyed Ama Ama's lunch menu. I had looked at the dinner menu and lunch, and based on that decided that the lunch looked more to our liking. So we just did a late lunch (early dinner) reservation at around 2:45 (I can't remember what their latest lunch seating was). With the time difference and our bodies still being on PST it was great. Plus, the "Lunch Plate Special" offering was a great value for all the food you got. Dinner is a different story though. So hopefully someone else can speak to that specifically.

Here is a dinner review from Disney Food Blog but it was done right when the place opened and since the menu is more seasonal it will be different:
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2011/09/04/guest-review-ama-ama-beachside-restaurant-at-disneys-aulani-resort/

and here is a review of the lunch... the sweet potato fries are super good:
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2012/02/22/guest-review-ama-ama-lunch-at-disneys-aulani-resort/

 

[kahluacream]

Thanks for all of the great info on this thread. Besides putting in a request with Member Services, has anyone had success either emailing or faxing a request? (If so, what number or address, please?). Does online check in help or hurt your chances?

I appreciate any and all replies... Less than a week to go!!!

 

[lurkyloo]

Can anyone tell me about the quality of food at AMA AMA? We have reservations for dinner there on one of the nights.
We also have a 15 year old son. Is the menu there one that teens would like? He's not a picky eater per se, but one never knows.
I also read the post where dinner and wine for two was $175.00. Was it worth it? My DH and I are not wine drinkers, so maybe our tab will be less. We don't mind paying a little bit more, if it is worth it... after all, we are on vacation and if worth it, this will be our 'splurge' dinner.
Or, does anyone have any other suggestions? Where did you dine and think it was exceptional service and food?

We were surprised by how good our dinner at AMA AMA was, but I think we would have been more impressed if we hadn't eaten at Alan Wong's in Waikiki first. The price points are the same, but Alan Wong's food is way more interesting, exotic, and exciting. We got out of AMA AMA for about $60, but that was for one entree and appetizer that we split, plus two desserts (one was a kids' dessert) and no booze. If you can endure the glare beforehand, the sunset is spectacular from there.

I agree with the previous poster that AMA AMA is a good bet for lunch. We also had brunch there, and everyone was impressed but me (I found the Chocolate Milk-soaked Peanut Butter-Chocolate Banana-Stuffed French Toast to be dry and stingy on the chocolate and peanut butter).