We are JUST back from Aulani - returned to Chicago yesterday :-( I'm working on a trip report, but here are a few things I did know because I SCOURED this thread along with anything to do with Aulani, but the reality of all things Aulani didn't quite sink in until we were there and could experience them firsthand - sorry, can't narrow it down to just ONE thing I wish I knew! (The resort is absolutely beautiful, and the kids had the time of their lives, seriously - they did NOT want to leave Aunty's or the pools - these points may sound negative, but I wish I had a better feel for when we went ...).
1. The hotel/resort buildings are HUGE on the outside - they look monsterous as you drive up to the hotel. The lobby, as MANY have mentioned, is tiny in proportion. It seemed VERY tiny upon checkout Saturday at 11am when about 400 rooms were all checking out at the same time - and with all the people checking in, it was a MADHOUSE. The pool/lazy river/Rainbow Reef area/lava shack/mama's are exceptionally close together ... I mean like on top of each other. The pictures & videos we saw prior to going to Aulani hide this tidbit very, very well and make the grounds look very spacious and spread out. They aren't. We were quite taken aback at how compact everything is between buildings. maybe takes 4 full minutes to walk casually from one end of the activities to the other. We arrived Tuesday afternoon, it was lovely; Wednesday, still lovely but it was getting more crowded; Thursday, Friday & Saturday was ridiculous with no pool chairs at 8am, rude people, and crowded. We had come from the Big Island and the Fairmont Orchid ... we mistakenly thought Aulani was more spread out inside like that with more open spaces. Again - BEAUTIFUL landscaping, but it reminded us of
Disneyland - go down the slide, stay on the lazy river, get out, walk 15 feet to Mama's, walk 20 feet to next pool, walk 15 feet to the Kids Bridge structure. The infinity pool was off to the side, and that was a nice break from the "crowds" around all the center activities.
2. Aunty's. Seriously - every review, I think, says the same thing. Love/hate relationship with it. LOVE that the kids are safe, LOVE the activities they were signed up for (IN ADVANCE) - HATE that I had to wait in line at 6:45 am Friday to get dinner spots for my kids for that day. I was 8th in line at 6:45am. By 7:30, when the staff start handing out clipboards of activities & tickets, the line was about 40/50 people deep. Fish are Friends - premium, pre-register activity (my kids were registered 4 months ago), only had 3 available spots that day and was gone by person #4. Once the kids are in something, it was fabulous, dinner/lunch prices reasonable, just SERIOUSLY heed everyone's warnings and GET DOWN IN LINE BY 6:45 - or risk NOT getting into any activities/lunch/dinner!!! Person #10 wanted Stitches Space Goo - they waited over an hour to have it fill up with pre-registered families and those in front of her in line.
3. The currents in the lagoon were way stronger than we thought they'd be. My husband and I got knocked down & turned around several times just sitting in about 2 feet of water. 2 days later, and I still have sand in places I didn't know I could get sand!! Saw lots of kids get knocked around too. Not sure if that is normal, but there were strong, not big, waves our Friday morning down at the beach. Life vests to rent for free were wonderful for my 6-year old. Love that perk! Like any stretch of water, keep an eye on your kids.
4. We found out on Day 2 that the Lava Shack soda machine & the one to the the side of Aunty's, are 24-hours. Staff told us those would be available 24 hours during our whole stay. No hot beverages, but the soda machines are open 24-hours. Looks like they both have locking doors, but they were never closed/locked super-late in the evening, or super-early in the morning. Wonder if they sometimes do close them??
5. Also, I read about Monkeypod many, many times. Their Happy Hour? Awesome. Make time for it. Take note as you read other Trip Reports. Part of #1 why I waited in line at Aunty's at 6:45am was to get my kids in for dinner so hubby and I could go a second time. It was that good. Amazingly fresh and the bartenders are VERY liberal with the alcohol in the cocktails. I maybe have 2 cocktails a year, rarely drink. Their mai tai just about knocked me over ... I needed to take the elevator from the second floor to the first. Wow. Delicious.
6. Super glad we didn't pay extra for any type of view for our DVC Standard Hotel Room. We were room 531, 2 queen beds. View was above the parking lot & of the mountains. We were never in the room.
7. If you have Photopass professionals take your pictures in the pools - it can take up to 24 hours for the person to turn in their cards. We had infinity pool pics taken at 3:25pm on one day, they weren't available to add to our card until the next day close to 3 pm. Activities at Aunty's were available about 1-2 hours after the event! Add photos as you go, rather than at the end. The pool pictures, for instance, we had to go through ~30 screens of photos before we found ours, even though we were able to identify - Bob, Gopro photog in the infinity pool, 3:25pm, at the end of his shift.
8. There's a super-cool map of Hawaii in the hallway by the wood staircase by Makahiki on Floor 1, as well as a single elevator from Floor 1 to Lobby only, that was a HUGE help for tired little legs after Aunty's (there were many paths closed here & there during our stay).
9. Cell Animation painting was super-cool - it was only my hubby & me, but we had a BLAST! Great souvenir, and it was free!
10. Laundry - $3 washer, $3 dryer. All brand Soap boxes - $2 each for 1 load; Bounty dryer Sheets box of 2 - $2. We rented DVC point room, and upon checkin, the front desk gave us 12 tokens (she asked if we needed them). Max they'll give DVC rooms without washer/dryer, they said. There are change machines in the laundry room to get tokens for soap, washers/dryers if you need it. 3 washers - 2 top loaders, 1 front loader (all 3 about 30/35 minute cycle); 6 dryers (45 minutes cycle).
