keaster
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2008
- Messages
- 2,101
We are freshly back (and jet lagged!) from our second trip to Aulani. We had an amazing time and are already hoping to book an adult only trip in January for my husband's 50th birthday. Here are just some notes, if you have any questions please ask:
We arrived Friday March 10th around 2:30pm. By the time we got luggage and the rental car, we were at Aulani just before 4pm. Room was ready, we had a two-bedroom lock off pool view rooms 312/310. Excellent location on the lobby level, just a quick trip down the stairs to get to the pool. Room was in very good shape, no issues other than the dryer takes a long time to dry when you use the low setting! The only other minor complaint I have about the room layout is the split master bath. I wish the toilet was in a separate room from the shower so one could use it while someone is in the shower!
On Saturday we had the executive lanai booked. I would do this again in a heart beat, it was a great way to spend a leisurely day after a long travel day! We got the 10% DVC discount and we split the cost with our friends travelling with us. It was great to have a "home base" for the day while we split time between the pool and the beach.
We only spent two days off the resort...one day we did a day trip to the north shore where we swam in Waimeia Bay and ate at Giovanni's Shrimp truck. The other day we did a one hour horseback ride at Kualoa Ranch and visited the Polynesian Cultural Centre.
The rest of the time the kids (and us!) were just happy spending time at the resort between the beach and the pool and the lazy river. We were a group of 7, so we were never able to find more than 2 chairs together at the pool, however, we always found a great spot on the beach under the umbrellas and enjoyed the view much more from there
If our kids were younger I think we'd want seats more at the pool.
We only did one character breakfast at Makahiki and did not eat at AMA AMA as we couldn't get a reservation earlier than 8:30pm and we were exhausted by then every night. We ate at the taco restaurant across the street, grabbed some casual meals at Ulu cafe, and did some meals in the room (got the groceries from Target on the first day.)
Our kids are older so we did not use Aunty's Beach House, so can't answer any questions about that! We also did not do the luau (actually I don't even know what day it was held the week we were there.)
To us Aulani is a little piece of heaven on earth and we hope to spend many more vacations there!
We arrived Friday March 10th around 2:30pm. By the time we got luggage and the rental car, we were at Aulani just before 4pm. Room was ready, we had a two-bedroom lock off pool view rooms 312/310. Excellent location on the lobby level, just a quick trip down the stairs to get to the pool. Room was in very good shape, no issues other than the dryer takes a long time to dry when you use the low setting! The only other minor complaint I have about the room layout is the split master bath. I wish the toilet was in a separate room from the shower so one could use it while someone is in the shower!
On Saturday we had the executive lanai booked. I would do this again in a heart beat, it was a great way to spend a leisurely day after a long travel day! We got the 10% DVC discount and we split the cost with our friends travelling with us. It was great to have a "home base" for the day while we split time between the pool and the beach.
We only spent two days off the resort...one day we did a day trip to the north shore where we swam in Waimeia Bay and ate at Giovanni's Shrimp truck. The other day we did a one hour horseback ride at Kualoa Ranch and visited the Polynesian Cultural Centre.
The rest of the time the kids (and us!) were just happy spending time at the resort between the beach and the pool and the lazy river. We were a group of 7, so we were never able to find more than 2 chairs together at the pool, however, we always found a great spot on the beach under the umbrellas and enjoyed the view much more from there
If our kids were younger I think we'd want seats more at the pool.We only did one character breakfast at Makahiki and did not eat at AMA AMA as we couldn't get a reservation earlier than 8:30pm and we were exhausted by then every night. We ate at the taco restaurant across the street, grabbed some casual meals at Ulu cafe, and did some meals in the room (got the groceries from Target on the first day.)
Our kids are older so we did not use Aunty's Beach House, so can't answer any questions about that! We also did not do the luau (actually I don't even know what day it was held the week we were there.)
To us Aulani is a little piece of heaven on earth and we hope to spend many more vacations there!
