Greetings gents from Aulani! Aloha!
It was a long bit of traveling, but I made it safely this afternoon. When I first was making the arrangements for this trip, I was planning on flying out of Indy on the first o'dark thirty flight Tuesday morning, and then quickly change planes in LA for the Hawaii flight - since I am staying in LA after the Hawaii part, an originating flight out of Indy with a return wasn't in the cards. I needed to fly SWA to LA, and then whichever provider had the best deal to/from Hawaii. But as it got closer, and winter started to set in, I thought better of it since it is a) winter, and b) winter is upon us, and c) you never quite know what winter will do to flight schedules. I did not want to have any mishaps in getting here, so I chose to fly out Monday evening instead, stay overnight in LA, and then fly out Tuesday morning as scheduled. That also helped with the inevitable sore-butt syndrome that 9 1/2 hours of flying will do to you (let alone more). I was thankful that that night of sleep in between flights.
So we landed in HI around 3:30 this afternoon, and by the time I finally got to the resort, it was about 4:45. The baggage claim took quite a while, and then of course it was rush hour by the time I got on the freeway. Aulani is only about 35 min (no traffic) from the airport.
Well - I am downloading pics from my camera now, and will share a few, but not a ton as I am actually planning on doing a small trip report. I've kind of given up on those (both writing and reading) but since this is a new resort, and I've received numerous questions about the resort already, as well as requests for information, I figured I might do one.
But without much further ado - I will say just these few things about Aulani....
- In regards to the theming and overall feel of this resort - Disney not only hit a homerun, but sent the ball way out of the ballpark, into the next city's ballpark, sent it soaring through that one, and then on past the next one. WOW. This place is simply gorgeous. The rooms, the public spaces, the recreational spaces, the landscaping - everything. It just simply fabulous.
- In regards to food offerings - oh my goodness. The food (that I've had so far) is very good, very local/ethnic Hawaiian... so be prepared for that as well. I'm looking forward to the buffet tomorrow and Saturday (one dinner, one breakfast) to see what they have to offer. But at the counter service - if you have picky kids who'll only eat Mac-n-Cheese or Chicken Nuggets/Fingers - forget it! Don't even waste your time. The only "traditional mainland American" offering they had was a cheese burger. Everything else was local fare - for both the adults & the kids.
- In regards to the value of what you'll get - be prepared. I believe it is possible to have a wonderful vacation here - but just be prepared to PAY, PAY, PAY. Through the nose even. EVERYTHING is more expensive than the mainland parks & resorts. Yes, transportation to the island is part of it, but it's just very, very expensive. The same kind of refillable mug that is $14 or $15 at WDW - is $18 here. And there are still NO loyalty discounts of any kind - except for CM, which is brand-new in 2012 according to numerous CM's I spoke with. No DVC, no AP, no AAA, no Senior discounts, nothing. Multiple CM's all said that "it's being worked on" - but NONE of them had any idea when such discounts might be made available. Oh and that basic cheeseburger? For an adult is $14, for the kids is $9. I'd read reports from others that the restaurants are expensive here, but seeing it first hand is something else!
- In regards to the question so many have raised on other parts of the DIS... "what is there to do?" - OR - "will I be bored staying there?". Brief quick answer - NO. First off, just like other Disney resorts - both DVC and not - there are activities galore here. Plus a number of very interesting & exciting sounding excursions. I'm off to Pearl Harbor tomorrow to explore - very close by! But the island itself has a lot to see and do too. I've gathered all kinds of brochures to read up and be able to better market and sell Aulani myself.
SO - with that, I'm going to upload a few pics to photobucket now to share with you all.
I'll write more later, but wanted to pop in and say hi. You've been busy since I left for the airport yesterday afternoon...

