NerfHerder99
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2022
- Messages
- 26
My family just got back from 4 days at Aulani and I wanted to share some thoughts. Although I grew up in Southern California and have been to Disneyland dozens of times in my lifetime, I have never stayed at a Disney resort except for a 3 night cruise on the Disney Wonder out of San Diego a few years back. I wanted to provide some feedback as an Aulani first-timer and relative newbie to Disney resorts.
Room
We stayed in a Deluxe Studio - Island Gardens View, room #366 in the Ewa Tower. We specifically wanted a Deluxe Studio for the microwave and refrigerator. The refrigerator was slightly larger than a normal hotel fridge and was able to fit a medium-sized pizza box along with 3 takeout containers easily. Our rooms overlooked the luau area but the angle of the trees along with only being on the 3rd floor meant that we couldn't see the performances. The biggest surprise of the room was how heavy and soundproof the slider going out to the balcony was - when it was closed we could barely hear the luau performances which were LOUD when we stood outside. The worst part of the room was queen sleeper sofa. The mattress in it was a ROCK, it had all these markings saying it was specially made for the resort but it had no innersprings and was just a very hard lump of foam. I would recommend it for children only. Overall I liked the room and our location - we had already spent a few nights in Waikiki in a beachfront room so we had decided to save a few hundred bucks by just booking an Island Garden view. Everybody will probably have their preference. Mobile key via the Aulani app was a lifesaver - it worked way better than any mobile key I've used before (Hilton/Marriott).
Food
This isn't going to be the most informative piece of the review because we didn't try Ama Ama or Makahiki since our kids (4 & 7) are picky eaters and depending on the time of day won't sit still long enough for an expensive meal to make sense. We did PLENTY of eating or takeout from both Off the Hook and Ulu Cafe. Both had good options for kids and I think I eat my fill of Ulu Cafe poke bowls for the next year. We had a few shaved ice treats which were great but the large portions (and the hot August sun) made them melt fairly quickly. We did grab one dinner across the street at Monkeypod and have to say it's as good as everyone says on here. The Mai Tais were fantastic and the fish tacos were great. It was nice to see they offered free macaroni dinners for the littlest ones. The 'fancy' ABC store next to it was a welcome site and we were able to stock up on plenty of drinks and snacks to keep in our room. I was disappointed to see that Aulani didn't offer room service but the area was well serviced by UberEats/GrubHub so if you want more options you can utilize that like we did.
Crowds
There is no way around it, we planned our trip during the end of summer break and so did everybody else. Aulani was PACKED and there were waits for just about everything. During the worst hours, the line for the volcano tube slide was down to the lazy river where you pick up the tubes. From what I can see on other reviews, pool chairs can be an entire conversation. We arrived and checked in around noon and it was no surprise that there were zero chairs. Coming from San Diego my internal clock never really shifted so the next day I was up and poolside by 645a and was able to snag a decent spot with some shade. I noticed that the chairs that had the shade throughout the day (under the big tree next to the fire pit) were snagged by 630a each morning. If you just want a seat and don't care about sitting in the sun all day, there were still some available at 8a. I checked out the adult pool a few times and there seemed to be shady spots there all day long for those traveling w/o kids. One little thing I noticed, there were MANY people around the resort without wristbands and I assumed they were day guests. I never saw Aulani staff say anything to people sitting in pool loungers w/o wristbands. The only time I noticed staff looking for bands was during the character meet & greets. They would go down the line and call out to people w/o bands saying the pictures with the characters were only for guests staying at the resort.
Activities
My kids loved Aunty's Club. We were able to book two complimentary sessions each day we were there and they always wanted to go. Since the complimentary sessions were only 1.5 hours (I believe the paid ones are longer at 3 hours) it gave us quick breaks to decompress and grab a drink. The kids said the main draw was playing video games and the movie room. They did say that the counselors sort of forced them to do art projects instead of just sitting in front of a TV. One day we walked next door to the Four Seasons for lunch during a session and noticed half the people at the pool bar grabbing a drink or lunch had Aulani bands on. My daughter loved the tablet scavenger hunt and making all the various surprises activate throughout the resort. Movie night on the lawn was great and my kids loved the story time they did by the fire pit.
DVC
I was impressed with the 'soft sell' they did for DVC. We own a timeshare and have stayed at other places with memberships and found the DVC push to not even be a push. There were various stands both inside and out with DVC literature and employees to answer questions but it seemed like 99% of the questions they answered were from people trying to find various places in the resort or trading pins. I did a tour of one of the units (they had them open each day for a tour) and spoke to who I think can be called a 'closer' since they were the only ones allowed to show fees and answer in-depth questions. I was very surprised by the high fees but know that Disney provides a premium product. I might take some questions over the DVC forum but from what I saw, DVC wouldn't make sense for my family since the only place we would use it is at Aulani and wouldn't take advantage of any of the other benefits.
Overall Vibe
Absolutely fell in love with the Ko Olina area. It's clean, not very crowded, and seems just perfect. I appreciated that Aulani overall is almost 90% Hawaii and 10% Disney. My wife and I were constantly impressed with the small touches they made to stay connected to the islands and local culture without pushing too much Downtown Disney on it all. The staff went out of their way to make our kids feel special and each one of them deserves praise. I found it especially cute when my 7-year-old went on a Menehune hunt and would just ask random cast members for tips and each one had something to say to her to find the hidden guys.
Room
We stayed in a Deluxe Studio - Island Gardens View, room #366 in the Ewa Tower. We specifically wanted a Deluxe Studio for the microwave and refrigerator. The refrigerator was slightly larger than a normal hotel fridge and was able to fit a medium-sized pizza box along with 3 takeout containers easily. Our rooms overlooked the luau area but the angle of the trees along with only being on the 3rd floor meant that we couldn't see the performances. The biggest surprise of the room was how heavy and soundproof the slider going out to the balcony was - when it was closed we could barely hear the luau performances which were LOUD when we stood outside. The worst part of the room was queen sleeper sofa. The mattress in it was a ROCK, it had all these markings saying it was specially made for the resort but it had no innersprings and was just a very hard lump of foam. I would recommend it for children only. Overall I liked the room and our location - we had already spent a few nights in Waikiki in a beachfront room so we had decided to save a few hundred bucks by just booking an Island Garden view. Everybody will probably have their preference. Mobile key via the Aulani app was a lifesaver - it worked way better than any mobile key I've used before (Hilton/Marriott).
Food
This isn't going to be the most informative piece of the review because we didn't try Ama Ama or Makahiki since our kids (4 & 7) are picky eaters and depending on the time of day won't sit still long enough for an expensive meal to make sense. We did PLENTY of eating or takeout from both Off the Hook and Ulu Cafe. Both had good options for kids and I think I eat my fill of Ulu Cafe poke bowls for the next year. We had a few shaved ice treats which were great but the large portions (and the hot August sun) made them melt fairly quickly. We did grab one dinner across the street at Monkeypod and have to say it's as good as everyone says on here. The Mai Tais were fantastic and the fish tacos were great. It was nice to see they offered free macaroni dinners for the littlest ones. The 'fancy' ABC store next to it was a welcome site and we were able to stock up on plenty of drinks and snacks to keep in our room. I was disappointed to see that Aulani didn't offer room service but the area was well serviced by UberEats/GrubHub so if you want more options you can utilize that like we did.
Crowds
There is no way around it, we planned our trip during the end of summer break and so did everybody else. Aulani was PACKED and there were waits for just about everything. During the worst hours, the line for the volcano tube slide was down to the lazy river where you pick up the tubes. From what I can see on other reviews, pool chairs can be an entire conversation. We arrived and checked in around noon and it was no surprise that there were zero chairs. Coming from San Diego my internal clock never really shifted so the next day I was up and poolside by 645a and was able to snag a decent spot with some shade. I noticed that the chairs that had the shade throughout the day (under the big tree next to the fire pit) were snagged by 630a each morning. If you just want a seat and don't care about sitting in the sun all day, there were still some available at 8a. I checked out the adult pool a few times and there seemed to be shady spots there all day long for those traveling w/o kids. One little thing I noticed, there were MANY people around the resort without wristbands and I assumed they were day guests. I never saw Aulani staff say anything to people sitting in pool loungers w/o wristbands. The only time I noticed staff looking for bands was during the character meet & greets. They would go down the line and call out to people w/o bands saying the pictures with the characters were only for guests staying at the resort.
Activities
My kids loved Aunty's Club. We were able to book two complimentary sessions each day we were there and they always wanted to go. Since the complimentary sessions were only 1.5 hours (I believe the paid ones are longer at 3 hours) it gave us quick breaks to decompress and grab a drink. The kids said the main draw was playing video games and the movie room. They did say that the counselors sort of forced them to do art projects instead of just sitting in front of a TV. One day we walked next door to the Four Seasons for lunch during a session and noticed half the people at the pool bar grabbing a drink or lunch had Aulani bands on. My daughter loved the tablet scavenger hunt and making all the various surprises activate throughout the resort. Movie night on the lawn was great and my kids loved the story time they did by the fire pit.
DVC
I was impressed with the 'soft sell' they did for DVC. We own a timeshare and have stayed at other places with memberships and found the DVC push to not even be a push. There were various stands both inside and out with DVC literature and employees to answer questions but it seemed like 99% of the questions they answered were from people trying to find various places in the resort or trading pins. I did a tour of one of the units (they had them open each day for a tour) and spoke to who I think can be called a 'closer' since they were the only ones allowed to show fees and answer in-depth questions. I was very surprised by the high fees but know that Disney provides a premium product. I might take some questions over the DVC forum but from what I saw, DVC wouldn't make sense for my family since the only place we would use it is at Aulani and wouldn't take advantage of any of the other benefits.
Overall Vibe
Absolutely fell in love with the Ko Olina area. It's clean, not very crowded, and seems just perfect. I appreciated that Aulani overall is almost 90% Hawaii and 10% Disney. My wife and I were constantly impressed with the small touches they made to stay connected to the islands and local culture without pushing too much Downtown Disney on it all. The staff went out of their way to make our kids feel special and each one of them deserves praise. I found it especially cute when my 7-year-old went on a Menehune hunt and would just ask random cast members for tips and each one had something to say to her to find the hidden guys.
