Free Meal Offer at Ulu Cafe: How does it work?

[CrazyDisneyFather]

So we are booked for January 2017 and have the one free meal offer at the Ulu Café for each member of our party for each night we stay. Since Ulu Café is a "grab N go" place how do they determine what is consider a meal? Is there a certain dollar limit per person each day? For example, I have a 15 year old son who plays football and will most likely want bacon, eggs, French toast and 3 bagels each day and I have a 7 year old daughter who will most likely just want one muffin each day.

To me this offer is like saying go to the grocery store and we will pay for one meal per person. What is considered a meal? Also, on the days where my family and I are not at the resort, if we don't use the free meal one day can we use the offer for two meals the next day? I have called Aulani a couple different times and seem to get a completely different answer each time I call.

Anyone have any experience with this offer and could fill me in?

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

We got the same offer for our November trip. I was told when booking, that you get one entree and one drink for each guest. Your daughter will have to choose from the kids menu( because she's under ten). Not sure how they allot the meals, but I will report back and let you know.

 

[Gorechick]

We did not have the free meal on our trip in January, however I got a Turkey wrap, bag of chips, and bottled water for lunch a couple of times and that was considered a "meal." There was signage about the promotional meal plan by the hot entrees. They must keep the signage up all year round even when there is not a promotion.

 

[alohamom]

When we were there last week there was a very prominent sign on a stand as you entered Ulu that clearly indicated what items qualified as the "meal". I didnt pay too much attention because we didnt have the deal but it seemed simple enough. However one day my husband was in Ulu and there was a woman going crazy at the poor cashier over what qualified as a meal. He didnt tell me the details but it seemed she had a smaller item that she felt didnt fall into a meal category and was really really mad. I think if you have a picky eater or a child who doesnt eat a lot, it might be to your advantage to use that persons credit for a larger item for someone else in your party later in the day and then purchase the smaller item for the smaller portion eater, if it is a muffin or whatever, rather than using it on a small item.

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

Thank you for your replies. I guess if they have a posted sign which helps define what a "meal" is, that will help control the kids as well as avoid a large bill at the end of the vacation for something I thought was free. I am also still wondering that since we have days planned away from the resort, if the credits are use it or loose it each day.

 

[alohamom]

Good question about "use it or loose it", pretty sure you cannot stack it, but the hours at Ulu are decent 6:30am to 8:30am so I think you could probably grab something and take it with you or maybe put it in the room fridge. Even the studio mini fridge is a generous size. I have been thinking about the meal definition and I think that the full size pizza which are really popular are excluded so that may be why they are defining the meal. Someone else may be able to provide more detail.

 

[BobNed]

Thank you for your replies. I guess if they have a posted sign which helps define what a "meal" is, that will help control the kids as well as avoid a large bill at the end of the vacation for something I thought was free. I am also still wondering that since we have days planned away from the resort, if the credits are use it or loose it each day.

From the Aulani Web site: (http://www.aulani.com)

Important Details:
Savings based on the non-discounted rate for the same room. The number of rooms allocated for this offer may be limited. Premium View package includes one daily meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) for each Guest (ages 3+) on the reservation per night of your package stay. Meal is only redeemable at Ulu Cafe during normal operating hours and includes one entrée and one non-specialty beverage. Meal entitlements may not be redeemed for cash in whole or in part, sold separately, transferred or refunded, and expire at 11:59 p.m. on package departure date.

Kind of looks like you can save them from one day to the next, but to be sure, I would ask when you get there.

 

[partyoffive]

Hi! We were at Aulani from August 21-26 and had the one meal a day offer. We had 6 people in our room so we had 30 meals available during our stay. A couple of things -
Each time you get something it shows on your receipt how many meals you have left. You may use as many as you like everyday.
They have signage about what a meal consists of, for instance one day my son got the salmon, rice and veggies plate, I got an oriental chicken salad, that was two meals.
At the end of our stay we still had meals left over and we ended up getting small bags of chips! Each bag was a meal! Poor use of our money but that's the way our vacation worked out!
On the plus side 2 containers of malasadas was one meal!
I hope this helps a little bit

 

[DVCjj]

So we are booked for January 2017 and have the one free meal offer at the Ulu Café for each member of our party for each night we stay. Since Ulu Café is a "grab N go" place how do they determine what is consider a meal? Is there a certain dollar limit per person each day? For example, I have a 15 year old son who plays football and will most likely want bacon, eggs, French toast and 3 bagels each day and I have a 7 year old daughter who will most likely just want one muffin each day.

To me this offer is like saying go to the grocery store and we will pay for one meal per person. What is considered a meal? Also, on the days where my family and I are not at the resort, if we don't use the free meal one day can we use the offer for two meals the next day? I have called Aulani a couple different times and seem to get a completely different answer each time I call.

Anyone have any experience with this offer and could fill me in?

Can I ask you if this free meal offer was for a reservation booked on Cash? I ask because I'm going in January on (my) points and know nothing about it so I presume yours was direct through Disney?

 

[DVCjj]

Can I ask you if this free meal offer was for a reservation booked on Cash? I ask because I'm going in January on (my) points and know nothing about it so I presume yours was direct through Disney?

NEVER MIND.....I just reread the above posts (I was too quick) and realize it was cash. Thanks anyway.

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

.

Hi! We were at Aulani from August 21-26 and had the one meal a day offer. We had 6 people in our room so we had 30 meals available during our stay. A couple of things -
Each time you get something it shows on your receipt how many meals you have left. You may use as many as you like everyday.
They have signage about what a meal consists of, for instance one day my son got the salmon, rice and veggies plate, I got an oriental chicken salad, that was two meals.
At the end of our stay we still had meals left over and we ended up getting small bags of chips! Each bag was a meal! Poor use of our money but that's the way our vacation worked out!
On the plus side 2 containers of malasadas was one meal!
I hope this helps a little bit

Great response and I appreciate the information. I am glad to hear that the meals are a total sum and are not a "use it or loose it" each day. It sounds like each time a person in your party made a visit to Ulu, this counted as a meal with either a full entrée or simply a bag of chips. According to the Aulani website, the offer is for one entrée and one drink, and as I know my son will be asking, did you ever encounter a problem if one of your kids grabbed a desert from the shelf? Did Aulani charge you extra for that?

 

[partyoffive]

The only dessert we got was the Dole whip which was extra. I didn't try to use a meal for it so I'm not sure if you could or not. Sorry! We did get the malasadas and the cashier said 2 boxes made a meal. Not sure if that helps you!

 

[Cindy mike jauregui]

So we are booked for January 2017 and have the one free meal offer at the Ulu Café for each member of our party for each night we stay. Since Ulu Café is a "grab N go" place how do they determine what is consider a meal? Is there a certain dollar limit per person each day? For example, I have a 15 year old son who plays football and will most likely want bacon, eggs, French toast and 3 bagels each day and I have a 7 year old daughter who will most likely just want one muffin each day.

To me this offer is like saying go to the grocery store and we will pay for one meal per person. What is considered a meal? Also, on the days where my family and I are not at the resort, if we don't use the free meal one day can we use the offer for two meals the next day? I have called Aulani a couple different times and seem to get a completely different answer each time I call.

Anyone have any experience with this offer and could fill me in?

What dates in January?

 

[Cindy mike jauregui]

So we are booked for January 2017 and have the one free meal offer at the Ulu Café for each member of our party for each night we stay. Since Ulu Café is a "grab N go" place how do they determine what is consider a meal? Is there a certain dollar limit per person each day? For example, I have a 15 year old son who plays football and will most likely want bacon, eggs, French toast and 3 bagels each day and I have a 7 year old daughter who will most likely just want one muffin each day.

To me this offer is like saying go to the grocery store and we will pay for one meal per person. What is considered a meal? Also, on the days where my family and I are not at the resort, if we don't use the free meal one day can we use the offer for two meals the next day? I have called Aulani a couple different times and seem to get a completely different answer each time I call.

Anyone have any experience with this offer and could fill me in?

What date in January we are going on January 22

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

What dates in January?

January 13th-21st. Hoping MLK weekend won't be too crazy.

 

[southlake]

Hi, we are at Aulani now and we have the free Ulu meal deal as well. There is a sign up in the Ulu Cafe as to what constitutes a meal for the meal plan. I will try to grab a picture of it tomorrow. Basically anything that's grab n' go in the refrigerated shelf section, their daily hot plate which varies by day, several other hot food items, and keiki meals. You don't have to use a freebie everyday, it's a total sum of meals. We didn't use any 2 days ago and we didn't lose them. If you want dessert, that will cost extra. We've been getting 2 keiki meals, a salad for me, and a flat bread pizza for my husband almost every day and there is no extra charge (unless we buy dessert which we only did 1 day).

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

Hi, we are at Aulani now and we have the free Ulu meal deal as well. There is a sign up in the Ulu Cafe as to what constitutes a meal for the meal plan. I will try to grab a picture of it tomorrow. Basically anything that's grab n' go in the refrigerated shelf section, their daily hot plate which varies by day, several other hot food items, and keiki meals. You don't have to use a freebie everyday, it's a total sum of meals. We didn't use any 2 days ago and we didn't lose them. If you want dessert, that will cost extra. We've been getting 2 keiki meals, a salad for me, and a flat bread pizza for my husband almost every day and there is no extra charge (unless we buy dessert which we only did 1 day).

Thank you for the information. A picture of the sign would be great!

 

[southlake]

Here you go!

 

[southlake]

It's kind of crazy that a bag of chips ($3) or candy ($3) counts as a "meal" when the daily hot plate is like $12-$15 and that's also a meal??

There are NO prices listed on either of their posted menus, you basically have to wait to be surprised at checkout as to what things cost! We had the dining plan that was included as part of our reservation (so we didn't pay "extra" for it) so I always tried to stick to grab n' go stuff (salads are grab n' go) and keiki meals, so all of that came out to $0 at checkout except for the one time I decided to splurge and get two rice krispie treats for my kids and then that was rung up separately so they could charge me $6 for the treats.

 

[alohamom]

It's kind of crazy that a bag of chips ($3) or candy ($3) counts as a "meal" when the daily hot plate is like $12-$15 and that's also a meal??

There are NO prices listed on either of their posted menus, you basically have to wait to be surprised at checkout as to what things cost!

I kind of remember the prices being posted right beside everything on the menu just as you approach the hot counter because I found that the prices had gone up from the last time we were there and commented on it as I entered Ulu. Maybe things have changed since this past August...I am pretty sure prices were posted for the items in the pastry area because I bought a carton of malasadas one morning and there were two sizes and prices but I wasnt sure which carton contained which so I had to ask.