January 13th-21st Aulani Trip Report

[CrazyDisneyFather]

So after booking our vacation to Aulani back in March of 2016, our January vacation has finally come and gone. After looking forward to something for so long, there is now a void in my heart that the trip is over. I have been reading the Dis boards for nearly a year now obtaining ideas and thoughts which helped tremendously in planning our trip. I wanted to "pay it forward" with my thoughts as it has been less than 24 hours since our return. To start off, our trip consisted of my wife and I and our 5 children ages 17, 14, 11,7 and 5. We have done Disneyworld twice, Disneyland 3 times a Disney Cruise on the Disney Magic one time and now Aulani for our first time.


There are several different ways to create a trip report and rather than provide a day by day minute by minute update, I thought I would just list different topics with our thoughts behind each idea. So..... here we go.


Room Requests and Check in:

We had booked a cash reservation through Dreams Unlimited and Tracy was wonderful. She was always quick to get back to us and answered my endless list of questions. Our room was a 2 bedroom villa poolside garden view and we had Tracy add a note to our reservation to request a high floor with a clear view of the waterpark. I had seen several other trip reports where the poolside garden view is blocked by trees and I didn't want to have this issue. Aulani was very accommodating with this request and we were placed on the 5th floor in room 502 with a beautiful clear view of the water park. It was so much fun for the kids to watch other kids play down below and also helped us gauge how full the waterpark was a certain times of the day. In regards to check in, we opted not to do the online check in and although it was a small pain to wait in line at the main counter, I wanted to be face to face with a cast member to review my room selections and offers that we had been given. I felt this was the way to go as I have been told that with online checkin, your room is assigned 5-7 days out and keys are already printed which makes it more difficult to try to change anything if need be at arrival. Overall the checkin process was very smooth and it was so much fun to finally receive our lei's and neckless which I have seen others do through watching endless YouTube videos. I must warn you however that the kids necklace's are very cheap and my 7 year olds broke on our second day however the checkin staff was more than willing to provide a new one at no charge.


2 Bedroom Villa Room:

Overall the room was spectacular. With a family of 7 we needed the space and I am not even sure Aulani would have let us get a smaller room. The older kids had their own bedroom and the younger ones were in the living room pullout couch and pull out chair while my wife and I had our own room. We had a washer and dryer which we didn’t think much about when booking but ended up being used several times during our stay. We had two balconies which we loved although the AC turns off when the doors are open so beware if your room starts to get hot, close the balcony doors and you will suddenly have air conditioning again. Maid service was great each day with fresh towels, beds made each day and endless supply of shampoo and soap.


Crowds and Pool chairs:

We were there over the MLK weekend and I had read for months the hoar stories about families wandering around for hours looking for chairs. With this in mind, I knew our first day would be spend at the resort so I came prepared to get a good location. Because of the time zone change I was up wide awake at 6:00AM and along with 3 of my kids. Aulani has signs posted everywhere about not letting you save seats until after 8:00AM. The only way around this is to physically sit in your chair until 8:00 after which you can leave your stuff behind for no longer than an hour. Not knowing how full the pool area would get, I walked down at 6:40AM and got a prime front row spot in front of the main pool where we saved 4 chairs for my family of 7. By 7:00AM more people came down and by the time 8:00AM hit most of the chairs were spoken for. Keep in mind that this was a holiday weekend and towards then end of the week, after all the holiday crowds were gone, my wife came down at 9:30 am and was able to find a seat. It was not a prime front row by the pool but she still found 4 seats off in the far corner with ease. They have a policy in place that after 8:00AM if your items are left unattended for more than an hour they will gather your items up and take them to lost and found. The enforcement of this seemed really hit and miss.


As this was our first time at Aulani, it was difficult to compare the crowds to Christmas or mid summer which is prime season for Aulani. Overall the MLK weekend seemed crowded with it peaking about 1:00PM in the afternoon and dying down after 5:00PM. Our last day there was Friday January 20th and was overcast sky’s and was the day we saw the lowest crowds. By 10:00AM there was still a few chairs available and still a stack of tubes untouched at the waterslides. I would really struggle to enjoy myself during any peak season and is why we chose January.


Preregistration and Dining Reservations:

This is one area that I think Aulani really lacks on is notifying you of items you should be preregistering for. Luckily I had been reading the DIS boards and was successful in getting everything we signed up for however for the average Joe this is one area that leads to a lot of frustration as seen on Trip Advisor. Because of the research I had done, we booked our dining reservations right at 6 months out, our Aunties kids club activities and registration at 90 days out and the Ka Wa a Luau right at 60 days out (More on the luau latter). It was nice to have these items done especially as we saw people line up each day at Aunties kids club trying to sign up for activities that I had booked and secured months earlier. It would be nice if Aulani would send you upon making your reservation a simple “check list” of things to do prior to your arrival. I saw several people walk up to the Makahiki restaurant trying to get in and were turned away.


Aunties Beach House:

Two years ago went on a Disney Cruise and my kids were experienced with the Disney Kids clubs. The Aulani website states that it caters towards kids up to age 12 however my 11 year old felt out of place and out of the three activities I had signed him up for, he only ended up doing one activity (Stitches Space Goo) which he said was boring. With that being said, however my 5 and 7 year old loved Aunties and were on the verge of tears each time when I said it was time to go. The staff there is extremely nice and welcoming to the kids. My only advice is when you first arrive go down in the evening time when it is less busy to do your initial registration. The front lobby of Aunties is very small and the busy morning time is not the time you want to try to do this initial checkin. Again if you checkin in 90 days out, when you arrive, you simply need to sign the form and you’re done. If you don’t do the online registration prior to your arrival, you will need about 15 minutes (with no crowds) to fill out bulk paperwork. We went down at 8:00PM our first night and were out in 5 minutes with our kids wearing their new wrist bands.


Okay, I am still trying to recover from jet lag and running out of time for tonight but I still want to hit on the following topics in the next day or so:

-KA WA A Luau

-Disney Character Breakfast

-Resort Food in General

-Menehune Mischief Dinner

-Menehune Trail

-Ulu Café Free Meal Offer


Anything else?

 

[disnygirl55]

This is a great report! Looking forward to reading more. Can you expound a bit on what your teens found most fun at the resort? Did they check out any of the teen activities, and did they meet other kids to have fun with? We have a 15 year old boy who loves Vibe on the cruise ships. Luckily he's easygoing and will be happy to hang out in the water with us, but I'd like to know he can have some fun with other kids. Thanks for any insight you can provide!

 

[OKW Lover]

Really enjoyed the first installment of your TR. Looking forward to the rest of it.

We had booked a cash reservation through Dreams Unlimited and Tracy was wonderful.

We book our DCL cruises through Dreams and Tracey. She's great! Tracey is very familiar with Aulani and can really help in guiding a person to the right choices.

Maid service was great each day with fresh towels, beds made each day and endless supply of shampoo and soap.

Just wanted to mention that the daily maid service in a DVC unit is only for guests paying cash. Guests staying on points (either their own or rented) do not get daily maid service.

This is one area that I think Aulani really lacks on is notifying you of items you should be preregistering for. Luckily I had been reading the DIS boards and was successful in getting everything we signed up for however for the average Joe this is one area that leads to a lot of frustration

Another good reason to use a knowledgeable Travel Agent. I know the owners of Dreams Unlimited have visited Aulani several times and many of their agents also have hands on experience.

 

[alohamom]

Great trip report so far, I love to read about others Aulani experiences and perspectives.

After looking forward to something for so long, there is now a void in my heart that the trip is over

I feel your pain and TOTALLY understand!

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

This is a great report! Looking forward to reading more. Can you expound a bit on what your teens found most fun at the resort? Did they check out any of the teen activities, and did they meet other kids to have fun with? We have a 15 year old boy who loves Vibe on the cruise ships. Luckily he's easygoing and will be happy to hang out in the water with us, but I'd like to know he can have some fun with other kids. Thanks for any insight you can provide!

Great Question! When I first booked Aulani, I was hoping that it had something just like the Vibe had on Disney Cruise line which would provide my teenage kids a place to be on their own and to hang out. I researched the Painted Sky which is Aulani's teen area and unfortunately this is not quite like the Vibe. Last year the Painted Sky use to have a yogurt bar providing a reason for the teenagers to come down and hang out. Sometime late last year Aulani discontinued the yogurt bar and is no longer offered and has now turned into just a spa catered towards teenagers. You have to have an appointment for everything and is not really a place for the older kids to just hang out. With that being said however Aunties beach house closes down at either 8:30 or 9:00PM each night and they have a scheduled evening activity for the teenagers after the little kids are gone to attend which starts around 9:00PM. I suggested this activity to my older kids however they found their fun in just wandering the resort on their own each night or going to the beach so I unfortunately don't have anything to report back on the evening teenager activities at Aunties. Overall, I think Aulani could really benefit from doing something like the Vibe on the Disney Cruise line and providing a teenage hang out spot.

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

KA WA A Luau:

I need to admit, when I first learned that Aulani was now doing their own luau back in November, I was crazy excited for my family to attend. I was the guy that was on the phone the first of November trying to book it for our stay in January. I was told that you can only book the luau 60 days out so I patiently waited a couple more weeks until I hit the 60 day mark and was on the phone the morning of.


I am not sure if it was because the luau was still new and they were still working out the kinks however my booking was no easy task. When I called the reservation phone number, it immediately went to voicemail (What???) and said to leave your name and number and someone would call you back within 24 hours. I thought this was a bit weird however I did my thing and then waited. Finally after not hearing back from someone for 48 hours, I called again and once again got a voicemail. (Does anyone work here?) Finally after another 48 hours had passed I ended up calling the front desk of the resort to attempt to talk to a real person. They apologized and assured me someone would call me back. Finally after another 24 hours had passed I called the resorts front desk and asked for a manger. Amazingly 10 minutes after I had voiced my dissatisfaction with their booking process, I received a call back from the Luau desk where I was able to book my family for the night of January 18th. Why they don’t just let you book the luau online just like you can for AMA AMA or Makahiki is unknown. We opted not to go VIP as with a family of 7 the price for the Ka wa was $119 for adults and $79 for kids so general seating was how we rolled.


Anyways, I tried to put the frustration of the booking process behind me and to now focus on the event. First of all my family and I had attended the Polynesian Cultural Center two nights prior to attending the Ka WA A so the bar had been raised pretty high. We loved the Polynesian Cultural Center and would highly recommend that to anyone! January 18th, had finally come and because there was no assigned seats and was just first come first serve, I was in line for the Luau at 4:15PM for the 5:15 admission. I was probably 6th or 7th in line as others had come down around 4:00PM. My family came down and joined me in line around 5:00PM and we were let in right at 5:15PM. If you are VIP, they let you in at 5:00PM and you get seating upfront and you get a 15 minute head start on all of the pre-show activities. To be honest, if you opt not to go VIP get down their early and you will still be seated close to the front. We ended up being seating right behind the VIP section and were maybe 30 feet from the stage. Our seats were great and since we don’t drink, we didn’t see any value in the VIP seating. With this being said however if you show up much latter then 5:00PM the line was several hundred people deep and you will be seating clear in the back making it difficult to see.


Preshow activities: I would give this area maybe a solid B. They had about 4-5 different booths set up where you can make flower bracelets, get a new temporary tattoo or pound Poie (Spelling?). Because we got there early, my kids were able to get through most of these activities however the lines quickly formed and 15 minutes after we were let in, the line for the tattoos had around 50 to 75 people in line which half of them walk away without a tattoo because it was time to eat. Again, with several hundred people attending the luau, they needed more booths or a faster way to get people through the line.


Food: They had two buffet sections lines and dismissed you table by table. This idea I thought ran well and there was always plenty of food. The luau had cast members closely monitoring the food and when one area would run low, they were quick to replenish the supply. Overall I thought the food was great. They had a wide variety and would let you go back as many times as you desired. I think my oldest boys were having a competition on how many plates they could burn through. At the price we paid for the event, I was cheering them on!!! The only area of improvement would be the desert section as they only offered a brownie or a small fruit cake type thing which was a little back lacking.


Show: The Show is based upon Noah telling the story of the Koolina area before Aulani even existed. The costumes were amazing and I really enjoyed the fact that there were three smaller stages in the middle of the eating area which they used a lot. It really helped those with seats in the back feel like they were part of the show. The overall show felt very authentic and the dancing was amazing. The entire thing was done by 8:00PM which for some was perfect but for me I thought was a little short for the price we paid.


Overall, the Ka wa a Luau was great but very expensive. We paid around $750.00 for a family of 7 for 3 hours of entertainment. A couple days earlier we paid $475.00 for a family of 7 to attend the Polynesian Culture Center which was a full day, dinner and a Luau. Would we do KA WA A again? It was nice that the Luau was close and there was no commuting back to your hotel once it was done however if we go to Aulani again we will probably pass on the Ka Wa a. If you are only going to Aulani once in your lifetime and have a ton of money to shell out then go for it.

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

Menehune Trail

So before we left for Aulani, I had done some research about the scavenger hunt activity that Aulani offers called the Menehune trail. I didn’t think much of it until we got there and gave it a try. Aulani lets you check out these iPad that take you on a scavenger hunt around the entire resort. I need to say, this was a huge hit for my kids!!! They loved the fact that as you walked around the resort and at each station something magical would happen. There were probably 15 or so different stops and each one was completely unique. Some areas would shoot water onto the lazy river while other stations would cause for areas to light up or volcanos to shoot out of nowhere. If you have kids ages 12 and under you need to do this!!!


Character Meals:

So you can’t go to Aulani and not do a character meal right? Aulani offers two character meals the first of which is a breakfast offered every day at the Makahiki restaurant with Mikey Mouse and the second is the Menehune mischief dinner offered on Sunday Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:45-6:00PM. Again get reservations early. We saw several people turned away because of their lack of planning. If you can only do one character meal go for the breakfast. It is amazing food and you see Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Pluto. Plus Aunty is there conducting the show and there is a lot of opportunities for kids to interact and participate in a parade. We also did the Menehune dinner and it was just okay. Uncle was there conducting the program and you get to see Chip and Dale and Stich. The only problem with having a character meal mixed with a buffet is trying to get your family all at the table at the same time when the characters come around. My kids kept going back for more food the same time Chip and Dale came by so I had to go chase down the kids, pull them off the buffet line and rush back for a picture with the characters.


Disney Characters:

This is one area where it is nice to be away from the main theme parks with regards to crowds. Each day you call a phone number and they tell you were to find the characters. There was a wide variety of characters which included Moana, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Stitch and Chip and Dale and the lines were very short to get a photo. Unlike the theme parks, you can literally show up 5 minutes before the character arrives and at the most you may have only 1 or 2 people in front of you. This was an area were Aulani excelled at. It was great to get all the photos you want and not stand in line all day!


Disney Cruise Line VS Aulani:

Tough to compare the two however I will try. To me our Disney Cruise last year was amazing and I would love to go again someday. The service you receive on the cruise is the best there is and I love the evening dinners and getting to know your servers. They become part of your family as you return each evening for dinner and report on your daily activities. I love the nightly turn down service you get on the Disney Cruise and the overall staff goes out of their way to make your vacation one you will never forget. Aulani is also wonderful but in a different kind of way. I did miss having the same wait staff each night and I did miss the evening turn down service which I heard Aulani use to do but no longer offers. Overall I found the cast members at Aulani wonderful and willing to help you with any question you may have. My family liked the laid back environment of Aulani where I am more structured and the Cruise was my favorite with scheduled activities going on every day.

In closing Aulani is very expensive and for us was about the same costs as doing a Disney Cruise and is not something we will be doing again anytime soon. However Aulani was very special to us and allowed us to create some long lasting memories.

 

[4lilrere]

Thanks for the great info! We are going to Aulani for the first time next month! We have two kids(6,9)and have done a Disney cruise so I am trying not to set the bar that high Interested to hear about the meals at Ulu Cafe? We have the free meal a day deal.
Any suggestions or ideas would be great!

 

[sbeets]

KA WA A Luau:
A couple days earlier we paid $475.00 for a family of 7 to attend the Polynesian Culture Center which was a full day, dinner and a Luau. Would we do KA WA A again? It was nice that the Luau was close and there was no commuting back to your hotel once it was done however if we go to Aulani again we will probably pass on the Ka Wa a. If you are only going to Aulani once in your lifetime and have a ton of money to shell out then go for it.

Thanks for the review! I was debating the PCC luau. Did you get a good deal on the tickets? Did you think the day got too long?

 

[WildGinger]

Thank you for your review! So much great information!!

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

Thanks for the great info! We are going to Aulani for the first time next month! We have two kids(6,9)and have done a Disney cruise so I am trying not to set the bar that high Interested to hear about the meals at Ulu Cafe? We have the free meal a day deal.
Any suggestions or ideas would be great!

The Free meal offer at Ulu Café was awesome and for a family of 7 saved us around $700-$800 for the week. Each time you use the meal, it shows you the balance of your meals on your receipt so it's pretty simple. They have a sign as you walk in the door to your left that tells you what a "meal" is. Essentially you get one free meal and drink per person per night you stay. Keep in mind that the meal can vary quite a bit and can be as simple as a bag of chips or a full fledge hot plate meal. Look at the sign when you walk in and the cast members can also answer questions when you get there.

There is also no rules about how many meals you can use each day. Our last day there we still had 11 meals left so we went back 2-3 times during the day for fruit and snacks which was considered a meal.

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

Thanks for the review! I was debating the PCC luau. Did you get a good deal on the tickets? Did you think the day got too long?

We just booked through the Polynesian Culture Website and if you book more then 10 days in advance you get 10% off your price. They also had a deal on their website for a free dinner with admission. I just pulled their website and it is still on there as of today. You don't get the best seats with this offer however when we got to the park, the cashier bumped our seats closer to the stage for free as this time of year is pretty slow. There may be other travel agent sites that may offer better deals however there was none that I found.

In regards to the length, the park opens at 12:00 noon and we were running late that day and didn't get there until 1:30PM. Dinner starts at 5:00PM and we ran out of time before dinner. If we were doing it again, I would have tried to get there right at noon as there is a ton of stuff to see there.

Hope this helps.

 

[alohamom]

KA WA A Luau:

Overall, the Ka wa a Luau was great but very expensive. We paid around $750.00 for a family of 7 for 3 hours of entertainment. A couple days earlier we paid $475.00 for a family of 7 to attend the Polynesian Culture Center which was a full day, dinner and a Luau. Would we do KA WA A again? It was nice that the Luau was close and there was no commuting back to your hotel once it was done however if we go to Aulani again we will probably pass on the Ka Wa a. If you are only going to Aulani once in your lifetime and have a ton of money to shell out then go for it.

WOW-what a glaring contrast in price!

 

[sbeets]

We just booked through the Polynesian Culture Website and if you book more then 10 days in advance you get 10% off your price. They also had a deal on their website for a free dinner with admission. I just pulled their website and it is still on there as of today. You don't get the best seats with this offer however when we got to the park, the cashier bumped our seats closer to the stage for free as this time of year is pretty slow. There may be other travel agent sites that may offer better deals however there was none that I found.

In regards to the length, the park opens at 12:00 noon and we were running late that day and didn't get there until 1:30PM. Dinner starts at 5:00PM and we ran out of time before dinner. If we were doing it again, I would have tried to get there right at noon as there is a ton of stuff to see there.

Hope this helps.

Very helpful, Thank you!

 

[PattiPB]

Thanks for your review! Appreciate the details on the PCC, since we are debating which luau to do.

 

[alldiz]

Thanks so much for your detailed honest review.
I am looking forward to out 1st aulani stay. I am stressed about the pool situation so for my birthday I splurged on the executive lanai. So at lest I can "sleep in" one day and have a prime spot. We are not renting a car so lots of resort time for the 5 nights.
I was debating on the character meal, sounds like bkfst is better.
Deal breaker tho for DD. Is there Mickey waffles. And if so anywhere near as good as Wdw?

Also the daily activities , any way to pre register those?
Thanks
Kerri

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

Thanks so much for your detailed honest review.
I am looking forward to out 1st aulani stay. I am stressed about the pool situation so for my birthday I splurged on the executive lanai. So at lest I can "sleep in" one day and have a prime spot. We are not renting a car so lots of resort time for the 5 nights.
I was debating on the character meal, sounds like bkfst is better.
Deal breaker tho for DD. Is there Mickey waffles. And if so anywhere near as good as Wdw?

Also the daily activities , any way to pre register those?
Thanks
Kerri

Yes they have Mickey Waffles and plenty of them. They also have both Carmel and Coconut syrup to go with the waffles and they are so good. I would say they are as good if not better then WdW. In regards to the daily activities, there are a couple different types. The first ones are for the kids in Aunties Beach House and the other for families over in the community room. The ones for Aunties Beach house you will want to sign up for and register at 90 days out. When you register you kids online, it will ask you to pick 3 out of the 4 complementary activities you would like to do. Then a couple days latter you will get an email from Aulani telling you which activities you kids got into. If you don't like the activities or want to change the date they assigned you to, you can call the phone number provided on the email and they can change it. If you don't pre-sign up you will need to wait in line at Aunties each morning for 30-45 minutes. Yuck! Just do the preregistration and you will be good to go. With regards to the family activities, those are not as high in demand and can just be signed up for the morning of without waiting in line. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[alldiz]

Yes they have Mickey Waffles and plenty of them. They also have both Carmel and Coconut syrup to go with the waffles and they are so good. I would say they are as good if not better then WdW. In regards to the daily activities, there are a couple different types. The first ones are for the kids in Aunties Beach House and the other for families over in the community room. The ones for Aunties Beach house you will want to sign up for and register at 90 days out. When you register you kids online, it will ask you to pick 3 out of the 4 complementary activities you would like to do. Then a couple days latter you will get an email from Aulani telling you which activities you kids got into. If you don't like the activities or want to change the date they assigned you to, you can call the phone number provided on the email and they can change it. If you don't pre-sign up you will need to wait in line at Aunties each morning for 30-45 minutes. Yuck! Just do the preregistration and you will be good to go. With regards to the family activities, those are not as high in demand and can just be signed up for the morning of without waiting in line. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Ok thanks. My DD will be 15 when we go. Aunties is until age 12 correct? Also I do see teen activities listed do you just show up for these. Was listed in daily activities.
Thanks
Kerri

 

[CrazyDisneyFather]

Ok thanks. My DD will be 15 when we go. Aunties is until age 12 correct? Also I do see teen activities listed do you just show up for these. Was listed in daily activities.
Thanks
Kerri

Yes Aunties is only up to age 12. In regards to the teen activities the daily IWA will state if sign up is required or not. These activities are not in super high demand like the younger kid activities over at Aunties Beach House so you can just sign up the morning of if required and you shouldn't have a problem getting in.

 

[scrappydew]

Great review, thanks! I too am missing Aulani!