We got back from a week at Aulani late last night, and I'm missing the resort already! There were 7 of us - Myself, my DH, DD, DD and her DH, and their DS (age 3) and DD (age 8 mo.) Here are some thoughts on our magical stay. We are DVC members and stayed in two 2-bedroom units.
Aulani was beautiful! The artwork, the rooms, the restaurants, the pool area, every inch of the resort is beautiful. The attention to detail is amazing. Although we were there a full week, I didn't walk around and enjoy every detail nearly as much as I would have liked to. (Grandma was busy having fun with the grands lol!) We spent the majority of our time each day enjoying the pools and beach. The cast members were all very nice and I enjoyed talking to some of them, hearing their stories.
We usually got to the pool by 8 or so. There were always enough chairs, though maybe not in what some would consider the "choice" areas. We just wanted shade and weren't really picky where we found it. A cast member told me Jan. is less busy, though more people have been at Aulani in general since Covid restrictions were lifted. A lot of people want to use their points now! I never saw anyone enforcing the pool chair rules, but I assume that was because there were always open chairs.
I know there has been a lot of discussion about pool temperatures on this site. We're from the Midwest and are used to chilly water at the beginning of the summer, so it really didn't bother me. I was in the nice warm sun, so it felt good. There was one day when the lazy river was closed for awhile, but it opened up in late afternoon. That was our family's favorite.
We did the character breakfast and it was wonderful! We had our picture with Mickey, and Goofy was our chef. Max and Pluto visited our table multiple times. My grandson adored the characters from afar, but was timid when they were up close. I'm sure many kids are like this, and all the characters were wonderful interacting with them at whatever distance was comfortable for the kids. My granddaughter was another story - she wanted to be up close and personal (meaning she wanted to grab all their noses lol!) The food was amazing and the portions were absolutely huge. Everyone of us took at least half of our breakfast back to the room for another day.
We also ate at Off the Hook twice, Olehlo once, ordered food at the pool a few times, went across to Monkey Pod for Happy Hour once. We thought the food was very good everywhere.
One our first day, we went to ABC across the street and picked up some sunscreen, but decided to get groceries some other place. They were definitely higher. We had a rental van, so the next morning we went to Foodland and got what we needed. We had breakfast in the room most mornings before heading to the pool. We also fixed lunches and dinners there a few times.
We stayed at the resort most of the time, but drove up to the North Shore one day, went whale watching one afternoon, and some of us went to Pearl Harbor one day. I had hopes to walk to the other lagoons, and do the DVC art and culture tour and nature tours. Needless to say, they didn't happen. When i wasn't playing with my grands, it was just too hard to get off my beach chair! We have already decided we'll be back, so I'll have another chance then.
Thanks for reading my post, and I'm happy to answer questions if I'm able.
Aulani was beautiful! The artwork, the rooms, the restaurants, the pool area, every inch of the resort is beautiful. The attention to detail is amazing. Although we were there a full week, I didn't walk around and enjoy every detail nearly as much as I would have liked to. (Grandma was busy having fun with the grands lol!) We spent the majority of our time each day enjoying the pools and beach. The cast members were all very nice and I enjoyed talking to some of them, hearing their stories.
We usually got to the pool by 8 or so. There were always enough chairs, though maybe not in what some would consider the "choice" areas. We just wanted shade and weren't really picky where we found it. A cast member told me Jan. is less busy, though more people have been at Aulani in general since Covid restrictions were lifted. A lot of people want to use their points now! I never saw anyone enforcing the pool chair rules, but I assume that was because there were always open chairs.
I know there has been a lot of discussion about pool temperatures on this site. We're from the Midwest and are used to chilly water at the beginning of the summer, so it really didn't bother me. I was in the nice warm sun, so it felt good. There was one day when the lazy river was closed for awhile, but it opened up in late afternoon. That was our family's favorite.
We did the character breakfast and it was wonderful! We had our picture with Mickey, and Goofy was our chef. Max and Pluto visited our table multiple times. My grandson adored the characters from afar, but was timid when they were up close. I'm sure many kids are like this, and all the characters were wonderful interacting with them at whatever distance was comfortable for the kids. My granddaughter was another story - she wanted to be up close and personal (meaning she wanted to grab all their noses lol!) The food was amazing and the portions were absolutely huge. Everyone of us took at least half of our breakfast back to the room for another day.
We also ate at Off the Hook twice, Olehlo once, ordered food at the pool a few times, went across to Monkey Pod for Happy Hour once. We thought the food was very good everywhere.
One our first day, we went to ABC across the street and picked up some sunscreen, but decided to get groceries some other place. They were definitely higher. We had a rental van, so the next morning we went to Foodland and got what we needed. We had breakfast in the room most mornings before heading to the pool. We also fixed lunches and dinners there a few times.
We stayed at the resort most of the time, but drove up to the North Shore one day, went whale watching one afternoon, and some of us went to Pearl Harbor one day. I had hopes to walk to the other lagoons, and do the DVC art and culture tour and nature tours. Needless to say, they didn't happen. When i wasn't playing with my grands, it was just too hard to get off my beach chair! We have already decided we'll be back, so I'll have another chance then.
Thanks for reading my post, and I'm happy to answer questions if I'm able.
