Mele Kalikimaka-Our Almost Christmas Aulani & Maui Trip (w/LOTS OF PICS & GV PICS)!

[ACDSNY]

Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures! After reading your comments on the island view, I'm glad I changed to a pool view.

 

[Hootiss]

Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time and posting your trip report.

 

[lilpooh108]

Love, Love, Loved your trip report!!!! The food pics were beautiful. You and your familly were really busy!!! The malasadas, pineapple whips, shrimp and fish sandwiches were my favorites. I also cracked up about your Santa comment. Thanks to your trip report, I know exactly what I will be doing when I make it out to Aulani.

Thanks! The food was yum, but you did have to go off property...our main gripe was that there wasn't enough foodie options around Aulani. Kapolei looks like a new suburb, so hopefully there will be more and more food options near Aulani in the future

I hope I didn't offend Santa...it's just that, I could see his legs. So I really didn't want to sit on them DD sat and I sort of "leaned in."

 

[lilpooh108]

Thank you for you very complete and informative report! I loved your photos, but I wonder if you could go back and include titles on each so we know what we are looking at. The GV looks amazing! Are all the GVs on upper floors?

Thanks for following along! I'll ty to add titles when I get a chance...but we're still working on since we got back...

 

[lilpooh108]

Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures! After reading your comments on the island view, I'm glad I changed to a pool view.

We tried to change to a pool view w/MS shortly before our stay after reading other ppl's comments about the island view, but had no luck since it was Christmas. The hotel was completely packed by 12/24...it was a madhouse. The pool is beautiful, I'm sure you'll love it.

 

[spleen]

Great TR!! Loved all the pictures of food, including the malasadas! Glad to hear that Ailana was good as well : :

 

[DenLo]

Thanks for the TR. Great photos. Sorry that you did not enjoy your view. Since the roads are all on the island side I guess it makes sense that it would have a lot noise. Personally I still think your view is much better than the standard views I've seen at Aulani.

 

[podsnel]

Great, great TR- thank-you so much! I loved all your gorgeous pics, and especially enjoyed all of your food porn!! Thanks for being so honest about the good and bad of Aulani- I truly hope those "suits" you saw observing everything while you were there are going to shake things up. It makes me so sad to hear that while there are some amazing things at Aulani, there are also such obvious holes- like food and chairs! Ah, well- at least you and Spleen have given me some great places to eat instead!

Happy New Year-
Ellen

 

[MinnieGi]

Awesome report and pix!!!!!! The whole family just came over to preview the resort and now everyone wants a trip to Hawaii!! Beautiful!!

I also hope management takes notes of obvious fixes like more chairs are needed. I'm very surprised there is not a counter service place. That doesn't make sense to me?!?

 

[carlbarry]

A little about us:

Hello! Come join us on this trip report!

Wish List/Room for Improvement at Aulani:

--
--More meet & greets—Aulani only offered 4 meet & greets a day (12pm to 2pm), and some characters were not repeated throughout the week, such as Goofy & Donald. Why? It’s just people in costume…I mean?
[/IMG]

Goofy and Donald are people in COSTUME???? Come on, that just can NOT be correct!

 

[carlbarry]

Wow! Great report, thanks! I'm going at the end of January. Looking forward to the Uke class, as a long time guitar player.
Question, please: Just out of curiosity, is there any "incentive" for taking the "member update" tour?
Thanks again!

 

[lilpooh108]

I'm not sure how to "multiquote" to respond to people individually so I'll just address people's comments separately...

DenLo--I totally agree w/you that there are worse views for standard views. When we were touring Aunty's Beach House, we noticed that the 2nd & 3rd floor units faced directly into service areas and/or the jungle gym area of the Kids Club. There aren't too many kids at the club (unlike on a Disney Cruise), but this still could get loud. Also, there are 2nd and 3rd floor rooms in the Waianae tower (unsure if they are hotel or DVC) which directly face the Porte Cochere. At least our unit only faced the Porte Cochere on the side. We were in the Ewa tower, which I LOVED since it was half empty. Waianae was a madhouse (mix of hotel plus DVC guests).

Podsnel--I agree w/you and hope the "suits" notice the problems that we noticed. While we were waiting in the lobby on 12/24 to leave for the airport, the general manager (Elliott Mills) was speaking to the guy from Orlando (forgot his name) and another exec in the lobby. We were surprised b/c they were pretty animated, not smiling, and actually kind of loud. I couldn't hear what was being said, but it was obviously about a hotel issue. Throughout the week, the guy from Orlando attended the Hawaiian Santa greet (which was fully staffed, w/hardly any guests there) and other bigger events. We happened to sit at the very last row at Starlit Hui (where CMs get ready to go on stage) and watched the production manager run the show and speak w/other big wigs after the show. It was kind of nice to see them oversee everything.

About the chair issue/space issue--we saw CMs removing towels from "saved" chairs that were obviously not being used, but this was few and far between. I'd hate to see what it will look like w/Aulani fully built and at capacity b/c it was hard enough to sit by the pool as is. The jacuzzi looked like a human soup bowl. I was surprised that some of the spaces were as small as they were, w/how many ppl they will expect at the hotel.

MinnieGI--thanks for your compliments for for following along! I believe One Paddle Two Paddle is counterservice in the day time (it is poolside) which has burgers and fish tacos, but we did not see it open for dinner. We saw tons of people bringing in Costco pizzas, salads bags of groceries, or bags from the ABC store across the street.

I wished that there was more of a "Mara" type of offering where familes can go into a food court area to order food and sit. There are no dedicated seating areas for just eating unless you sat down and ordered food from a server. I actually walked over to the Olelo Lounge (which has beautiful outdoor seating) and asked if we could sit to snack on our take out and was told to go to the pool (which at this point in the afternoon had no seats).

Carlbarry--EEEEK. Yes, that was insensitive of me. For the kids reading, I meant that Donald & Goofy must have been too busy teaching surfing & hula to come out more often. Maybe other characters can help out at the meet & greets!

About the incentives...we never asked. DVC told us that all of the member update tours were completely full the week we were there and we "happened" to get squeezed into a spot. Not sure how true it was, but we weren't interested in more points so didn't ask for anything but to see the Grand Villa, which was amazing. No incentives for touring as far as I could see. The guides who worked here did not do "hard sells." I've seen worse over at DLR.

**Something I forgot to mention--when we were touring we saw mostly members chatting w/the guides. One couple specifically asked about "THE LETTER" they received regarding the dues issue. The guide casually turned the issue over to a manager there and we didn't get to stay long enough to overhear the official DVC response to that (although I would have liked to). I guess the standard response is to let the managers explain the situation.

 

[lilpooh108]

Wow! Great report, thanks! I'm going at the end of January. Looking forward to the Uke class, as a long time guitar player.
Question, please: Just out of curiosity, is there any "incentive" for taking the "member update" tour?
Thanks again!

You might be a little disappointed in the Ukelele class as a longtime guitar player. The class is truly for beginners--but--according to Marcus & Mikey (the activity directors) you are free to stop in the Pau Hana room at anytime and pick up the Ukelele to play or ask a CM to give you more personalized instruction.

You will definitely enjoy the two Ukelele performers at the Starlit Hui---they are AMAZING. These two guys rocked out some tunes and played the Ukes behind their heads during the show while the hula dancers were doing costume changes. It reminded me of Marty McFly's solo at the end of Back to the Future (part I), but w/Ukes. At one point they were both playing with their backs on the floor of the stage. They were seriously amazing to watch, lots of fun.

 

[G'sMaman]

Loved your trip report, especially all the great dining tips! We're thinking about going next December and I was wondering what the water temperature is like that time of the year - both for the pool and the bay. Thanks!

 

[kbeam]

We were also there for Christmas (12/19-12/26), and I agree with everything you said. If you didn't get yourself parked in a chair at the pool or the beach by 10am THE LATEST, you were SOL. Very, very annoying. And this with 1/3 of the resort not even open yet. Mob scene. Definitely not enough places to eat, either...in Aulani and around. We also had reservations for Roy's one night, so we were trying to find someplace to eat close by (we were heading to Waikiki areas other nights). We ended up eating at Just Tacos, across the street. Fun place, decent food. Great music! We also had Christmas dinner at Azul at the Marriott. AWFUL! Steer clear. The final bill for 4 of us (2 of whom were underage and couldn't drink) was $437.50. Crazy! The ambiance is beautiful and the service was wonderful, but between the food and the smell of gas coming from the torches, this place has some gall charging what they charge. The rooms were very quiet, the soundproofing was exceptional. We also had no idea why we didn't get the bill under the door on check-out day. No one told us we had to sign up for express check-out. This resort is amazingly beautiful, more beautiful than I expected based on photos (which simply don't do it justice), but I see big issues once that final section is opened and occupied. It's already just too crowded.

 

[lilpooh108]

Loved your trip report, especially all the great dining tips! We're thinking about going next December and I was wondering what the water temperature is like that time of the year - both for the pool and the bay. Thanks!

Hello I didn't personally go into the bay, but we did do the pool 3 days in a row and the water temperature wasn't a problem. Air temperature was about 75. However, it was gusting 20 to 25 mph daily and the wind was bad between the two towers around the Menehune bridge (which is also where part of the lazy stream is). So w/the combination of wind plus water it could get cold when you get out of the pool. The CMs working around the bridge had North Face like windbreakers on.

For us, we kept our toddler's hair completely dry in the pool and in the lazy stream. We did see moms wrapping their kids completely in towels (and shivering kids) AFTER they got out of the pool, b/c of the wind. Kapolei doesn't get rain much, but it did rain periodically while we were there (nothing that lasted more than 20 minutes at a time).

 

[lilpooh108]

We were also there for Christmas (12/19-12/26), and I agree with everything you said. If you didn't get yourself parked in a chair at the pool or the beach by 10am THE LATEST, you were SOL. Very, very annoying. And this with 1/3 of the resort not even open yet. Mob scene. Definitely not enough places to eat, either...in Aulani and around. We also had reservations for Roy's one night, so we were trying to find someplace to eat close by (we were heading to Waikiki areas other nights). We ended up eating at Just Tacos, across the street. Fun place, decent food. Great music! We also had Christmas dinner at Azul at the Marriott. AWFUL! Steer clear. The final bill for 4 of us (2 of whom were underage and couldn't drink) was $437.50. Crazy! The ambiance is beautiful and the service was wonderful, but between the food and the smell of gas coming from the torches, this place has some gall charging what they charge. The rooms were very quiet, the soundproofing was exceptional. We also had no idea why we didn't get the bill under the door on check-out day. No one told us we had to sign up for express check-out. This resort is amazingly beautiful, more beautiful than I expected based on photos (which simply don't do it justice), but I see big issues once that final section is opened and occupied. It's already just too crowded.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience at Azul. We thought about going there after Roy's cancelled our reservation, but got too lazy to dress up for it. Glad you liked Just Tacos--we were wondering how it was!

Pool chairs---I agree w/you---I really can't figure out what they will do after the other 2 sections of Aulani are open.

Food--totally agree! I think Aulani will make more money by putting in a food court type of option (open for dinner) in order to keep guests on property. If prices were reasonable and food options ok, we would have eaten in more often. I think if they listened to guest comments they could make Aulani more self contained and guests really wouldn't have to leave.

Express check out--we checked out morning of 12/24. The lines at the front desk were crazy Confused as to why there was no explanation at check in about no summary of charges under the door. We looked on the TV's guest services function and the summary of charges were not there either.

 

[spleen]

I'd agree about the need for a food court type casual sit down area. Though, OTOH, not sure where they'd put it since there's no obvious place to put one.

 

[jekjones1558]

Wonderful, wonderful report. You have the perfect ratio of text and photos.
I was amazed at the picture of the Fish Market in Paia---with no people around. Every time we have been in Paia there were crowds and traffic jams. I agree that the food is great and certainly cheaper than Mama's! We love to watch the wind surfers near Mama's.

 

[G'sMaman]

Hello I didn't personally go into the bay, but we did do the pool 3 days in a row and the water temperature wasn't a problem. Air temperature was about 75. However, it was gusting 20 to 25 mph daily and the wind was bad between the two towers around the Menehune bridge (which is also where part of the lazy stream is). So w/the combination of wind plus water it could get cold when you get out of the pool. The CMs working around the bridge had North Face like windbreakers on.

For us, we kept our toddler's hair completely dry in the pool and in the lazy stream. We did see moms wrapping their kids completely in towels (and shivering kids) AFTER they got out of the pool, b/c of the wind. Kapolei doesn't get rain much, but it did rain periodically while we were there (nothing that lasted more than 20 minutes at a time).

Thanks so much for the great info! Our daughter (like many toddlers) will stay in the water even if her lips are turning blue so it's good to know generally what to expect! We typically go to Kauai in the spring and stay at a resort that has a heated pool so we are a bit spoiled. . Anyway, your pictures were wonderful and really enjoyed your commentary.