boiseflyfisher
<font color=red>I'm curious, too<br><font color=ro
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2006
- Messages
- 704
We returned on Wednesday from our 10 night stay at Aulani. It is a beautiful resort and we can't wait to return. Here are our observations:
We booked a last minute reservation and had to piece it together, moving two times. We stayed in a 1br and a studio. Each time our new room was ready well before 4pm. Check in is quick and easy.
Dining:
We did the majority of the cooking in our room as we were watching what we ate. We shopped at Target and Costco, both a 5-10 minute ride from the resort.
We also ordered poolside service and thought the food was pretty good. The adults pretty much stuck to the chicken wrap and fish tacos. They happily substituted fresh fruit for the fries or chips. The kids ordered the tuna sandwich, chicken wrap and the burger. The burger is pretty tiny, but the tuna comes with two Mickey head shaped sandwiches and the wrap is a good size. The fries were fresh and the kids liked them.
We enjoyed alcoholic drinks at the 'Olelo room. They didn't skimp on the alcohol.
We decided on the 13th to try to get reservations for the 14th at Makahiki for the dinner buffet at 6pm, forgetting that it was Valentine's Day. When we asked at the hostess desk, they told us that they only had late reservations available, but we were flying out later that night, so it wouldn't work for us. I went online the next morning and they had reservations available for 5:15, 5:30, and 5:45. I'm not sure why they didn't suggest an earlier time, but we were happy to take the 5:30 reservation. While it was expensive, we thought the food was good and feel like we got our money's worth.
The kids loved the Papalua Shave Ice and ordered it many times during the week.
We bought the refillable mugs and they were worth it for our long stay!
Resort offerings:
Mikimiki Fitness Center: Clean and well equipped. They provide towels and earphones. They have ice cold water available, normally put out around 5:30am.
Pau Hana Room: My daughter loved all of the crafts that were offered. Call in the morning to get a space if you are interested in what they are offering that day. They also have games and video games.
This is also where you pick up the phone to do the Menehune Adventure Trail. We really enjoyed this, but it takes a while. We broke it into three nights and it took about 30 minutes each night. We'll do this again next time we go.
Rainbow Reef: We bought the length of stay pass for the kids, but they didn't go in as much as we would have liked them to. Their complaint was that it was too cold.
Luana Lounge: We used the lounge on our last day as we had a red eye home. We were so happy that they had this lounge! We were able to spend the day at the pools and ocean and were able to clean up before our Makahiki dinner and plane ride home.
Starlit Hui: Don't miss it! It is quality, Disney entertainment and you will learn a little more about Hawaii.
Aunty's Beach House: The kids asked to spend some time there. They made Space Goo, but I think they enjoyed hanging by the pool and lagoon more than spending time at Aunty's.
Mo'olelo Fire Pit Storytelling: We really enjoyed the stories that the Uncles told and learned a little more about Hawaii in a very fun way.
Rooms:
Because we had to move, we spent some time in each of the towers. Location isn't an issue at this resort. Everything is a close distance and with 6 elevators in each tower, the wait was very short.
We thought the rooms were clean and beautiful. A 1br works much better for this family of 4, but we were happy to add on the studio to extend our stay. We missed the extra bathroom that the VGC has in the 1br, but we made do without it.
Pools and Beach:
We spent the majority of the first few days poolside. We were able to get a chair with an umbrella most of the time, but we were up early. If you are a late riser, it could be an issue. The weekends can get pretty crowded. I am a little worried about being able to find any seating once the resort is completed. We did see them remove some resort crashers on the weekend. We then decided to relocate to the beach for our home base as we will never have an ocean in Idaho!
We did end up renting a beach umbrella each day at the beach for $20 for the full day. We thought it was worth it. Our kids are a little older, so we let them go back and forth between the beach and pool as long as they checked in with us. We all really enjoyed the tube slide an lazy river. We purchased our own snorkel gear at Costco, so we spent a lot of time searching for fish and sea turtles in the lagoon.
My husband and daughter rode the catamaran that is available at the lagoon. They were taking people out for rides on the weekend, but I think it might be offered on week days, too. It is an hour ride for up to 6 people at $99 per adult and $79(I think) for children. They had a great time and were able to see spinner dolphins, a shark, and sea turtles. It was the highlight of my daughter's trip.
Glitches:
I wish they would deliver the Daily 'Iwa to the DVC rooms. They are available around the resort, but it would be nice to have one slipped under the door during the night
When moving from the 1br to the studio, we had a small issue. We had taken most of the stuff out of the room to be stored and left the lunch that we had prepared to take to the beach as well as one bag in the room. When we returned to the room at 10:30, the maids were in our room taking a break. They had cleared the food from the fridge with the exception of a few things that they must have decided to keep for themselves. They had dumped all of the sandwiches that I had pre-made for our lunches. They had also cooked one of the things that was in the freezer as you could smell it as soon as you walked into the room. They jumped up as soon as we walked in and and started to apologize. They went to get their housekeeping manager and we made a call down to the front desk. To replace the groceries and buy us lunch, they comped us $75 for the mix up. In hindsight, we forgot to put out the Do Not Disturb sign and they must have assumed that we were gone since we had removed the majority of our belongings from the room.
Outings:
I'm a little ashamed to say that we spent the majority of our time at the resort. We did visit the North Shore for an afternoon, visiting a few beaches to watch surfers and try out Giovanni's Shrimp Stand. We also hiked Diamond Head and stopped at Leonard's Mobile Malasada truck on the way home. If you want to try Malasadas, the truck is located at exit 7, right by the Lowe's. It is about 10-15 minutes away from the resort.
Every single CM we encountered during our stay was friendly. They represent Disney well. If we were considering adding points, I would totally be looking at Aulani.
We all agreed that it was our favorite family vacation to date, even beating out the Disney cruise! We can't wait to return!
I just thought of something else that might be helpful. We packed light. Each of us carried one bag and a backpack on the plane. I did one load of colored clothes and one load of white clothes each day between visits to the room for one thing or another. We could have probably gotten away with half of what we brought as we ended up living in our swimsuits for the majority of the trip!
We booked a last minute reservation and had to piece it together, moving two times. We stayed in a 1br and a studio. Each time our new room was ready well before 4pm. Check in is quick and easy.
Dining:
We did the majority of the cooking in our room as we were watching what we ate. We shopped at Target and Costco, both a 5-10 minute ride from the resort.
We also ordered poolside service and thought the food was pretty good. The adults pretty much stuck to the chicken wrap and fish tacos. They happily substituted fresh fruit for the fries or chips. The kids ordered the tuna sandwich, chicken wrap and the burger. The burger is pretty tiny, but the tuna comes with two Mickey head shaped sandwiches and the wrap is a good size. The fries were fresh and the kids liked them.
We enjoyed alcoholic drinks at the 'Olelo room. They didn't skimp on the alcohol.
We decided on the 13th to try to get reservations for the 14th at Makahiki for the dinner buffet at 6pm, forgetting that it was Valentine's Day. When we asked at the hostess desk, they told us that they only had late reservations available, but we were flying out later that night, so it wouldn't work for us. I went online the next morning and they had reservations available for 5:15, 5:30, and 5:45. I'm not sure why they didn't suggest an earlier time, but we were happy to take the 5:30 reservation. While it was expensive, we thought the food was good and feel like we got our money's worth.
The kids loved the Papalua Shave Ice and ordered it many times during the week.
We bought the refillable mugs and they were worth it for our long stay!
Resort offerings:
Mikimiki Fitness Center: Clean and well equipped. They provide towels and earphones. They have ice cold water available, normally put out around 5:30am.
Pau Hana Room: My daughter loved all of the crafts that were offered. Call in the morning to get a space if you are interested in what they are offering that day. They also have games and video games.
This is also where you pick up the phone to do the Menehune Adventure Trail. We really enjoyed this, but it takes a while. We broke it into three nights and it took about 30 minutes each night. We'll do this again next time we go.
Rainbow Reef: We bought the length of stay pass for the kids, but they didn't go in as much as we would have liked them to. Their complaint was that it was too cold.
Luana Lounge: We used the lounge on our last day as we had a red eye home. We were so happy that they had this lounge! We were able to spend the day at the pools and ocean and were able to clean up before our Makahiki dinner and plane ride home.
Starlit Hui: Don't miss it! It is quality, Disney entertainment and you will learn a little more about Hawaii.
Aunty's Beach House: The kids asked to spend some time there. They made Space Goo, but I think they enjoyed hanging by the pool and lagoon more than spending time at Aunty's.
Mo'olelo Fire Pit Storytelling: We really enjoyed the stories that the Uncles told and learned a little more about Hawaii in a very fun way.
Rooms:
Because we had to move, we spent some time in each of the towers. Location isn't an issue at this resort. Everything is a close distance and with 6 elevators in each tower, the wait was very short.
We thought the rooms were clean and beautiful. A 1br works much better for this family of 4, but we were happy to add on the studio to extend our stay. We missed the extra bathroom that the VGC has in the 1br, but we made do without it.
Pools and Beach:
We spent the majority of the first few days poolside. We were able to get a chair with an umbrella most of the time, but we were up early. If you are a late riser, it could be an issue. The weekends can get pretty crowded. I am a little worried about being able to find any seating once the resort is completed. We did see them remove some resort crashers on the weekend. We then decided to relocate to the beach for our home base as we will never have an ocean in Idaho!
We did end up renting a beach umbrella each day at the beach for $20 for the full day. We thought it was worth it. Our kids are a little older, so we let them go back and forth between the beach and pool as long as they checked in with us. We all really enjoyed the tube slide an lazy river. We purchased our own snorkel gear at Costco, so we spent a lot of time searching for fish and sea turtles in the lagoon. My husband and daughter rode the catamaran that is available at the lagoon. They were taking people out for rides on the weekend, but I think it might be offered on week days, too. It is an hour ride for up to 6 people at $99 per adult and $79(I think) for children. They had a great time and were able to see spinner dolphins, a shark, and sea turtles. It was the highlight of my daughter's trip.
Glitches:
I wish they would deliver the Daily 'Iwa to the DVC rooms. They are available around the resort, but it would be nice to have one slipped under the door during the night
When moving from the 1br to the studio, we had a small issue. We had taken most of the stuff out of the room to be stored and left the lunch that we had prepared to take to the beach as well as one bag in the room. When we returned to the room at 10:30, the maids were in our room taking a break. They had cleared the food from the fridge with the exception of a few things that they must have decided to keep for themselves. They had dumped all of the sandwiches that I had pre-made for our lunches. They had also cooked one of the things that was in the freezer as you could smell it as soon as you walked into the room. They jumped up as soon as we walked in and and started to apologize. They went to get their housekeeping manager and we made a call down to the front desk. To replace the groceries and buy us lunch, they comped us $75 for the mix up. In hindsight, we forgot to put out the Do Not Disturb sign and they must have assumed that we were gone since we had removed the majority of our belongings from the room.
Outings:
I'm a little ashamed to say that we spent the majority of our time at the resort. We did visit the North Shore for an afternoon, visiting a few beaches to watch surfers and try out Giovanni's Shrimp Stand. We also hiked Diamond Head and stopped at Leonard's Mobile Malasada truck on the way home. If you want to try Malasadas, the truck is located at exit 7, right by the Lowe's. It is about 10-15 minutes away from the resort.
Every single CM we encountered during our stay was friendly. They represent Disney well. If we were considering adding points, I would totally be looking at Aulani.
We all agreed that it was our favorite family vacation to date, even beating out the Disney cruise! We can't wait to return!I just thought of something else that might be helpful. We packed light. Each of us carried one bag and a backpack on the plane. I did one load of colored clothes and one load of white clothes each day between visits to the room for one thing or another. We could have probably gotten away with half of what we brought as we ended up living in our swimsuits for the majority of the trip!
If we could add-on (and afford to fly there often enough) we would in a second! Glad you had a good trip (besides the housekeeping issue)!
