Hello,
We are heading to Aulani after Christmas and have a 6 year old son and 13 year old daughter. My son is super excited for the kids club, but can anyone talk about experienced with younger teens? My daughter is definitely interested, but I'm looking for a little more info--there just isn't a lot of detail on the Aulani site. Thanks in advance!
Hi jodybird511!
My family just got back from Aulani on Monday. I have three kids, dd16, ds13, and dd9. We only stayed three nights, so I don't have a ton of advice, but I'll let you know what we experienced.
First off, the Painted Sky wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. I was hoping that this would be like the teen club areas on the
DCL. I knew that teens could do spa services here, but my impression after visiting was that this is the primary purpose of this space (I could be mistaken.) In addition, the spa services offered here really aren't just for teens--this is where children younger than 13 come for spa services and hair/make-up experiences, too. In fact, the very nice cast member working there told me that my older daughter at 16 would probably prefer to experience some of the services offered over at Laniwai rather than Painted Sky because it was geared for younger teens and children. That being said, my ds13 had no interest in hanging out here!
Also, the Daily Iwa listed "Teen Spa Services Reservations Required--Painted Sky" every day from 1:00 to 6:00 pm for teens, ages 13-17. Because these services are occurring every afternoon, I don't know how comfortable it would be to go hang out in there for the smoothie bar or what-not for teens who aren't receiving a spa service. YMMV
At 13, your dd might really enjoy being pampered here. If you do want to do this, I would highly recommend making reservations in advance, as when we got there there were very few openings available for any of the spa services during our entire stay. Hopefully someone who actually has experienced this will respond, too.
Finally, though, the Daily Iwa always listed several activities for teens that had nothing to do with Painted Sky. My ds13, participated in several of these and had a great time. He mostly did evening activities because he was having too much fun in the pools to want to do an activity during the day. After the first night, he made a few friends and spent some of his pool time with them. His older sister, though, participated in one activity the first night and was done with the teen activities.
He participated in the "Teen Island Beach Challenge," where the teens played games at the beach. He had a lot of fun at the "Teen Aloha House Party" that occurred at Aunty's Beach House after it was closed to younger kids later in the night. During this, they played Apples 2 Apples in small groups. They played Just Dance and goofed around and hung out. He also participated in the "Teen Sunset Mele" that occurred down at the beach. At this, they played music with coconuts and made a bracelet, while learning about Hawaiian culture. There were other activities offered like lei making, learning the ukulele, and animation class.
I hope this helps you with your planning.
