Was Aulani's design inspired by Coco Palms?

[Mrs. Ciz]

So I was watching Elvis in Blue Hawaii today and I got very curious about the film locations. The last 20 minutes of the movie was filmed on Kauai at the famous Coco Palms Resort. Back in it's day Coco Palms was THE place to stay for the rich and famous. It was damaged by a major hurricane in the early 90s and has remained shuttered ever since.

I googled pictures of the Coco Palms Resort to see what it looked like in it's heyday and what it looks like now. When I saw the pictures I was blown away. I wish I could figure out how to post photos on here because the Ceremonial House reception area at Coco Palms looked EXACTLY like the Ceremonial House reception area at Aulani - right down to the ceiling beams and triangular window wall full of different shaped windows. There was also a lazy river like lagoon with bridges at CP...it looked a lot like the lazy river concept drawing for Aulani.

I'm thinking the Disney designers are recreating the iconic Coco Palms look at Aulani. Classic 1950s - 1960s Hawaiian with a modern day twist!

 

[bwvBound]

I don't know the answer to your question ... but, "Awwwww ... Coco Palms! What a place!" Thanks for bringing it up. Such lovely grounds ...

 

[jekjones1558]

I remember few details about Coco Palms but I do recall the lovely grounds and the torch lighting ceremony in the evening. One detail Aulani doesn't have is the kitschy sea shell sinks in the guest rooms.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Stayed at the Coco Palms in the early 80's but I haven't gotten a feeling of any reminder of it when seeing the Aulani pictures. Maybe b/c I was too devastated to see the condition of the Coco Palms a couple of years ago.

I remember few details about Coco Palms but I do recall the lovely grounds and the torch lighting ceremony in the evening. One detail Aulani doesn't have is the kitschy sea shell sinks in the guest rooms.

Oh those sinks!!

And I loved the torch lighting.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I wish I could just post the pictures but I'm too computer challenged to do so. Here are links to where I saw the pictures.

First, the Coco Palms lobby in the 1980s:

http://www.coco-palms.com/photos/slides/full/06.jpg

Next, the Coco Palms after the hurricane. The 12th and 13th pictures down show the lobby. These photos, from the tikiroom website, are very sad, especially if you remember the resort in it's prime:

http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=29331&forum=2

Last, photos of the Aulani lobby - both the finished product via concept drawing and the lobby during construction:

http://www.disneydreaming.com/2010/07/24/disneys-newest-resort-aulani-to-open-in-august-2011/

The similarity between the two lobbies is uncanny.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

That's for the links. How funny that I have zero recollection of a lobby like that! The rest, though showing the ruined state of the Coco Palms, is all familiar.

I agree that it does look like the Aulani designers were inspired by it.