I've been to Aulani a couple of times and the last time I visited I did a split stay between Aulani and the Marriott Vacation Club property down the road, plus I did a site visit to the Four Seasons while I was there.
Aulani easily had the most "meh" food of all three. Nothing was bad, but nothing was especially good either. After the first couple of days we ended up doing most of our dining at the Four Seasons next door.
I felt like the Aulani property also tried its hardest to obscure the natural beauty of Hawaii. It's great if you have an ocean view room, but if you're hanging out almost anywhere else on the resort (aside from the beach itself) then your view of the ocean is probably obscured by either giant high-rises or artificial concrete rock formations. At the other resorts it felt like the scenery was front-and-center in almost every public area (and much more lush too--more filled with flowers than rock formations). I assume a substantial part of that difference is trying extra hard to create a safe enclosure to contain younger kids.
Oahu is also my least favorite of the Hawaiian islands. The area around Ko Olina isn't bad, but I won't be sad if I never visit Honolulu or Waikiki again. That's really just a matter of personal preference though, and once again tied to a preference for seeing more of Hawaii's natural beauty.
There's a lot I love about it too, but that wasn't the question. The water park is great, the staff is excellent, and it's not a bad value on DVC points (despite high cash rates), but I'm not in a huge hurry to return when there are so many other excellent properties in Hawaii to try out first.
