Would we be disappointed with Aulani?

[bcbmommy]

We love DisneyWorld, and have been there 3 times in the past 5 years. On our last trip there in January, which was 40 degrees and raining most of the time, we told the kids we will probably find something different for our next vacation. The only stipulation is that it needs to be tropical. Our oldest is graduating high school this year, and wants to go to Hawaii. Our 3-year-old keeps seeing the Disney commercial for Aulani, so she wants Hawaii too! lol. My question is, will we be disappointed after having been to DisneyWorld? Is it anything like it? Honestly, when I looked at the website, it looks like the main thing to do is swim. What else is there?

Thanks much!!

 

[Vernie822]

I have never been there so I can't speak to that- but Pete did a 2 hour segment on Aulani as a recent podcast episode. There's video too so you can watch it. Maybe that will help you get a good idea of the resort!

 

[NC State Tigger]

We go to WDW once or twice each year. Last Oct we went to Aulani. LOVE, LOVE, LOVED IT!! No theme parks but the resort is beautiful and there was lots to explore on the island.

Just relaxing at the resort was wonderful. The spa was a special treat for the ladies in our family. My 3yr old granddaughter loved Auntie's beach house. I don't think you would regret skipping WDW. It would be a much different vacation.

Check the Disney Vacation Club "Resorts" threads. Here is lots of info on Aulani.

It will probably be our "once in a lifetime trip", but I'm glad we went.

 

[owensamo]

We are DVC members, and have been to DLR much more recently than WDW (going back for the first time in 5 years next month! ). We spent a week at Aulani in late June, then returned for 3 nights in July on our way back to the mainland from the Big Island.

Our 2 stays were completely different. The first stay we had 10 people in a Grand Villa. We spent every other day doing something - Pearl Harbor, North Shore, Waikiki. We also took a catamaran snorkel excursion from Ko Olina harbor. We did a luau at Paradise Cove, walked over to the shops across from the resort, ate at MonkeyPod, went to Starlit Hui, and yes - hung out at the pools and the beaches. The kids did the Menehune Trail one day, but didn't finish it. They never visited Auntie's, we didn't manage to get to any of the DVC member gatherings, and didn't get to any of the resort tours or other activities (Ukelele lessons, lei making, etc) - and we had a blast!

Our 3 nights were just DH, DD12 and myself. We had 1 night in a standard hotel room and 2 nights in a studio. We had intended to do some more touring - but after a week on the Big Island, we ended up just hanging out at the resort. DD got a haircut at the spa (best $35 I ever spent on a haircut!) and we lounged around the pool. Did both the inside and outside Menehune trails, ate at Monkeypod again, ran to Costco (awesome place to get food to bring home!) but otherwise just relaxed. We went to dinner at Makahiki, ordered take-out from the 'Olelo Room, enjoyed live music on the patio from our balcony, attended 3 different storytelling sessions - and hung out in the pools (not so much the beach, other than the "secret" cove). We spent a lot of time in the Lazy River. We really enjoyed the relaxing days at the end of the trip - and the second time there, it did feel like coming home!

I would love to visit Aulani again! But 3 days at the resort is about enough - we like to do and see things in the places we go, so I can't see just hanging out for days on end. There are still some places on Oahu I'd like to visit again, so I'm hopeful that if we go back to Hawaii (to Maui/Kauai) we can add a few days on Oahu at Aulani to enjoy some Disney and see the things we missed.

We've cruised on DCL, and stayed at Disney's Hilton Head Resort. This vacation felt much more like one of those than a parks resort trip - still very much Disney, but different. But one of our best trips, for sure!

 

[esquared221]

We just spent a month in O'ahu this summer and spent our last 4 nights at Aulani. WE LOVED IT! It is a resort though, not a theme park but there's lot of stuff to do on site and a whole amazingly beautiful island to explore. You can spend time swimming in the many pools, swim/snorkle/paddle board in the lagoons right in the front of the resort, rent movies or games from the community center and then there's Aunty's Beach House. Our kids loved Auntys! If you get antsy you could get out, go see the North Shore, go have shaved ice at Matsumotos or visit the Dole Plantation. Go snorkling at Hanauma Bay or hike Diamond Point. Go to the Luau at Paradise Bay right down the street from Aulani. There's so much to do and see on O'ahu and it's not a big island so you can really explore it in day trips. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with Aulani as a resort either. It's spectacular!

 

[amyren]

We spent 6 nights at Aulani on our way home from Japan this summer. It's an AMAZING resort and Hawaii is gorgeous but I got a little bored... I'm not a lay by the pool all day kinda person and I didn't do enough planning so I got a little stir crazy after day 2. If you go definitely do some planning, rent a car and see more of Oahu. We only rented a car for 1 day. I wish we had one the entire stay! Again, this was my fault for not planning enough. The first leg of our trip (Japan) was planned out to the minute and I figured we'd just relax in Hawaii but that got old. I definitely would love to go back again.

 

[dsneygirl]

We went for 10 days 2 years ago and only left the resort for 1 tour of the North Shore. My DS was 6 and he was busy all day long. Between characters, pool, the beach, the beach house activities, we were never bored. I loved it and we plan to go back in 2016 when my YDS is younger. We have no problem filling every day.

 

[happymommy]

We go to Oahu every other year for 2 weeks, but own at the Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club right by the new Aulani.

Don't go expecting anything like a theme park trip. Go if you want to see Oahu and enjoy Hawaii! There is so much to do on the island, and the resort area is the best on Oahu!

We prefer the Marriott over Aulani, but that's because our kids are teenagers now, and the resort is much more spread out (Aulani is a bit crowded for our taste, but they do have the lazy river which is cool). We tend to relax and spend a lot of time in our villa, and the Marriott ones are a bit larger. We eat in most meals too (buy most of our groceries at Costco right down the road, and then Walmart or Target which also sell groceries).

You will want to have a car there for sure!

For a high school graduation trip, Aulani would be great. If you're interested, you can also look for rentals at the Marriott at places like redweek. We are supplementing our owner week with another rental for next year (we used up our other week this summer, and won't go for less than 2 weeks). I think rentals at Aulani are harder to get - but maybe renting points is a good option. I wouldn't pay rack rates!