Happy Tuesday! A note on availability this week: My daughter, Lilly, is an Irish dancer, and it's the week before St Patrick's Day! We have many lessons, rehearsals & performances this week. If you're not traveling in March or paying a deposit this week, I may ask you to schedule time for us to talk the week of March 17, when Lilly is at camp all week. Thanks for understanding!
This one took a bit longer to write because, one, Aulani is amazing, and two, the whole family participated. tl;dr We are desperate to go back to do all the things we missed on a short, last minute trip. Read on for more details!
Stuffies ranked in order of fluffiness, by Lilly: Aulani has the Duffy & Friends characters found in the Asia Disney Parks, and Lilly spent all her money on as many as she could get. (Also pictured is Crookshanks, our stuffie ride-or-die).
Linabell is the fluffiest, in-between me and the bear.
Is Duffy the bear, the iconic Disney bear, and finally,
Is olu' Mel the turtle. (there are more, but those are all the ones I have.)
Rooms: We had a surprise upgrade to Ocean View! We also had several opportunities to tour the suites. Obviously, an Ocean View One Bedroom Suite would be my choice in the future, but I have to honestly tell you that what we booked for this very last minute trip was the Island Garden View Standard Room. The rooms remind me of Animal Kingdom Lodge or Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World, or Grand Californian at Disneyland.
Aunty's Beach House: There are two options for drop off at Aunty's Beach House, the kid's club. Free sessions are 90 minutes at scheduled times throughout the day, and the Premium Activities are 2.5 hours and can be booked before you arrive. Lilly did the Premium activity called Surf's Up: A Surfin', Fishin', and Dancin' Party, as well as a free session. HOT TIP: The surfboard pictured above can be signed in Sharpie by the characters and make a unique Aulani souvenir! They are part of the Surf's Up package, and I think you can also buy them at the market across the street. Lilly's review: So, Aunty's Beach House is amazing. The Surfin' Fishin' and Dancin' party, when I did it, had Goofy and Max, with magnet fishing, learning how to surf, and, of course, dancing. There is also a room with PlayStations and tablets, and a movie room. Also, a place to do crafts, and a place to make a surfboard.
Character Dining at Makahiki: Francis was obviously the star of this one because he had just purchased the Chip & Dale shoulder buddies. I think Chip covering up Dale for a photo was the funniest interaction we've ever had. The food here is excellent. Breakfast is a prix fixe menu with fruit and malasadas (Portuguese donuts) to start, and a choice of entrée. Mickey waffles are from the keiki (kid's) menu, I had the Punaluu Sweet Bread French Toast , and Francis had the Loco Moco. You do get to visit with Mickey before you're seated, and Minnie also circulates in the restaurant.
Other Restaurants: We were only at Aulani for 3 nights (moving on the Hale Koa in Waikiki for the 2nd half of our trip) and this was very last minute, so we didn't get to eat everywhere. It does help to book a bit farther in advance to get the specialty dining like 'AMA 'AMA. We did LOVE the ULU Cafe poke and spam musubi and ate there more than once. I also had a fabulous lobster roll at Off the Hook, and enjoyed their morning ice coffees. We did save some money on food by shopping at the Island Market across the street, as well. We did not do the Aulani luau on this trip simply because we had booked the Luau at Hale Koa, the military resort. There are many options in the area for luaus!
Pools:
I didn't have my camera in the water, but Lilly specifically wanted me to mention how awesome the family infinity pool with a grotto & view of the beach was. We spent a lot of time at the edge of that pool! We also loved the lazy river, especially that you could just pick up a tube from any pile and go. No need to rent a float or manage keeping track of several floats if you have several kids. As with most Deluxe Disney resorts and the Disney Cruise Line islands, you can also rent cabanas here, which include a TV, seating area, bottled water & snacks, a cabana host. I would 100% rent a cabana next time.
Beach: Ko Onlina, where Aulani is located, has 4 man-made lagoons. Aulani and the Four Seasons share Lagoon #1, aka Kohola Lagoon. The beach here is very clean, as you would expect from Disney & Four Seasons, and has beautiful fine sand. At Makiki Joe's Beach rentals you can get complimentary beach chairs, umbrellas, boogie boards, life jackets, and sand toys, and for a fee, you can rent snorkel gear (which includes access to Rainbow Reef) and Casabellas, which are two person shaded chairs. Outside the lagoon is a walking trail, and the natural beach with tide pools. We didn't discover this area until our last morning, and I wished we had spent more time here!
We've hit the main highlights here, but the thing that makes Aulani extra special is the artwork, attention to detail, attention to nature, and cultural inclusiveness that Disney is so good at. There are nature and artwork tours of the resort, storytelling with Uncle, as well as the opportunity to learn the language in The ‘Ōlelo Room. If you'd like a REALLY deep dive into the design, check out this AllEars.net round-up of retired Imagineer Joe Rohde's Instagram posts about his vacation to Aulani last year. LESSON LEARNED: This was a VERY last minute opportunity thanks to a Southwest fare sale on Hawaii last September, and we had to take what we could get. That meant 3 nights at Aulani followed by 4 nights at Hale Koa, the very nice (but very "not Aulani") military resort in Waikiki. I knew everyone advised against doing Aulani first and another hotel second, and they were 100% correct. We thought it would be easier to do excursions like Pearl Harbor or Kualoa Ranch from Waikiki, but we could have easily managed those things from Ko Olina and would stay at Aulani the whole week next time. We also VERY much enjoyed being there in the off-season (late September). I've heard Aulani can feel very crowded in the summer and other school breaks, and that the competition for pool chairs is cutthroat! Avoid that with spring & fall travel! Right now, you can save 25% on a 5 night stay through April 11–June 11, 2025, and there's usually a similar offer in September–October. If Aulani is on your Disney bucket list, I would love to help you get the most out of your trip!
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