My family and I took a trip back to Hawaii in July, to the lovely island of Oahu. You may have seen my post about our time exploring Oahu with kids. While we spent two days on Waikiki Beach, we cashed in our Disney Vacation Club points and stayed at Aulani for most of our stay.
Aulani, as you can imagine is absolutely top-notch and definitely a place that makes a family vacation enjoyable for all. While Aulani is a Disney property, it was designed to really embrace Hawaiian culture with only sprinkles of Disney throughout, and the onsite amenities were made to mirror many of those you would find about a Disney Cruise.
With the addition of a newly renovated adult-only pool section, that opened this past September, the resort can truly be enjoyed by both families with children and adults vacationing sans kids.
Many have asked if we were going to post our “family vacation recap”, as we did after our Disney Fantasy Cruise and Universal Trip, so before I get into the details of our suggestions an experiences, without further adieu…
The Deets
Pools, Waterslide, Lazy River– Oh, my!
Aulani definitely does not lack in water -fun. You can spend an entire day just hopping around from the pools, the lazy river, infinity hot tubs and the kids water playground. The lazy river was my personal favorite, as I could not go on the slide with my belly bump. The gorgeous infinity pool and hot tubs overlook Aulani’s private beach and is all the beauty you could ask for in a vacation.
Tip: Each day you will need to get a wristband for the pool, as well as towels. Get there early! And DO NOT plan on “reserving” your seats with those towels, my friends. There are what I dubbed “Pool police” that patrol the pool area for pool-side squatters. If they see a seat is empty for longer than about 20 minutes they remove the towel and your belongings back to the towel hut (Where you can claim it) and open up the seat for others to sit. It’s actually a great policy, I personally would love to see at other resorts.
Food
Overall, my opinion of Hawaii is that it is not a vacation you go on for the cuisine. The restaurants at Aulani were OK but definitely left room for improvement.
Mama’s Snack Shop, which has quick bites like hotdogs, chicken fingers and salads was a little over priced for what it offered.
Papalua Shaved Ice. For the love of all things sweet and delicious, do not miss out on the shaved ices at Aulani– and it’s vacation, when they ask if you want sweetened and condensed milk on top? Just say “Yes! “– TRUST. ME.
Makahiki/ Character Dining -This is the Buffett restaurant. We did both the character breakfast here and one night of dining. The breakfast was fun. Characters danced around with the kids, there was a large variety of good eats to choose from, I definitely recommend it. For dinner, the food was as good, again a large variety, but our kids (ages 8 and 5) just didn’t eat that much to justify an additional night of dining there.
AMA AMA This is the more fine dining restaurant on the resort. You will need a reservation to dine here and there is a dress code. AMA, AMA offers live music, good food (presentation a 10), and a gorgeous view – especially at sunset. It is on the pricey side as most fine dining restaurants are but it is a really nice dining experience and definitely beats the buffet! I recommend dining there at least once during your stay.
*Top Pick* ULU Cafe. This was our favorite places to dine on-site. Located by the main pool, this casual outdoor dining restaurant offered reasonably priced sandwiches that we enjoyed. We lunched here probably about 4 times during our stay. The tuna sandwich was my favorite.
*Dining Tip* There are outdoor BBQ’s on premise. We took advantage of this by purchasing hotdogs, chicken and the makings for a great salad and had some great BBQ’s that were cost effective, fun and delish. All of the Disney Vacation Club rooms are equipped with a full kitchen, so if you are staying in a DVC room you can stock up on some easy to make meals so you aren’t buying every meal.
For The Kids/Family
Menehune Hunt. Menehune are mischievous little people with magical powers that live and hide throughout the Aulani resort. Aulani legend is that the children’s Menehune Sprinkler bridge was created by the menehune themselves. Upon arrival, guests are greeted with leis and kids are given a small menehune necklace and told all about these little guys that are hidden throughout the resort. Guests can rent (for free) a device that will send them on a scavenger hunt around the resort property to find the menehune. Along the way there are interactive elements—with special effects involving fire, water, light and animation. There are 3 different trails you can explore. My kids loved this!
Auntie’s Beach House. Auntie’s Beach house is a kids club for children ages 3-12 and has a lot of the same features the kids club on the Disney Cruise ships have. Each child is given an armband to get in which lets them know where your child is within the beach house area at all times. Auntie’s is made up of various indoor and outdoor play areas and filled with games, crafts and costumes, and was the highlight for my kids. Every. single. day they begged us to bring them to Auntie’s.
TIPS: The early morning line to get into Auntie’s can be quite long. You will want to plan on being there 30 minutes before it opens. The first day your child is there they will need to fill out paperwork to register them– so you will want to allot extra time for that. Also, if your child is going to be there for a show/activity or meal, you will need to call ahead and it can fill up quickly. So plan ahead!
The kids love for Auntie’s allowed the hubs and I to enjoy lunch, dinner or drinks. {{ In my case, “drinks” consisted of a big bottle of Pelligrino water at the Olelo lounge because I was expecting. For me, it was the next best thing to being able to enjoy a cocktail…but I digress.}}
Daily family activities. There are various family activities every day that you can sign up for and participate in together. We did the family beach relay activities and got to soak the kids with super soakers and bury them in the sand– it was great. We also did the Kayak making and racing activity with Uncle and character drawing lessons– which for the record, I totally rocked.
Tip: Many of these activities have limited spots, so you want to be sure to sign up for them first thing in the morning.
Character Meet & Greets. Though not as many or as often as you might find onboard a Disney Cruise, there are several meet and greets for kids throughout the day and the lines were not terrible, which means more smiles and less in-line melt downs. Yay!
Menehune Bridge and Splash-Zone. Recommended for kids 8 and under, my kids LOVED this spot. Water slides, sprinklers, bridges, it is a lot of fun. There is seating for parents available all along the bridge area.
Painted Sky Spa for teens
For teens (14+), Aulani offers the only teen spa on Hawaii. The Painted Sky spa has age-specific spa treatments, as well as things like a lounge, Yogurt bar, Computer stations, Daily teen-only events and D.I.Y. mixology bar for body polishes and face masks! My daughter (5) was bummed she was too young to spend time here. Would have been adorable to have something like this for little divas her age, but there was plenty else for her age. We will have to come back and visit the Painted Sky spa when she is older.
For All Ages
Starlit Hui. This is probably in my top 3 things I loved about this resort. The Starlit Hui takes place on the lawn. Before the luau show, there are tons of fun activities for kids to enjoy including lei making, hula lessons and more. Definitely plan on arriving in time to enjoy some of these! When you are ready to be seated for the show, you are provided a bamboo mats to sit on. The show is hosted by Uncle, and includes a great mix of traditional Hawaiian dancers (including fire-swallowers!) and favorite Disney characters. Kids who learned the hula in the pre-show activities are invited to the stage to show off their new skills– which my little hula girl, was super excited about. The end of the show closes with an interactive Disney-style dance party where families can dance and take pictures withe Disney Characters.
Rainbow Reef. Though a tad (read: very) cold, Aulani’s Rainbow Reef offers daily snorkeling with some gorgeous fish and sea life. The rainbow reef pool is great for first time snorkelers as it is small, private area compared to ocean snorkeling. My husband and my son visited twice during our stay and really enjoyed it. Laina and I watched on the sidelines through the glass window. For daily rentals it is $15 per adult (ages 10 and up); $10 per child (ages 9 and under) and for $20 per adult (ages 10 and up); $15 per child (ages 9 and under), you can snorkel an unlimited amount of times throughout your stay.
Sunset Photos. While there are plenty of great places on the resort to catch an amazing view of the sunest, to the left of the resort is a hilly area that is a great overlook to Ko Olina Beach that makes the most beautiful pictures.
Tip: When the sun is down, take the time to explore the resort all lit up at night!
For The Adults Walking Tour Of Aulani Resort. While at the resort, we were able to take a guided walking tour of the property. There is so much culture and fascinating back stories to be heard about the design of the resort. For instance, there are different details that are within the gorgeous 200 foot mural that adorns the the walls of the Maka’ala lobby, and splits the lobby in two sides – masculine and feminine.
Another fun story you will want to hear is how the team worked with Hawaiian students from kindergarten through grade 12 to create the colorful “Rainbow Wall”collage behind guest services. If you are a fun-fact lover like my husband and I, this is a definite must do.
Olelo Room. The Oleo Lounge can be found on the lower level of the resort and has indoor and outdoor seating. Olelo is Hawaiian for language and the inside lounge features wooden carvings that teach guests different Hawaiian words. The bartenders were extremely friendly, knowledgeable and helped with pronunciations of various words.
Laniwa Spa. For guests looking for a little relaxation, the resort has impressive day spa services you can indulge in, including facials, messages and couple messages. The Laniwa spa is home to the only outdoor hydrotherapy garden on O‘ahu! Kids at Auntie’s beach house? Say Ohmmmm. You can see a list of spa services here.
Infinity Pool and Grotto. Overlooking Ko Olina Beach, this infinity pool is a feature that just opened this September. We did not get the chance to check it out as it was not open when we were there. However, we did get to view the construction site and have seen pictures since and the view looks ah-mazing!
