Hawaii - Disney Aulani

Any feedback/tips from FT'ers on the new Disney Aulani Resort in Ko Olina?

JW Marriott resort is next door and shares lagoon. Can you walk between both properties easily?

We have booked a stay for a few days. No kids, but like Disney stuff and the pictures of the resort look amazing. Pools, lagoon, etc. . .

Moderators if this is in wrong forum -- me bad. sorry. Thanks all!

We were at the Ihilani for a function and decided to check out the Aulani. Very easy to go between the two if you head through the front entrance and not the lagoon. The lagoon entrance to the Aulani looks like it can be controlled by key card, but it was freely open.

Overall, the resort looked "eh"; kind of like the Californian but in Hawaii. Lots of pools, lazy river, and a manmade reef, though. Probably the best pool for kids on the island.

davesam12,

The Aulani is a great property and in traditional Disney fashion the service and attention to detail is great. They spent a lot of time and resources to ensure their Hawaiian cultural interpretations were correct and done respectfully.

As mentioned earlier, it is a great place for families and you'll see a lot at the resort. However, it's not like the Magic Kingdom. You'll see a few Disney characters pop up from time to time but the hotel management describes it as, "you might see Mickey & Minnie on their Hawaiian vacation."

If you haven't been to Oahu before it's important to note that the property is located on the West side of the island. This is about an hour from Waikiki with traffic. So your activities in that area are mostly restricted to the resorts.

A rental car would be a great idea to check out Oahu. There is so much to explore and it's easy to get around. I'd suggest you drive to Haleiwa on the North Shore. This is a small surfing village. Kua Aina (http://www.kua-aina.com/main.html) has great burgers. Matsumotos (http://www.matsumotoshaveice.com/) is also famous for their Shave Ice. You can then check out the surfers at Sunset Beach and the Bonzai Pipeline.

Another great day trip is to visit Kailua/Lanikai beach on the windward side. The beach IMO is the nicest one on Oahu. There are also two small islands called the Mokes you can Kayak to and do some exploring. You'll need to line up your kayak rental ahead of time. There are a few places in Kailua you can Google for their names.

Closer to your hotel are some great boating excursions (http://koolinaoceanadventures.com/). The marina is very close to your hotel. If you like dolphins here is one I recommend.

I hope you have a great vacation.

Aloha,

Jim - Owner - Travel Beyond

Is the construction 100% complete? If not, would you be able to hear anything from a neighboring resort?

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Is the construction 100% complete? If not, would you be able to hear anything from a neighboring resort?

Construction appeared to be 100% complete. This was last month. No construction noise that we could hear while walking around.

I'm considering staying at the Villas at Ko olina.. My understanding is that Ko olina is beside Ihilani, which is beside Aulani..

Question: Any opinions about booking at Ko olina to be near Aulani?.. or better to book Aulani for the full experience?

We've got our spring break flights book.. so we're ready to pull the trigger on hotel accomodations.. Planning to be in Oahu for 10 or 11 nights beginning March 22nd.. and going to Maui for the same amount of time before heading back..

Anyone been there? My family and I are huge Disney fans and are considering a vacation to Aulani. The prices are steep, as are the charges at restaurants, spa, activities, etc. But I'm wondering if it is worth the usual Disney markup. Also, are the suites worth the EXTREME increase in price over standard rooms? Any and all advice will be appreciated!

I haven't been there, but I have stayed a few times in Ko'Olina. I have always consdered it in the middle of nowhere. It's about 20 minutes west from the airport and 40 minutes from Waikiki - without traffic.

When I stay there, it's to get an outer-island experience without actually flying to another island. I do the same when I feel like staying on the North Shore.

The prices for everything there are steep - really steep. As big a Disney fan as I am, I wouldn't spend a dime there. If you don't plan on leaving their property, then it does look like a lovely place to stay, but be prepared to pay through the nose :)

Oahu is the most cost-effective island to visit. Why pay top dollar for Disney when you could either stay at a hotel in Waikiki for far less money or actually go to Kauai or Maui?

All that is, of course, MHO ;)

In a couple weeks we are staying at Aulani for 4 nights before moving into Waikiki. Made the reservation last October. The resort is getting majority raves on other travel websites. The rooms, grounds, amenities look amazing. Have called the hotel directly a couple times this month with questions/requests and had outstanding customer service on the phone. "Oh, let us arrange that for you. We can take of that for you." etc. and we just have their "standard" non-ocean view room (cheapest:D) booked and aren't DVC members. Yes, the repeated theme in many reviews I have read is the expensive food/drink. (well, the room rates are not cheap either :p) One can look at the menus on line. We plan to eat a couple meals at the JW Marriott resort right next door. The JW Ihilani has, as one of their on site choices a more moderate priced restaurant that serves all day/evening. One recent Disney blog I just read said that Aulani opened another lower end fast/counter food choice this month on property in addtion to the couple they had. (Guest were really griping about the on property high food cost and limited choices.) Across the street from Aulani (easy walking distance) there appears to be a shopping area that has some more reasonable food choices. And all rooms come with a fridg (and larger suites/villas have kitchens of course.) so bringing some of your own food is an option. We did book dinner one night at their ocean front restaurant. Looking at the on line menu for two of us - cocktails, 3 courses, with tip is going to be at least a $200+ dinner.

Re: Travel websites... are you talking about the Disney related ones? If so, well, I take all those reviews with a grain of salt, many of them are DVC owners and think the mouse is the greatest thing, since, well, cheese :) In general, I've found Disney-travel anything outrageously priced.

I'd love to get the perspective from another FTer for the way we like to travel - not Disney nuts.

In other words... make sure you post a review :)

Re: Travel websites... are you talking about the Disney related ones? If so, well, I take all those reviews with a grain of salt, many of them are DVC owners and think the mouse is the greatest thing, since, well, cheese :) In general, I've found Disney-travel anything outrageously priced.

I'd love to get the perspective from another FTer for the way we like to travel - not Disney nuts.

In other words... make sure you post a review :)

Both "Disney nut" blogs/sites and tripadvisor. (I like Oyster too, but it doesn't have the Aulani reviewed yet.) Am happy to post a review of our Aulani stay on our return to the mainland. Over the years have done vacations at several of the Disney high end properties, many multiple times. So count us in the "nut" crowd I guess. ( Of course, we're Hawaii "nuts" also! :D)

Disneyland Hotel
Grand Californian
Grand Floridian
Polynesian (Imagined Hawaii Disney style :p)
Contemporary
Contemporary - Bay Lake Tower
Animal Kingdom Lodge

Were all wonderful, but $$$$$. We actually have stayed at several of the moderate and "value" Disney properties also and had great experiences.

So, yes when Disney announced the building of the Aulani a few years ago -- knew we just had to stay. Hawaii and Disney -- a "nut's" dream I guess. :D Aloha!

Hey, I'm in that nut category too :) I go to Disney at least 3x a year, and sometimes more. I'm good for 2 trips to Hawaii each year. I've staying in just about all their hotels, and right now, the Contemporary and The Poly are our favorites.

But I basically ignore the nut sites :)

We're DVC owners (Boardwalk at Disney World) and now that our kids are at university we've been using our points for other locations. We're definitely not "Disney Nuts" but I do find that Disney properties are generally very good and the service is much better than average.

We had a 4 night stay in a 2-BR unit at Aulani this past February and really enjoyed it. It's a very big resort and there are lots of kids running around and using the facilities but it got very quiet by 11:00 pm. We didn't spend a huge amount of time at the resort so I can't comment on a lot of the facilities, but we really enjoyed swimming in their lagoon. Had a great meal at the ocean-front restaurant and, as has been mentioned above, did find it a bit pricey. We also ate at Roy's Ko Olina (across the road within easy walking distance) and had a fabulous meal there. We like to cook for ourselves and the kitchens are well-equipped. There's an upscale ABC store across the road where you can get a lot of staples, a large supermarket is a fairly close drive away. You will probably want a car, no easy public transit options available. We saw characters every now and then, but it's definitely not oozing Disney like the theme parks.

It's basically a big, standard DVC resort with a great Hawaiian theme located on Oahu which suits us just fine. We'll be back in November!

We started this HI trip with 4 nights at Aulani. Fabulous. We'll go back. Whole Aulani area including JW resort and private residences is gated. So, when you go through security gate - they check you on the Aulani guest list. Guard, says "Welcome home Mr./Ms. ----" When you pull up to Aulani main lobby entrance valet/greeters offer same greeting by name (alerted from security booth of course),soft drink offered, lei greeting, cast member gives you a private mini tour of lobby area and quick resort overview and private check in at desk with cast member. We arrived about 3 pm, jet lagged and were in our room in 30 mins, with bell man bringing luggage within 5 mins of being in room. It was very busy - lots of folks arriving that time of day, but they were staffed to hilt so no one had to wait long.
Every staff encounter - no matter what time of day, what they were doing was welcoming and professional. They have trained them well. (example- early riser -- 5:30 a.m. - strolling down for some early coffee, staff on their hands and knees cleaning carpet spots, cleaning windows, just walking in from parking lot to go to work not even on the clock yet -etc. look up and say "good morning, how are you?" Not really expected. Any encounter with any "cast member" included "Are you enjoying your visit? Is there anything we can do?" That type inquiry was consistant for any level of staff. Again, excellent training program reflected.

No kids, so we spent most of the days at quiet pool area and lagoon front. Large pool, water slides, waterfalls, etc. of course drew the families, but we did those also a couple times for fun. We ate at high end Ama Ama, buffet (which also has started offering an ala carte menu) and pool side service. Expensive but good food and excellent service. We ate one meal at the JW next door. Cocktail spaces were wonderful and they have small appetizer menus that one could have a light dinner.

Went to Starlit Hui evening show. Fun. Slick Disney professionally produced.

We just had a non-view standard room. It was lovely. We are not DVC. Still felt pampered.

Thanks for the report. Sounds like you had a great time ^^

I still doubt I would stay there, but your report is a help should I change my mind :)

Has anyone visited without staying there? I'm planing to drive there to pick up some souvenirs for the kids. Any public parking options?

Has anyone visited without staying there? I'm planing to drive there to pick up some souvenirs for the kids. Any public parking options?

Its open to anyone. You won't be able to use their facilities, but you can visit the resturaunts. You'd probably find better souvenirs at the Disney store at Ala Moana Mall in Honolulu. There is no public parking to speak of, but if you park @ Disney or at any of the 2 Marriotts and eat, you can get your parking validated.

Do NOT attempt to park across the street at the shopping centers. Security is tight and they'll boot your car. You then have to pay a cash fine to get them to realease it.

Each of the lagoons have a public parking area, maybe for 20 cars
there are empty spaces quite often during the week and early or later in the day

We observed every day during our visit (particularly in the evenings) locals and/or non guests enjoying the Aulani's restaurants, cocktail lounges. Had staff tell us locals were visiting often. Yes, they do a different color wrist band daily for guest to monitor use of pool areas and associated amenties and as standard with all Disney properties you sometimes have to show your resort card id given to you at check in. Beach front access to and from the resort property is gated and can only be accessed by your resort card. Sometimes the gate was also monitored by a staff member. Parking will be the hassle if the public beach park lot fills up, plan on paying even if you come just for the day or evening I think pulling up to the front hotel entrance valet is the same daily rate if you just pull in the parking garage and self-park. And as mentioned if you eat, they will validate.

Each of the lagoons have a public parking area, maybe for 20 cars
there are empty spaces quite often during the week and early or later in the day

While there is a small lot next to Disney, it fills up quickly. I wouldn't plan to use public parking and waste your day waiting for a spot. If you drive to Lagoon 4, you can park at the Marina for $10 per day as well and walk to Aulani.

Has anyone visited without staying there? I'm planing to drive there to pick up some souvenirs for the kids. Any public parking options?

Went there today, about 2:30pm, with my daughter to check out the property. Got a parking space, actually had three spaces to choose from, in the beach access lot betweenthe Aulani and the JW Marriott.
We walked into the Aulani parking structure, then went up to their lobby level with a short walk into the hotel.
NO CHARGES! :)

I was helping a guest pick up a rental car at the Alamo desk in the Aulani the other day. The place was packed!

The property is beautifully done, with nice Hawaiian theming throughout the buildings. The outside area around the pool felt like I was at Disneyland, the rocks looked similar to splash mountain.

The property has a buffet restaurant down stairs, along with a fine dining restaurant and a snack bar around the pool and beach area. They also have a shave ice stand.

I agree that heading to Ko Olina is like going to an outer island without having to catch another plane flight. I recommend Kua Aina and Matsumoto's as well on the North Shore. Mom used to take me to Matsumoto's for a reward after I got my hair cut across the street. The barber shop is long gone but good memories.