Disney's Aulani Resort, Hawaii

During our recent trip to Hawaii, we stayed at Disney's Aulani Resort and Spa,  which is located in Ko Olina, on the leeward coast of Oahu. If you haven't gathered by now, I am a bit of a Disney Girl and kid at heart, and love all things Disney. Luckily, my Husband is also a kid at heart and has as much fun as I do exploring Disney's creations around the world. 

While researching our trip, I looked into other hotels as resorts as a bit of a 'due diligence', but always knew we would end up staying at Aulani. I will run through the pros and cons of staying at this Heaven on Earth, general tips, what we got up to and of course - photos! 

Resort Information and History
Aulani means "messenger of the chief" and opened on the shores of Ko Olina in 2011. Aulani celebrates Hawaiian culture, history and traditions while adding a touch of subtle Disney Magic to the everyday resort happenings. The resort spans over 21 acres on the edge of a private lagoon and you truly feel like you are in your own little paradise. With Ko Olina Golf Course across the road, as well as a selection of shops and restaurants, there is plenty to keep you occupied within the area.
A variety of rooms are available, from standard studio styles to family suites. Rooms are on the side of pricey, starting at just under $400 USD a night, but if you keep an eye out on the Aulani website, deals like these pop up all the time. We stayed in a 1 Bedroom suite over looking the resort pools and ocean (view from our balcony is displayed in the picture above) and it was absolutely stunning (not to mention bigger than our current apartment...).
Aulani is a decent car ride out of Waikiki. If you are after a fast-paced holiday, nightspots to go out to and shopping centres, Aulani is probably not the resort for you. It is easy enough to spend the day in Waikiki and get your tourist and shopping fix, but probably not quite the same as just 'popping out' if you are staying in Waikiki. If you are after a true, relaxing vacation, then I would highly suggest looking into this resort.

View from across the road

Our lounge room

Kitchen area (excuse the towels...)

There is a trundel bed hidden in the TV cabinet!

Fun carpet print

Standard Disney greeting... can you spot the hidden Mickeys...??

Getting There
There is no Disney transport from the airport like other Disney destinations, and if you are planning to do a lot of sight-seeing during your trip, I highly recommend hiring a car. Aulani is about a half-hour trip from the airport (in good traffic) and an expensive taxi ride. If your holiday will be more resort-based with only a few days of sight-seeing, it will be more cost effective to catch a taxi from the airport, and hire a car from the resort on the days you require it. We went with this option and also utilised the shuttle bus services on offer to different locations around the Island, organised through the resort. Check-in is not until 3pm, however our room was ready upon arrival, so we were able to get into the room as soon as we arrived which we were not expecting!

Resort Tips
+ This tip will not be new to regular Disney Vacationers, but purchase a refillable cup as soon as you arrive. A variety of cold drinks and coffee are available for unlimited refills through out your stay. If you are a coffee drinker, I would recommend purchasing a separate cup for coffee, as the plastic the cup is made from seems to retain the coffee scent and effects the way the rest of your beverages taste. I ended up using my breakfast voucher for my morning coffee and getting a disposable cup each day.

+ Get up early. I know this may not seem ideal on a Vacation, but for the days you are planing to spend around the resort, it is well worth it, especially in peak times. Placing your towels on chairs a bit before the pools open (8am) to secure prime positions is useful if you are concerned about that type of thing. The line for Ulu Cafe can also start to get quite long after 8-9am, so getting there early will also save you time. If you are only after cereal/bagel/fruit etc, remember that the big queue outside the cafe is for the hot food. You are able to walk straight in and just wait for the register line if you do not want a hot breakfast.

 What breakfast often looked like for us.

Early bird gets the worm..or the prime location

+ Keep your wrist bands on for a bit of fun/resort status haha. We had to take the ones off from the days before our wedding, but ended up with some pretty fun looking arm candy.

When your arm candy matches your bikini?? Winning. 

+ Know your happy hours. The various bars around the resort have individual happy hours, as well as Monkey Pod across the road. A variety of drinks and food are available for a fraction of the cost and can save you a lot on the cost of food. 

Enjoying happy hour at Monkey Pod

+ Buy your snacks outside of the resort. Eating resort-only food gets very expensive. There is an ABC Store across the road which has a variety of snack food, as well as a Target about 7 minutes down the road. We purchased wines, cheese, crackers, bars, sweets etc from these stores so we had ample fuel for the day and weren't tempted by the Mickey Mouse shaped treats quite as often as we could have been...

+ Plan to have no plan for a part of your trip. We opted for a relaxed resort day every second day, and visited elsewhere on the island on the 'off days'. We really wanted this trip to feel like a relaxing holiday, but still wanted to do some sight seeing, and as we were lucky enough to be staying for two weeks, we were able to plan our trip like that.

+ Book restaurant reservations as soon as you make your resort booking. In peak season, some restaurants can book out (especially the character breakfast!) so be sure to get in early. You can make these reservations through your Disney account. 'AMA'AMA is a must - the food is amazing and the setting just perfect. We dined here the night before our wedding it it was a very special night for us. The character breakfast is also a must for Disney Fans (food was standard Disney buffet) and all of the separate bars and cafes around the resort each have something different to offer.

 Hanging with Minnie at the Makahiki Character Buffet Breakfast

Goofy taking me for a spin.

+ Grab the daily newsletter, The Daily Iwa from the information area in the Lobby. It tells you the resort schedule for the day and evening, including character meet and greet times and locations. You will see Minnie, Mickey and Goofy quite easily every day, but Stitch, Donald and Chip and Dale are a bit harder to find if you aren't sure of the schedule.

We wanted to take Stitch home. 

Things to do

In the two weeks that we were at Aulani, it felt like we only just scratched the surface of things to do around the resort. You could not leave the place for your entire trip and still have something new to do each day. An extensive list of all the resort has to offer can be found here, but some of our favourites were :

+ Snorkelling. We got a pass for our whole stay and took numerous dips in the Rainbow Reef. 

+ Waikolohe Stream, or the Lazy River. Oh my, how I loved the lazy river!!! I went around and around every resort day that we had. Beware of the cheeky spots where you may get wet... if this is not your thing, you can easily learn how to avoid them after a few laps. There are also 2 water slides that are a part of the Waikolohe Valley. I am more of a roller coaster gal, but went on them once and they weren't bad. 

+ Aulani Beach. Simply gorgeous. 

Do you like Pina Coladas?

I will leave this post here, and finish up with some photos of the resort and resort area and just say that if you a Disney Resort Fan, Aulani should definitely be added to the Disney Bucket List. We would return in a heartbeat. If you are after a detailed trip report and more information on the resort, head on over the the lovelies at Disney Tourist Blog. As always, they know their stuff!!

Aloha!!