Trip Report Aulani Trip Report (quasi-live)

Who's up for a visit to Hawai'i? Well, we have been. For about 10 years we've been planning this one and it is finally here. If you happened to follow our trip reports, yes, we just got back from Disney World less than a week ago. And, no, we are not made of $$. In fact, my wife and I are both high school teachers just outside Baltimore, Maryland. We have been saving and planning for this Hawai'i trip for quite some time. This summer's visit to The World was a bit of a surprise. We are DVC members and already had annual passes from our visit last summer. We had just enough points to visit DW and our daughter wanted to do the Disney Soccer Academy, so it all worked out for us to do two vacations this summer. The flip side is....we'll be eating Ramen Noodles 3 meals a day for the next few months.

Anyway, you didn't sign up to hear our budgeting plans or anything, you are here to see pictures (and maybe a tale or two) of Hawai'i, I'll bet!

So, we'll start at the beginning! On Tuesday morning, we were up at 3am and driving to the airport by 4am. We were getting to the airport because there had been a name error with our tickets which (according to the person on the phone at USAirways) had been resolved, but we wanted to get there early to make sure. Turns out, nothing was resolved and they wanted to charge us $200 to fix things. After significant arguing and frustration with the total lack of quality customer service (at one point, the teller just walked away while I was asking a question and went through a door and closed it), my wife checked with TSA to see if they would accept multiple IDs with our tickets and they said it was no problem at all. People use the term "money grab" quite a bit around here and to me, this was a true money grab. Basically, USAirways said "they won't let you through security with that problem and it will cost you $200 to fix it. And we refuse to acknowledge the fact that you already fixed it with us a couple months ago" to which TSA said, "No problem, you're all set." OK, airline complaints aside....by 7am Maryland time we were on the plane and about 2pm Hawai'i time we were landing in Honolulu.


Got our luggage, caught our shuttle bus, and were at Aulani by 4pm. Here's the view coming into our room - yes, we really liked the woodwork on the door!


We had an 'island garden view' room, which basically means you are facing away from the ocean, but aren't over the parking lot. Well, my wife did some research and put in a specific room request and boy did she score big time. Here is the view from our balcony.


And here is a little stowaway from the Disney World trip last week.


Once we had settled into the room, we decided that we were pretty seriously needing some food, so we headed downstairs and tracked down some eats. Our daughter simply got chicken tenders and chips (10 hours in the plane made it tough to be food adventurous) while my wife and I split a bbq/guava pork flatbread from Ulu (one of the counter service restaurants). Food was great and the view of the ocean (don't worry those pics will be coming later) was amazing. We also picked up the refillable mugs since we plan to be staying in the resort area for at least 4-5 days this week and it is definitely a good savings for us to get them.


After eating, we came back up to the room crazy tired and almost ready to turn in at 6pm. But, that would be giving in to jet lag, so...put on the swimsuits and went out to the pool! A quick turn in the lazy river and then some swimming in the infinity pool was actually quite relaxing and the water was good for all the sore muscles from 10 hours of plane seats. We just spent about 45 minutes enjoying and then did head back to the room.
 
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AJ's B

Member
Sounds like a great ending to an awesome vacation! We watch The Disney channel with my 7year old grandson. We will be looking for you. I've enjoyed reading your reports. You have had a great Disney summer. We leave for 11 nights at BLT and SSR on August 19.
 

brifraz

Marching along...
Premium Member
Original Poster
Concluding Thoughts on Aulani

Well, first off, it is absolutely beautiful. I don't know that I have ever seen a more beautiful resort anywhere. The building, the grounds, the pools, the beach - all amazing. And, of course, it's in Hawai'i so the surroundings are pretty nice! The room was very nice - we were in a studio and I certainly felt like it was larger than most DVC studios (still not as big as Old Key West, but close). Obviously, we scored big time with the view. I highly recommend going online and checking the views from different rooms and then making requests. It worked great for us.

There is certainly more than enough to do at the resort that you could just stay onsite for an entire week (not that I would recommend that - c'mon, this is Hawai'i, you have to explore). They have tons of daily activities for both adults and kids. The activities after dark are a bit limited (live Hawai'ian music at a couple of the lounges), but after days at the pool and beach, the relaxed nighttime is nice. The cultural activities are great and it really is amazing how Hawai'ian everything is!

ALL of our experiences with the staff were excellent. The three bartenders (and one in training) at Olelo room were really great, the staff who ran the programs were great - the hula class, the 'ukulele class, the pool party, and the DVC member activities were all excellent. Since we were staying on DVC points, we can't really speak to the housekeeping staff, but the building was always clean and our room was certainly in great shape when we arrived.

Now, there are a few less than stellar things, but none of them are deal breakers, that is for sure! The dining options onsite are not really all that amazing. Makahiki was a very good buffet and the character breakfast was enjoyable there. Ama Ama is nice table dining, but nothing amazing. Ulu has some unique offerings and we really liked it. Off the Hook was more typical Disney counter service fare. Really liked the appetizers at the Olelo room and the Happy Hour menu and prices were the best deal on site in our opinion. Overall, though, we definitely had some better dining off site. And, we HIGHLY recommend the Aloha Hour at Roy's across the street - those were the best deals on the island!!

The scarcity of pool chairs is an issue. Actually, they tell you every time you pick up a towel that there is a 1 hour chair use policy and they will clear away items left for over an hour. If they were actually to enforce this policy, I expect that the pool chairs would be much less of a problem. This is more an issue with self-centered people who put out towels at 7am and don't actually come to the pool until after lunch than with Aulani, but we REALLY wish they would enforce this policy.

This last one is nit-picking, but...both of the doors to the bathroom have open wood slats meaning that there is very little privacy in there, and there is no fan. So, if the room is quiet, anything you do in there is a shared experience!

Overall, a really impressive, excellent experience. Aulani immerses you in Hawai'ian culture like the better DW resorts immerse you in Disney, which (to me) is what truly makes it a great Disney experience. If we ever find ourselves with more money than we know what to do with or we manage to save for another 10 years, we will certainly be back!
 

coachwnh

Well-Known Member
So, our final day started off slowly. Packing and getting cleaned up for the last day. Also, our daughter talked to one of the friends she had made in the evenings at Aunty's and found out that some of the cast from Jessie were onsite and doing some taping, so we were on the lookout all day. We had read in numerous places about the Luana Lounge for those leaving on late flights and were glad there was a place for us to store things and get cleaned up after swimming for the flight. Sadly, we found out (quite late - like, that morning) that the lockers are only 30 minutes to use while you are taking a shower and that the room is only single access for you to get cleaned up. Had we known that in the beginning, we would've planned quite differently. So, we were a bit frustrated with it - just wish that they had more information (and particularly more specific and correct information) on the official website. We had to do a little repacking and also put our laptop and iPad in a front desk safe deposit box. Then it was over to the pool (about 11am) for some swimming. Sadly, almost the minute we got a chair (more on that later) it started to rain and with our bag of clothes and other things we might need in tow, I went for cover in the Pau Hana community room while the girls enjoyed getting wet from both above and below as soon it was a complete downpour. Eventually, the rain subsided and I was back outside with them enjoying the pool.

We did a later lunch at Off the Hook, which is right next to the pool. Standard Disney counter-service type food, nothing special. After lunch, it was time for the Pool Games which (while geared a little younger) were something our daughter really wanted to take part in. The games were led by a cast member and a Disney friend.


And the crowd of kids was LARGE (this is only one area)!


While the girls were playing, I was returning the rental car. On my return into the lobby, I saw that they were currently taping the Jessie kids in there, so I quickly called the girls and up they came to watch. It was pretty cool watching the numerous takes of them entering the hotel and getting their leis from the regular Aulani cast members. Big excitement - we are fairly certain that I am going to be in the background of one of the shots!


If you don't know Jessie, it is a Disney Channel show targeted at Tweens (I'd say 8-12 is their target) about a country girl who comes to NYC to be an actress and ends up as a Nanny to three adopted kids of a pair of rich (mostly absent) parents. Those are the three kids. After they finished working on the scene and whisked the actors away (always blocked by a gang of producers and directors and their parents), we headed back downstairs to actually use the Luana Lounge and get cleaned up and changed for dinner and then our flight. The plan was for our daughter to have one last dinner at Aunty's while we had one last visit to Olelo Room. After changing, we went over to the Pau Hana room to relax - and watch Frozen which was being shown on the tv in there. Toward the end of the movie, we were getting ready to head to dinner when a gentlemen approached us and asked if we had some free time and could help out....with the filming! Heck, yeah!! He tells us that the director will have to come meet us and decide if we are OK for his needs. Evidently, there were a couple families in the running for this and he was going to pick. Much to our surprise, upon his return, he decided to go with us. So, the assistant got us to fill out a number of waivers (he even joked about us giving up our next child to Disney) and then we headed outside.

We had really very little idea what was going to happen, but we were told they were going to be doing a ukelele lesson scene for Disney 365 (another show) and we were going to be the real family in the background. The filming was outside near the lazy river and they had a few mats set up. When we got to the shoot, we met with the three Jessie (Skai Jackson, Cameron Boyce, and Karan Brar) kids plus Tory Freeth, the Disney 365 host. They were quite happy that we were a real family - I guess the family they had worked with earlier in the day had just been 3 people who looked 'good' for the scene and weren't actually a family! We sat with our ukelele and filmed a short scene with the Aulani uke teacher about 6 or 7 times over. It was pretty fun and between takes, the actors were very laid back and relaxed and having quite a good time with us! Hoping that we don't make the cutting room floor. So, keep an eye out for Disney 365 at Aulani. Should look something like this!


We were quite amazed with how calm and cool our daughter was through the whole thing as she loves the show, Jessie, and is a big fan of Skai Jackson. They had a good moment at the end of filming comparing their small ukelele blisters. After we left the scene, we did get some dinner at Olelo (way too late for the dinner at Aunty's for our daughter) and for that hour, our daughter was absolutely giddy with excitement - there were occasional squeals and jumping. Again, we met up with the retired folks from Indianapolis and had a good time chatting with them again.

And, after that incredible last day, it was sadly time to head home. Took the shuttle to the airport, got all checked in, and then headed back to Maryland. Recap coming soon!
That is so cool!
 

Sands611

Active Member
I was in Maui in February, the weather is feast or famine as far as rain goes. Enjoy this trip adn like reading your report. I am planning the similar trip your on now!
 

brifraz

Marching along...
Premium Member
Original Poster
Great report - you guys really know how to vacation!

PS - Good luck with the new job! I'm excited for you!

Thanks! We've had a pretty amazing summer. I have one week to catch up on everything at the house and then I start 2 weeks of 9am-9pm days....Good thing we stocked up on family time.
 

brifraz

Marching along...
Premium Member
Original Poster
That is soooooooo cool! You guys are so cute.

Sounds like a great ending to an awesome vacation! We watch The Disney channel with my 7year old grandson. We will be looking for you. I've enjoyed reading your reports. You have had a great Disney summer. We leave for 11 nights at BLT and SSR on August 19.

So cool! I will look out for you guys!!

That is so cool!

Hey, all! The Disney 365 with Jessie kids at Aulani has finally premiered. We caught it last week one morning before school at 6am. I expect it will continue to run for a few weeks as they have a Jessie Aulani contest going on. I didn't make the cut, but my wife and daughter do get about half a second of screen time right at the very end of the ukelele lesson segment. Woo-hoo!
 

mrdrift

Well-Known Member
Thanks you for sharing all of the good and bad at the resort. All of the pictures turn out really good. Love the turtle beach pictures. Thanks for sharing your magical trip in Hawaii with us.
 

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