Trip Report *COMPLETED* Aloha...E Komo Mai to Our Aulani Adventure!

Hi Everyone!

Based on the feedback we received during our last trip report, which you can read here, we have decided to write a trip report chronicling our first visit to the Aulani resort in Ko 'Olina, Hawaii. Not sure if this is the place for such a report as it's not WDW-based but figured I'd start here and if it's moved, so be it.

We just returned yesterday afternoon after a terrific eight days in paradise. Amazing to think how quickly things came and went, especially considering we made this reservation using our DVC points seven months ago, but the visit will be one we look back on for a long time. We didn't put together a pre-trip report or anything so here is a short preamble before we dive into all the sunny details.

So...for those of you who read our last report, you may recall that our last visit to WDW was not supposed to happen. Instead, we were 48 hours away from traveling to Honolulu for our second visit to the island. We were booked to stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, not Aulani. Less than two days before we were to take off, hurricane Lane hit the Hawaiian islands and our trip was wiped out. Our last minute scrambling allowed us to salvage our vacation and resulted in an unexpected return to the World. That trip was fantastic but we couldn't help feel lousy about missing out on Hawaii.

It was something we looked forward to for months so when we returned from WDW, Kelly and I decided we would try it again, this time focusing on using our DVC points to stay at Aulani. Our plan was to look at an April 2019 visit and as the seven-month window crept closer, we kept a close eye on the availability of a standard view studio. The day finally came that we were able to jump on the DVC site and we were most pleased to snag a studio for a trip from April 6 - 13!

We were pretty jacked up but felt a little guilty revealing to our moms, Ally and Deb, that we were heading back to Hawaii. They were so excited to be going to the islands with us before the hurricane and you could tell they were disappointed not to be included on this trip. Alas, we had a long-awaited beach vacation to look forward to and the added bonus of some Disney magic!

This report might not be as detail-oriented as a typical WDW visit, but we took a lot of pictures and explored the resort as best we could while we were there. Hopefully it gives you a good look into what Aulani has to offer.

Mahalo in advance for reading along. Kelly and I are excited to share our latest trip with you!

 

[PacNWTigger]

So, I’ve kinda gone MIA again over the last little bit but Kelly and I just got back from a few days away in the mountains with the kids.

We may have ended up bringing back a new member of the family on our way home.

Everyone, we’re pleased to introduce you to Lily!

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While she will never replace our beloved Marty, she will most definitely help fill the void that he created when he sadly left us before last Christmas.

She is adorable! Congrats to you guys on the new family member.

 

[KellBelle]

So sweet! I am sure she will get more love than she knows what to do with!

 

[Duckberg]

Its great to see a NICE Family having a WONDERFUL Disney Hawaiian time. Thank you for sharing your photos.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

She is adorable! Congrats to you guys on the new family member.

So sweet! I am sure she will get more love than she knows what to do with!

Thanks so much. She hasn’t left our sides yet. Kelly is beyond in Love.

Its great to see a NICE Family having a WONDERFUL Disney Hawaiian time. Thank you for sharing your photos.

Thank you so much! I appreciate the message and you following along

 

[Matt and Kelly]

As usual, our morning bled into the afternoon and we hopped from pool to pool, slide to slide, and the odd hot tub here and there as well.

The kids couldn’t get enough of the water and even with a stiff breeze, it was still beautifully hot and so nice to sit out by the water and relax.

Very rarely did the kids get out of the water but it was always easy to keep an eye on them or jump in and cool off.

With a pretty solid breakfast in our bellies, lunch wasn’t a super high priority but after a little while and with all the activity in the pool, the girls we all over getting one more shave ice to enjoy since they knew our time at Aulani was nearing an end. They still weren’t keen on the condensed milk but they sure did enjoy the treat.

While the kids were enjoying their early afternoon snack, I made my way to the room to grab a beer and then head to the lobby to talk about tomorrow’s checkout and whether we might be able to hold onto our room for a few extra hours.

In walking back to the room, I was soaking up all the Disney detail that, while subtle, is definitely still front and centre

Here’s the wallpaper...

And the hallway carpet...

After finishing up a quick beer, I walked into the lobby towards the front desk. No matter how many times we walked through the lobby, the entrance was still a showstopper. Again, the detail throughout provides for such a perfect first impression.

I ended up speaking to one of the front desk CMs about a late checkout but was informed we would not be able to hold onto the room past 11 am. They did inform me that there would be hospitality rooms available for people to use throughout the afternoon should they need to shower or change before heading to the airport. The sign up for those rooms were first come, first served and they started taking room requests at 6 am the morning you are checking out. Sounded like it was going to be yet another early morning for me but at least I could sneak in one last run if I was already going to be up.

Getting back to the lobby, Kelly and the kids had now left the pool for a bit to continue the Menehune hunt, this time choosing to search throughout the lobby. Like everything outside, the imagineers incorporated all sorts of interactive areas in the lobby areas and the clues lead guests all over the place to complete their mission. As they had all trip, the kids loved it.

It was about 3 or so in the afternoon and we decided that we’d had enough pool time so it was back to the room for showers and to get dressed to bum around the resort that night. We had no plans for dinner but having walked past it multiple times during our trip, we figured we would try out the Olelo Room Lounge, which offers happy hour and live music at night. Looked like an awesome spot in the evening and we were looking forward to trying it out.

Once we were ready to wander around, we made our way from the room back to the pool deck and lucky for us we stumbled across one of the last characters we’d yet to meet, Daisy.

That visit essentially ensured we had met all the characters and since Daisy is one of the girls favourites, they were very happy.

With that we decided to wander around a bit before heading to the lounge for a few drinks and some food.

 

[LSV]

I always enjoy your trip reports. Lily is a lucky dog.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

I always enjoy your trip reports. Lily is a lucky dog.

Thanks very much! Kind of you to say. And so far, we’re pretty lucky to have Lily

 

[Matt and Kelly]

As we were walking around, the girls decided they wanted to continue the Menehune Hunt. We agreed as we didn’t want to do it later, and we wanted a kill a little more time before heading for dinner.

Hunting in the daylight was quite a bit different than the darkness but that didn’t seem to slow the girls down. Probably made things a little easier for them but some of the cool effects were not quite as noticeable with the sun still up.

It did give us yet another chance to slow down and explore the beauty of the grounds. So much to see and do no matter what time of day.

And still a parade of characters greeting guests throughout the pool grounds

Eventually we completed our mission and by this time it was definitely time for some sustenance. We retuned our iPad and made the very short walk from the community hall to the lounge. A few of the tables, especially those around the fire pits and closest to the musicians, had already been spoken for but while Kelly took the kids to the washroom, I found a table outside on the deck with a good view of the music and the resort around us.

The musicians were just setting up so we took some time to look over the menu and get some dinner ideas.

Kelly and the girls returned and we ordered up some drinks. The Wailua Wheat was on happy hour special for $5 a pint so I was all over that. Kelly order another $14 lava flow and we continued to browse the food items.

By this time the music had started and the mood was absolutely perfect. Everyone was enjoying the performance, the ambience, the setting sun and whatever beverages they had in front of them.

Kelly and I were soaking up the final night at Aulani

 

[Matt and Kelly]

After ordering another beer, we also grabbed some food. We decided to share the sliders and the Korean wings. Both items were on special for happy hour and the description in the menu sounded very tasty for both.

It took a little while for the food to arrive but that was ok. We were clearly in no rush and with the music in the background and the kids behaving themselves, the extended wait didn’t bother us too much other than the fact we were super hungry!

Eventually the food was dropped off and luckily for us it was worth the wait.

The wings were huge, juicy and full of amazing flavour and the sliders were so tender and tasty. Terrific food at a fantastic value.

I ordered one last beer before the happy hour ended and laughed that my three pints cost as much as Kelly’s lava flow, which was by far the most expensive item we ordered on this evening.

We sat around for a bit more knowing that the DVC character meet and greet would be taking place shortly. We decided to make our way over after we had finished up to see which characters would be our for a photo opportunity.

We arrived to find Minnie Mouse welcoming guests so we hopped in line to wait our turn.

After about ten minutes we were next to walk in and say hi to Minnie.

We found out that Daisy would be out at the bottom of the hour but having met her earlier in the day we decided to pass on another photo opportunity and take the chance to go and browse the gift shops once more to pick up some souvenirs on our last evening.

I was set on bringing back a coffee mug but it took quite some time to decide on which one. There were a bunch of very unique Aulani branded mugs and I was debating between two or three. Finally I made up my mind and went with this one...

It’s been in my office at work since we returned home. Sadly, we’ve had so much rain here over the last two months, the beach day phrase just doesn’t seem to fit this summer!

Kelly, on the other hand, has become a big fan of the spirit jerseys that are all over the place at Disney parks. They had a couple of cool Aulani options and she went with this one...

She’ll probably be mad that you get a look at her sweet pj pants but Too bad for her!

Of course the girls didn’t leave empty handed. They both ended up with Tsum-Tsum sets to remember their Hawaiian adventure.

Now that we had spent some time rummaging through the shops and knowing I had an early wake up call looming to put our names in for a hospitality room, we made our way back to the room to start packing up to go home the next day. As we walked back we couldn’t believe how quickly our time had zipped by. Our only saving grace was we could still spend pretty much all day at the resort before making our way to the airport the next evening.

 

[Sillysidewalker]

Love the spirit jersey Kelly picked out!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Love the spirit jersey Kelly picked out!

She wears it all the time! She’s already trying to figure out which one to bring home when we return to WDW in January.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

APRIL 13 - The Long Goodbye

With our final day upon us and check out looming at 11 am, my alarm buzzed at 600 am so I could get up, get changed for one last run, and head to the front desk to put in a request for a courtesy room later in the day. I tried to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb the girls but I'm sure I likely woke them up at some point before I snuck through the door and made my way towards the lobby.

The sun was peeking up through the clouds and the lobby was fairly quiet. I made my way directly to the front desk to add our name to the list. I was thinking we'd have the pick of the litter when it came to accessing the rooms since it was pretty much a ghost town and it was only about ten after six by the time I rolled up to the desk. I was hoping to find a room around 400 pm which would essentially give us a full day at the pool.

I walked up to one of the beyond chipper CMs who greeted me with a hearty good morning and pulled out the list of available room times for the day. Surprisingly the list was already half full and most people had the same idea as me. Later afternoon times were all spoken for but I was able to secure a room from 230-315. Not ideal but I guess it could have been worse.

With that out of the way, I set off to get my run started. Before I made my way down to ground level I stopped on the balcony to take in the quiet morning view.

WIth a few morning photos out of the way, I took off down the waterfront path for a brisk 4km run. I loved that there were so many others out running or walking and taking advantage of the morning workout classes hosted by whatever resort I was running past. Yoga was going on at Aulani and at least one other and some beach cardio was being held at another resort. Seeing everyone up and grinding so early helped to motivate me to get through the run but I was still feeling the effects of the humidity. I did finish in about 22 minutes and I was in dire need of a shower!

Walking back towards the hotel tower, I made sure to take a few more photos around the pool level. Before taking off on my run, this Stitch statue was covered in colourful lei's but in the 25ish or so minutes that I was off the property, a CM had clearly cleaned them up. Too bad I didn't get a picture before I left for my run.

I got back up to the room to find everyone up and at it already. Kelly had prepared breakfast for the girls and was in the shower getting ready for the day. I informed her about the room access and before we made our way to find seats at the pool, we packed up as much of our stuff as we could. We figured we had almost everything packed with the exception of a few little things so we could come back to the room a few minutes before 11 and take our baggage to be stored at Bell Services.

Once we were all ready to head out, off to the pool we went. I stopped to grab a coffee in one of our resort mugs and we settled in at our usual spot near the main pool. After we picked up our wristbands and towels, the day began as all the rest did...straight to the slides!

We spent the vast majority of our morning riffling down the slides, floating through the lazy river and touring the different hot tubs around the pool grounds. We all knew the trip was coming to a close and we were determined to enjoy every last second before we had to really focus on getting things prepared to leave.

We spent the first few hours in the pool with little breaks but around 10 am we took a quick snack break and had a chance to dry off. The popcorn bucket was refilled a few times and Kelly was excited about trying what looked like a tasty gelato treat she picked up at Target a few days previous.

Kelly said the gelato was unreal! We've looked for it since we got back home but no success in finding it anywhere in town. One more thing to look forward to during her next Target visit whenever we are back in the US.

We finished our snacks and made our way back to the room to move our luggage to bell services. We packed up our remaining stuff and hauled everything to the lobby. It was really starting to set in that this trip was almost over. We all walked slowly and sadly to the front desk to check out and store our bags. Once we had everything taken care of, it was back to the pool to keep enjoying our final day.

We spent a bunch of time in the infinity pool before deciding it was time for lunch. We planned on heading back to Off the Hook to grab something quick and since the Masters was on, I could catch up on how round three was going. I had been keeping tabs throughout the trip and all the buzz on Twitter was the fact that Tiger was right in the mix. I am not a Tiger fan but the Masters is my favourite tournament and any time he is near the top of the leaderboard it creates an even better atmosphere. Just so happened that the NBA playoff had started and Canada's team, and now NBA Champion, Toronto Raptors were playing their first game against Orlando. What a crazy run they went on and it was amazing to see the country unite behind them.

There was plenty to watch as we ordered drinks and food. No lava flow for Kelly today but I grabbed a beer before placing our food order. Hot dogs for the kids, chicken caesar salad for Kelly and a chili cheese dog for me. The food came out relatively quickly and we all dove in. Kelly's salad looked really good and my dog was so loaded I had to use a knife and fork.

We enjoyed our meals, and I enjoyed the sports on the screens around us as we ate. We had reminisced about our favourite parts of the trip to this point and briefed the kids on how the afternoon would go. They were excited that we'd still have a few hours of pool time before heading up to the courtesy room to shower and change.

We paid our bill and made our way back to our seats for a few more hours of fun!

 

[Figment Forever]

Talenti is Ross' favorite ice cream treat. We get them at our Shop Rite Supermarket. He tries to stock up when they have a good sale because otherwise they can be a little pricy.

 

[Rista1313]

Talenti is Ross' favorite ice cream treat. We get them at our Shop Rite Supermarket. He tries to stock up when they have a good sale because otherwise they can be a little pricy.

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Now I'm going to have to try this... I've seen it in the store, but never bought it.

 

[Figment Forever]

Now I'm going to have to try this... I've seen it in the store, but never bought it.

Ross was so happy that he found one flavor that was mint chocolate chip - brownie - fudge etc.. which are my favorite flavors so he made such a big deal that he got a flavor just for me. Then he proceeded to eat the entire jar!! (I did manage a couple of spoonfuls and it was yummy!)

 

[LittleTuna12]

since the Masters was on, I could catch up on how round three was going. I had been keeping tabs throughout the trip and all the buzz on Twitter was the fact that Tiger was right in the mix. I am not a Tiger fan but the Masters is my favourite tournament and any time he is near the top of the leaderboard it creates an even better atmosphere

I was at the Masters all week (actually I have been a volunteer for the last 6 yrs) and the atmosphere was incredible!

Enjoying your report as always!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Talenti is Ross' favorite ice cream treat. We get them at our Shop Rite Supermarket. He tries to stock up when they have a good sale because otherwise they can be a little pricy.

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Very cool! Kelly loved her first taste of it. I'm hopeful we might find it up here at some point but we will be making our way back to WDW in January and I'm sure this will be on her list of things to find!

I was at the Masters all week (actually I have been a volunteer for the last 6 yrs) and the atmosphere was incredible!

Enjoying your report as always!

I am SO JEALOUS! The Masters is definitely on my bucket list and I always put in my application for badges. I have yet to be successful but I hold out hope that someday I will get to Augusta

 

[fizzieee]

I believe they have small selection of Talenti flavors at Target My bf really loves the raspberry sorbet!!

 

[Rista1313]

I believe they have small selection of Talenti flavors at Target My bf really loves the raspberry sorbet!!

They are from Canada. Target shut down all the Canada locations.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

I believe they have small selection of Talenti flavors at Target My bf really loves the raspberry sorbet!!

They are from Canada. Target shut down all the Canada locations.

Target closing their Canadian locations is still a very sour memory for Kelly. This is why she (we) makes multiple visits to multiple target stores whenever we are in the US!