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]

Then the kids got a few portraits done...
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And finally mom and dads turn...
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And to top it off, a couple pics that Kelly really wanted to capture...
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I thought for sure I was gonna drop her and was laughing the whole time but the photos turned out pretty well!

With our sunset session in the books, it was time to head back up to the resort and enjoy the rest of the evening. Which, of course, meant heading over to the Community Hall to pick up a tablet and continue our Menehune hunt!

I love Kelly's dress in those beach pics!! Beautiful!

 

[youngdeb]

Way to go Lennon! Great job

 

[Matt and Kelly]

To end our night the kids were all fired up to continue the Menehune hunt hit before we made our way over to sign out a tablet, we stopped at a cool Aulani sign that was starting light up as the sun rapidly set.

From there we signed out a tablet from the community hall and were able pick up where we left off from the last adventure.

By now the sun had pretty much set and the grounds we lit by tiki torches, string lights and the pool lighting. Like the Disney parks, the atmosphere completely changes once the sun is down and a whole new experience comes to life. Couple that with the sounds of the water and it was pretty awesome.

We were getting pretty worn out by this time so we made a deal with the kids that we would hunt down five clues and call it a night. They seemed ok with that and we set off.

Our first find was an unlit tiki torch that we had to play a special riddle near in order for it to light up and guide a lost ship to shore.

Success!

From there we were dragged all over the resort grounds looking for clues. Ella was intense!

Kelly and I were still smiling, even if we were ready for bed.

Finally we came across our final clue near one of the toddler splash areas. Like most of the clues, the reveal was really quite cool and left us with hidden Menehune making an appearance in a rock wall.

With that, we handed in our tablet and made our way back to the room to get ready for bed. It was amazing how quickly time was flying by as we now only had a few days left.

We wanted to make the most of the rest of our trip so we had lined up a special surprise for the girls to enjoy the next day. We weren’t going to let them know about it until the next morning though.

It didn’t take long for everyone to get ready for some shut eye once we made it back to the room. Lights out and off to sleep!

 

[leafyeon]

Looking forward to reading more! Thanks for sharing your adventures!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Looking forward to reading more! Thanks for sharing your adventures!

It's our pleasure! Thank you so much for reading along

 

[LisaBelle]

I’m finally caught up. Aulani is on my dream list. It looks so beautiful!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

April 11 - Spa, Target (again!), and even more Beach Shots!

As usual, we were all up before 7. Sleeping has always been a rare thing in our house but on all our previous Disney trips we’ve always had to wake the kids up to get moving for the day. That was certainly not the case on this trip but that just gave us more time to enjoy the scenery around us.

We slowly got up and got the kids fed. While they ate, Kelly and I would shower then grab a little breakfast as well. I usually walked down towards the main lobby to grab a fresh coffee in one of our resort mugs before heading back to the room to help back up the pool bag and get everything ready for the day.

I was determined to find new seats at the pool today and made it my goal to convince Ella and Lenny. I may or may not have bribed them with treats and I thought I had them on board as we made our way out of the room and down towards the pool around 740 or so.

We took the elevators down to pool level and off we went to find our seats for the day.

As you can see by the very familiar view, I once again failed in my quest for a new spot. Oh well. Can’t really complain in paradise.

We dumped our stuff on four chairs and waited for the towel hut to open at 8. Lennon was very excited to show off the new bathing suit Kelly picked up from one of the previous Target visits.

This look of happiness and joy would quickly subside as I applied sunscreen to her. When we returned from the towel hut with our new pool wristbands, Kelly and I started to put sunscreen on the girls. As I did, excess lotion would end up on the blue of her bathing suit and as she noticed, the meltdown was on. Fill out crying fit as she yelled at me to get the sunscreen off. She felt it was so embarrassing for people to see her with sunscreen on her brand new bathing suit.

If only there was some large mass of water in which she jump in and clean herself off. Since there was clearly no pool of water readily available, there seemed to be no end to her embarrassment.

This was the point where I simply grabbed her and politely tossed her in the pool. Crisis averted.

Once we were all ready to roll it was back to the slides to start our day. We hit up the single slide a few times before grabbing tubes for the other slide and the lazy river. We must have spent the first hour or so on the slides, floating down the river and adding to our count of Menehune’s.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day but it was beyond windy. So windy that the resort staff asked all guests to keep their umbrellas closed for safety purposes. We could definitely see that the combination of the blazing sun, wicked wind and lack of shade was going to be dangerous for anyone who didn’t apply enough sunscreen. Case in point...

Ouch.

We splashed around the pools for quite some time before I made my way back up to the room to grab a tasty beverage and get a little break from the sun and wind. I was lucky not to look as lobster-like as my lovely wife so cheers to that!

That was a tasty treat on our little balcony.

After my quick reprieve from the sun I was back out by the pool enjoying the rays. It really was a terrific day.

We had spent a few hours in the pool and now that the sun was blazing, and the sunscreen seemingly faded away from Lenny’s bathing suit, the kids were ready for a snack.

One of the items we bought a few days earlier was a refillable popcorn bucket which we picked up after learning that DVC members receive free refills. Had I know this earlier this bucket would have been the first thing I grabbed when we arrived on site to start our trip.

We refilled our bucket and grabbed a little extra as well.

Everyone was happy! And I may or may not have gone back to get yet another refill just for me.

After the snack break we all hit the pools again. Moving around the resort to soak in hot tubs, practice swimming in the infinity pool and take on the slides and lazy river again.

By now we had filled the kids in on their surprise, we had booked them a mani/pedi package at the spa early in the afternoon. Both girls were very excited as they have become quite the fashionistas of late. Plus it was a cool way to take a break from the sun and wind and do something they would remember for a long time.

They were also pleased that they didn’t have to give up swimming anytime soon. They were all over the water today and seemed to have no issue hanging out in the pools as long as possible.

Another great morning at Aulani!

 

[MinnieM123]

This look of happiness and joy would quickly subside as I applied sunscreen to her. When we returned from the towel hut with our new pool wristbands, Kelly and I started to put sunscreen on the girls. As I did, excess lotion would end up on the blue of her bathing suit and as she noticed, the meltdown was on. Fill out crying fit as she yelled at me to get the sunscreen off. She felt it was so embarrassing for people to see her with sunscreen on her brand new bathing suit.

This cracked me up. I was also thinking that years down the road from now, this "incident" would be discussed again, during memories of the family's trip to Aulani. And, everyone (the kids would be adults at this point in the future) would laugh about it!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

This cracked me up. I was also thinking that years down the road from now, this "incident" would be discussed again, during memories of the family's trip to Aulani. And, everyone (the kids would be adults at this point in the future) would laugh about it!

This one will be something that never goes away. It’s amazing how the smallest thing can set her off. She truly thinks that people are looking at her 24/7 and judging. It’s part of the reason she doesn’t wear much Disney clothes to school. She thinks the kids will think she’s a dork. She’s in grade 1!

Granted, she loves to stare at herself in the mirror so I probably should have seen this coming. And admittedly, a habit she no doubt picked up from her dad! Haha

 

[Rista1313]

And admittedly, a habit she no doubt picked up from her dad! Haha

That's not something you hear often!

 

[Spash007]

This look of happiness and joy would quickly subside as I applied sunscreen to her. When we returned from the towel hut with our new pool wristbands, Kelly and I started to put sunscreen on the girls. As I did, excess lotion would end up on the blue of her bathing suit and as she noticed, the meltdown was on. Fill out crying fit as she yelled at me to get the sunscreen off. She felt it was so embarrassing for people to see her with sunscreen on her brand new bathing suit.

If only there was some large mass of water in which she jump in and clean herself off. Since there was clearly no pool of water readily available, there seemed to be no end to her embarrassment.

This was the point where I simply grabbed her and politely tossed her in the pool. Crisis averted.

This got me laughing as well, until I realized that this is probably in my future. My soon to be 4 year old is definitely getting her diva moments, and is very particular about what she wears each day. I thought I was going to have at least 5 more years before the drama started, but apparently that's an inherent skill in young girls!

 

[Swissmiss]

This got me laughing as well, until I realized that this is probably in my future. My soon to be 4 year old is definitely getting her diva moments, and is very particular about what she wears each day. I thought I was going to have at least 5 more years before the drama started, but apparently that's an inherent skill in young girls!

Don’t worry - my DD was into dresses, princesses and “girly” stuff until she became a preteen. And now all she wears are t-shirts, jeans, or shorts - and all the shorts and most of the t-shirts come from the boys’ section because she doesn’t like how revealing/short the girls clothes are...

 

[Matt and Kelly]

That's not something you hear often!

I have a bad habit of always looking in any mirror I pass by to make sure my suit looks sharp or my tie is straight. Clearly, it's rubbing off

This got me laughing as well, until I realized that this is probably in my future. My soon to be 4 year old is definitely getting her diva moments, and is very particular about what she wears each day. I thought I was going to have at least 5 more years before the drama started, but apparently that's an inherent skill in young girls!

Ella seems like she couldn't care less what she wears on most days, though that is starting to change, but Lennon has been this way since she started school. If your daughter goes this route I wish you nothing but luck!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

We finally finished up at the pool and grabbed a quick bite to eat before getting the girls changed and ready to head to the spa.

We were quite surprised by how reasonable the package was for the kids and since, as they say, “we’re fashion”, they were both pretty pumped to get a little pampering.

We walked through the tower trying to find the spa entrance but had to double back a few times having not read the sign that we needed to take the elevator from the lobby level down to pool level to access. Finally we found out where we were headed and made it on time for their appointment.

The inside of the spa is lovely and I’m sure all of the other areas not visible from the nail area are just as nice. It was peaceful and smelled amazing!

We checked in, gave a little information to the attendant and the girls were ushered over to a huge selection of nail polish options to choose from. They were in heaven!

The girls picked out a few different colours for both their fingers and toes and before long they were in their seats getting the full treatment.

They were loving it and so was Kelly. I decided to head up to the room to shower and change for the evening as we were going to head back towards the MonkeyPod area to grab dinner and hang out at the beach for a bit afterward.

Oddly enough we didn’t take pics of the finished product but I can attest that the kids looked awesome. They were so happy and proud of their nicely manicured nails.

They were looking forward to showing them off that evening.

 

[blreinsel]

This was the point where I simply grabbed her and politely tossed her in the pool. Crisis averted.

This is hilarious and exactly what my dad would have done to me.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Now that the kids were all dolled up after their big spa visit, we all got ready to for the rest of the day. We had run out of a lot of items that we stocked up on during our day one visit to target and with a few days remaining and a long overnight flight home looming, Kelly wanted to head back, yet again, to refill some of our fruit and veggie supplies and, of course, to browse around one last time before going on a long Target hiatus.

Once we were all set and ready to go, we made our way to the car and took off for the relatively short trip to Target. No car issues to report during this drive and we made it with no problems whatsoever. It was pretty busy in the parking lot so I dropped off Kelly and the kids near the entrance and went off to find a spot.

Looks like they made good use of their time waiting for me.

We set off into the store, grabbed a cart and slowly made our way through essentially the entire store. A store that we essentially toured every square inch less than a week before and did so again at another location just days before. Yet, here we were. I gathered that wandering through Target was Kelly's version of the Menehune scavenger hunt. Like the girls playing that game at the resort, Kelly could not get enough Target.

We picked up a few new items but nothing worthy of the time spent strolling the aisles. And eventually, we did get to what we came for, the food. We grabbed some supplies for the rest of the trip and to ensure we had a bunch of options for the kids during the trip back home.

Defeated, I pushed the cart to the checkout counter knowing this was the last time I'd see the inside of a target until at least 2020. We paid for our goods, loaded up the car and sped back to Aulani. By this point we were getting kinda hungry and our idea was to check out this place called Pizza Corner which is pretty close to MonkeyPod. Our friend back home, who is an Aulani DVC member, told us that Pizza Corner had very good pizza so we figured we'd give it a shot.

Knowing that we didn't plan on making any further trips away from the resort until it was time to head to the airport, I made sure to plug in the car so we wouldn't have to panic on the way back. We unloaded the supplies back in the room and walked over to Pizza Corner.

Not really sure what happened during our walk but the mood for pizza somehow dissipated. We entered the restaurant, which was truly nothing special, and looked over the menu board. We couldn't agree on anything as it seemed I was the only one who wanted pizza. Instead, Kelly and the kids ordered pasta to share and I decided to order a meatball sub. We did not take photos of the restaurant, nor the food, and that probably turned out for the best.

We grabbed a seat in a pretty beat up booth and waited for the food. When it arrived it looked much like the restaurant, nothing special. I will say that Kelly and the kids seemed to enjoy the pasta but my meatball sub was pretty underwhelming. I kicked myself for not ordering pizza but it looked like all zza's came in one size, large, and I wasn't about to try and tackle that challenge. The pasta portions were very large and even if the kids got their fill at dinner, we had plenty left over for lunch the next day. Before we left, the manager provided us with free take-home cinnamon rolls to heat up and enjoy whenever. A nice touch.

We left the restaurant and walked around the strip mall area before making our way to Two-Scoops for some dessert.

While Pizza Corner didn't really pan out how we were hoping, Two Scoops saved the evening. The kids were pumped for some ice cream and I was happy to see they had a coffee flavoured option to enjoy.

With our bellies full of mediocre pasta/sub and really good ice cream, we decided to head back to Aulani, The sun was setting and Kelly wanted to head back to the beach form more sunset PhotoPass pictures. She was not a fan of the way the first set turned out and wanted a re-do!

 

[Darstarr]

I gathered that wandering through Target was Kelly's version of the Menehune scavenger hunt.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

When we got back to the resort we made our way down toward the beach. It looked like we might have been too late as most of the photographers were starting to pack up their stuff but Kelly was pretty persuasive and was able to get one to stay and take a few final shots for us before calling it a night.

It was very nice of the photographer to stay and do that for us, but she did seem to want to rush through the quick session. I couldn’t blame her so we tried to hustle through as much as we could to let her off the hook as quickly as possible.

Just for some context, here are a few iPhone pics to show the contrast in just how good the photographers are.

She started with the kids, and this is where I say she was kinda rushing through as she had no cares that another kid was in the background just hanging out.

Once the mysterious child disappeared, the photos we quite stunning.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

We decided to forego the couple’s pics as we got some really good ones the night before but took a few family shots while we had her attention. First, Kelly and the kids…

Then the whole group…

When Kelly decided we had enough, she dismissed, I mean, we thanked the photographer for her time and she quickly packed up and headed back to the resort. Between the shoot tonight and the one the previous night, we were lucky to get some really great shots that will no doubt be featured on our Disney wall in the very near future.

We hung around the beach area for a bit. The wind was still blowing pretty hard, as it did all day, but it was still super peaceful and beyond beautiful. The water felt so good.

I still think a lot about that view of the ocean from the lagoon.

From there we didn’t really do a whole lot else. Yes, we did continue the Menehune hunt but with the combination of the wind and sun really seemed to beat us all up on this particular day. We may have searched for Menehune’s for 30 minutes or so before returning the tablet and deciding to head to the room to change into our pjs and simply relax before bed.

With that, we kissed another day goodbye!

 

[John Dulmage]

We decided to forego the couple’s pics as we got some really good ones the night before but took a few family shots while we had her attention. First, Kelly and the kids…
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Then the whole group…
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When Kelly decided we had enough, she dismissed, I mean, we thanked the photographer for her time and she quickly packed up and headed back to the resort. Between the shoot tonight and the one the previous night, we were lucky to get some really great shots that will no doubt be featured on our Disney wall in the very near future.

We hung around the beach area for a bit. The wind was still blowing pretty hard, as it did all day, but it was still super peaceful and beyond beautiful. The water felt so good.
View attachment 386862


I still think a lot about that view of the ocean from the lagoon.
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From there we didn’t really do a whole lot else. Yes, we did continue the Menehune hunt but with the combination of the wind and sun really seemed to beat us all up on this particular day. We may have searched for Menehune’s for 30 minutes or so before returning the tablet and deciding to head to the room to change into our pjs and simply relax before bed.

With that, we kissed another day goodbye!
View attachment 386863

Great shots, but,
Oh, Man - Kelly's sunburn looks PAINful! I hope she was able to sleep!