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!
 

John Dulmage

Active Member
Another great report with your beautiful family! We're hoping to make it out to Hawaii in the next 3 years, and this puts Aulani at the top of my list. Your pictures help to capture how gorgeous it is (and relaxing)! Now to just get my wife on that long long flight!
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Thank you so much for sharing!!!
I picked up many great tips for our trip to Aulani next year - if you have any more tips feel free to send them my way :)
@Doc Disney I have a tip you wont get from the Canadians😉...Pearl Harbor!
You need to make reservations before hand on the us gov website. Go early in your vacation. We made our reservation for 7:30am but because of the time difference it was no problem getting up and getting there. (We then went to hike Diamond head...so beautiful!)
(Note: Pearl Harbor I believe is closed presently for refurbishment. Not sure when it reopens.)
 

Matt and Kelly

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thank you for another great report! The resort looks amazing and your pictures truly captured the beauty of it all!

Thanks very much for reading! We can't wait to get back.

Great TR!! Thanks so much!! I look forward to hearing about your marathon plans!!

Thanks for reading! I can't believe I have another Pre-TR to start but I am super excited about the marathon. I may even start that up in the next day or two.

Another great report with your beautiful family! We're hoping to make it out to Hawaii in the next 3 years, and this puts Aulani at the top of my list. Your pictures help to capture how gorgeous it is (and relaxing)! Now to just get my wife on that long long flight!

Thanks for reading and for the kind words! If you do make it to Aulani I think you'll find that long flight to be well worth it!

@Doc Disney I have a tip you wont get from the Canadians😉...Pearl Harbor!
You need to make reservations before hand on the us gov website. Go early in your vacation. We made our reservation for 7:30am but because of the time difference it was no problem getting up and getting there. (We then went to hike Diamond head...so beautiful!)
(Note: Pearl Harbor I believe is closed presently for refurbishment. Not sure when it reopens.)

This is a good tip indeed! Kelly and I were talking about the trip over this past weekend and while it would have been really nice to go out and do more "touristy" type stuff, we were just as happy to make the most of the resort and relax. If/When we get back, Pearl Harbor is definitely on our list of must-sees.
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Thanks for reading! I hope you guys have a great time during your Aulani visit!

As for tips, Kelly would likely say the biggest thing is to rent a car (if you are renting) that will not get you stuck on the side of a Honolulu freeway.

Before we left we should have done a little more research on dining options outside of the resort. At least looked into the neighbouring resorts to get some ideas. We made due by driving to several different places but there wasn't an abundance of offsite restaurants, say in the MonkeyPod area, for you to choose from.

Outside of that, my best tip is to simply enjoy the Disney experience in a different way. Park vacations are always nonstop, at least for us, so this was a much different way for us to get our Disney fix. The service is still amazingly Disney, as are the surroundings and the details. Just sit back, relax and enjoy!


Thank you so much for this! I wrote down a bunch of stuff as I was reading :) We are planning on renting a car - but we will get a gas one :hilarious:

@Doc Disney I have a tip you wont get from the Canadians😉...Pearl Harbor!
You need to make reservations before hand on the us gov website. Go early in your vacation. We made our reservation for 7:30am but because of the time difference it was no problem getting up and getting there. (We then went to hike Diamond head...so beautiful!)
(Note: Pearl Harbor I believe is closed presently for refurbishment. Not sure when it reopens.)

Yes! We plan on going. We are going end of April next year so hopefully it is reopen. We probably will not be doing too much hiking since we will have Max but I'm hoping to do some :)
 

Matt and Kelly

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thank you so much for this! I wrote down a bunch of stuff as I was reading :) We are planning on renting a car - but we will get a gas one :hilarious:



Yes! We plan on going. We are going end of April next year so hopefully it is reopen. We probably will not be doing too much hiking since we will have Max but I'm hoping to do some :)

Kelly thinks you’re making the right call with the gas vehicle!
 

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