Well, we've returned home from our first trip to Aulani, which was also our first trip to Hawaii. It did not disappoint - we had an absolute blast. We are a family of 4 (2 boys, 6 and 9) from New Zealand and we stayed 1st - 5th May in a normal hotel room (2x Queen) as we are not DVC members and couldn't justify the cost of a villa, but we found every second of our vacation worth every cent we spent on it.
I've made a video of our stay, which I'd love to share with you guys:
Some random thoughts about Aulani in general:
LOVED Aunty’s. We found the whole environment and the way it was run reassuring and safe. The kids loved it and would have gone far more times if they'd had their way. We never had to queue, and never struck any capacity issues.
The salt water in the pools was a surprise - the first time the kids and I felt it on our lips we were quite shocked but it was great to have no Chlorine smell.
We only really ate from Ulu Cafe and from the snack kiosks but found the food to be reasonably priced The pizzas in particular were great value. For $23 we had more food than all four of us could manage.
The lazy river was by far our favourite attraction - I have lost count of the times we completed the circuit. We all agreed it rivalled any attraction in the parks - just being in control of how fast or slow, no queuing, and just being so darn relaxing. The animals in the rock work - we didn’t notice it until about the 10th lazy river trip! And from then on each trip was spent trying to spot new ones which the kids loved. In fact, the Kids say they prefer Aulani over DLR (we have not done WDW with them yet).
The Staff were so friendly - we found great service every time we needed it.
PhotoPass was a bit of a disappointment. On our DLR trip 2 years ago we came away with around 90 incredible photos which I will treasure forever. We found the PhotoPass people at Aulani hard to find and the quality of the photos somewhat lacking. I ended up not buying any.
Some of the walkways around the resort were quite slippery. Our littlest guy had a fall and hurt his back, but a cast member was on the scene immediately and sent a lifeguard to attend who took details but also got ice and made sure he was comfortable. He soon forgot all about it and carried on swimming.
The Check in / check out showers are GREAT but feel they need more seating in the wait area. It got a little awkward and cramped with more than two or three families there.
I feel like they need one or two more restrooms in the main valley area. Particularly near Ama Ama. If you're around that side, it felt like a long walk to the restrooms near the Lava Shack.
But we are immediately saving for our next visit - perhaps in a couple of years, and perhaps this time renting DVC points - I didn't know about this until after we'd booked and paid.
Hope you enjoy the video! Mahalo!
Steve
I've made a video of our stay, which I'd love to share with you guys:
Some random thoughts about Aulani in general:
LOVED Aunty’s. We found the whole environment and the way it was run reassuring and safe. The kids loved it and would have gone far more times if they'd had their way. We never had to queue, and never struck any capacity issues.
The salt water in the pools was a surprise - the first time the kids and I felt it on our lips we were quite shocked but it was great to have no Chlorine smell.
We only really ate from Ulu Cafe and from the snack kiosks but found the food to be reasonably priced The pizzas in particular were great value. For $23 we had more food than all four of us could manage.
The lazy river was by far our favourite attraction - I have lost count of the times we completed the circuit. We all agreed it rivalled any attraction in the parks - just being in control of how fast or slow, no queuing, and just being so darn relaxing. The animals in the rock work - we didn’t notice it until about the 10th lazy river trip! And from then on each trip was spent trying to spot new ones which the kids loved. In fact, the Kids say they prefer Aulani over DLR (we have not done WDW with them yet).
The Staff were so friendly - we found great service every time we needed it.
PhotoPass was a bit of a disappointment. On our DLR trip 2 years ago we came away with around 90 incredible photos which I will treasure forever. We found the PhotoPass people at Aulani hard to find and the quality of the photos somewhat lacking. I ended up not buying any.
Some of the walkways around the resort were quite slippery. Our littlest guy had a fall and hurt his back, but a cast member was on the scene immediately and sent a lifeguard to attend who took details but also got ice and made sure he was comfortable. He soon forgot all about it and carried on swimming.
The Check in / check out showers are GREAT but feel they need more seating in the wait area. It got a little awkward and cramped with more than two or three families there.
I feel like they need one or two more restrooms in the main valley area. Particularly near Ama Ama. If you're around that side, it felt like a long walk to the restrooms near the Lava Shack.
But we are immediately saving for our next visit - perhaps in a couple of years, and perhaps this time renting DVC points - I didn't know about this until after we'd booked and paid.
Hope you enjoy the video! Mahalo!
Steve