My husband, 3yo, and I just got back from our first trip to Aulani using rented DVC points -- Saturday 12/17 - Friday 12/23.
Despite two days of bad weather -- so bad, it shut down the entire pool area and pool-area restaurants on Monday 12/19 -- we had an amazing stay.
ROOM
We were in room 166 in Ewa Tower, which is an island garden view room that exits to the Halawai Lawn. At first, I was bummed to be on the first floor and in the back hallway of the Ewa Tower. But there was a lot to love about our location. First, we had several unexpected character sightings because the cast member entrance was on our hallway (close to the laundry room). Additionally, so many character experiences (and other resort activities) happen on the Halawai Lawn -- we just had to pop out of our sliding door to go meet the characters. We got to enjoy hearing several evenings of the Luau and also a movie night (Home Alone) on the lawn. Finally, it was easy access to the pools and all restaurants which are on the 1st floor. If we had the opportunity to pick our room again, I'd recommend 162 since it probably had a better vantage of the Stage on the lawn.
CHARACTER VISITS
I think we were very fortunate during our stay to never have to wait in long lines for the characters. During Monday's resort shutdown, they relocated the character meets to the Ballrooms located in the conference space (behind Ewa tower). We noticed that they infrequently updated the Aulani App/Character Experiences tab, so the best way to get up-to-date info was to call the "Toon Line" extension -- x2447. We got to meet most characters: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Max, Pluto, Stitch, Moana, and Shelly Mae. We missed Olu Mel and Angel.
We did Character Breakfast on first day and paid for the digital photos ($35) which then gave us the photopass card that we used for the rest of the week. The Aulani app said that the photo pass digital package was $99 but when I accessed my photos via the website link, I got an offer to get a 7-day pass for $78. I paid online and it updated in my Disney app to access all our photos. The character breakfast was great -- better than our only other experience at the Grand Californian breakfast. Mickey greeted families and did professional photos, but Minnie, Goofy, and Stitch just hung around the restaurant and milled around. The cast members would happily take photos with your cell phones. My daughter loved being able to run up to them and hug them "on demand" and then come back to the table. I don't know if this is post-covid protocol, but when we did the breakfast at Grand Californian, the characters would come out every 15-20 minutes and quickly stop by each table. My husband definitely said this was way better because they were in the dining area the whole time.
RESORT ACTIVITIES
Via the Aulani app, I was able to view the Daily Planner for 3-4 days out (excluding character meets). It includes a mix of free and paid (premium experiences). In most cases, you'll need to visit the Pau Hana activity room (1st floor on Ewa Tower side) to sign up. For free activities, plan to arrive before the Pau Hana room opens at 8am to secure a spot. There was a free mermaid "thingamabob" experience (pirates searching for treasure on the beach; bury family member in sand and make mermaid tail). I arrived at 7:45a and there was a decent line. By the time I got to the front, the 11:15 timeslot was booked but i was able to get a spot at the 10am time. Paid activities included designing mickey ears, doing a guided painting, making t-shirts, hula lessons, or doing stargazing. Other free activities included a nature walk, storytelling by the fire, hula or other singing (Christmas carolers).
POOLS
I didn't do too much research before arriving at Aulani, so I didn't realize there was a wristband system for the pools. You have to go to one of two towel stands every day to get a new colored wristband if you plan to be in the pool or beach areas. The towel stands are open from 8a-8p, with the towel stand closest to the Grotto staying open until 10 pm. In the evening, they are open to giving you the new wristband for the following day. I think the water play area closes at 5pm and the lazy river closes at 6pm, but the pools closest to the beach stay open late. As others on the boards have mentioned, the lazy river and the center pool (closest to Off the Hook) were pretty darn chilly. The pool by the Grotto was warmest and the ocean was temperate and easy to acclimate to. There are two water slides -- both open until 8pm I think. One is a dark tube that you lay down for -- I didn't like it (but I get nauseous easily). The other slide requires going down in an inner tube (single or double). The line for this slide is always longer, but definitely worth it!
RESORT FOOD
We did O'lelo Room our first night -- i got the sushi and it looked beautiful (plus wasabi in the shape of Mickey!), but it fell apart easily when trying to eat it. :\ Of the resort places, we had the best experiences at Off the Hook and the Poolside Dining. Also had some delicious cocktails -- my favorites were the Mango Mojito and Tropical Itch (which comes with a back scratcher!). Always get the extra rum floater to kick your drink up a notch -- it's only an additional $1.50 or so -- a steal for booze!
NON-RESORT FOOD
We have a 3yo so didn't try to do any fancy / fine dining. We did try to do Mina's Happy Hour one day, but apparently they "cancel" happy hour from mid-December through early January (this is not noted anywhere on any websites
) and begin dinner service at 4pm.
I'm usually an overplanner, so tried to have a list of options and keep reserved activities to a minimum. We had to reschedule our initial tour due to the storm, but were able to successfully rebook two days later. We used Hawaii Nautical - https://www.hawaiinautical.com/ - at their West Oahu location in Waianae (25 m north of Aulani). We sailed on the Ko Nau Lani catamaran and did see a baby humpback and a few dolphins. Free for kids under 4 and they give you 2 free drinks on board!
OVERALL
We had five full days at the resort, but I could have used at least one more day... likely due to two of our days being hampered by the inclement weather. If you plan to do things off resort, I'd probably recommend more days or splitting your stay with a place closer to Honolulu. Fortunately, my husband and I had already been to Oahu so we didn't feel as much obligation to leave the resort for day trips. We ended up skipping Polynesian Cultural Center, Dole Plantation, and Pearl Harbor to enjoy the sun at the pools/beach. I'm happy with our trip and even happier to have learned about DVC points. Already thinking through our future vacations.
Despite two days of bad weather -- so bad, it shut down the entire pool area and pool-area restaurants on Monday 12/19 -- we had an amazing stay.
ROOM
We were in room 166 in Ewa Tower, which is an island garden view room that exits to the Halawai Lawn. At first, I was bummed to be on the first floor and in the back hallway of the Ewa Tower. But there was a lot to love about our location. First, we had several unexpected character sightings because the cast member entrance was on our hallway (close to the laundry room). Additionally, so many character experiences (and other resort activities) happen on the Halawai Lawn -- we just had to pop out of our sliding door to go meet the characters. We got to enjoy hearing several evenings of the Luau and also a movie night (Home Alone) on the lawn. Finally, it was easy access to the pools and all restaurants which are on the 1st floor. If we had the opportunity to pick our room again, I'd recommend 162 since it probably had a better vantage of the Stage on the lawn.
CHARACTER VISITS
I think we were very fortunate during our stay to never have to wait in long lines for the characters. During Monday's resort shutdown, they relocated the character meets to the Ballrooms located in the conference space (behind Ewa tower). We noticed that they infrequently updated the Aulani App/Character Experiences tab, so the best way to get up-to-date info was to call the "Toon Line" extension -- x2447. We got to meet most characters: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Max, Pluto, Stitch, Moana, and Shelly Mae. We missed Olu Mel and Angel.
We did Character Breakfast on first day and paid for the digital photos ($35) which then gave us the photopass card that we used for the rest of the week. The Aulani app said that the photo pass digital package was $99 but when I accessed my photos via the website link, I got an offer to get a 7-day pass for $78. I paid online and it updated in my Disney app to access all our photos. The character breakfast was great -- better than our only other experience at the Grand Californian breakfast. Mickey greeted families and did professional photos, but Minnie, Goofy, and Stitch just hung around the restaurant and milled around. The cast members would happily take photos with your cell phones. My daughter loved being able to run up to them and hug them "on demand" and then come back to the table. I don't know if this is post-covid protocol, but when we did the breakfast at Grand Californian, the characters would come out every 15-20 minutes and quickly stop by each table. My husband definitely said this was way better because they were in the dining area the whole time.
RESORT ACTIVITIES
Via the Aulani app, I was able to view the Daily Planner for 3-4 days out (excluding character meets). It includes a mix of free and paid (premium experiences). In most cases, you'll need to visit the Pau Hana activity room (1st floor on Ewa Tower side) to sign up. For free activities, plan to arrive before the Pau Hana room opens at 8am to secure a spot. There was a free mermaid "thingamabob" experience (pirates searching for treasure on the beach; bury family member in sand and make mermaid tail). I arrived at 7:45a and there was a decent line. By the time I got to the front, the 11:15 timeslot was booked but i was able to get a spot at the 10am time. Paid activities included designing mickey ears, doing a guided painting, making t-shirts, hula lessons, or doing stargazing. Other free activities included a nature walk, storytelling by the fire, hula or other singing (Christmas carolers).
POOLS
I didn't do too much research before arriving at Aulani, so I didn't realize there was a wristband system for the pools. You have to go to one of two towel stands every day to get a new colored wristband if you plan to be in the pool or beach areas. The towel stands are open from 8a-8p, with the towel stand closest to the Grotto staying open until 10 pm. In the evening, they are open to giving you the new wristband for the following day. I think the water play area closes at 5pm and the lazy river closes at 6pm, but the pools closest to the beach stay open late. As others on the boards have mentioned, the lazy river and the center pool (closest to Off the Hook) were pretty darn chilly. The pool by the Grotto was warmest and the ocean was temperate and easy to acclimate to. There are two water slides -- both open until 8pm I think. One is a dark tube that you lay down for -- I didn't like it (but I get nauseous easily). The other slide requires going down in an inner tube (single or double). The line for this slide is always longer, but definitely worth it!
RESORT FOOD
We did O'lelo Room our first night -- i got the sushi and it looked beautiful (plus wasabi in the shape of Mickey!), but it fell apart easily when trying to eat it. :\ Of the resort places, we had the best experiences at Off the Hook and the Poolside Dining. Also had some delicious cocktails -- my favorites were the Mango Mojito and Tropical Itch (which comes with a back scratcher!). Always get the extra rum floater to kick your drink up a notch -- it's only an additional $1.50 or so -- a steal for booze!
NON-RESORT FOOD
We have a 3yo so didn't try to do any fancy / fine dining. We did try to do Mina's Happy Hour one day, but apparently they "cancel" happy hour from mid-December through early January (this is not noted anywhere on any websites
) and begin dinner service at 4pm.- Monkeypod -- always a favorite! Happy hour from 3:30 - 5:00 (1/2 off apps; $12 pizzas) and delicious cream pies. Got a table quickly at 3:30, but grab a reservation on open table if you can; always folks waiting for tables. My daughter loved the strawberry smoothie and cheese pizza.
- Mekiko Cantina -- underrated! We went twice for their amazing happy hour (3-5pm), with $5 nachos, street tacos, quesadillas, and chimichangas. You can't get anything that cheap on the island, so I dunno how they do it. Seated immediately both times.
- Black sheep cream co -- yummy ice cream
- Mad Bene (Italian; near the Target; 10m drive) - best meal we had during our trip. All pasta and pizza made in house. Splurge on the gnocchi appetizer special (market price)
I'm usually an overplanner, so tried to have a list of options and keep reserved activities to a minimum. We had to reschedule our initial tour due to the storm, but were able to successfully rebook two days later. We used Hawaii Nautical - https://www.hawaiinautical.com/ - at their West Oahu location in Waianae (25 m north of Aulani). We sailed on the Ko Nau Lani catamaran and did see a baby humpback and a few dolphins. Free for kids under 4 and they give you 2 free drinks on board!
OVERALL
We had five full days at the resort, but I could have used at least one more day... likely due to two of our days being hampered by the inclement weather. If you plan to do things off resort, I'd probably recommend more days or splitting your stay with a place closer to Honolulu. Fortunately, my husband and I had already been to Oahu so we didn't feel as much obligation to leave the resort for day trips. We ended up skipping Polynesian Cultural Center, Dole Plantation, and Pearl Harbor to enjoy the sun at the pools/beach. I'm happy with our trip and even happier to have learned about DVC points. Already thinking through our future vacations.
