Aulani Trip Report (Updated with final review)

[dcrunnergirl52]

UPDATE: 

We just got back last night, and I put my detailed trip report posts from below and a review on my family's blog. Here is a link to the overview post, which includes links to each day's trip report, some Aulani tips, and photos if you're interested.

pipeandfletch.blogspot.com/2016/11/final-aulani-reviewtipslinks.html

And, here are a summary of my thoughts on the trip:

Traveling to Hawaii Kids: A lot of people commented to me before we left that we were crazy for traveling on such long flights for just 6 days, but that didn't bother us at all. Because the vacation was so amazing, it made the flights well worth the time and expense. My kids are nuts, and I was nervous about the flights, but we did great. It took us in total about 12 hours to get there.

Property: This resort is 100% amazing. It is a gorgeous property, and probably one of the--if not the--nicest hotel that I've ever stayed at. When we got off the plane and were trying to find our shuttle, we ran into some minor issues, but as soon as we walked into the hotel, we knew all was right in the world. You feel the Disney magic the second you get there, from the greeting with the leis and cold water to the stunning views from the lobby.

Activities: The resort has a lot of activities, although many of them require paying an extra premium. We didn't sign up for many of them because there is so much to do without paying more money. There aren't quite as many planned activities for kids as the Disney cruise, but still lots to do.

Dining: Overall, the food we ate was really good, but they didn't have a huge selection of casual places to eat. It was basically just the Ulu Cafe and then poolside dining. It would be great to have a larger quick service restaurant with more selection. Our room package came with one quick service meal per day at the Ulu Cafe, which we used for breakfast daily because the options the rest of the day were pretty limited.

Room: Our room was a really large and had two balconies, both with ocean views. Definitely worth the extra money. I posted some pics of our room at the bottom of this post. There was definitely enough space for all of us. We also loved having the full kitchen as well as the washer and dryer.

Disney-ness: The hotel isn't oozing with Disney, just the perfect amount, between the character meals, activities at the kids club, hidden Mickey's, and the availability of Mickey bars. What was 100% Disney was the customer service. It was amazing, just like you always get from Disney.

Final Thoughts: If you are all thinking about going to Hawaii, head to Aulani. Just do it! It was a wonderful trip. And, I think 5 nights there is perfect. A few more days and we might have gotten a little bored. If anything, I wish we could have stayed in Hawaii longer and gone to a few other islands, but we couldn't afford it this time.

The kids are already asking when we can go back. I asked them which they liked best--Disney World, Disney cruise, or Aulani. As of today, they're all saying Aulani.

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We arrived at Aulani yesterday and are here for 5 nights with the kids (ages 6, 6, and 3.5). I know some people like reading trip reports so I thought I'd post this here. 

Thursday:
DH and I got up at 3:45am and got ready. We woke the kids at 4:30am, and FIL picked us up at 5am to drive us to the airport (DCA) for our 7am flight to PHX and then on a connecting flight to Honolulu.The first flight went well, except DS2 was a little crazy. DH sat with him, and I sat with DS1 and DD in the row in front of him. Our plane actually arrived in Phoenix nearly 1.5 hours early (highly unusual on a westbound flight but winds were going in the opposite direction), but they didn't have a gate open for us, so we ended up sitting on the runway for 1.5 hours. That was probably the worst part of the day.


Got off the plane in PHX, and only had about an hour, and in that time we had to go to the bathroom, find some lunch, fill water bottles, give kids chance to stretch their legs, find someplace to charge the kids' kindles, and stand in a huge line to get new boarding passes b/c we had seats in five different rows. It was crazy at the airport, but we got it all done except for charging the kindles, which meant we had very battery left on the kindles for the kids on the longer hour) flight.



Thankfully, they were able to put us all together on the second flight. I sat with DS2 this time, while DH sat with DD and DS1. The kids were SO, SO, SO good. DS2 was especially good. I was shocked. He didn't even want to watch his kindle (which was good b/c it had very little battery), and happily sat and played with various toys for hours on end. It was amazing. The first flight was about 5 hours. The second flight was 6.5 hours. They were long but we did just fine.



Got to the HNL airport, and all was well until we couldn't find DH's luggage. All the luggage came off the carousel except his. I was walking around looking for it, and saw an airline employee pulling a nearly identical bags to his. I asked her if it was hers and she said it wasn't--someone had left it and she was trying to call the owner based on the phone number on the luggage tag. Thank goodness, she was able to reach out to this guy b/c he took DH's bag by accident and was on his way driving home. We ended up having to wait about 30+ minutes for him to come back to the airport to return DH's luggage.



Finally, after that, we went to the shuttle area. There was some weirdness there that caused a delay (not really sure what or if they were just running on "island time") so we had to wait another 30 minutes for the shuttle. By then, it was about 10pm EST time, and the kids were pooped. They fell asleep the second we got in the van. The drive to the hotel took about 30 minutes. We checked in, have a beautiful ocean view room, got some dinner at one of the quick service restaurants (Ulu Cafe) to eat in the room, and immediately after, the kids went to bed and so did we. 


So all in all, a good, adventurous day.

[dcrunnergirl52]

Friday: 
We had an awesome day today. However, it started with the kids waking up at 3:30am b/c of the jet lag (b/c it was 8:30am at home) and there was no getting them back to sleep, so that was a bit rough. They watched TV, did kids yoga videos on YouTube, and played with toys that I brought while I showered and sat on the balcony and drank coffee. Around 7am we went to the character breakfast. It was so yummy, and fun. We got cute pictures with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy, the kids did a parade with Aunty, and we had a great time. After breakfast, we walked to the kids club to get the kids registered, and they were having an open house for all parents and kids, so the kids could take a tour of the space before being dropped off. It's an awesome place, and we had to drag the kids out.



After the open house, we walked out of the resort and across the street to the small ABC store to get soda and sandwiches for lunch (less expensive than at the hotel). We came back, put our bathing suits on, and then head to the pool/beach area. We spent from about 11am-3:30pm out there. The weather was gorgeous, and the pools were so fun. We did the lazy river, the kids huge sprayground, DS1 and DD rode the big kids water slides, and then we ate lunch outside.



After lunch, we walked down to the beach. It's the perfect beach b/c it's a lagoon, with really small waves and it's relatively shallow. The kids LOVED it. They just played in the sand (the resort provides sand toys), made friends with other kids, and swam, all while DH and I just sat in beach chairs by the water. Awesome. We coaxed them off the beach around 3:30pm  and came back to the room to get the kids showered and back into clothes. By then, it was about 4:30pm. We took them for dinner at the quick service restaurant, and around 5:15pm, we dropped them off at the kids club. We were nervous that DS2 wouldn't go in without us, but he walked right in and didn't look back. Of course, DD and DS1 are never nervous about that type of thing, so they went right in and didn't look back either.



Immediately after dropping them off, DH and I headed to the beach/poolside bar and had dinner. It was the perfect place b/c we could sit outside but at the bar (which we is one of our favorite things), have yummy drinks and burgers, hear the ocean, etc. After eating, we walked on the walking path all along the beach, and then went to pick up the kids at 7pm. When we got there, of course, DD and DS1 didn't want to leave. DS2, on the other hand, was sleeping when we arrived. They said he fell asleep as soon as he got there. They put him on a small cot and laid him down in the movie room with a blanket on him and just let him sleep. It was so awesome that they didn't call us to come get him and just let him sleep. Only problem is that this probably means that he'll be up at 3:30am again.



We came back to the room after that, and DD and DS1 got in bed. They (and DH and I too) are exhausted from the time change and the day in the sun.



Tomorrow, we're renting a car and driving around the island.

[curbsideprophet]

Sounds like a good trip so far!

[spaghetticat]

Glad you're having fun!

[ilikedonuts]

Sounds like a blast! We're planning Aulani in 2019 so I'm excited to read more about your trip!

[terpsfan]

Love these details! We are headed there in April and coming from East Coast too. Have fun!

[bronxgirl]

Sounds awesome! I would love to go to Aulani, but probably never will, so I love hearing about other people's trips.

[Deleted]

Sounds like a great trip!

[dcrunnergirl52]

Here is our report from yesterday (Saturday):

Another good, but long day. DS2 woke up at 2:30am, and didn't go back to sleep, so we had to entertain him all night b/c he wouldn't even sit still. He was just UP b/c of the jet lag. DD got up at 6:30am, and we had to wake DS1 at 7:15am b/c we just couldn't handle hanging around the room with DS1 anymore.

We got breakfast at the quick service cafe, and then picked up our rental minivan. We drove to Waimea Valley Park on the other side of the island, about 40 minutes away. Thankfully, DS2 slept the whole way there. Unfortunately, when we got there, he didn't want to get up, so he was extremely cranky. The park has a beautiful 0.75-mile easy, paved walk up to a waterfall, going through botanic gardens and archaeological sites. And yesterday, they had a special annual hula festival (we didn't even know until we got there) and had discounted prices to get in. The walk up, while less than a mile, was extremely painful though b/c DS1 basically cried and screamed and whined the entire time. We finally got up to the falls, after watching part of a hula show, and it was really cool. They had lifejackets and lifeguards so you could swim at the base of the falls. The water was really cold though, and it was rocky getting in, so DS2 didn't like it. He and I got in for a second, and then we just hung out on land while DH and the big kids swam.

After that, we got some shaved iced, walked back down, and DS2 was in a much better mood. We ate lunch there, and then got back in the car. We attempted to go to a few beaches to snorkel, but the waves were unusually high today so they weren't allowing swimming, so we just took pictures. By that point, the kids were getting restless, so we drove back toward the hotel, stopping at Target to buy new kids headphones and a few groceries. Got back, and made the kids dinner in our room, and then went back out to go swimming at night, partially because it's fun and in part to keep DS2 awake longer. We swam for about 45 minutes, and then we all came back to the room, put the kids to bed, and DH and I ate dinner and watched TV.

[Deleted]

Oh man I hope you get some sleep tonight!

[dcrunnergirl52]

Sunday:
The kids slept until about 4:30am, which was an improvement. We hung out until 7am, and then got breakfast at the outdoor cafe. After that, we went to the gift shop and spent an ungodly amount of money on souvenirs that we all wanted. We came back to the room to drop our stuff off, and then got in line to meet Stitch. He's one of the few characters that we've never met. The kids were so excited. (The movie is set in Hawaii, so there's lots of Stitch stuff here.)

By that point, it was 9:30am, and the kids club was open, so we dropped them off (and signed them up to eat lunch there). DH and I made a beeline after dropping them for the adults only pool and just relaxed for hours--drank iced coffee, read, played on our phones, laid in the sun, napped, went in the pool, ordered lunch brought to our sun chairs, etc. It was perfect and what we'd both been dreaming off for months.

We stayed there until about 1:30pm, and then picked up the kids, and took them down to the beach. When we picked them up, they all reported having a great time, and even ate all of their lunch. DS1 mainly played video games, DD did arts and crafts and video games, and DS2 colored and did a few other activities.
The kids club is really so, so awesome, with so much to do. And, the counselors really watch out for the kids. 

They LOVED the beach after the kids club. We had to drag them out at 3:45pm to come back to the room to shower and get ready for our 5pm character dinner. The dinner was really great--with Chip, Dale, Stitch, and Donald. Plus, they do a little show and let the kids march in parades, sing songs, play instruments, etc. We all had a great time, and ate way too much.

Dinner ended around 6pm, and the kids weren't ready to come to the room, so we took them back to the kids club. DH and I just relaxed outside at sunset, listened to the live music and enjoyed being kid-free for a while. At 7:30pm, we picked them up, and now we're all headed to bed. Tomorrow, we don't have anything planned except going to the pool, the beach, and the kids club again.

[egishere]

Sounds really nice! Did you rent DVC points? And the child care is included right?

[scribellesam]

This sounds great! We're taking our boys next summer so I love reading trip reports, although I'm increasingly bummed that DS2 will be four months too young for the kids club. At least we're going with my parents so they can help out.

[dcrunnergirl52]

Nov 14, 2016 11:59:32 GMT -5 egishere said:

Sounds really nice! Did you rent DVC points? And the child care is included right?

We didn't rent points...it was about $500 cheaper to rent points but our travel agent also got us free meals everyday at the quick service cafe, free shuttle to and from the airport, and a free car rental for a day, so we came out ahead.

The kids club is included and awesome. The kids begged to go today, so DH and I have spent the last 4 hours at the adults only pool with this view.

[dcrunnergirl52]

Monday:
Another good, but long day here. I think the kids have finally adjusted to the jet lag b/c they all slept in until after 7am. We hung out in the room for a bit, and then went to breakfast and then to the beach and pool. It was nice except DS1 and DD were both in bad moods/tired. We stayed at the pool and beach from about 8:30am-12pm. After, we got the kids lunch and Mama's Snack Shop by the pools, and then took them to the kids club b/c they were begging to go again, and we were happy to take them.

Dropped them off around 12:30pm, and then DH and I just relaxed all afternoon, eating lunch by the pool, reading, etc. I was feeling guilty for leaving the kids in the kid club so long, but when we picked them up at 4:45pm, all three of them begged to stay longer, so I know they love it there. We checked them out of the kids club, and walked to the really nice shops and restaurants across the street. We ate at a pizza place, and then walked back to the hotel, and got Mickey ice cream bars (one of my favorite things on earth!), and ate outside looking at the stars. A great last evening here.

Tomorrow, our flight isn't until 11:30pm, so we'll do something similar to today--pool in the morning, kids club in the afternoon, and then we won't leave for the airport until like 9pm, since our flight is so late.

[lishie]

So glad you're enjoying your trip. We really enjoyed Aulani over the summer.

[calmcosmo]

Did you ever go explore the island?

[dcrunnergirl52]

Nov 15, 2016 11:03:43 GMT -5 calmcosmo said:

Did you ever go explore the island?

We drove around on Saturday, stopping at a bunch of beaches and Waimea Falls.

[dcrunnergirl52]

Tuesday/Wednesday
Yesterday (Tuesday), it was great to have a final day to relax. The kids slept in until after 7am, and then we hung out in the room and packed up. Then, we went to breakfast and right to the pool. However, it was really breezy, making too cool to swim. After about an hour at the pool, the kids were shivering and begging to get out so they could go to the kids club. We brought them back to the room, changed into regular clothes, gave them snacks, and dropped them at the kids club around 11am. They were so happy to go.

DH and I walked across the street to the shops, and then went back to the hotel to check out by 12:30pm. We stored all of our luggage except a bag of clean clothes and pool stuff in bell services, and then spent the rest of the day at the adult pool. It was perfect. Around 3pm, we went to the hotel's departure lounge, and took showers and got dressed in regular clothes. Then, we walked over to the shops again and picked up takeout for everyone for dinner, and then walked back over to the hotel to get the kids from the kids club. Even when we picked them up, they were still begging to stay longer. We got them out, ate dinner, and then tried to do this Disney scavenger hunt using resort-provided ipads. It was REALLY hard. After about 10 minutes, the kids weren't interested, and DS1 said the music "creeped him out" (weird) so we returned the ipad. They asked if they could go back to the kids club, so we dropped them back over there for about another 90 minutes, while Eric and I relaxed in the lounge.

Finally, at 8pm, it was time to get our luggage and take the shuttle back to the airport for our 11:30pm red-eye flight. The kids fell asleep in the shuttle. DD kind of zombie-walked through the airport, but DS2 never really woke up. Thank goodness we had the stroller with us for him. We had about 90 minutes to kill at the crappy Honolulu airport, and then got on board around 11pm. The flight back was bumpy, but the kids did great. The kids and DH slept all 5 hours without making a peep. I slept on and off. We made it to Phoenix, and had about an hour, just enough time to buy breakfast and go to the bathroom. Our second flight left on time, and the kids were great there too. Watched/played on kindles the whole time, and barely made a peep.

Now, we're home and back to reality. I'm so glad we made this trip. It was so beautiful, the hotel was incredible, and we had a great time together.

For those of you thinking of going, I'll post final thoughts/tips later this week.