My husband's family are Disney Vacation Club members and for years Ryan and his sister have joking-but-not suggested we need to take a trip to Hawaii and visit the Aulani resort. For Christmas 2019 we found out it finally worked and it was announced that the next Disney trip would be to Aulani in 2021. Obviously this was long before anyone had ever heard of Coronavirus, but after 2020 we decided that as long as we could, the trip would still be on.
So vaxxed and masked, we went for Labor Day week, which just so happened to include my 29th birthday. Our trip was a Saturday-Saturday trip and what was great about such a long trip is that we had plenty of time to just relax and explore at the hotel while also being able to go out and explore a bit of the Oahu island.
Disney Aulani Resort Review
Disney Aulani was smaller than I was expecting. It is just a hotel, not a monstrous resort like what you get at WDW. It was part of the Ko Olina suburb (idk how best to describe it so we'll go with that) on Oahu, which is about an hour away from Honolulu and Waikiki (everyone told us to avoid Waikiki because it is overcrowded, even our Uber driver avoided that area!). The entrance to the resort is open air and the view is breathtaking, if not obscured by the massive rock where there's a water slide, and was a beautiful resort.
Overall, though, if we weren't DVC members I can't say if we'd say it we'd go again. I know it's Hawaii, but the prices were really outrageous and it didn't feel very Disney aside from the one lone Stitch statute by the lazy river, the one lone Mickey lamp in our room, and we did see a Mickey and Moana character. The staff was still really nice, but despite our trip being during Aulani's 10th anniversary year, it felt they just had this location for the sake of capitalizing on Hawaii.
The rooms at Disney Aulani
Because this trip was through DVC, we had the most amazing suite I've ever been in. We absolutely could not afford them if we had to pay with cash instead of points. We stayed in a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, ocean-view villa. Our villa took up the entire width of one tower of the resort, and our balcony was the entire width. I can't stress enough how amazing the balcony was!
For this villa, you walk into the living room, with the living room in the front, the kitchen/dining to the right, and the master bed/bath to the right of the dining area (there was also an second separate entrance just for the master), and then to the left of the living room was the smaller of the 2 secondary bedrooms with a detached bathroom, and to the left of that was the larger of the 2 secondary bedrooms with an attached bathroom.
Our villa had a full functioning kitchen, complete with supplies, so all we had to do was Door Dash groceries from Safeway on day 1 (and run the dishwasher) and we saved a lot of money on breakfast and snacks. There also was a full washer and drier and soap to do dishes.
My husband and I ended up in the smallest bedroom because we were too busy gawking over the balcony to realize that his sister and her husband where already choosing rooms. I was fine by this because although our bathroom was detached while there's was attached, our bathroom had a tub/shower combo while theirs only had a stand-up shower option (the master has both a separate shower and jacuzzi tub with a view of the ocean, oh and a very fancy toilet!). This meant I could use my Lush bubble bar (easier to travel with than their bath bombs) and the leftover petals from my lei for a luxurious bubble bath (sadly, Disney did not give us leis! We didn't get any until our luau). Both secondary rooms had 2 queen size beds, but unlike a cruise they couldn't be combined into a bigger bed. But there was plenty of room with lots of places to store clothes and suitcases, and it was great that we had a wall of sliding glass doors to lead to the balcony from our room. My only gripe was that our room didn't have a lot of plugs so charging both our iPhones and Apple Watches wasn't as easy as a normal hotel.
Eating at Disney Aulani
We actually didn't eat at Aulani all that much. On our first day, despite it being 3pm, our villa wasn't ready so we headed to Off The Hook near the water slide. It was odd being sent to the bar (only for the bartender to tell us that we were standing on the wrong side of the bar and to scooch down to order drinks) and then going back to the hostess stand to try to get a table. Ryan and I split the mushroom pizza, and it seemed like everyone else really liked what they had. I got the mint coconut mojito for my drink and it was so damn good it's the only drink I ordered the rest of the trip. Ryan's sister and brother-in-law got the Lava drinks and said they were really good too, and his mom got the Mai Tai and she said it was very strong. All of our drinks came with flower garnishes that were fabulous. You'll mostly find local beer on your trip, so I suggest the Longboard beers in the red cans.
The most of our eating came from Ulu Café, which was directly under our room and right between the main pool (Waikolohe Pool) and one of the side pools (Wailana Pool). It was great because it had beer/white claw (the bars didn't open until 11, so you also couldn't get liquor before 11), snacks, pre-made meals, and fresh meals. Our first night we ordered 2 pizzas from them and they were great.
The only other place we ate at was their main restaurant, Makahiki, which is right under the main entrance. Go at night and it is beautiful! Outside, you can look up and see stars, or inside there is a huge mural that takes up the entire length of the restaurant and the lighting constantly changes which gives the mural new and interesting looks. The menu is a pre-set 3-course menu for $62 each ($25for children) where you choose 1 appetizer, 1 entrée, and 1 desert. I got the caprese salad and it was good, but after trying Ryan's Cesar salad, I would recommend that more (it does come with anchovies). The shrimp fettucine was also good, and I got the brownie desert. It was good, but it wasn't amazing. This place also had breakfast where again it's a set price and set menu, but we never went.
What to do at Disney Aulani
Our party was 6 adults, so for us I felt there wasn't a whole lot to do besides the pools and beach. One weird thing is that you have to go to the towel stand every day to get a towel and a wrist band to access the pool/beach. The wrist bands are neon for non-DVC and glittery for DVC but you have to get a new wrist band every. single. day. I don't know why, but that was very annoying. Because we went during Labor Day weekend, we did learn that a lot of locals actually are DVC members and come for stay-cations during long weekends.
There were several pools we went to: the main pool Waikolohe, a lazy river at Waikolohe Stream, which also had access to the 2 water slides, an infinity pool at Ka Maka Grotto which also had a hot tub, a secluded pool at Wailana Pool, an infinity 2-level adults-only hot tub between the main pool and the beach. The pools were actually heated so it was no problem at all to switch from the hot tub to the pool. You can bring drinks in the pool, but you have to stay on the edge of the pool to drink them. There are wait staff that will come by so you can at least order food/drinks around the pool.
The beach is part of a cove that is 1/3 Disney, 1/3 Four Seasons, and 1/3 public access. There's lots of beach chairs, but they are zip-tied together so you can't move the chairs and the umbrellas are buried so you move them, and there's a table between every set of chairs but you also can't move that because the chairs are zip-tied together. If you're a DVC member, a cast member will help you find a chair but we never needed to use it because the beach was pretty empty most of our trip because we went at the end of the busy season and during COVID. There is a big boat that will take you beyond the cove for a couple hundred dollars, and there are stand-up paddle boards that you can rent for like $50/hour. There's also 2 seater covered loungers for about $100/day that Ryan's sister got and said it was nice, but those are up on the grass behind the beach. There is a beach-side bar that opens at 11 but we never used it because we were gone by then. But, there is no wait staff at the beach so you have to leave the beach to order drinks/food. The water itself is pretty cold, but you get used to it quickly once you get your whole body wet. The water is also very clear and you can see fish that will swim up into the cove, or you can snorkel in the cove for an even better view. Even while we were there, a wild seal came and sunbathed on the beach with us.
For kids, there's also a splash pad and a water playset to play at. There's also a small lagoon where kids can feed the fish or snorkel with the fish. People start lining up around 7:30am to get tickets for those because they sell out fast. We didn't do the snorkeling, but a family we chatted with said that your snorkel purchase lasts all day, but the water is so cold that kids don't really want to stay in there for long. There is a spot next to the snow-cone stand that is like an aquarium so you can see the fish swim by for free. There also seemed to be some scavenger hunt that kids could do on a green iPad, but we didn't look into that because we were all too old for that. There was a character breakfast that I saw kids going to, but it looked like Mickey was the only character you could see.
Eating outside of Disney Aulani
I think to get the most out of your Aulani trip, you really do have to leave the resort. This isn't a problem at all because you're on the small island of Oahu so everything is close by. We had dinner the first night and lunch our last day at Monkey Pod across the street from Aulani. The food was great and they have live music, but they only serve local beer (I recommend Kewalos Cream) and it's reasonably priced compared to the resort. There's also a great shopping center right there that has a grocery store where you can stock up and has gift shops and a Tommy Bahamas.
For our second dinner, we ate at Roy's which was also within walking distance of Aulani. This was our priciest meal at over $100 per person. The food was great, but the service was the best I've ever experienced. Ryan's sister and I split a bottle of the house prosecco which was only $16 and really delicious. Ryan and I split the crab cake appetizer and it was amazing. His sister and her husband split the mac & cheese which was good, but more like risotto than mac & cheese.
Our last meal was at Longhi's at the Marriott, also walking distance from Aulani. The zucchini fritta was okay, my crab-stuffed salmon was really good (the sauce was amazing), but Ryan's shrimp fettuccini was the best food we had the whole trip! This restaurant was also pretty pricey, but it was cheaper than Roy's and tastier than Makahiki at Disney.
The only other place I ate at was at Moke's Bread and Breakfast. Did I choose it just because it the name was similar to Monkeypod from earlier? Yes. Do I regret it? No. The food was pretty good, it was nice to just have normal food after all the over-priced fancy food. The waitstaff was the best, really, super friendly! But be warned to park very carefully because they tow like crazy (and quickly!!) over there.
What to do outside of Disney Aulani
What I loved about this trip was how we had so much time to do so much!! Our first big thing was the raptor tour at Kualoa Ranch. Kualoa Ranch is where a LOT of movies have been filmed, my favorites were Jurassic Park and 50 First Dates. The raptor tour is a 2-hour long UTV tour of the ranch, a little Hawaiian history, and a little movie tour. I loved it! This place also had 4-wheeler, bike, bus, and horse tours, each with their own focus at the ranch. There's so much to do here, I will definitely be coming back for more tours the next time I'm on Oahu. For the 2-hour raptor tour, it is very dusty so absolutely bring sunglasses (if you have skiing/off-roading googles bring those, you'll feel silly until you're on the trail) and bring a bandanna. But, this place is over an hour away from Aulani, so eat a big meal before (there's a small café but it was just okay) and be prepared to wait for over 30 minutes to find an Uber to take you back. What I wore: a bodysuit, jean shorts, Chacos, and sunglasses (women's/men's).
The day after Kualoa, we went to Pearl Harbor. You can book this through Disney and I recommend that because we had a van that could take us all over to it, and our driver showed us all around downtown Honolulu on our way there. Unfortunately, when we went there the actual memorial was under construction so we could only go to the submarine they had to tour and eat at the little food truck that was there. It was still a great experience, but I would definitely want to go back to the see the USS Arizona memorial. When we went, there was a clear bag policy in place and we saw several tourists being turned away for having the wrong bags, so pay attention! I knew this ahead of time so I brought my clear sunscreen bag, but I suggest you have a clear purse for this trip. There is a water fill-up station near the bathrooms behind the food truck, so pack a reusable water bottle to save money. It is mostly outside with not a lot of shade, so it gets hot fast. What I wore: black tank top, jean shorts, UPF hat, and sneakers.
One of my favorite dinners/things to do was at Paradise Cove luau and I can't recommend it enough. A lot of people we spoke to who had stayed at Aulani said that this luau was better than Disney's, and I can believe it. This is also walking distance from Aulani! It's a 5-hour ordeal so block off half a day for it, and get there early (doors open at 4:45). We did the Deluxe package, which I do think is worth it. For this package, you get front-row seating, servers (instead of having to go to the buffet), an arrival photo, and a free gift (they gave us metal wine tumblers with lids that we used the rest of the trip). Because we got there so early, we had time to take professional photos in the grass area. The photos were only $20 for a big photo, a medium-sized photo, and wallet-sized photos. It looked just like a cruise photo but instead of a fake background, it was a too-beautiful-to-be-real landscape for your background. They also had free spear throwing and Hawaiian bowling. There was also a small cove you could go to which had a canoe, but we didn't do that. The show itself was amazing and all of the performers were very professional! I also thought the food was great, especially the chicken and pork and salads, and the bar was great prices. Although the deluxe seats are right by the stage, the chairs are cheap flimsy plastic chairs, so if you want real chairs you'll have to book the Royal Box in the back, and those tables also have fans over them. But, the entire place is on sand!! We saw so many girls who showed up in heels and had to walk around barefoot all night because they weren't prepared for the sand. Where shoes for sand. Oh, but you do get leis when you get there! What I wore: maxi dress (so flowy and breezy) and platform sandals (super comfortable, wore them almost every day).
The last thing we did was on my birthday, Ryan rented a Jeep through the Alamo at Aulani. Every one else wanted to chill at the hotel, so it was our only day just the two of us, and we had such a great day! I wore a white body suit and paperbag shorts and my Chaco's, then I could easily change to running shorts for activities and a swimsuit for later. I threw this all in a packable backpack along with our JBL so we didn't have to worry about syncing music to the Jeep and we had music for later. We did get delayed a little by eating at Moke's instead of eating before we left and as you can guess, our car was towed so we had to take an hour detour to go down to Honolulu to grab it and head back. After that, we hiked Lanikai Pillbox which is a gorgeous hike. Parking is difficult so try to park at any available spot you see near Lanikai beach, and if you've driven up to the golf course then you've gone too far to find parking. Once you're parked, walk up to the golf course. You'll see a small driveway/street on the left and there is a chain-link fence on the right side of the driveway. Walk along that chain-link fence and you'll find the trail. It is a short hike but it is HOT so bring a water backpack because not having enough water makes this normal hike pretty difficult. Tip: there is a lot of loose dirt so if you start sliding, turn sideways and crab-walk and you won't slide so much. After that, we tried going to Waimea Falls but apparently they stop accepting visitors after 4, so we just grabbed some beers and went to one of the free public beaches to chill until we had to head back and get ready for dinner. We had a lot more on our itinerary, but we didn't have time for it all. This is the itinerary that Ryan's dad gave us from a previous trip, and if we go back we'll definitely do more.
Oahu Tips
Like I said, if we weren't going through DVC, I wouldn't stay at Aulani without kids. Don't get me wrong, it is a wonderful hotel and if you have the money to spend then do it, but it just seems like we could save a lot by choosing somewhere else. What I learned from our day Jeeping around the island is that if you have the time to just drive around and explore, there are LOTS of beautiful and free beaches you can go to without the Disney upcharge. Heck, 1/3 of the Disney cove is PUBLIC BEACH and right beside Aulani is an empty lot that will supposedly one day be an Atlantis Resort, but for now, it is also a FREE PUBLIC BEACH right next door. So, same view but for free and if you bring your own cooler you can save $20/drink and if you bring your own paddle board you can save $50/hour.
As to getting to Aulani, we took a direct flight from Houston to Honolulu and then a private Disney van picked us up. For us, that was an 8-hour flight. If you're going during COVID, you'll have to show you're medically cleared to fly and you'll have to show this same screen again at check-in and again if you board a flight. For the flight, I highly recommend getting a Snuggie for the flight because the flights get cold and jackets are hard to take off when you're sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and blankets fall down, get a neck pillow, if you're short get an inflatable foot rest (the eye mask & ear plugs that come with this are also great), and a reusable cup with a lid because bumps are bound to happen in an 8-hour trip. Need a recommendation for movies/shows to download for your trip? Besides Lilo & Stitch and Moana, download something filmed where you can visit.
You're close to the Equator and the UV index can get up there in Hawaii, so avoid painful sunburns and focus on sun protection. I've had melanoma before, so I was obviously extra cautious. Here's what I recommend you pack: SPF face lotion to add to your skin routine (or a shimmery SPF for fun), an SPF foundation replacement, SPF lip balm which is also safe to use around your eyes, scalp SPF for your part (of anyone with thin hair), travel spray SPF to throw in your bag every time you leave the resort, and good old fashioned SPF lotion for everyday use because it covers better than spray. My rule is reapply every 2 hours IF the UV index is below 7, 1.5 hours for UV index between 8-10, and every hour if the UV index is above 11 (I've learned this from personal experience of burning too easily in high UV indexes. This is the Apple Watch face I use to keep track of all this. If reapplying sunscreen sounds like a lot of effort, the easiest thing to do is wear a long-sleeve swimsuit like this one or this one which I loved, pack a travel wide-brimmed hat, and wear water shoes to prevent both sunburned tops of your feet and hot-sand-burned bottoms of your feet.
For the beach, bring a metal koozie for your beer/cocktails or for your slim beers/whiteclaw to keep your drinks cold in the sun, pack towel clips (but also ask for an extra towel because one towel won't reach past your butt and the leg park of the chairs get REALLY hot), a silicone wedding band if you plan on getting in the water so you don't lose your diamonds (also recommend wearing this to Kualoa to keep dust out of your diamonds), a water bag if you plan to go to any waterfalls, an iPhone water pouch if you plan to swim with your phone (even if your iPhone is waterproof, it makes it easier to wear your phone as a necklace so you can swim and will float if you accidentally drop your phone), and a swimsuit coverup that is appropriate to go eat in. Other things that I'm happy I packed are a lightweight rain jacket because it is a tropical climate so it will rain on-and-off, a lounge outfit that is perfect for being comfortable while lounging on the balcony but also has a jacket for when the sun goes down, a sunglass box for all of mine and my husbands sunglasses (we packed 2 each just in case one of us lost on) and my extra large beach bag.
Last tip for traveling to Hawaii: book all of your reservations early in the day. We live in Houston, so a 7pm Hawaiian-time dinner reservation was the same as eating at midnight Houston-time. It sounds lame eating dinner at 4 or 5pm, but we actually found it really hard to stay up past even 10pm Hawaiian time. The good news is that it's very easy to wake up for a Hawaiian sunrise if you went to bed super early the night before!
