Just Checked Into Aulani!

[Paul Stupin]

Thanks for taking the time to write a current review! Have you ever eaten at the fish restaurant st the Four Seasons? If so, how was it? Enjoy the rest of your vacation!

Going to eat there (Mina’s Fish House) tomorrow night! It faces out to the ocean and has a beautiful outdoor area with hanging lights and fire pits. Looks amazing.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Maybe we will bump into you at some point. We checked in on Friday and are here until the 21st.

Hope you guys have a great time!

 

[lauren817]

Hi everyone....

Lounge chairs can be tough, especially by the pool. They were all gone relatively early. Around 11:00 AM, loungers were still available by the beach, and one of the cast members told us that they don’t really enforce the one hour rule. So we put our stuff on them, then went for a long walk down to the Marriott, then up to the shopping center and the Four Season. When we returned in about 90 minutes, our chairs were happily waiting for us undisturbed, with a nice umbrella for shade, but right now it looks like zero availability. Fri and Sat are the busiest days though, and we still got seating pretty easily. We prefer it to the pool, with so many kids running around.

Loving the Waianae Tower. No waits for elevators and very quiet!

Internet on beach surprisingly ok! Am writing this on the sand right now.

Bring coffee filters! None in the room, and none available anywhere within walking distance. They’re sold out in the shopping center across the street.

Enormous lines for MonkeyPod, even right now for lunch. Not sure it’s worth the wait.

Four Seasons looks pretty empty, but things are hopping at the Marriott down the beach.

Would you be able to post a picture of what the current beach chair set up looks like? Heading there in a few weeks and just want to get an idea for the set up and if we should go for a beach casabella.

 

[misterrandom]

Would you be able to post a picture of what the current beach chair set up looks like? Heading there in a few weeks and just want to get an idea for the set up and if we should go for a beach casabella.

I tried to post an image or link to the image but it thinks it's spam. I'll try as a fresh post.

 

[OffToDWD]

Thanks for sharing your experience so far!

Just curious - are they still operating at decreased capacity? Thanks!

 

[misterrandom]

Would you be able to post a picture of what the current beach chair set up looks like? Heading there in a few weeks and just want to get an idea for the set up and if we should go for a beach casabella.

 

[Paul Stupin]

I'll try to post a pic tomorrow, but I've had somewhat bad luck in the past. But maybe this time I'll get it right. Went this afternoon to Kualoa Ranch on the east side of the island, where countless movies have been filmed: Jurassic Park, its sequels, Godzilla, King Kong, the list goes on and on. Its really worth seeing. Some of the sets are still up, but what makes the location so special is the stunningly beautiful scenery. My wife and I were on a tour where we were all driving these little ATV vehicles, with the guide's vehicle in front, and it was sooo much fun. Went over a couple streams with a huge splash too. Its also a working cattle ranch, and there was a point where we all had too stop because we were surrounded by cows! They didn't seem to like us and were mooing crazedly.

Afterward, we stopped at a macadamia nut farm's shop, right off the highway, and bought a few bags. The variety of seasoning was impressive (roasted and salted, of course, cinnamon dusted, coffee dusted, unsalted, etc), with samples in little plastic cups to try them, and then drove over to Kailua, a nice little town nearby. Not sure its worth the drive from Aulani, but its warrants checking out if you're nearby. Nice tree lined main street, a few fun shops.

Then back to Aulani for an early dinner at the Ulu Lounge. As usual, the sushi was wonderful. I give it an A. Tomorrow we're laying low and will hang at the pool and beach.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Just noticed a pic was already posted of the beach. Great! While we were on the other side of the island, where it was nice and sunny, the rain hit Aulani, which must have come from those clouds in the pic. Supposed to be sunny all next week I think. It is a little chillier at night than we anticipated, especially when its windy. When we're sitting outside for dinner, we've worn hoodies.

 

[tmogoof]

Sounds like things are going well so far. We are scheduled to go late May and have been contemplating if we keep our reservation or not. Are there enough things open and happening? (sounds like some things are definately open... ) Also wondering how the mask situation is when in public and on the beach when outside. Any insight you can share?

 

[poohj80]

Did you happen to take a photos of the restaurant menus at the Four Seasons? I looked them online but wondering about pricing. Hopefully Ama Ama will be open by the time we visit.

 

[distravel]

Did you happen to take a photos of the restaurant menus at the Four Seasons? I looked them online but wondering about pricing. Hopefully Ama Ama will be open by the time we visit.

The current menus with prices for Mina Fish House can be found at michaelmina.net.
https://www.michaelmina.net/restaurants/minas-fish-house/
The dinner menu for Noe can be found at noeitalian.com/dinner/

 

[nkereina]

Enormous lines for MonkeyPod, even right now for lunch. Not sure it’s worth the wait.

Check for reservations on Open Table. Not sure if anything's changed, but when we were there, the waits at Monkeypod got long but there was full reservation availability through Open Table. Twice we were sat during dinner hour with no wait using reservations we had made minutes before on Open Table. They have a great happy hour, nice atmosphere, and some unique farm to table offerings.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Did you happen to take a photos of the restaurant menus at the Four Seasons? I looked them online but wondering about pricing. Hopefully Ama Ama will be open by the time we visit.

I'll take a photo at Mina's tonight. Re the Italian restaurant Noe at Four Seasons, where we ate a couple nights ago, I remember that there were a couple of fish dishes in the $47-$49 range. We wound up ordering the signature pasta dish, house made pasta with ruffles and mushrooms (really good) for $26 each. The whipped ricotta appetizer was $17.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Check for reservations on Open Table. Not sure if anything's changed, but when we were there, the waits at Monkeypod got long but there was full reservation availability through Open Table. Twice we were sat during dinner hour with no wait using reservations we had made minutes before on Open Table. They have a great happy hour, nice atmosphere, and some unique farm to table offerings.

great advice! thanks!

 

[poohj80]

I'll take a photo at Mina's tonight. Re the Italian restaurant Noe at Four Seasons, where we ate a couple nights ago, I remember that there were a couple of fish dishes in the $47-$49 range. We wound up ordering the signature pasta dish, house made pasta with ruffles and mushrooms (really good) for $26 each. The whipped ricotta appetizer was $17.

Thank you Paul, a link with prices was posted above so I got an idea. Enjoy!

 

[Paul Stupin]

Sounds like things are going well so far. We are scheduled to go late May and have been contemplating if we keep our reservation or not. Are there enough things open and happening? (sounds like some things are definately open... ) Also wondering how the mask situation is when in public and on the beach when outside. Any insight you can share?

Honestly, everything seems pretty normal. Everyone is wearing masks in public, but not on the beach or in the pool. And when we're walking on the beach path or taking a stroll around Ko Olina, we take our masks off. Now, we don't have kids, but a ton of them seem to be having a blast at the pool. Don't believe Auntie's Beach House is open though. The spa / gym is closed (we do miss it but its not a deal breaker), and so is Ama Ama, but that's pretty much the only major restaurant, of all the hotels nearby, still closed. The Luau is open, but we didn't book it, even though it looks fun, because we don't want to eat dinner quite so early. Oh, and for kids, there are scheduled character photo opportunities.
The place is still paradise! Re the rest of the island, the shrimp trucks on the north shore in Haleiwa are up and running, Pearl Harbor as well. When I last checked, some hiking trails were still closed. My wife and I really want to do the hike to Manoa Falls, but its still closed alas. We haven't yet been down to Waikiki, but my general impression is that things are almost back to normal there as well.

 

[CateinPhoenix]

We arrive on the 26th. Wondering how long it took your safe travels account to say approved with the green check after uploading your negative test results. I'm hearing people have the QR code but no green check and are having to retest at the airport.

I did some reading on Trip Advisor last year before our trip in December and they advised to try with different Internet browsers. I can't remember specifically, but I know one didn't work for us, we switched to a different browser to upload and then it worked!

 

[Paul Stupin]

I did some reading on Trip Advisor last year before our trip in December and they advised to try with different Internet browsers. I can't remember specifically, but I know one didn't work for us, we switched to a different browser to upload and then it worked!

I had an issue with Safari when trying to download my wife and my pdf files with the negative results from the Hawaiian Airlines service that tested us in Los Angeles. I kept clicking "download" and nothing downloaded! It was actually a bit stressful. I switched to Chrome and it worked perfectly.
That said, I was able to upload the pdfs to the Hawaii Safe Travels website through Safari without a problem.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Check for reservations on Open Table. Not sure if anything's changed, but when we were there, the waits at Monkeypod got long but there was full reservation availability through Open Table. Twice we were sat during dinner hour with no wait using reservations we had made minutes before on Open Table. They have a great happy hour, nice atmosphere, and some unique farm to table offerings.

Alas, Open Table lists zero availability for dinner at a reasonable time all week at MonkeyPod. Oh well. I think its good, but not great. And the menu is now somewhat limited. Maybe next time we're here!

 

[nkereina]

Alas, Open Table lists zero availability for dinner at a reasonable time all week at MonkeyPod. Oh well. I think its good, but not great. And the menu is now somewhat limited. Maybe next time we're here!

Ahh bummer! The secret must be out! Next time for sure!