Aulani Trip Report - July 2023

[DaisyNY]

What a great way to end your trip! Thanks for sharing!

 

[EllieBride]

Day 8 - Checking out, and then home, sweet, home
Our flight home was scheduled for around 5pm, so we still had some time left to spend at Aulani. I had already done quite a bit of packing the night before and finished up in the morning. I considered going down early to the front desk to reserve the changing room, but decided not to bother. But there was something else that was still on my list of things to do - have some Mickey waffles! + = HAPPINESS!!!

I told the family I was heading downstairs on a quest to get some and they all decided to join me. Earlier in the week, my husband was going down to get our coffee refills and I asked him to bring back waffles. He returned with French toast and said the waffles were sold “somewhere else.” So if you are searching for waffles, you will find them at Off the Hook. As we headed down, I attempted to place a mobile order using the Aulani app. I was so frustrated with the app and could not find the option to order. I later learned that the mobile app doesn’t work for breakfast.

The line at Off the Hook was pretty long, but we weren’t in a hurry, so it was fine. I was just happy to finally have my waffles! We enjoyed a perfect view of the ocean as we ate breakfast. After that, we took our luggage downstairs and checked out. We already had our swimsuits on and our travel clothes packed in a tote bag to change into later.



I wasn’t really expecting much for our last morning, but this was about as perfect as it could get. Husband doesn’t like the water, so he found a shady lounge chair and happily read his book and watched our stuff while the kids and I made the most of our pool time. We went down the slides and enjoyed the infinity pool. It was incredible. Later, I bought two of the poke bowls from Ulu Cafe for me and my husband to enjoy. They were great! I can easily see why so many people spend their days at Aulani and don’t leave the resort. We will definitely plan on more resort time when we come back someday.



Before long, it was time to change and start our drive to the airport. All went smoothly with the rental car return and checking in. We were there plenty early and just relaxed at the airport. We stopped in one gift shop for our son to buy a magnet (he collects them from all of the states that we visit) and I bought a few snacks for the plane. We departed on time and had a smooth flight home to Michigan. It was good to be home and I was happy to see my mom and dog.

I will probably add one more post with some overall thoughts on Aulani and some details about our shopping, but this pretty much covers the trip. I hope you have enjoyed the report.

 

[Dismamx2]

I have enjoyed reading your report, thanks so much. Glad you all all had a fantastic trip.

 

[alohamom]

Excellent report, full of info and fun, thanks for posting!

 

[EllieBride]

I have enjoyed reading your report, thanks so much. Glad you all all had a fantastic trip.

Thanks for reading.

Excellent report, full of info and fun, thanks for posting!

Thanks for following along. I really appreciated the trip reports as I worked on our planning, so hopefully this is helpful.

 

[EllieBride]

Thoughts on Aulani, Food, and Other Misc.
We’ve only been home for three weeks and I am already beginning to forget some of the details about the resort that I wanted to comment on. I guess I may need to book another trip to refresh my memory, ha ha.

Overall, I really loved Aulani - the resort, the nice vibe of the Ko Olina area, and definitely our room (except for the odd balconies). As I think ahead to a return trip, I will probably try to adjust our travel dates in order to save some DVC points. I might be willing to sacrifice the ocean-view, but this is one of the details about the trip that we valued, so we’ll have to see.

The resort is large, but not overly huge. As a first-timer, it took me a bit to figure out where things are. The signage is OK, but I think a little more in this department wouldn’t hurt.

Regarding restaurants and food, in general… We enjoyed our arrival day lunch at Off the Hook, but it was pricey (I knew to expect this). I would have liked to try either Ama Ama or Makahiki, but the prix-fixe menus aren’t my first choice based on our kids and their likes/dislikes. And somehow, The ‘Ōlelo Room, was never even on my radar. I definitely want to check this out next time.

I thought the Ulu Cafe setup was odd. Early in the trip, I learned that this is where you buy the refillable mugs and I definitely wanted to buy the Aulani stainless one. I waited in the line where the mugs were displayed (where you place food orders), only to be told that I needed to wait in the cashier line, and then come back to the food counter with my receipt. So, I waited in three separate lines just to get a darn mug (but I love it!). And, they had one cashier working during prime hours. This was frustrating.

I mentioned earlier about the mobile ordering app not being available for breakfast at Off the Hook. Again, this seemed strange since it appears to be a big production and something that is promoted later in the day. And why aren’t waffles available at Ulu Cafe to begin with?

Snacks… we spent a fair amount of time at the pool and I never did figure out where they sold the popcorn buckets, but I wasn’t necessarily looking. I don’t think I was alone because I only saw ONE person with a popcorn bucket the entire trip.

Regarding the Aulani app… it has some useful information, but could definitely be improved. It seems like there were different reservation systems in use depending on the activity - spa, kids’ salon, Aunty’s Beach House, Community Hall / family activities. For other things, you needed to call the Concierge (DVC events, or to cancel/modify reservations). I mostly used the app for checking the character schedules, but even this wasn’t always accurate. It worked better to just call in the morning and get the information. I had made some of our activity reservations in advance and am grateful that I did. If you checked the app on the actual day, nearly everything was at capacity, especially the free activities, and many of the premium/paid ones, as well. I didn’t want to overschedule us, so I tried to not go crazy with the advance reservations. And maybe it’s easier to get day-of reservations during slower times of the year.

I’ll probably add one more post to cover souvenirs… things we bought, and things I wish we had bought.

And finally... since this was our first visit to Aulani, we didn't have past experience of receiving a floral lei upon arrival, but as we all know, this is something that used to be included. And yes, they need to bring this back. Maybe there are folks who don't care about receiving one, but honestly, I would have loved it. I considered pre-ordering them for our arrival at the airport and decided against it, but bringing them back at Aulani seems like a no-brainer.