Mini Trip Report - Aulani Nov 2017

jollygreengirl

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
We just got back from a short staycation at Aulani over Thanksgiving weekend. We had a pool view DVC studio that we booked on one of the DVC rental sites back in August.

THE GOOD!
+Our room was ready when we got there a little after 9am! What a nice surprise! I had everyone already in swim clothes, but it was so nice to have the room, especially since it was chilly outside.
+The Olelo Room was a nice change of pace for dinner. We got a bunch of appetizers to share and listened to the music both nights. It's not really advertised, but they have kids meals here. Normally I would feel weird about bringing my kids to a bar, but 1) it's Disney and 2) there's not that much else to do at night, so lots of kids were already there. More on that later...
+The lazy river was nice and warm! It was the warmest pool by far and we went around and around during the very un-Hawaiian weather.
+Moana was awesome! We tried to see her at DHS back in the Spring, but my dd was sick and didn't feel like waiting. All it took was us to move to Hawaii to see her finally!
+Mai Tais at Off the Hook pool bar were STRONG! I'm not a lightweight and that thing was loaded. The Bartenders were very fun and social, too.
+Lots of pool and beach chairs available all day. Partly because it's not "high season" but partly because it was a chilly weekend. There were still folks out there early to claim chairs with a single flip-flop though. :/
+Beach sand toys to check out. Such a nice touch, since no one wants to cart that stuff around.
+The rooms are really quiet. Even with a pool view, the sliding doors are very solid and we couldn't hear a thing from outside. When I had napping kids, I would've worried a pool view meant too much noise, but at Aulani, it's very quiet.

THE MEH
~My kids just don't care for Aunty's Beach House. They went for about an hour and then we got the call that they were ready to go. My ds went when we visited in 2015 and was the same way. I think it has more to do with my turkey kids than it does with the Beach House. ;) I had them registered for Stitch Goo, but they said they didn't want to go back, so I canceled it. That said, it always seems like a zoo in the lobby down there. There were always parents spilling out the door.
~The weather could have been better (not Disney's fault). It was chilly and breezy the whole weekend, including high wind advisories. We weren't planning on going to the luau, but they canceled the one on 11/25 for wind. We were mainly there to use the pools, which is what my kids love best. Of all the pools, the lazy river and the main large pool were the only ones really usable this weekend. The infinity edged pool overlooking the beach, which is usually my favorite, was much too cold and very few people were ever in it. The lazy river was by far the warmest. We ended up down on the beach more than we usually are, simply because it was warmer down there! I remember the Menehune Bridge being freezing in July, so in Nov it's miserable. I saw only handful of kids on it all weekend.
~We ordered food by the pool and even though their website shows the pool bar offers coconut shrimp, they said now only the shack by the pool offers them. So I had to go get in line and order my shrimp while the server got my kids' chicken. I should have just had him cancel the whole order, but I was trying to be nice about it. One of a few "off" moments this weekend with CMs.

THE BAD
~Aulani is not a cheap place to stay. Our studio had a stinky fridge, very thick dust in many places, a broken lamp, and a leaky tub faucet. Not overwhelmingly bad, but for these prices, that's really unacceptable.
~Ulu Cafe. I don't know why they can't take a page from WDW resorts and fix this quick service location. It was slow two years ago and has only gotten worse. We waited at least 30 minutes for a pizza and a sandwich at 11:15a. There were maybe 2 other people in line when we went, so they weren't slammed. And for $14, my sandwich didn't even have a side! Don't bother unless you're getting grab-and-go. All the CMs working the "hot line" were very surly.
~Makahiki Breakfast Buffet. We have eaten here many times, but this time around it was a train wreck. We waited a LONG time to see Mickey and after we saw him, we waited another 15-20 minutes to get seated. By now our 8:45 reservation is actually 9:30. My kids were grumpy and starving. We sat down and got our food, but it took forever to get our drink orders. Finally got drinks, finished eating and had been seated for almost an hour and still hadn't seen Goofy or Minnie. I finally had to say something to get characters to our table, but it was almost 11 before we finally left...after an 8:45 reservation! I've never had such a bad character meal. It was so bad, I canceled the Menehune Mischief one I had booked for later in our trip, simply because I couldn't do it all again so soon. We will go back and try Menehune Mischief again another time when we aren't staying there. The dining room isn't that big, so I don't know what the hold up was. It was so irritating to see people come and leave while we were still waiting for just Goofy and Minnie to come by.
~When the weather isn't great, there just isn't much else to do here with little kids, especially in the late afternoon/evenings. If you don't have them in the Beach House, you're kind of stuck. All the character meets were scheduled between the same 2-3 hour block, so if that happened to be when you were at the beach or swimming (which was always lunchtime/early afternoon, when most people are swimming), you were out of luck that day. I would like to see them spread out more. Some in the morning, afternoon and evening. I would also like to see more organized fun that doesn't require signing up beforehand. Each time we tried to sign up for something, we were too late and were waitlisted. I really missed the free Starlit Hui. My daughter and I were stuck at the resort last night while the rest of our family went to the UH football game. We traded a few pins and since most quick service closes at 5, we ate at the Olelo bar again. Even the Scavenger Hunt wasn't so great, because they were only allowing one of the trails and it was a sea of kids doing the same thing one after another. The outdoor loops weren't being run, just the lobby. My kids liked the fire pit storytelling, but it was very short the night we went.
~It's not Disney's fault, but our van was side-swiped in the parking garage by a hit and run. We will be spending this advent season chasing insurance estimates, sharing a car, and paying a deductible thanks to a real swell person who not only hit us, but tried to cover it up by "fixing" it. Maddening.

We had some good times, we had some bad times, but overall we do enjoy Aulani a lot. I'm sure we will return again before we leave Hawaii in a few years, but I've gotten my fill for a while. Next time, it'll be during the HOTTER time of year.
 
Thanks for the review. Sorry to hear about the badly kept room and experience at makahiki. I’ve been thinking about November but also worried about the potential for cold weather. Probably will do September instead.

When we were there we really disliked Makahiki for the flies around the food and the price for the quality of food. I don’t think we will head back to the restaurants unless there are some significant changes.
 
I agree with the quick food services being bad. It's basically unacceptable cause Disney and other HNL resorts KNOW how to run this sort of things. The last time we're there during holiday weekends, the pool service was at least an hour. Next day we decided to wait in line to get pizza and that was a 30 min wait (still not OK when there were only a few people ahead of us).
 
Wow, I can second so many of those things! Wish now I'd (somehow) made time to do a TR and maybe saved some folks the same hassles:
-We skipped the Olelo room because we saw nothing for DD. I even walked up to the podium and asked if there were additional menu items and was told no. Grr.
-Had our last meal at Off the Hook because my son smelled the coconut shrimp and really wanted it...only to find out they don't have it, although the printed menus still show it. Grr.
-Ulu really was insanely slow, no matter the time/crowd, and we found the workers (other than the registers) surly too!

But fortunately we had a super dinner at Makahiki, which led us to book a breakfast, which was good but not amazing. But it filled us up for our north shore day!

And luckily we didn't have our personal vehicle damaged :( So sorry that happened to you; hopefully it'll be taken care of quickly so it doesn't hinder your holidays too much...other than the bill :(
 


I’ve been thinking about November but also worried about the potential for cold weather. Probably will do September instead.
The weather here is pretty much the same year-round. Plus Aulani is on the leeward side which is typically much drier and sunnier than other parts.
 
We were there the week before Thanksgiving this year Saturday to Saturday. The weather was perfect- just a little rain the Saturday night we flew in - 80's all week- the resort was almost vacant- and I thought the food was good. We have nothing but good things to say. I did notice however that the Friday before we left- our last day- the resort was busier, the pools were more crowded and rules were definitely being enforced more. My daughters and their cousins played on the play structure bridge all week almost alone, but on Friday, as the resort filled up, life guards told my oldest she was too tall to play on the structure- and she is- but with no one else on it during the week, I guess it wasn't such a big deal.
 
We were there the week before Thanksgiving this year Saturday to Saturday. The weather was perfect- just a little rain the Saturday night we flew in - 80's all week- the resort was almost vacant- and I thought the food was good. We have nothing but good things to say. I did notice however that the Friday before we left- our last day- the resort was busier, the pools were more crowded and rules were definitely being enforced more. My daughters and their cousins played on the play structure bridge all week almost alone, but on Friday, as the resort filled up, life guards told my oldest she was too tall to play on the structure- and she is- but with no one else on it during the week, I guess it wasn't such a big deal.

So, just a note to say that more than once I have kept my child away from designated play areas because they were being used by bigger kids who weren’t actually allowed in. Which is to say - the fact that your child wasn’t asked to leave earlier in the week doesn’t make it ok that she was in there. You/she may have been the reason there weren’t other smaller children.

Rules are in place for a reason.
 



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