First timers to Hawaii/Aulani, stayed 3 days/2 nights at the end of a 13 day vacation to Maui/Oahu. Family of 4 with 15 & 13 yr olds.
Check in
Checked in at 11am on a Tuesday. Greeted warmly by valet and front desk staff. Quick process even though I had not done online check in. Well I tried, but you have to do it more than 24 hours prior to check in which I didn't do (mistakenly thought it was like the airlines in which you can't check in more than 24 hours in advance)I had the Aulani app set up already so it was quick room key grab/put credit card on file, and off to the beach. Our room number showed up on the app ready at 12:40pm.
Resort Wristbands
We wandered the resort taking pictures and checking out pools. The resort grounds are beautiful and picture perfect! Didn't see any pool chairs so headed to beach to find some shade. There was a guard standing near the resort access from the beach but I didn't see him stopping anyone to check for wristbands as I ready to explain we just checked in. There was usually a line each day at 8am to get new wristbands but we just waited until later to grab ours and towels. We weren't concerned with pool side chairs since we have teens. Easily grabbed some chairs with umbrellas by the lagoon each day. Never got our "chairs flagged" even though we were gone for long periods. I really only saw this monitored in the pool areas. I did see a few people without wristbands in pool area but not many.
Room
943, palm trees/parking lot view but could also see part of ocean. We weren't expecting much since Aulani was completely booked when I initially tried to get reservations but I kept checking website, at recommendation of an agent, and eventually did get our dates. Room was clean, better than standard hotel room at other places, garbage collected daily. We asked for electric tea kettle, plastic bowls and spoons, brought to us quickly.
Lagoon
Beautiful crystal clear water, sandy bottom, safe for swimming. Boogie boards free if you can get one. Bring or buy an inflatable tube/raft for lounging in water.
Dining
Makahiki-reservations made for dinner, were seated within 5 minutes. 3 course fixed price menu. It was better than I expected as the reviews around here haven't been great. Our family of 4, had 2 different salads, 4 different entrees and 4 different deserts and sampled each others. We agreed the Salmon entree and Shrimp Fettucine (penne since it was Gluten free) were all our favorites. They were conscious of Gluten allergy at our table and made sure everything was prepared separately as necessary.
Off the Hook-ate here twice for lunch. Not a huge menu but everything was tasty. Once again, Gluten allergy options available (buns, flatbread, etc.)
Ama Ama-Bummer that it was closed, what a great unused location right now! There were construction type materials and machines located inside the building that I could see at night. Just saw announcement for its reopening.
Pools
Busy, but expected since Disney resort. Never had issue finding a tube for lazy river. Waits for slides varied depending on time of day but most 15-20 minutes. Some pools did seem a little cloudy, but we own a pool so we are probably more critical of pool cleanliness/looks. We never got sick from using them or anything like that. There was a small adults only area.
Characters
Did not do any meet and greets since we have teens, although I wanted to! The characters varied day to day and schedule posted day of on app at around 9am. Longer lines for those characters that hadn't met in previous days. Mickey and Minnie seemed to have short lines since they are daily.
Check Out/Luana Lounge
Our flight didn't leave until 5:15 so we opted to stay at resort and swim/shower until later. Didn't realize we needed to make lounge reservation but luckily they fit us into the schedule when we checked out. Be sure to ask about that. The lounge has attendants, 2 showers & a locker room on female side plus tables, tvs and couches in main area. They told us lounge was only for late check outs, not for early check ins.
Customer Service
Excellent! Definitely "Disney level service" that we've grown to love over the years. Hospitality in Hawaii was fabulous everywhere we went.
We also attended Stargazing on patio near Ama Ama and listened to Uncle tell stories by the pool, nice little night time activities.
Paradise Cove Luau
In short, would not recommend it. Only a 5-10 walk from Disney property and one of the more affordable luau options out there. Nice location next to beach but nothing felt authentic about it. We felt like we were herded like cattle from one lame activity to another. The food was meh, the entertainment ok (didn't care for MC), fire dancer was pretty decent though.
After 10 days of exploring having 3 days, 2 nights just at the resort seemed a little short, one more day would have been sweet spot for first timers.
Check in
Checked in at 11am on a Tuesday. Greeted warmly by valet and front desk staff. Quick process even though I had not done online check in. Well I tried, but you have to do it more than 24 hours prior to check in which I didn't do (mistakenly thought it was like the airlines in which you can't check in more than 24 hours in advance)I had the Aulani app set up already so it was quick room key grab/put credit card on file, and off to the beach. Our room number showed up on the app ready at 12:40pm.
Resort Wristbands
We wandered the resort taking pictures and checking out pools. The resort grounds are beautiful and picture perfect! Didn't see any pool chairs so headed to beach to find some shade. There was a guard standing near the resort access from the beach but I didn't see him stopping anyone to check for wristbands as I ready to explain we just checked in. There was usually a line each day at 8am to get new wristbands but we just waited until later to grab ours and towels. We weren't concerned with pool side chairs since we have teens. Easily grabbed some chairs with umbrellas by the lagoon each day. Never got our "chairs flagged" even though we were gone for long periods. I really only saw this monitored in the pool areas. I did see a few people without wristbands in pool area but not many.
Room
943, palm trees/parking lot view but could also see part of ocean. We weren't expecting much since Aulani was completely booked when I initially tried to get reservations but I kept checking website, at recommendation of an agent, and eventually did get our dates. Room was clean, better than standard hotel room at other places, garbage collected daily. We asked for electric tea kettle, plastic bowls and spoons, brought to us quickly.
Lagoon
Beautiful crystal clear water, sandy bottom, safe for swimming. Boogie boards free if you can get one. Bring or buy an inflatable tube/raft for lounging in water.
Dining
Makahiki-reservations made for dinner, were seated within 5 minutes. 3 course fixed price menu. It was better than I expected as the reviews around here haven't been great. Our family of 4, had 2 different salads, 4 different entrees and 4 different deserts and sampled each others. We agreed the Salmon entree and Shrimp Fettucine (penne since it was Gluten free) were all our favorites. They were conscious of Gluten allergy at our table and made sure everything was prepared separately as necessary.
Off the Hook-ate here twice for lunch. Not a huge menu but everything was tasty. Once again, Gluten allergy options available (buns, flatbread, etc.)
Ama Ama-Bummer that it was closed, what a great unused location right now! There were construction type materials and machines located inside the building that I could see at night. Just saw announcement for its reopening.
Pools
Busy, but expected since Disney resort. Never had issue finding a tube for lazy river. Waits for slides varied depending on time of day but most 15-20 minutes. Some pools did seem a little cloudy, but we own a pool so we are probably more critical of pool cleanliness/looks. We never got sick from using them or anything like that. There was a small adults only area.
Characters
Did not do any meet and greets since we have teens, although I wanted to! The characters varied day to day and schedule posted day of on app at around 9am. Longer lines for those characters that hadn't met in previous days. Mickey and Minnie seemed to have short lines since they are daily.
Check Out/Luana Lounge
Our flight didn't leave until 5:15 so we opted to stay at resort and swim/shower until later. Didn't realize we needed to make lounge reservation but luckily they fit us into the schedule when we checked out. Be sure to ask about that. The lounge has attendants, 2 showers & a locker room on female side plus tables, tvs and couches in main area. They told us lounge was only for late check outs, not for early check ins.
Customer Service
Excellent! Definitely "Disney level service" that we've grown to love over the years. Hospitality in Hawaii was fabulous everywhere we went.
We also attended Stargazing on patio near Ama Ama and listened to Uncle tell stories by the pool, nice little night time activities.
Paradise Cove Luau
In short, would not recommend it. Only a 5-10 walk from Disney property and one of the more affordable luau options out there. Nice location next to beach but nothing felt authentic about it. We felt like we were herded like cattle from one lame activity to another. The food was meh, the entertainment ok (didn't care for MC), fire dancer was pretty decent though.
After 10 days of exploring having 3 days, 2 nights just at the resort seemed a little short, one more day would have been sweet spot for first timers.
