beansf
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2006
My husband and I just returned from our stay at Aulani. It was our first trip out and we had a wonderful time. I love reading long, detailed trip reports with photos, but as far as writing one, I don’t have it in me. I am going short and sweet with only the highlights, but I welcome any questions I may be able to answer.
I booked us for 8 nights in a 1BR villa (Island Garden View) but when we got to the room we ended up with an Ocean View. Sweet. We were in 983 which had a nice view of the lawn where they have the Starlit Hui. We checked in around 1 and they texted me with our room number around 2:30. We just had time to eat at Monkeypod before getting in our room. The food was good and a quick refresher as to how much it costs to eat in Hawaii. (And I say this as a resident of the SF Bay Area, so I am no stranger to high prices).
We went to Costco, Safeway, Target, and Walmart during the week to subsidize our food. Our only 2 meals out after Monkeypod were at Roy’s Ko Olina (which was very good – don’t forget the Yelp check-in for a free chocolate soufflé) and Makahiki for the dinner buffet. I cannot articulate how disappointed I was with Makahiki. If you want to go there for character breakfast, you will probably be fine, but I would not recommend dinner. I have never been so let down by a meal on Disney property in my life. The food was hospital cafeteria quality and the service was lacking. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. This was the low-point in an otherwise super vacation.
When we wanted to use the pool, we always went at 8am and got good seats, empty pools, and short lines at the waterslides. The pool area is as nice as I hoped it would be. I had several Dole Whips while I was there mixed with vanilla softserve. They are $4 each, in case anyone wonders.
The couples massage at Laniwai was very nice. It was my husband’s first massage and he only went to appease me, but I loved the pampering.
Off property, we enjoyed Hanauma Bay, where we snorkeled with many fish including some bigger than my cat. We also visited Kailua Beach for a great beach stroll, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu Art Museum and Doris Duke’s Shangri-La, and Waimea Valley which is beautiful. If you are at all interested in flora and fauna you must visit Waimea Valley. Even if you aren’t, I don’t see how you could NOT appreciate this jewel of nature. Kualoa Ranch was fun too. This is another spot I think is worth a trip off the resort. When at Pearl Harbor, we went to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet where I got to try fresh coconut water, which is 50,000 better than that nasty canned stuff.
If you are on the fence about renting a car, I would say do so. We really enjoyed seeing other parts of the island. The area of Waimea Valley and Kualoa Ranch look totally different than the area where the resort is located and feel more like what I think of when I bring up a mental image of Hawaii; beautiful mountains and beaches with so many luscious green trees. It was a site for my sore draught-weary California eyes.
My biggest caution (other than don’t eat at Makahiki) is to go to the airport MUCH earlier than you think you need to. We left Aulani and 10:30AM for a 1PM flight and had to run through the airport to make our flight. They are doing construction right now at HNL and the place was a madhouse. When the rental car shuttle dropped us off, we spent 20 minutes in line before we could even get in the door of the airport. Then, after we dropped our bags, we had to go back outside and wait in the long line to go through security which doubled back on the sidewalk. I have never seen anything like it.
I hope you have enjoyed my quick trip report. As I said, if you have any questions I might be able to answer, please let me know.
I booked us for 8 nights in a 1BR villa (Island Garden View) but when we got to the room we ended up with an Ocean View. Sweet. We were in 983 which had a nice view of the lawn where they have the Starlit Hui. We checked in around 1 and they texted me with our room number around 2:30. We just had time to eat at Monkeypod before getting in our room. The food was good and a quick refresher as to how much it costs to eat in Hawaii. (And I say this as a resident of the SF Bay Area, so I am no stranger to high prices).
We went to Costco, Safeway, Target, and Walmart during the week to subsidize our food. Our only 2 meals out after Monkeypod were at Roy’s Ko Olina (which was very good – don’t forget the Yelp check-in for a free chocolate soufflé) and Makahiki for the dinner buffet. I cannot articulate how disappointed I was with Makahiki. If you want to go there for character breakfast, you will probably be fine, but I would not recommend dinner. I have never been so let down by a meal on Disney property in my life. The food was hospital cafeteria quality and the service was lacking. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. This was the low-point in an otherwise super vacation.
When we wanted to use the pool, we always went at 8am and got good seats, empty pools, and short lines at the waterslides. The pool area is as nice as I hoped it would be. I had several Dole Whips while I was there mixed with vanilla softserve. They are $4 each, in case anyone wonders.
The couples massage at Laniwai was very nice. It was my husband’s first massage and he only went to appease me, but I loved the pampering.
Off property, we enjoyed Hanauma Bay, where we snorkeled with many fish including some bigger than my cat. We also visited Kailua Beach for a great beach stroll, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu Art Museum and Doris Duke’s Shangri-La, and Waimea Valley which is beautiful. If you are at all interested in flora and fauna you must visit Waimea Valley. Even if you aren’t, I don’t see how you could NOT appreciate this jewel of nature. Kualoa Ranch was fun too. This is another spot I think is worth a trip off the resort. When at Pearl Harbor, we went to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet where I got to try fresh coconut water, which is 50,000 better than that nasty canned stuff.
If you are on the fence about renting a car, I would say do so. We really enjoyed seeing other parts of the island. The area of Waimea Valley and Kualoa Ranch look totally different than the area where the resort is located and feel more like what I think of when I bring up a mental image of Hawaii; beautiful mountains and beaches with so many luscious green trees. It was a site for my sore draught-weary California eyes.
My biggest caution (other than don’t eat at Makahiki) is to go to the airport MUCH earlier than you think you need to. We left Aulani and 10:30AM for a 1PM flight and had to run through the airport to make our flight. They are doing construction right now at HNL and the place was a madhouse. When the rental car shuttle dropped us off, we spent 20 minutes in line before we could even get in the door of the airport. Then, after we dropped our bags, we had to go back outside and wait in the long line to go through security which doubled back on the sidewalk. I have never seen anything like it.
I hope you have enjoyed my quick trip report. As I said, if you have any questions I might be able to answer, please let me know.
