Aulani, A Disney Hotel & Resort

This is truly a five-star resort. Ko’Olina is away from Waikiki along a series of lagoons that are bordered by fancy resorts and public beaches, so it’s an interesting area. We were upgraded to a partial ocean view, which was a pleasant surprise. The beds were extremely comfortable and we were able to make tea and coffee in the room. We could unfortunately hear the unhappy screaming child upstairs, but it was manageable. Aulani is a Disney resort, but it’s not Disnified to the extent that a non-Disney fan (like my husband) would dislike it. There’s a noticeable effort to explain Hawaiian culture and live Hawaiian music every night. The two main restaurants are expensive, but there’s a bar that serves sushi at night and masaladas in the morning that is affordable, as well as fast food shacks throughout the pool area. The pools are fantastic—there is an adult pool and adult infinity hot tub; multiple pools that are for everyone, including a second infinity pool; and two crazy slides plus a lazy river. Service was extremely good everywhere we went and both of us were pleased with the stay. I would suggest that anyone wanting poke go across the street to Tropical Poke, which was the best poke I have ever had! Read less

Since my brother was getting married on Oahu in May and we were spending some time in Waikiki anyway, we decided to include a stay at Aulani in Ko Olina. I knew that staying at Aulani would be an expensive chunk of my budget for Oahu and debated doing Aulani before or after the wedding. While it would have been nice to do the stay after the wedding, it also happened to be Mother's Day that weekend so we opted to stay there before the wedding. To be honest, any stay at Aulani will be relaxing and peaceful. We booked two nights through DVC as a guest of a member. If you know, you can book a stay through a 3rd party and get a significant discount through a DVC points reseller. For instance, we booked an ocean view studio through said 3rd party, for 20% less than the advertised price for the same room. While there were discounts offered with my Disneyland Magic Key, we were only going to be there for 2 days so we would not have qualified for the discount, which required 5 days. We were also offered a small gift for stopping by the DVC desk which was a "Welcome Home" Mickey Mouse print. Everything at Aulani is available via their app and you can link your MagicBand+ to the resort which enables you to use it as a room key or charge food and merchandise to your room. It's very convenient and I can see the appeal for its use at Walt Disney World. That same technology is barely used at Disneyland but they are slowly incorporating it. Our studio came with a comfortable queen-sized bed and a sofa with queen-sized pull-out bed. There was a ceiling fan as well which helped due to the warmer weather we were experiencing. We had a small fridge, microwave, a small sink, coffee maker, hot water kettle, and cabinet full of essentials like plates, cups, utensils, and dish detergent. I expected more Disney touches but it was mostly island themed with small Disney elements like the Mickey Mouse desk lamp. The bathroom was spacious with a tub and shower, with the toilet area being separate. They offered bulk shampoo, conditioner, and body wash with a pleasant tropical scent. The pools are open at 8 am and you need an Aulani wristband to distinguish you as a guest of the resort. When you get your wristband, they also hand out the beach towels. They have Adults Only Infinity pools and jacuzzis along with the different family friendly pools. There are two water slides, one plunges you into a vertical drop while the other enables the use of the pool float that dumps you into the lazy river. There is also a private cove with sand so you can swim in the salt water if chlorinated pools aren't your thing. We even saw schools of small fish in the water while we were swimming, so wear reef safe SPF when at the resort. There were plenty of chairs throughout and we did not have any issues finding chairs during our stay. I spent some time in the lazy river, pools, and beach cove. It was so relaxing and the color of the water was unreal. The light warm breeze with sand in my toes, made me so happy. They let us check out an hour late since we were moving hotels and did not want to leave. They even have a lounge where you can relax and shower if you want to stay longer to use the pools. We checked out and thought we were saying goodbye to the resort BUT we accidentally left behind clothing in the closet. We immediately called the resort front desk once realization hit and we needed that same clothing for the wedding we were attending the following day. We were redirected to the Lost & Found website, filled out a form and called the resort back to speak with the L&F department. The person who helped us explained the process and we let them know we would be able to come back to pick up the items that very evening once the room is turned over. Luckily, we were able to borrow a vehicle to drive back to Aulani to retrieve our items. Mahalo to the staff at Aulani who truly made our stay magical and saved our items for the wedding! If you're on the fence about staying at Aulani, I say go for it because it was one of the best resorts on the island. We truly felt like we were home. Read less

I cannot say enough about how wonderful and magical this resort was! The ambience is amazing and every restaurant has a wonderful view! The best part of the resort was by far the cast members! They all went out of their way to make our anniversary trip special! There is an amazing amount of activities to do on the resort and I would highly recommend the rainbow reef snorkeling! The resort even has special characters that are hard to find in the Disney parks which made this trip unique! We are definitely coming back after having one of the best trips of our life here! Thank you Disney for a magical stay!😄 Read less

Over priced nothing is included with your room everything needs to be reserved at a very high price before hand even pictures with Disney Characters, the website says no resort fees. They only charge for room. But you do get charged extra even if your room sleeps four people. The first 2 are no extra charge but the other 2 there is a fee so just be aware because the site does say they charge by the room and not by the person.. Staff is amazing. 20 min wait to go down a slide and there is no seating unless you get up at 7am to save a seat for your family or you book a privet cabana for 500$ a day.. While we were there an elevator broke fell down 12 story's with guests in the elevator.. Read less

My husband and I just returned from a trip to Maui and Oahu. During our Oahu stay, we stayed at Disney's Aulani resort. We had a Deluxe Ocean View Studio. The room was small, but clean and authentic Hawaii. It was pretty and with an awesome view of the ocean, while overlooking the pool area. The staff was "Disney quality" by day one. We were only able to stay for 3 nights, but I felt like I knew half of the staff members by the time we left and they all looked so excited to see us every time we walked by. Everyone from the front desk to the gift shops to the DVC cast members were outstanding. The food at Off the Hook was really good. The poolside food was great, the Mickey shaved ice was HUGE and so good! The beach and pool were not crowded at all. I highly recommend going the first week of May. The luau was amazing! We went to a luau in both Maui and Oahu and the Disney one blew the other one away! It was very entertaining and the talent much surpassed the other. We really enjoyed our stay and are already looking forward to returning one day. If there is anything that could be improved it would be that the drink stations are FAR from the rooms! And the premium luau package stated "upgrade lei's" which was not the case. I wish the lei's for the ladies would be the flower leis. But those are little wishes. Honestly, the experience was as magical as ever. Read less