just back: 3 days @ Aulani

[Lady Hiss]

2/18-2/21 stay in 2 BR Island/Garden view; 4 adults

Pros: Great location on lagoon - sunset views, walking path, sand beach
Disney attention to detail is evident everywhere - beautiful resort with Hawaii culture emphasized.
Multiple pools - loved the adults only pool and adult Infinity pool but..see below
2 BR was clean, spacious and quiet with a huge balcony
Friendly, helpful staff
Convenient, friendly rental car agency on property
Ama Ama restaurant was yummy (try the Pineapple/Ginger mocktail)
Uma Café had Dole Whips and pizza choices
Great family friendly resort - lazy river, snorkeling, Mickey & Minnie & Moana, etc.

Cons: Congested pool and beach areas - resort seems to be in too-small of a space; pool/beach chairs are crammed very close together (in long rows on the beach); had difficulty finding chairs together in areas we wanted or even being able to squeeze between the chairs.
Unenforced pool rules - We could never find even one chair in adults-only Infinity pool area (pool is way too small, btw) as people parked their strollers/stuff there then went to kids' pools for hours.
Availability of food was inadequate - we're BCV DVC owners and used to more options for buying groceries for the kitchen (finally went to ABC store across the street which wasn't always convenient).
Elevators were almost always crowded and slow (Ewa Tower).
While lagoon location was great, we needed a rental car in order to do anything other than pool/beach - not many activity options in the area. We went to Pearl Harbor, Cemetery of the Pacific, and did a little excursion to Waikiki (Starbucks, LOL).
Island/garden view - didn't get our room request which is never guaranteed so OK. Our view was some island with the parking garage. Not sure this should be classified as an island/garden view.

All told, Aulani is a beautiful resort with great attention to Hawaiian culture and we're happy to have experienced it. I'm not sure we'd spend the $$ to return, but might choose another resort/condo in a different area.

 

[wdwsue]

We were at Aulani from 2-15 through 2-23. Sometimes there was a problem with the pool chairs, but if you looked enough you could find at least one available. We did not find the elevators in the Ewa tower crowded at all...maybe once. I agree that the selection of food was inadequate but we had a car and went to Costco and Target. I had requested a top floor ocean view grand villa and although I did not get the top floor I got the one underneath. We had an ocean view which was spectacular. We also felt that the resort was very beautiful and treated DVC members very well. We knew before we arrived that if we wanted to do anything outside of Aulani we would have to rent a car. As DVC owners we did not have to pay the ridiculous parking fee. The ABC store across the street was convenient and they had a good selection.
I did see the staff tell people that they had to leave or go and get a wrist band. I was surprised at first because I did not think they were paying any attention.
c

 

[Lady Hiss]

We were at Aulani from 2-15 through 2-23. Sometimes there was a problem with the pool chairs, but if you looked enough you could find at least one available. We did not find the elevators in the Ewa tower crowded at all...maybe once. I agree that the selection of food was inadequate but we had a car and went to Costco and Target. I had requested a top floor ocean view grand villa and although I did not get the top floor I got the one underneath. We had an ocean view which was spectacular. We also felt that the resort was very beautiful and treated DVC members very well. We knew before we arrived that if we wanted to do anything outside of Aulani we would have to rent a car. As DVC owners we did not have to pay the ridiculous parking fee. The ABC store across the street was convenient and they had a good selection.
I did see the staff tell people that they had to leave or go and get a wrist band. I was surprised at first because I did not think they were paying any attention.
c

Glad your experience at Aulani was a good one. Our stay was also good, but I wanted to post our feelings about the things we felt were good and those that were not so good. Everyone's experiences and opinions will vary. IMHO, there's room for improvement.

 

[BCV23]

Enjoyed reading your report. We were there in January for the third time and had a great stay. Although we were in the other tower this time, my DD was in Ewa tower and we had no problems with slow elevators when we went to her room. Never had in the past either other than around 11 am when everyone seems to be checking out at the same time.

BTW, the infinity pool is not adults only to the best of my knowledge.

 

[Lady Hiss]

BTW, the infinity pool is not adults only to the best of my knowledge.

BCV23: When we were there, there were 2 infinity pools but I can't remember the names. One is for all ages, the other tiny one is up some steps and has signage that states it's for those 18 years and older (this is the one that had strollers & stuff holding chairs on 2 days of our stay). This is in addition to the adults only pool on the side of the resort.

As far as the elevators, I'm not sure why we seemed to hit them at crowded times. Must be our luck - LOL.

 

[kyton]

There is an adults only pool (set back near Ulu Cafe) and an adults only hot tub (it is part of a two level set up - one which is open to all ages, the other for adults) - this overlooks the lagoon and has an “infinity edge”.

 

[tink too]

Thank you for your honest review @Lady Hiss. We'll be visiting during a busy time (early July) so understand that things may well be crowded. I'm not much of a sunbather, so we'll likely get a couple of chairs earlier in the day then I'll go off for a walk and maybe go to sit out on our balcony to read. When I do this, I bring all my stuff with me so others can see the chair is now vacant. DD tends to come with me in the heat of the day, but DH likes to lay out in the sun so we make sure he has plenty sunscreen and then leave him to it.

 

[wendlle]

We loved Aulani and I can't wait to return (hopefully next year) what they need more of are the little "cubbies" to put your stuff in while you're swimming. We don't use lounge chairs but there is no where to put your stuff if you want to just swim. They had a few at the entrance to the lazy river (only at ONE entrance/exit) they need more. This would free up so many chairs because you can't just plop your stuff on the ground, you have to put it on a chair or table then no one can use it.
All they need to do is add more cubbies and it would be a lot more efficient.

 

[nkereina]

Congested pool and beach areas - resort seems to be in too-small of a space; pool/beach chairs are crammed very close together (in long rows on the beach); had difficulty finding chairs together in areas we wanted or even being able to squeeze between the chairs.

I have heard that Disney designed Aulani with the intention of it to be lodging on a Hawaiian vacation, as opposed to a destination in and of itself. In other words, Disney anticipated people would stay at Aulani and spend most of their time touring the island. But what has happened is that people visit Aulani and don't leave, enjoying the resort the whole time. That's why it can feel crowded at times, or like a lack of entertainment, issues with pool chair availability, etc. It makes sense that Disney's target audience, who are used to captive vacations like DL and WDW, wouldn't want to leave the resort - but apparently Disney underestimated this, from what has been discussed.

 

[BCV23]

BCV23: When we were there, there were 2 infinity pools but I can't remember the names. One is for all ages, the other tiny one is up some steps and has signage that states it's for those 18 years and older (this is the one that had strollers & stuff holding chairs on 2 days of our stay). This is in addition to the adults only pool on the side of the resort.

As far as the elevators, I'm not sure why we seemed to hit them at crowded times. Must be our luck - LOL.

Gotcha about the pools. I think kyton nailed it....sounds like the adult only hot tub area. LOL about the elevators. Haven't we all had vacations or even single vacation days where we hit everything wrong?

At any rate, thanks again for your report. I love reading Aulani TRs.

 

[Lady Hiss]

Yep, I think what I thought was an Adult Infinity Pool is actually the adults-only hot tub. Duh. The seating area around it is too darn small, in my opinion, and the strollers...well... not sure how that qualifies as adult only.
I think nkereina had a great point in that Aulani has become the destination and many guests simply use it as such - never really leaving the property - which results in a lot of congested pool areas. It's a dream-come-true for families with kids who love water parks and beaches.
Next time, I think we'll venture to other resorts, maybe explore a little more of what Oahu has to offer rather than expecting Aulani to be the relaxing, spacious resort with quiet spots and lots of room to spread out that we were hoping for.

Thanks everyone for your insight and kind words.