The Beauty of Aulani!

Aulani is Disney's Resort and Spa located in Ko Olina, Hawaii on the island of Oahu.  Ko Olina means "Place of Joy" and we were so very happy to be there.  Aulani was created by Disney Imagineers working with local artisans to make the ultimate family getaway, showcasing the beauty and culture of Hawaii.  We love sharing our adventures with you all, so follow along with us through Aulani.

Everywhere you look, you are surrounded by the lush beauty of Hawaii.  We were up on the 10th floor and could see all around the resort, from the lagoon all the way to the green mountains in the distance. It's just a lot to take in... It's overwhelmingly beautiful.  Oahu is a beautiful island but you get that extra bit of Disney magic at their resort.

Aulani's lagoon lets you dip into the cool waters of the Pacific without any worry of big waves or heavy currents.  The water was always calm and pretty cold.

There are plenty of beach chairs to go around.  The waiters come by to take your drink orders during the day, though it can get pretty busy during the weekend.  If you'd prefer a shadier seat you could always rent one of their Casabellas for a shadier bubble.  Zoey NEEDED to drink out of a pineapple, so we made that dream come true.

No matter how much we love the beach, the kids always insist on spending more time at the pool.  Aulani has built a great pool area.  With two water slides, a large lazy river, a kids splash area, and multiple pools and hot tubs to enjoy.  There are a lot of chairs in the pool area, but even with reduced crowds during COVID it was sometimes hard to grab chairs.  If you want to spend your day at the pool you'll want to grab some chairs early before they are all gone.

It was hard getting the kids out of the water, but the lazy river and slides were open till 6pm.  The pools were actually open till 8pm so we had plenty of time to enjoy the warm waters of the hot tub.
You have to get a wrist band to show you are a resort guest to enjoy the water here at Aulani.  
​

We splurged and rented a Cabana for one of our weekend days.  We knew it was going to be busier and wanted to guarantee comfortable seating.  We had a waiter we could call with the push of a button, as well as our own refrigerator and safe.

The cabana comes with bottles of water, sunscreen, a fruit platter, and a desert plate.  We relaxed and enjoyed our whole day here.  The kids got to try out all the pools and both water slides.  I lost count of how many laps we made in the lazy river.  Which features some beautiful views of the resort.

There were plenty of good eats around the resort.  The Poolside menu had some yummy volcano fries and Poke' Nachos.  You should definitely get the Shave Ice, it super cute and tasty.  I tried mine with the sweetened condensed milk, but it was sweet enough without it.  We had some great sushi over the at Olelo Room.  And of course, we couldn't pass on the Dole Whip!

As you would expect during COVID, not everything was available.  Characters were around during scheduled hours, but at a safe distance.  Ama Ama was closed, otherwise we would have had a character meal.  The Luau hadn't opened up yet, but they brought it back shortly after we left.  The kids' club, Aunty's Beach House, was still closed.  But there were still plenty of activities for us to partake in.

The kids enjoyed scouting around the resort looking for the Menehune.  The Menehune are little magical mischievous people of Hawaii.  There are 200 statues of them hidden around the resort, so the kids delighted in spotting them all around.  I think they found nearly 70 of them during our stay. 
​

We also went on the Menehune Adventure Trail.  It's a high-tech guided scavenger hunt through the resort.  You rent an Ipad for an hour and are given clues of where to go.  The device then reacts with the environment around you, lighting up torches or spraying water out of a volcano.  The kids had a lot of fun.

We had a lot of fun making our own Mickey Aulani ears.  You get to pick 5 items to add to your ears.  You pick between metallic or lighted ears and then get to assemble them with little leaves.

Over all we had a remarkable adventure.  There is so much to do in Hawaii that we wish we had had a few more days to do it all,  We will definitely be on the look out for future deals to go back to this AMAZING resort.  We had so much fun!

Ask us how we can help make your vacation dreams a reality!  We love helping you make memories with your loved ones.
​When it's time to plan for Disney:  It's Mouse O'Clock!