Imagine a family beach resort perfectly positioned on the leeward coast of Oahu. Created by Walt Disney Imagineers working hand in hand with local artisans and cultural experts, this place is beautifully inspired by the natural wonders and rich traditions of Hawaii. This place is Aulani Hawaii Disney Resort & Spa! There are no rides, but there is a special sprinking of pixie dust everywhere you go, marvelous Disney service, unparallelled attention to detail and world class entertainment. It’s like a little slice of heaven!!
Many moons ago I was awarded a wonderful trip to the Ritz in Maui for TEN nights from Coke! (I worked harder on that project than I’ve ever worked in my life.) We immediately booked our trip, as the only string attached was that it had to be in the next 12 months. Well, I turn up pregnant and we couldn’t do it any quicker, but we still had that deadline. So…. I spent 10 luxurious days in Hawaii at 7 months pregnant. Honey had the trip of a lifetime, sucking down fruity drinks by day and gorging on sushi by night. I’m not going to lie and say it was bad for me, it just wasn’t as wonderful as it could have been seeing as I worked 80 hour weeks for months on end to get it. Honey realized this and promised a do-over “one day”. We tried for our ten year anniversary and a few other times in the last 11 years, but it never was feasible. So, I made it my wish to go for my 40th birthday. We used our Disney Vacation Club points to pay for the room and positively cannot WAIT to share all the details of our wonderful week!!
The resort is so meticulously manicured and lovely that I can hardly do it justice. Everything was perfection from the architecture, to the scents and sounds of live music wafting about the resort. It is Disney Imagineering at its best.
The soaring ceilings of the open air lobby were so stunning.
I was greeted with the most beautiful lei at check-in, and Honey and the boys each received authentic style necklaces as well. I could wear leis, flowers in my hair and on my wrists for all the rest of my days and never tire of it. What a wonderful tradition!
The resort is perched on the beautiful beaches of Ko Olina. The entire property is very walkable, and every corner has been well planned and exquisitely maintained.
The various areas for water play are wonderful. There are plenty of family areas, some for smaller children, as well as adult only pool and whirlpools.
Our very favorite was Ka Maka Grotto, an infinity edge pool with sweeping views of Ko Olina Beach. We spent 90% of our pool time right here!
We even had some friends from back home overlapping part of our week!
There were only two nights that we didn’t head back to the grotto for a night swim. Not only were the sunsets just stunning from the infinity pool, but as the stars came out in the sky, so did thousands of glittering lights in the grotto.
When the littles were at Aunty’s Beach House, Honey and I bee-lined for the adult only infinity whirlpool overlooking the beach. This was a pretty awesome place!
The main pool was the Waikolohe Pool – Hawaiian for “mischievous water”. This zero entry pool had really neat cave-like areas with water falls and is home to two waterslides! Every afternoon, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy came out for fun and games! It was pretty neat to pop out of the pool for a pic with the main mouse.
Just like the grotto pool, this one was even more magical at night and offered gorgeous views of the sunset and beach.
Our little family of four logged some serious hours on the Waikolohe Stream!!! This lazy river twists and winds you through all sorts of gorgeous scenery, but watch out – you can also get sprayed and completely soaked if you aren’t paying attention :-)
The Volcanic Vertical waterslides are right at one of the entrances to the lazy river. One is a body slide an is quite exhilarating as it is completely enclosed. The second is raft ride (one or two riders) and is equally as fun! I rode a few times with Honey and he is heavy enough to make us fly!
While we didn’t spend a whole lot of time in these areas, there are two interactive splash and play zones for littler kids. The Menehune Bridge is themed for Hawaii’s legendary magical and mischievous little people.
The Keiki Cove splash area is great for even littler kids!
We had a cabana at the Ka Maka Grotto pool two days and it was a luxurious and wonderful splurge that I would highly recommend. There are three cabanas in this area and two more in the Menehune Bridge area. Each one has a sofa, two reclining chairs, a coffee table and 32″ flat screen TV inside. There is also a ceiling fan, fridge with water (Honey brought down beer), i-docking station for music and charging, and a locking drawer. A basket of snacks included local favorites and a cabana host was there to tend to every need – food, cocktails, towels, etc. Just outside of our cabana in the sun was two super comfy lounge chairs and a small table. In the mid-morning, your cabana host will bring a wonderful fresh fruit tray, and in the afternoon an equally delicious dessert tray. Since the Masters were on TV, Honey was able to start watching coverage from the pool as soon as we arrive down there at 9AM! He was in heaven!!! We absolutely LOVED our cabana days and it is probably the number one thing I would recommend doing at Aulani.
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