Dave Dizney
<font color=blue>Super-Duper organized Ultimate Di
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2004
Just got back last weekend from 8 days in Hawaii - three days in Waikiki, a couple in Kona, and a couple at Aulani. My wife and I were alone, and the resort was our "dessert" of our trip. All-in-all it was a fantastic bucket-list experience.
Just a quick overview so you understand why we didn't stay the entire time at Aulani (BTW - we're huge Disney fans - so don't be hatin'). This was my wife's first trip to Hawaii and my first since I was an adult. We spent the first few days doing the Honolulu things; Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach (stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village - terrific place), and day-tripping to the North Shore and the Polynesian Cultural Center. Then we flew to the Big Island and visited a Coffee plantation, black sand beach, went snorkeling, and visited the Volcano National Park.
Then, our last two days we bought points through Dave's site. The check-in was everything you'd expect from a Disney Deluxe resort and then some. Lei's, citrus water, a cast member walks you into the lobby and gives you a brief introduction to the resort, and then friendly people to check your bags in while you wait for your room (we arrived in the morning). They even had a lounge with showers and lockers to use before our room was ready, so we changed into swimwear and spent the morning and early afternoon at the beach. As recommended, we went across the street for lunch - but instead of the Monkey Pod, went to the "Just Tacos" place and shared a meal. Not bad. Shopping nearby ("Pineapple") scored the wife a "perfect" sundress she had spent the week looking for.
We went back and further explored the resort and got notification our room was ready around 3:00, and went up to move in. We're cheap, and room views don't really matter to us, but at our last two resorts we actually got better views than we paid - but our low-budget room at Aulani was Room 457. I looked at every angle of the resort and concluded it was the worst view in the entire resort. It overlooks the breezeway roof to the convention center. The roof is, well..., not a garden paradise. Here's our view:
It's funny, the balcony actually is the ONLY one I found that is actually partially "bricked up."
But, like I said, we didn't come for the view - we got plenty of views outside of the room. The room itself was great - clean, comfortable, and Disneyesque. Nothing to complain about.
We ate at 'Ama'Ama and Makahiki (our favorite of the two) for dinners and Ulu Cafe for breakfast and a lunch. Swam in about every pool and the lagoon. Took an afternoon jaunt up the West coast and found some beautiful venues to throw our lei's into the ocean. We even made a trip down the road to a Costco for gas for the rental and a quick stop at the WalMart (actually, they have a good selection of Hawaii gifts that were the exact same products but MUCH cheaper than the ABC stores and every other venue we explored that week).
In two days, we had done about as much as we needed for our vacation Disney fix. I found the resort to be an interesting mix between a Disney cruise and a resort stay. A few less adult activities than the ships - I was really bummed to find out that all the pools, including the adult only, closed at 8pm! In fact, other than a star-gazing activity, the entire place pretty much closed up around then.
I counted only about 4 two-chair tables in 'Ama'Ama - again, we get it - we went to Disney when our kids were living with us, but now we're weird. The lazy river was fun - the slides were good, but we really enjoyed the video scavenger hunts that had so many fun surprises along the way - but the look we got from some of the kids who had to wait behind us for their turn!
I found the gift shop to be more typical of a resort (DW/DL) gift shop - lots of stuff for kids, but limited for adult items (especially for men, as usual, but I ended spending more than I wanted on a Hawaiian shirt). The folks from DVC were everywhere - but the didn't hard-sell. Again, the only problematic people we met were self-entitled guests.
Well, that's our quickie - any questions, let me know!
Just a quick overview so you understand why we didn't stay the entire time at Aulani (BTW - we're huge Disney fans - so don't be hatin'). This was my wife's first trip to Hawaii and my first since I was an adult. We spent the first few days doing the Honolulu things; Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach (stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village - terrific place), and day-tripping to the North Shore and the Polynesian Cultural Center. Then we flew to the Big Island and visited a Coffee plantation, black sand beach, went snorkeling, and visited the Volcano National Park.
Then, our last two days we bought points through Dave's site. The check-in was everything you'd expect from a Disney Deluxe resort and then some. Lei's, citrus water, a cast member walks you into the lobby and gives you a brief introduction to the resort, and then friendly people to check your bags in while you wait for your room (we arrived in the morning). They even had a lounge with showers and lockers to use before our room was ready, so we changed into swimwear and spent the morning and early afternoon at the beach. As recommended, we went across the street for lunch - but instead of the Monkey Pod, went to the "Just Tacos" place and shared a meal. Not bad. Shopping nearby ("Pineapple") scored the wife a "perfect" sundress she had spent the week looking for.
We went back and further explored the resort and got notification our room was ready around 3:00, and went up to move in. We're cheap, and room views don't really matter to us, but at our last two resorts we actually got better views than we paid - but our low-budget room at Aulani was Room 457. I looked at every angle of the resort and concluded it was the worst view in the entire resort. It overlooks the breezeway roof to the convention center. The roof is, well..., not a garden paradise. Here's our view:
It's funny, the balcony actually is the ONLY one I found that is actually partially "bricked up."
But, like I said, we didn't come for the view - we got plenty of views outside of the room. The room itself was great - clean, comfortable, and Disneyesque. Nothing to complain about.
We ate at 'Ama'Ama and Makahiki (our favorite of the two) for dinners and Ulu Cafe for breakfast and a lunch. Swam in about every pool and the lagoon. Took an afternoon jaunt up the West coast and found some beautiful venues to throw our lei's into the ocean. We even made a trip down the road to a Costco for gas for the rental and a quick stop at the WalMart (actually, they have a good selection of Hawaii gifts that were the exact same products but MUCH cheaper than the ABC stores and every other venue we explored that week).
In two days, we had done about as much as we needed for our vacation Disney fix. I found the resort to be an interesting mix between a Disney cruise and a resort stay. A few less adult activities than the ships - I was really bummed to find out that all the pools, including the adult only, closed at 8pm! In fact, other than a star-gazing activity, the entire place pretty much closed up around then.
I counted only about 4 two-chair tables in 'Ama'Ama - again, we get it - we went to Disney when our kids were living with us, but now we're weird. The lazy river was fun - the slides were good, but we really enjoyed the video scavenger hunts that had so many fun surprises along the way - but the look we got from some of the kids who had to wait behind us for their turn!
I found the gift shop to be more typical of a resort (DW/DL) gift shop - lots of stuff for kids, but limited for adult items (especially for men, as usual, but I ended spending more than I wanted on a Hawaiian shirt). The folks from DVC were everywhere - but the didn't hard-sell. Again, the only problematic people we met were self-entitled guests.
Well, that's our quickie - any questions, let me know!
