Beef,
Enjoy Aulani and let us know how you liked it. We enjoyed our stay and excited to return for 3 days in June 2015. It is a terrific property and a great complement to Marriott Ko Olina. I hope you make the most of both properties.
Have fun out there!
We sure are. After having gone to the absolutely fantastic Fia Fia luau last night at Marriott and touring MKO grounds, we do now have a greater appreciation for MKO. That aside, the architecture, theming, and details at Aulani are simply breathtaking. I was not prepared for how elaborate the resort is.
The grand lobby is just that, grand, with a huge and gorgeous lanai off the back. Both towers are attached to the grand lobby, and this provides a splendid hotel resort feel. I didn't pay any attention to the shops, that's not my thing to pay inflated hotel prices for things.
We are in the Ewa tower with a pool/ocean view. I would recommend this, an even numbered room ending in probably xx70 or higher, as the view is great and positioned for great sunsets. The 2 bedroom 2.5 bath unit itself, while noticeably compact, is luxuriously appointed with a wonderfully laid out master bathroom.
Aunty's beach house has been a hit for my kids. The activities are great. Word of warning though: DO NOT wait to complete the registration process until the day you plan to first check in your kids. It is a bit lengthy, requiring additional paperwork to that already submitted online (oh you didn't do that? Go to the Disney Aulani site and find the Aunty's Beach House registration section and follow the instructions), and requires photos of all children as well as adults in the party that will be authorized to pick up the kids. So plan on doing this the first day you arrive. Also, if you want to sign the kiddos up for any scheduled activities, you probably want to get there early, as in before 8am the day of, to put their name on the lists (don't need to bring the kids down for the sign-up part), as space can run out during high demand times. For free play slash day care, they start taking kids at 930am.
There is a "Daily Iwa" that provides a rundown of the day's activities planned for the resort. It gets printed every afternoon for the next day's activities.
The pool complex which dominates the center of the resort is quite spectacular, with a great lazy river and several pools and jacuzzis. After strolling around MKO's spacious grounds, Aulani now feels a bit dense. They have packed a lot into a relatively small footprint. All good nonetheless.
One other note is that we did the character buffet breakfast one day at Makahiki and had lunch one day at Ama Ama. They were both fine, albeit pricey. More so Makahiki, at $32 per adult, whew. I forget the kid price, maybe $20 or something. But the kids will love having Minnie and Chip and Dale coming to their table to take photos and interact, and dancing around the restaurant with Aunty (or whoever the woman is, she is a 50ish lady who sings and MCs, and I just picture this must be Aunty). Plenty of photo ops.
If I think of anything else over the next few days, I will post.
