Aulani Trip Report: Going to Hawaii with a 4-year Old and a Baby

[MarbleBob]

Joining in. This trip report is fantastic. Having fun reading along

 

[Nikodemos]

After going to Aulani last December, I would agree that for food Ulu Cafe is very $$ reasonable and the quality is very good. For breakfasts, the servings were big enough to share so that brought down the costs too.

Great TR!

 

[Dugette]

However, I noticed the fridge was not remotely cold.

Weird, we had an incident with the fridge on our recent trip too - it had been working, but one day I went in there and everything in the freezer was melting and nothing was cold - it had somehow gotten turned off. Kind-of a bummer, but we salvaged most things.

Comes with a built-in, free cabana
If you’ve looked at cabana rental prices, you know that they’re pretty expensive. With a first floor room, you get your own personal, private cabana in the form of your patio space that comes with a swinging door that offers you easy access to the pool area. As you can see in the below photo, they build some natural privacy into this area—so as you sit there, people walking by almost never notice you’re even there. We used this patio space as a place to have lunch, take breaks and keep our towels. Because it was a very shady space, we were able to keep bottled water out there as well.

That is a big plus to your location and I'm sure it was super convenient. Of course, you miss out on all the preschooler fun of pushing elevator buttons every time you go to and from your room.

The first thing we decided to do was to ride the Tubestone Curl waterslide. We walked all the way up there stairs and realized there were zero people in line for it. The lifeguard/staff lady at the top said, “lucky you! No line. That doesn’t happen often.” I put Lily in the tube first. Then, I sat in it, apparently completely wrong. So, I was asked to stand up and sit back down in it the proper way, which I think I still managed to get wrong, but correct enough for us to go down.

The first words out of Lily’s mouth: “this is so much FUN!”

The words that followed: “we’re going so FAST!”

The words that followed that: “daddy, I want to slow down.”

At that point, I realized she was a little scared by the ride.

Aw, sorry she was scared of it. I have a little thrill-seeker who insisted we go down that slide repeatedly (on this last trip), so we have now been on it a bunch!

To put it simply: this lazy river is incredibly fun and it came as a surprise to me.

Isn't it great? They did such a fantastic job with it. Everyone in our party loved it too. Glad Lily enjoyed it.

Oh, I should note one other feature here that was initially frightening, but ended up being pretty darn cool: the candles/flames that line the lazy river.

Ha, I noticed those too. Wasn't sure exactly what they were, but figured it couldn't be real fire at Disney.

When we got to the river, a lifeguard said it was closed. It was at this point that I spotted a sign and realized that most of the pool and water stuff shuts down at 6PM. And they close these things very quickly and quietly. You don’t even notice it happening.

Yeah, they close things down so early in the winter (especially the kids areas). I saw them doing it too - they are really on top of things and it is a very smooth process.

Great timing to get down there at sunset! So beautiful!

So how was the food? Well, our chicken plates were really great. I don’t know what kind of seasoning they added to the chicken, but it was very flavorful, moist and tender. (Apologies for using the "m" word. I know some people hate it!) They provided more sides than we needed. And that cupcake was pretty darn tasty too! Overall, every time we ate at ULU, we had a meal we enjoyed. As you can see, we were happy campers. I recall how great the feeling was to be sitting outside in the Hawaiian night and just enjoying a relaxed meal.

Glad you had a good meal at Ulu - sounds tasty. We always enjoyed what we had there too. Love that feeling of just soaking in the atmosphere to start your trip.

 

[Schmagurty]

After going to Aulani last December, I would agree that for food Ulu Cafe is very $$ reasonable and the quality is very good. For breakfasts, the servings were big enough to share so that brought down the costs too.

Great TR!

Totally agree about the portion sizes! Always more than you need!

 

[Schmagurty]

Glad you had a good meal at Ulu - sounds tasty. We always enjoyed what we had there too. Love that feeling of just soaking in the atmosphere to start your trip.

When you returned from your trip back to the Midwest, did you think to yourself, "why the heck are we living in this arctic tundra?!?!?" Ha!

 

[Schmagurty]

Aw, sorry she was scared of it. I have a little thrill-seeker who insisted we go down that slide repeatedly (on this last trip), so we have now been on it a bunch!

Yeah, I thought she'd like it more than she did. But, it kind of worked out, because after the first day, the line for that slide was always all the way down the length of the stairs. I can say, she did like the waterslide on the Menehune bridge and went on it tons of times.

 

[Dugette]

When you returned from your trip back to the Midwest, did you think to yourself, "why the heck are we living in this arctic tundra?!?!?" Ha!

Oh, yes, but us Minnesotans think that after returning from pretty much anywhere in the winter.

 

[AZMermaid]

That ground floor room sounds awesome! You sold me! Great report so far!

 

[Mamapapa]

Loving this report so far - I think it's because if we ever brought our kids to Hawaii, it's almost a guarantee that our trip would start the same way at yours. Someone would be wearing vomit...

 

[Schmagurty]

That ground floor room sounds awesome! You sold me! Great report so far!

Thanks! I think just the fact that we didn't have to stress out about putting towels down on a chair somewhere was a big help. We had tried finding chairs at the other side of the facilities for convenience, but those things really do fill up very early and stay full almost the entire day!

I don't know if Aulani lets you request specific room floors, do they? If anybody knows, please share! We want to go back in a few years when Alex is old enough to remember it, but would like that first floor room access again.

 

[Schmagurty]

Loving this report so far - I think it's because if we ever brought our kids to Hawaii, it's almost a guarantee that our trip would start the same way at yours. Someone would be wearing vomit...

Ha! I hope not. Well, at the end of the day, that one (vomit) bump in the road really wasnt' such a big deal. I can say that having the Aulani fun outside of our screen door made Lily forget very quickly about it (and the rest of us too!)

 

[Schmagurty]

That ground floor room sounds awesome! You sold me! Great report so far!

I forgot to say thanks AZMermaid for your Aulani trip report too! It was very helpful to us in planning our trip!

 

[crystal1313]

I think you can request certain floors, but that does not guarantee you will get your request. I have also read in another trip report that you can ask to upgrade your room upon check in. I plan to attempt that in July =)

 

[AZMermaid]

I don't know if Aulani lets you request specific room floors, do they? If anybody knows, please share! We want to go back in a few years when Alex is old enough to remember it, but would like that first floor room access again.

You can request but it is not guaranteed. We requested 4th or 5th floor pool view and got 4th floor. Actually, kind of right above you I think. We were room 412. I will likely request the other tower too- just to be closer to the community hall and Aunty's. But we were totally happy with our room- just preferences we learned!

 

[Dugette]

Also, for room request guidance, there's a big Aulani Villas and Views thread on here somewhere. Very helpful to see what various rooms are like (people have posted pics/reviews - I put ours on there after our trips too).

 

[patches4me]

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CHAPTER 1: Intro & How We Ended Up Going to Aulani DisBoards | Tumblr
CHAPTER 2: Packing for the Trip & The Flight There DisBoards | Tumblr
CHAPTER 2: The Room & the First Half-Day at Aulani DisBoards | Tumblr
_______________________________

CHAPTER 3
THE ROOM & THE FIRST HALF-DAY AT AULANI

The walk to our room went down a hall to an elevator that we rode down one floor to the first floor of rooms. (The lobby is located on the second floor of the hotel.) Our room was located where the red “X” is located on the map below—near the walkway to the spa.



As you might imagine, that beep the door makes after you slide the door key into it was a most welcome sound. Lily and DG decided to immediately get in the shower so they could freshen up from the vomit-covered shuttle ride. With Alex asleep, I had some time to explore the room and shoot the below video:

SONG: The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room (Disneyland) - Monoa DNA

These rooms have a few unique creature comforts that I’ll briefly list here—as I assume you have already discovered these features in the videos Disney has put together about the rooms. But I'll share the features that stood out just in case:

• The beds have space below them that provides you the ability to store your suitcases under the.
• There was already a pack and play collapsible crib in the hall closet—including a fresh sheet to go in it.
• There are plenty of Disney channels to choose from on the television.
• There is a hidden door that opens in front of the television that provides easy access HDMI/USB/etc. ports that connect to the television.
• The sliding glass doors soundproof the room from the outside (which I’ll talk more about later in this chapter)
• Room includes a small fridge hidden underneath the television and a coffee maker
• The bathtub is an oversized tub that could fit two adults easily (for those who are Honeymooning).
• There is one of those hanging lines in the shower that expands and retracts. (We used this quite often to have swimsuits dry).

I began unpacking the room, starting with getting the cooler-packed breastmilk in the fridge. However, I noticed the fridge was not remotely cold. Unable to see any knobs to control the coldness, I called the maintenance staff right away to report the issue. Before I talk more about that, first let me tell you why we loved the first floor room we got.

WHY A FIRST ROOM FLOOR WAS AWESOME FOR US
As I mentioned, I was initially kind of bummed that we got a first floor room because I felt we were going to lose out on the balcony experience. However, I was completely wrong to be upset about it because it turned out to be an outstanding room location for us. And while I’ve never experienced a room on the upper floors to compare it to, I would still recommend that if you can request a first floor room facing the pool area, go for it. Here’s why:

• Comes with a built-in, free cabana
  If you’ve looked at cabana rental prices, you know that they’re pretty expensive. With a first floor room, you get your own personal, private cabana in the form of your patio space that comes with a swinging door that offers you easy access to the pool area. As you can see in the below photo, they build some natural privacy into this area—so as you sit there, people walking by almost never notice you’re even there. We used this patio space as a place to have lunch, take breaks and keep our towels. Because it was a very shady space, we were able to keep bottled water out there as well.

• Perfect for feeding a baby
  One reason I suspect why Disney upgraded us to this room is the fact that we checked in with a baby. As you probably know, babies eat often, which means it requires mom to go back to the room with baby to feed him on a regular basis. If our room required an elevator ride and long walk down a hallway, this would have taken quite a bit of time away from mom and baby to experience the resort. With our room being on the main floor and close to an entrance door, it was much more convenient.
  
  
• Ultra sound proofed sliding doors
  I’m sure you’re wondering, “but won’t it be very noisy down there?” To answer, no. You can’t hear much of anything when those doors are closed. Our first morning there, I opened the sliding doors up, only to hear very loud singing coming from the speaker system. (This singing woman is heard every day at 7 AM). Anyway, it startled me a bit because it was pretty loud and all looked so peaceful out there. But when I closed the sliding glass door, I couldn’t hear it. That's how well the door soundproofs.
  
  
• Quick and easy access to the fun & food
  Having that immediate connection to all of the fun outdoor stuff at Aulani made the experience fun. For example, if I had to walk over to Aunty’s Beach House to get info. I can walk right out of the patio area and quickly jump into the lazy river and float my way over closer to the area. I could run to get some Dole Whips and bring them back before melt all over my hands. You get the point. The outdoor stuff felt very connected to our room—as what I imagine a cabana rental would feel like (sans the waitstaff).

So, I’ll get back to the report. The maintenance guy showed up and quickly identified that the problem with the fridge was that it wasn’t plugged in. (To do this, he had the pull the entire fridge out from it’s under-the-tv tight cubby.) He was very friendly and smiled a lot. I wanted to tip him, but I used up all my tip cash paying the van driver and bag guys. Plus, I'm not sure if you're supposed to tip maintenance?

DG and Lily had finished showering. We purposefully avoided showing Lily the water stuff outside of the door so she would be motivated to shower first. However, as she came out of the shower and I opened the curtain to show her the water area, she wanted to go out there immediately.

This is that moment that parents feel where you get more excited for your child/children because you know they have no idea how much they’re going to love what they’re about to experience. Kind of a vicarious kid joy mixed with parent pride.

By that time, Alex had woke up and was ready to eat. So, DG said she’d stay behind while dad and daughter went out to explore the area. We quickly put on our swimsuits and slathered on the sunscreen to head out. At this point, it was around 5 PM local time.

(TIP FOR THE GUYS: Pack lightweight sleeveless shirts you can wear in the pool. Most of the men were wearing them while we were there. It not only protects you from the sun, but you also don’t have to apply so much sunscreen which saves time. And, if you live in 4-season climates like me, that part of your body is not likely exposed to the sun very much and would sunburn quickly)

Now, I don’t know if it had recently rained or if the crowds were just unusually light this day, but the place felt especially empty…almost like we had the entire park to ourselves. I had thought to myself “wow, we are going to have free rein of the place for our entire stay." (That thought was quickly disproven the following morning and for the rest of our days there. It wasn't crazy packed during our stay. But it wasn't a ghost town like it was on this particular afternoon.)

The first thing we decided to do was to ride the Tubestone Curl waterslide. We walked all the way up there stairs and realized there were zero people in line for it. The lifeguard/staff lady at the top said, “lucky you! No line. That doesn’t happen often.” I put Lily in the tube first. Then, I sat in it, apparently completely wrong. So, I was asked to stand up and sit back down in it the proper way, which I think I still managed to get wrong, but correct enough for us to go down.

The first words out of Lily’s mouth: “this is so much FUN!”

The words that followed: “we’re going so FAST!”

The words that followed that: “daddy, I want to slow down.”

At that point, I realized she was a little scared by the ride. We hit the bottom and made a bigger splash than I expected. Lily informed me at that point, she didn’t want to ride the waterslide anymore. Now, she wasn’t traumatized. Rather, she just found it to be a bit too much for her to take in. Plus, she has always been the type to not complain or let us know when something is bothering her. So, when she says something like that, I know she’s serious about it—so I didn’t try to get her to ride it the rest of our stay.

Next, we decided to do a lap around the Waikolohe Stream—aka the lazy river. I swapped my double raft for a single raft. Lily was happy just floating with her arm floats.

To put it simply: this lazy river is incredibly fun and it came as a surprise to me. I had even feared that Lily might get bored of it very quickly. It’s a reasonable assumption. Even the term “lazy river” sounds very passive and lacking in stimulation. But there are several things that make Aulani’s version very addicting and fun. I will detail them below. However, there are SPOILERS here, so if you want to have some things still be a surprise for your first trip, then skip past the bulleted list. Here they are:

• The shady and pretty surroundings.
  Unlike other lazy rivers I have been on, including the one at Typhoon Lagoon one—there is a very pretty and serene atmosphere about it. The high-rock walls, colorful and shade-providing trees above, the bridges you drift under and all of the waterfalls along the way all really make you feel like your in a tropical paradise.
  
  Oh, I should note one other feature here that was initially frightening, but ended up being pretty darn cool: the candles/flames that line the lazy river. I forgot to take a picture, but have provided this one that I found on the interwebbings.
  
  
  
  When I first saw one, I was like: “oh, crap. Now I’m going to have to tell Lily not to touch those things because they’ll burn her.” Then, my mind went that normal parent route and I thought, “why would they put flames so close to the edge of a place where kids will play?” and “what were they THINKING?!?!” But as I drifted closer, I realized they were not actual flames at all. Rather, they are little bubbling streams of water that are lit with orange and red lights to make it look like it’s a flame. So, instead of feeling annoyed, I was now tickled by the creative touch they used to create them. (I should have known better, but protective parenting got to me! ha!)
  
  
• The volcanic cave
  One cool feature of the lazy river is a volcanic cave section that is carved into the Pu’u Kilo—which is the tall rock formation in the middle of the water area that houses the waterslides. When you drift through it, you’re met with a lot of water streaming down and shooting out of the sides. And, as you drift through, you feel bubbles drifting up from the water—mimicking the roll of boiling water. It's just fun to go through!
  
  
• The Occasional Water Fun
  Along the way, there are moments where you’ll come upon streams of water that are shooting down into the lazy river. You can make this an obstacle course and try to avoid getting sprayed. Or, you can soak yourself.

If there is one thing I loved riding as much as possible there, it was the lazy river. Lily loved it. DG loved it. And Alex loved all of it (besides the volcanic cave part where he got sprayed in the face once.) I should mention that it drifted at a pace that made it feel fun. Not so slow that you felt too stagnant, yet not too fast that you felt rushed.

After a trip around the lazy river, we got out and went to the Menehune Bridge. But the water was turned off and it wasn’t working. I was a little confused. At this point, I decided that we should get back to Mom and Alex, but that we should get to our room by circling around the lazy river again.

When we got to the river, a lifeguard said it was closed. It was at this point that I spotted a sign and realized that most of the pool and water stuff shuts down at 6PM. And they close these things very quickly and quietly. You don’t even notice it happening. So, we had to take the less fun way back to our room and go by foot.

At least I could tell Lily—who was in no way ready to leave all this newfound fun—that the pool areas were closed. And it was true! (Not just the parental white lie used to get young kids to listen.)

We headed back to the room where Mom and Alex were sitting relaxing. I let her know that the pool stuff had closed (not realizing that the Waikolohe pool was still open until 8PM). At this point, the day was pretty long for us and we had decided we shouldn’t plan to do a whole lot more.

So Lily and I changed out of our swimwear into shorts. (Oh, how great it felt to put shorts on in January!) And we decided we would go for a walk around the pool area to get the lay of the land—and then find something to eat for dinner.

Here is a video of part of that walk:

Song: Main Street Electrical Parade (Disneyland) - Vance K. & Scott Agena

So, here’s the funny part of this walk. As we kind of feeling tired and getting a little bored of walking through a mostly closed pool area, I suddenly remembered something I had completely forgot about: we are right on the ocean and we can go see it! I said, "let's go look at the ocean!" DG had also forgot about it and said, “oh yeah! The ocean!”

I know it sounds silly to forget about the fact that we right by the ocean. But honestly, you don’t really see it much on your journey to Aulani, outside of what you see from your airplane window. The car ride there is inland and when you check in, you don’t see the ocean. (Of course, we didn’t have an ocean view room, which also factored into this.)

So we made our way to the ocean, walking down the stairs and through a electronically locking wooden gate (which was unlocked) and to the beach. This was Lily’s first ever beach experience and it was really quite cute. As we approached the sand, we told her to take off her shoes. She was unsure about the sand. She put one foot in to test it and says aloud, “It’s getting in between my toes!” I let her know that it’s okay and she steps in. She immediately realizes that it doesn’t hurt and that she can play with it.







And of course, we all had to get our feet wet for our first Hawaiian Ocean experience.





We were lucky to arrive at the beach just as the sun was setting as you might have already surmised. I could have taken pictures of it or filmed it, but I wanted to simply experience it…and I knew I’d have other chances later on. I did snap some of these photos after it went down.





TIP: The sun goes down really fast. If you see it near the bottom of the horizon, don’t assume you can leave and come back even five minutes later and still see it. So, if it is close. Don’t leave. Just stay there and watch it.

We decided it was time to eat and made our way over to the ULU Café, which was the first time we experienced having a lot of people around us. The place was hopping. Walking into it felt pretty high energy and busy. Lots of people walking about, waiting in lines, etc.

I spotted the reusable mugs for sale and grabbed two of them. DG and I opted for the hot plate special, which was chicken with rice, potatoes and veggies. We got Lily a fruit cup and a PB& J sandwich. Being a bit of a Star Wars geek, I couldn’t pass on getting this Darth Vader cupcake (even if Darth Vader isn’t in The Force Awakens movie as it's labeled on the cupcake.)



Here is where my initial fear of spending too much money on restaurants made an appearance. I had read and heard so much about how crazy expensive the restaurant prices where. However, I found this to not be true—if one puts the prices in context. As I add chapters, I'll describe how Aulani is not expensive to eat at if you plan it right.

Our dinners were about $15 each. A little high, yes. But not much more than a chain restaurant. Lily’s meal was about $10. My total for dinner was about $87. But this is factoring in the two $18 refillable mugs. (I think they were $18?) These mugs ensure we would get all of our drinks for free moving forward, so it was well worth the price.

So how was the food? Well, our chicken plates were really great. I don’t know what kind of seasoning they added to the chicken, but it was very flavorful, moist and tender. (Apologies for using the "m" word. I know some people hate it!) They provided more sides than we needed. And that cupcake was pretty darn tasty too! Overall, every time we ate at ULU, we had a meal we enjoyed. As you can see, we were happy campers. I recall how great the feeling was to be sitting outside in the Hawaiian night and just enjoying a relaxed meal.





After our meal, we collectively felt that blood rush to our stomachs and we began to feel like it was time to go to bed. We made it back, found the Disney Junior channel for Lily, set up the pack-n-play and went to sleep.

I found the beds to be pretty comfortable. They provided a good amount of firm pillows. Of course, we were all pretty tired from our long journey, so I’m assuming we could have fell asleep on a bed of sharp rocks and broken glass!

Up next, our First Day at Aulani!

I'm enjoying this report so much! Thank you. We are going for the first time in September. We're celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. I can't swim, and I was wondering if the lazy river was safe for me? I've done the Aquaduck ride on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship because it doesn't empty into a swimming pool. Is this similar do you think? As long as I'm in the tube and can't tip over or need to swim, I'll be OK. What do you think? Thanks so much, and I can't wait to read more. You have a lovely family.

 

[alohamom]

I'm enjoying this report so much! Thank you. We are going for the first time in September. We're celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. I can't swim, and I was wondering if the lazy river was safe for me? I've done the Aquaduck ride on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship because it doesn't empty into a swimming pool. Is this similar do you think? As long as I'm in the tube and can't tip over or need to swim, I'll be OK. What do you think? Thanks so much, and I can't wait to read more. You have a lovely family.

I am 5'1" and I was able to stand when I wasnt riding in the tube. There is a slow current that moves the tubes along and I think if you fell out of a tube it might be a bit shocking because of the flow of the water but most adults would just be able to stand up and walk out or back to the tube in that case

 

[Schmagurty]

I'm enjoying this report so much! Thank you. We are going for the first time in September. We're celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary. I can't swim, and I was wondering if the lazy river was safe for me? I've done the Aquaduck ride on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship because it doesn't empty into a swimming pool. Is this similar do you think? As long as I'm in the tube and can't tip over or need to swim, I'll be OK. What do you think? Thanks so much, and I can't wait to read more. You have a lovely family.

I'm seconding alohamom's comment. The water is maybe only four feet deep and there is never a moment where the current is so strong, you can't easily stand up. I am a terrible swimmer and I felt comfortable in the lazy river the entire time. I'll even go further in saying that you'll be pretty hard-pressed to find any part of Aulani that is intimidating to those who can't swim or are not very good at it. I take that back. There is one. The snorkeling thing. That clearly says on the signage that you should be a strong swimmer if you want to snorkel. For that reason, I chose not to do it.

Excluding the adults-only pool and faster of the two waterslides because I didn't use either, I can say all of the pools and water areas don't get very deep. Maybe the deepest area of any of the pools is five feet deep. Even those are small enough where you are not going to be very far from an edge to grab onto. Even the ocean by Aulani is very easy to navigate. It, of course, gets deeper, but you're not going to get a lot of strong waves that carry you out farther than you want to go. So, from one swimming-challenged person to another, I can say that you'll be comfortable at Aulani! Congrats on 50 years and I hope you have a great trip!!!

 

[patches4me]

I am 5'1" and I was able to stand when I wasnt riding in the tube. There is a slow current that moves the tubes along and I think if you fell out of a tube it might be a bit shocking because of the flow of the water but most adults would just be able to stand up and walk out or back to the tube in that case

Thank you

 

[patches4me]

I'm seconding alohamom's comment. The water is maybe only four feet deep and there is never a moment where the current is so strong, you can't easily stand up. I am a terrible swimmer and I felt comfortable in the lazy river the entire time. I'll even go further in saying that you'll be pretty hard-pressed to find any part of Aulani that is intimidating to those who can't swim or are not very good at it. I take that back. There is one. The snorkeling thing. That clearly says on the signage that you should be a strong swimmer if you want to snorkel. For that reason, I chose not to do it.

Excluding the adults-only pool and faster of the two waterslides because I didn't use either, I can say all of the pools and water areas don't get very deep. Maybe the deepest area of any of the pools is five feet deep. Even those are small enough where you are not going to be very far from an edge to grab onto. Even the ocean by Aulani is very easy to navigate. It, of course, gets deeper, but you're not going to get a lot of strong waves that carry you out farther than you want to go. So, from one swimming-challenged person to another, I can say that you'll be comfortable at Aulani! Congrats on 50 years and I hope you have a great trip!!!

Thank you so much! Yes, we are so looking forward to it and glad to know I will be able to use the lazy river