Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa — Attraction in Oʻahu

Dates of Stay: Thursday, 11/28/24 - Saturday, 11/30/24|Length of Stay: 2 Nights||In a nutshell, Disney's Aulani continues to shine and provide a heavenly paradise for those that love Disney and Hawaii! Disney's Aulani offers all of the wonderful cast members, service and hospitality that Disney is known for, nestled up within the beautiful Paradise of Ko Olina on Oahu. If you are Disney-lover and enjoy the relaxing Paradise that Hawaii continues to offer, do not miss out on the chance to combine those two amazing things for the vacation of a lifetime!||Now, for my detailed review:||First, coming from Florida, we are very familiar with all that Disney has to offer; yet, we still find it worth the 9+ hour flight to Hawaii to experience all that Disney has to offer way out in Hawaii! We have stayed at this beautiful property twice before -- back in 2015 and 2018 -- and Disney's Aulani continues to impress! After our prior stays, I posted lengthy reviews of our experiences, and I thought that an updated post-COVID review would benefit those of you on the fence about this amazing resort; but, for additional information and photos, you are welcome to view my prior reviews on this site:||-Sept. 2018 - "Another Truly AMAZING Stay! Disney's Aulani Continues to Shine!!!" (posted Sept. 26, 2018)|-April 2015 - "Truly AMAZING Experience at Aulani -- this is Disney, located in a true paradise!!” (posted June 2, 2015)||As I have said in prior reviews, if you are at all concerned with the potential clash of a "Disney Theme Park" with the peace and tranquility of traditional Hawaiian Culture, there is no need for any such concern! Yes, as its name implies, Disney's Aulani is a "Disney Resort" that will offer several of the excellent Disney experiences that one might expect of a "Disney Theme Park," but the Resort itself meshes such Disney Experiences into all that is Hawaiian without taking away from any of the Hawaiian Culture. This means that you will still be able to experience all of the peace and serenity that Hawaii is known for while being able to get all of the "Disney Magic" without it overriding Hawaiian Culture.||As far as location, you will find Disney's Aulani to be in a perfect spot! While some may tend to avoid Oahu and head for the less populous islands of Maui or Kauai, a stay at Disney's Aulani will allow you to experience the best of both worlds. Disney's Aulani is located in the heart of the Ko Olina Resort, just over 30-minutes from the Honolulu International Airport, away from the hustle-and-bustle of Honolulu or Waikiki. This ideal location allows for a perfectly relaxing vacation experience, while still keeping you close enough to all of the Tourist Spots that Oahu is known for. A perfect compromise between busy Tourist Sites and Hawaiian Relaxation, allowing you to choose your own adventure! While you will never tire of the many wonderful on-property activities at Disney's Aulani, should you wish to leave the property and visit many of Oahu's excellent sites, Disney has you covered; just walk down to the property's main lobby and visit the excellent staff at the Holoholo Tours & Travel Desk to book excursions throughout Oahu!||To get out to Disney's Aulani, you will need either a rental car or a shuttle service as -- like all other Disney properties across the world -- there is not complimentary transportation from the airport. However, you will find that there are multiple excellent shuttle services that can get you from the Honolulu International Airport out to the Ko Olina Resort Area and Disney's Aulani. You have the option of adding on shuttle service at a cost to your reservation at Disney's Aulani using their preferred providers, Hele Hele Shuttle (shared shuttle service, usually around $25 per person each way) or Platinum Limousine Services (a private sedan service, with prices that will vary substantially). If you do not mind booking on your own, I would highly recommend Charley's Taxi, as they offer prompt and reliable service ranging from pre-arranged taxi pick-up up to private town-car with airport meet-and-greet; the usual flat-rate for a standard taxi mini-van is $90 airport-to-Aulani and $70 on return to the airport and the VIP Meet-and-Greet is a very reasonable $260 round-trip. Every time that we go to Oahu, we make sure to pre-book thru Charley's Taxi and we have never had a bad experience! ||Regardless of how you chose to get to Disney's Aulani from the Honolulu International Airport, from the moment you arrive through the gates of the Ko Olina Resort, you will find yourself in true paradise! Upon arrival, you will find Disney's Aulani to be a very large resort, comprised of two main towers connected by a large central lobby. Nestled between those towers, you will find one the most wonderful and family friendly pool complexes that Oahu has to offer!||From the moment you enter the Main Lobby of Disney's Aulani, you will be greeted with a spectacular view! As is common at Hawaiian Resort Properties, the Main Lobby at Disney's Aulani opens up to provide a truly beautiful view of property, its pool complex and the Pacific Ocean. As you exit whatever transportation method you have chosen, you will be greeted by exceptional Bell Staff that exude the service and hospitality that Disney is known for. They will assist you with your baggage and direct you into the Main Lobby, just inside the Main Entrance and to the right. Once in the Lobby, you will find a large Check-in area that always seemed to be well-staffed, but keep in mind that at high-traffic times such as check-in and check-out, there may be a bit of a crowd due to the popularity of Disney's Aulani. But, despite any crowds, you will find the same top-notch customer service at the Front Desk of Disney's Aulani that you would expect at any of Disney's Deluxe Category Resorts worldwide, and the Front Desk Staff will provide you with all of the information that you will need to enjoy your stay.||One thing to note, unlike many Hawaiian Resorts, you will no longer be greeted upon arrival with a traditional lei greeting. However, one thing that will also not greet you at Disney's Aulani is the traditional "Resort Fee" associated with essentially every "Resort" in the Hawaiian Islands. At Disney's Aulani -- as with all Disney Resorts Worldwide -- the price is the price, and you will never experience the ever-increasing "Resort Fee." You will have full access to all that Disney's Aulani has to offer, without paying any of the extra fees for additional services that you would experience staying anyplace else. Definitely a very great thing to keep in mind when choosing where to stay on your next Hawaiian Vacation! ||The thing to keep in mind about Disney's Aulani, it is two luxury properties combined into one; you have the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) Villas, offering everything from a Deluxe Studio all the way to a three-bedroom Villa sitting alongside luxurious Deluxe Hotel accommodations ranging from a standard room to a two-bedroom suite. Whether you opt to stay in a DVC Villa or a Hotel Room, you will have multiple View Options, including:||-Standard View: Includes either a view of the conference center, parking lot or parking garage from the room or balcony|-Island Gardens View: Includes at least a partial view of the mountains, spa or landscaping from the room or balcony|-Poolside Gardens View: Includes at least a partial view of the pool, courtyards, water features or landscaping from the room or balcony|-Partial Ocean View: Offers only a partial view of the ocean from the room or balcony|-Ocean View: Includes a view of the ocean from the room or balcony| |As with any Disney Resort, due to its extreme popularity, I would suggest booking the Room Category & View that you want so that you do not end up unhappy. Personally, we find that all Views at Disney's Aulani are very nice as the lush Gardens and Mountains are just as beautiful as the Ocean! Just book what you feel best suits you, as with all that Disney's Aulani has to offer, you likely won't spend that much time in your Room!||As for Rooms in general at Disney's Aulani, the property is rather generous in its Standard Room sizing, as all Rooms start at a spacious 382-square feet. All rooms include a modern smart-television, allowing for Chromecast, along with plush bedding and the excellent Disney Bath Products. All rooms have a small refrigerator and either a private balcony or porch allowing for excellent views. Unfortunately, I do not have much information on the DVC Villas, as we are not DVC Members and have never stayed in or toured one, but they do look amazing from the outside. Regardless of what Room type you pick, I am confident that you will have an excellent stay at Disney's Aulani!| |As on our prior two stays, we again booked a 1-bedroom Parlor Suite, this time with a Partial Ocean View; if you are not booking a DVC Villa and want just a little extra space, I would highly recommend the 1-bedroom Parlor Suite Category, as these rooms are just over 750-square feet and include 1.5 baths and a huge double balcony. Our Suite was on the 14th Floor and it was just as spectacular as our prior Ocean View Suites had been! Although called a "Partial Ocean View," our Suite provided an ample view of the Pacific Ocean across the entire balcony, along with a beautiful view of the Mountains surrounding the Ko Olina Resort. As you enter the Suite, you enter into a large Parlor/Sitting Area. Immediately to your left is a large half-bathroom, equipped with a toilet and a large vanity. Across from that bathroom is a nicely sized closet, equipped with a large laptop-size safe and a pack-and-play crib. As you continue into the room, you will find large floor-to-ceiling windows at the end of the Parlor. The Parlor is equipped with a wet-bar and small refrigerator, a dining table for four, a very comfortable queen-sized sofa/sleeper which sits across from Disney's unique pull-down twin-sized bed. This pull-down bed is unique to Disney Resorts and you might not even realize it is there if you didn't know what to look for as it folds right up into the television stand. Above that bed, on the television stand is a large television, equipped with Chromecast features. As you proceed further into the Suite, you pass through a large door into a wonderfully furnished bedroom, equipped with an extremely plush and comfortable king-sized bed, a comfortable chair and a large computer/work desk. Much like the Parlor, the bedroom features a large television stand -- this one is not equipped with a bed -- but it has another large television equipped with Chromecast. Finally, off of the Bedroom is a very large bathroom, equipped with a deep soaking Jacuzzi tub, a large separate shower and an over-sized vanity. There is also another closet, a small dressing table area and a separate toilet room equipped with a Toto Toilet. All-in-all, a truly wonderful Suite that I would highly recommend!||As for Dining, the property has so many dining options, it is impossible for one to go hungry when staying at Disney's Aulani! Of note if you have not traveled to Disney's Aulani since COVID, dining options have changed a bit and In-Room Dining is no longer available. However, Disney's Aulani still offers a great deal of excellent dining options with the always-amazing food that you would expect from a Disney property!||For a truly fun Character Dining Experience, do not forget to make reservations in advance for a spectacular character breakfast at Makahiki. This definitely fills up fast, so make reservations well in advance. Post-COVID, the dining style has changed from a Buffet to a three-course breakfast. Lunch is not offered, but Makahiki also offers an excellent three-course dinner (minus the characters).||In addition to Makahiki, don't miss out on dining at 'AMA 'AMA; 'AMA 'AMA has been recently re-imagined and serves only dinner, but that dinner is now a truly AMAZING four-course, prix-fixe menu that highlights all of the wonderful tastes and flavors of Hawaii. Staff and service at 'AMA 'AMA are as exceptional as the views of the Ko Olina Beach and Lagoons that you will experience while dining.||As for quick-service, you have a wide variety of options!||Ulu Cafe offers a variety of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner and is located just off of the pool complex. This is a traditional Disney grab-and-go quick-serve venue, offering numerous excellent options. Also, a tip -- make sure to purchase the refillable mugs, allowing you unlimited beverage refills throughout your stay!||Off the Hook offers excellent quick-serve dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you want the famous "Mickey Waffles" for breakfast, Off the Hook is the venue for you! It also offers excellent coffee options each morning! ||Finally, for quick poolside fare, in addition to Ulu Cafe, don't miss Mama's Snack Stop or Papalua Shave Ice! One cannot go to Hawaii and not get an authentic Hawaiian Shave Ice, and Papalua has some of the best Shave Ice that you will find on Oahu!||Additionally, the property offers several wonderful bars and lounges -- don't miss out on the Olelo Room in the evenings for excellent sushi and amazing cocktails or the Wailana Pool Bar throughout the day.||All-in-all, you will never go hungry at Disney's Aulani. This property offers countless options that will keep you satisfied throughout your entire stay!||As for pool options, Disney's Aulani cannot be matched as it offers a massive pool complex! In addition to standard pools, Disney's Aulani offers the Waikolohe Steam, a heavenly lazy river that winds throughout the property, beneath waterfalls and through grotto caves. While flowing down the Waikolohe Stream, keep an eye out for all of the hidden animals Disney Imagineers have carved into the rock walls. At the end and emptying into the Waikolohe Stream you will find two very fun water slides nestled into the volcano. Additionally, you will find the Waikolohe Pool and the beautiful Ka Maka Grotto Pool, featuring an infinity edge offering spectacular views of the Ko Olina Lagoon and Pacific Ocean. Finally, there is an adults only pool and numerous spa/hot tub pools throughout the property. All-in-all, one of the most amazing pool complexes on Oahu!||Keep in mind, as with most Hawaiian Resorts, Pool Seating can be at a premium -- especially during busier travel months. Thankfully, you will not experience the problem that you find at many other Hawaiian Resorts -- the early morning pool chair hog! Unlike at many other Hawaiian Resorts, where someone will head down to the pool early in the morning and claim several chairs, at Disney's Aulani, you cannot save chairs prior to 8am unless you are physically seated in those chairs. After 8am, you can save chairs but if you are gone for longer than an hour, the Recreation Staff will clear the chair, so you should have an opportunity to find chairs throughout the day. However, for the ultimate in Poolside Luxury, you do have the option of pre-booking Private Cabanas or Casabellas; just note that those do book up quickly! ||If the pool isn't your style, you also have a beautiful private beach just in front of the Resort. Located on the Ko Olina Lagoons, this beach offers calm and serene waters to swim in or try such sports as stand-up paddle-boarding. The beach is full of soft white sand and allows for a lot of relaxation!||Finally, this is a Disney Resort, so you have countless opportunities to meet numerous Disney Characters throughout the day. Unique to Disney's Aulani, the Characters are in uniquely Hawaiian attire which will offer some special photographs that you will never find in the Disney Parks. You can find information as to Characters and Locations daily in the Aulani App. ||A quick note on the Aulani App -- this will be your best friend throughout your stay, as it will provide you will all of the information that you could ever need to plan and enjoy a great stay. This was new since our last stay, and it certainly provided us with all of the information needed to find characters and explore the Resort.||Oh, and make sure to make use of Disney's excellent PhotoPass Photographers! They will take amazing photos of you around the Resort and with Characters. Additionally, they do Sunset Photos each evening. A tip -- you can buy any or even all of your digital photos from the Disney Aulani Website; there is a great rate that allows you to download all photos for an entire week, which could save you a great deal of money. We ended up with hundreds of photos during our short two-day stay!||So, in sum, if you are a Disney Fan and want to come to Hawaii, make sure not to miss out on the paradise that you will find at Disney's Aulani! Disney's Aulani offers amazing cast members and service, excellent dining and drinks, spacious well appointed rooms and numerous recreation opportunities, making it your perfect...

Since my brother was getting married on Oahu in May and we were spending some time in Waikiki anyway, we decided to include a stay at Aulani in Ko Olina. I knew that staying at Aulani would be an expensive chunk of my budget for Oahu and debated doing Aulani before or after the wedding. While it would have been nice to do the stay after the wedding, it also happened to be Mother's Day that weekend so we opted to stay there before the wedding. To be honest, any stay at Aulani will be relaxing and peaceful. We booked two nights through DVC as a guest of a member. If you know, you can book a stay through a 3rd party and get a significant discount through a DVC points reseller. For instance, we booked an ocean view studio through said 3rd party, for 20% less than the advertised price for the same room. While there were discounts offered with my Disneyland Magic Key, we were only going to be there for 2 days so we would not have qualified for the discount, which required 5 days. We were also offered a small gift for stopping by the DVC desk which was a "Welcome Home" Mickey Mouse print. ||Everything at Aulani is available via their app and you can link your MagicBand+ to the resort which enables you to use it as a room key or charge food and merchandise to your room. It's very convenient and I can see the appeal for its use at Walt Disney World. That same technology is barely used at Disneyland but they are slowly incorporating it. Our studio came with a comfortable queen-sized bed and a sofa with queen-sized pull-out bed. There was a ceiling fan as well which helped due to the warmer weather we were experiencing. We had a small fridge, microwave, a small sink, coffee maker, hot water kettle, and cabinet full of essentials like plates, cups, utensils, and dish detergent. I expected more Disney touches but it was mostly island themed with small Disney elements like the Mickey Mouse desk lamp. The bathroom was spacious with a tub and shower, with the toilet area being separate. They offered bulk shampoo, conditioner, and body wash with a pleasant tropical scent. ||The pools are open at 8 am and you need an Aulani wristband to distinguish you as a guest of the resort. When you get your wristband, they also hand out the beach towels. They have Adults Only Infinity pools and jacuzzis along with the different family friendly pools. There are two water slides, one plunges you into a vertical drop while the other enables the use of the pool float that dumps you into the lazy river. There is also a private cove with sand so you can swim in the salt water if chlorinated pools aren't your thing. We even saw schools of small fish in the water while we were swimming, so wear reef safe SPF when at the resort. There were plenty of chairs throughout and we did not have any issues finding chairs during our stay. I spent some time in the lazy river, pools, and beach cove. It was so relaxing and the color of the water was unreal. The light warm breeze with sand in my toes, made me so happy. ||They let us check out an hour late since we were moving hotels and did not want to leave. They even have a lounge where you can relax and shower if you want to stay longer to use the pools. We checked out and thought we were saying goodbye to the resort BUT we accidentally left behind clothing in the closet. We immediately called the resort front desk once realization hit and we needed that same clothing for the wedding we were attending the following day. We were redirected to the Lost & Found website, filled out a form and called the resort back to speak with the L&F department. The person who helped us explained the process and we let them know we would be able to come back to pick up the items that very evening once the room is turned over. Luckily, we were able to borrow a vehicle to drive back to Aulani to retrieve our items. Mahalo to the staff at Aulani who truly made our stay magical and saved our items for the wedding! If you're on the fence about staying at Aulani, I say go for it because it was one of the best resorts on the island. We truly felt like...

Visited July 2025 - 4 adults and 2 kids (4 and 3)

This will be a long review. Overall, an amazing resort and experience—with a few hiccups.

The splash pad, Character breakfast, and waterslides were a huge hit with the kids. The lagoon provides excellent swimming. Makahiki was great, but the Olelo Room ended up being our go-to for dinner. The portions for the apps were plenty for us for dinner, and it was usually easy to get a table quickly. We also found it had the best ambiance of all the dining options. We did many laps in the lazy river, probably a few each day. The luau was super fun and entertaining for the whole family.

But there were definitely some "paper cuts". Small things that made me not feel the Disney Magic as much as I would have hoped.

Virtually everything is “extra.” Water refill stations are only for “their $30 cups.” Seriously?

There are a lot of included activities, but many of them come with extra charges. Dinner & Luau photos were $45 for one photo, printed two ways, one zoomed in. $45 for one photo... come on, Disney. If they were $20 each, I would have purchased every one of them and tipped the photographers. But $45 felt too outrageous, especially being passed off as a "two-for-one deal."

The daily pool wristbands felt like an unnecessary chore. I get that they want to keep the pools for resort guests only, but there has to be a better way that doesn’t make it a daily errand.

Cabanas are first come, first served, but you have to wait in line super early to get one. Other resorts handle this through in-app reservations, which would be FAR more convenient, especially considering you already use the Aulani app to reserve everything else. It seemed like such a waste of time to even try.

Overall it is hard to consistenly find chairs for the pools. Had there been 20% fewer people, it would probably be MUCH nicer and less crowded in the pool areas.

Auntie’s Beach House was a letdown. My 4-year-old was excited for the Galactic Games activity, and so was I... until we found out that adults aren’t allowed to be spectators. I explained that this wouldn’t work (he didn't want to be left alone), and they did refund the cost. However, I was met with that blank “sorry for the inconvenience” stare, and was "politely" told it was clearly stated on the website that parents can’t attend. I double-checked the website, and while it’s obvious the activities are for kids, it never explicitly states that parents can’t watch. This basically wasted a full-day activity slot, since everything books up quickly, rescheduling something else at that point was basically impossible.

We also had a weird experience with housekeeping. We came back to the room to quickly change before a dinner reservation, and the housekeeper told us to come back in 20–30 minutes or the room wouldn’t be cleaned that day. I explained we just needed a few minutes to change, but she kind of refused. I didn’t back down, but this didn’t feel in line with the Disney service I expected.

And a few times, the water in our room was scalding hot. We tried both sinks and the shower, both sides of the faucet. It eventually went back to normal, but it was odd and potentially dangerous. I reported it to the front desk, but I’m not sure if anything was done or what caused it.

Lastly, the cast members promoting DVC (Disney Vacation Club) were always polite and courteous, you can’t go through a day without having to dodge repeated invitations to “learn more,” attend “Coffee & Curiosity,” or tour the model villas. This wasn’t terrible, but by the end of the week, it became noticeably annoying.

All in all, it really was a wonderful trip in a beautiful location, with some genuine Disney magic. But it wasn’t without its frustrations. Given the cost and the fact that this is a Disney property, I expected a more polished, customer centric experience.

There were just too many customer service "paper cuts" and a constant barrage of upcharges that left me feeling like Aulani underperformed my high...