The beach and calm waters of Ko Olina at sunset

We visited the beautiful property of Disney Aulani resort for two nights at the end of February prior to boarding the Disney Wonder.

We stayed in a 1-bedroom DVC villa. This size room has a full kitchen, king bed, full bathroom with jetted tub, and walk in shower. In the living room is a full size pull-out sofa. This room also has a twin size fold down bed. This room would comfortably sleep a family of 5 with 1-2 smaller children. This room has two different lanais, and ours happened to overlook both the ocean and the area in which they host the Aulani luau.

We were able to sit on our balcony and watch the entire Luau show— for free! This is a great perk of these rooms.

During our stay we also visited the 3-bedroom grand villas. These have one king bed in the master bedroom, two bedrooms with two queen beds each, a fold out (full size) sofa bed, and a twin fold out bed. These rooms would sleep 12-13 people. Their views of the ocean, at the very end of each tower, is stunning. They have one very long lanai that runs the entire width of the rooms.

The star of the resort is the pool and beach area. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous. They have a long lazy river area that have 1- and 2-person tubes (complimentary) that you can float in, and there are multiple slides that dump out into multiple pool areas. There is a stunning infinity edge pool that looks out over the ocean. Aulani also has a quieter adult only pool area that is heaven. One knock on many resorts is the lack of chairs to lounge on, but Aulani does not have that problem. There are chairs everywhere including plenty on the beach that look out to the private cut-out cove area in which you can snorkel or paddle board. Those activities cost a small fee for renting the equipment. The kids splash park area is lots of fun and large. This resort really is perfect for families with kids age 3-12 years old. All families would love it here, but those with younger kids would be perfect.

How Disney themed is it? It is more island themed with some Disney touches such as characters like Stitch, Max, and, of course, Mickey & Minnie. Aulani also has that classic Disney exceptional service. Kids can go to the kid’s zone called Aunty’s Beach House, which is complimentary, while parents enjoy some alone time.

The food at Aulani is also delicious. Ama Ama Restaurant has unique island inspired dishes, and the view of the sunset on the ocean side patio is spectacular. Off the Hook, a casual poolside restaurant, is another option and you can even do mobile ordering from this restaurant. There are several bars throughout the resort for those wanting those delicious tropical refreshments. An option we took advantage of is walking across the street from the resort and picking up food from the Island Marketplace in Ko Olina. There are also a couple of non-Aulani restaurants next to the marketplace that were delicious.

Pro Tip: Three of the restaurants there do discounted Happy Hour prices from 3-5pm, so grab late lunch and drinks there to save a bit of money.

I would say the ideal amount of time would be 5-6 nights. There is so much to do on the island of Oahu from visiting Pearl Harbor, exploring the North Shore, lying on the legendary Waikiki Beach, taking a surf lesson, or enjoying fresh pineapple at the Dole plantation. We can not wait to go back. This is truly an island paradise!!!

Are you ready to book your own Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa tropical paradise? Reach out to your favorite Upon a Star Travel Advisor or Contact Us for a Quote!