Aurora
09-24-2012, 08:13 PM
My parents planned a trip to Hawaii for two weeks with a split stay at Hilton Hawaiian Village (timeshare offer) on Waikiki and Disney's Aulani, where we used DVC points. My youngest son (age 7) and I joined them during their second week, staying one night at the Hilton. The day we flew in was a Sunday, so we went to Mass at St. Augustine just a half-block from Waikiki beach. Lovely service in English with all the music sung in Hawaiian by the choir. After that we walked down the beach and the surrounding areas to the hotel. The Waikiki area is a shopper's paradise, with every store and designer shop imaginable. Torches light the streets and the weather's warm, and on the beach there are luaus from the different resorts, so the walk was very enjoyable.
On Monday we checked out of the Hilton that morning, had lunch, rented a car, and drove up to the Dole Pineapple Plantation for a tour. Oahu is a big island, and since there are only a few highways and a couple of impassable mountain ranges on either side, it takes plenty of time to get around it. Plus, because it hosts big city Honolulu and a lot of smaller towns, there's plenty of traffic on the island. There were traffic jams every day of our visit on H1, the main freeway. Reminded us of Chicago.
The Dole Plantation is laid out very nicely for tourists. There is a roomy visitor center/snack area, and you can do a walking tour, train tour or garden tour. We just did the train tour on the recommendation of someone at the Hilton. It was very informative on how pineapples are cultivated and grow on the grounds (I had always thought pineapples grew underground, but they grow on the crown above ground like a big fruity flower.) During the tour we saw a rainbow that lasted until the sun went down, about two hours! Longest, brightest, most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen in my life.
We drove around the north shore for a bit before driving back south to check in to Aulani. The freeway signs on Oahu can be very confusing, suggesting multiple exits in different directions for the same place. But Ko 'Olina, the resort area where Aulani is located, is very easy to find right off of H1.
We had expected the resort to be a similar size and feel as some of the Disney World resorts, but it's much larger. The best way I can describe it is that it's kind of like a combination of the Polynesian, Wilderness and Grand Californian, only on steroids with a Hawaiian bent. Everything is big, wide, lush, fragrant and beautiful.
Check-in was a piece of cake. We had a dedicated 2-bedroom ocean view room on the 11th floor that looked out onto the entire recreational middle area of the resort as well as the ocean. Like the newer 2-bedroom DVCs, there was a pullout sleeper chair as well as a sleeper sofa in the living room, a third toilet area in addition to the two bathrooms, and a third balcony door from the second bedroom.
Although we could see the resort below from our balconies at night and were impressed, we had no idea what sights we were in for when the sun came up. As I teased in an earlier comment, Disney has outdone itself in every way with this resort.
The decor in the rooms is stunningly beautiful and colorful with a rich feel. The hallways are wide and warm. The common areas have stone floors, similar to the Poly.
In the outdoor center of the resort are most of the recreational and dining areas. There is a main pool, large and with regular and zero entry, a LONG lazy river, snorkeling pond, separate water playground and infinity hot tubs overlooking the ocean. The body slide empties into a cave under the volcano stairs to the tops of the slides, and the tube slide empties into the lazy river. Beyond that is the ocean beach that's been made into a cove by breakwaters but still sees some rolling swells. There's also currently an open tank with a stingray interactive experience, (which I understand will close soon), and a firepit that's the storytelling hub. A large lounge bar, Off the Hook, is adjacent to the main pool, with one of the restaurants, 'Ama 'Ama, behind it overlooking the beach and ocean. Pathways filled with the most beautiful tropical plants and flowers wind through all the different areas, and there are soft, beige beach chairs in abundance.
You could stay for a week at Aulani and have a great time without ever leaving the resort. There are so many activities, from the pools, character meet and greets, snorkeling, water craft rentals, crafts, storytelling, beachfront fitness, the spa, I could go on and on. The Starlit Hui was not performing because of construction while we were there, and although we missed seeing it, we didn't mind because there was so much else to do. I'm sure I'm not even remembering all the amenities. We stayed at Aulani all day on Tuesday.
Wednesday we went to the Aloha Stadium for the semi-weekly market swap. If you want to buy Hawaiian souvenirs, this is the place to do it. Beautiful rayon wrap sarongs for $5, shell necklaces for $1, basket purses lined with Hawaiian fabric and rayon Hawaiian shirts for men for $15. The booths ring the parking lot outside the stadium, so it's very hot walking on the asphalt. Bring an umbrella.
After that we briefly stopped at Pearl Harbor. My parents and I had visited before, so we didn't do the tours of the USS Missouri or the USS Arizona memorial, but I wanted my son to see them and understand what happened here. Then we drove over to the east side of the Island, had a GREAT garlic shrimp and roast chicken meal at Mike's Huli Huli truck in Kaneohe, drove to Lanikau beach for the softest sand on earth, and drove back to Aulani for dinner at 'Ama 'Ama.
Thursday was our travel day home, so we stayed at the resort again. Swam in the ocean, took a few more spins down the slides, had lunch at Off the Hook, did some souvenir shopping at the sundries store (where my mom couldn't resist purchasing the Mickey lamp featured in the guest rooms).
Regarding the construction I was so worried about, we hardly noticed it. There were a couple of days when one of the pathways was closed off; we just took another path. One area right next to the main building was walled off, but again, hardly noticeable. Most of the construction noise was on the opposite side of the building where our room was located, and until we walked on that side, we never even knew it was there.
All in all, a trip to remember! Hawaii is marvelous in itself, but I can't recommend Aulani enough. Everything about it is wonderful -- the rooms, the resort, the CMs. Nearly every server we had loved to chat (and my dad loves to engage them), and I felt we actually made some friends. I mean it when I say a trip to Hawaii is worth it just to stay here. And DVC members get every bit of their money's worth and more from this resort. Please feel free to ask me any questions!
P.S. I'm planning on putting some photos up on Flickr and I'll put the link in my profile when I get that done.
On Monday we checked out of the Hilton that morning, had lunch, rented a car, and drove up to the Dole Pineapple Plantation for a tour. Oahu is a big island, and since there are only a few highways and a couple of impassable mountain ranges on either side, it takes plenty of time to get around it. Plus, because it hosts big city Honolulu and a lot of smaller towns, there's plenty of traffic on the island. There were traffic jams every day of our visit on H1, the main freeway. Reminded us of Chicago.
The Dole Plantation is laid out very nicely for tourists. There is a roomy visitor center/snack area, and you can do a walking tour, train tour or garden tour. We just did the train tour on the recommendation of someone at the Hilton. It was very informative on how pineapples are cultivated and grow on the grounds (I had always thought pineapples grew underground, but they grow on the crown above ground like a big fruity flower.) During the tour we saw a rainbow that lasted until the sun went down, about two hours! Longest, brightest, most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen in my life.
We drove around the north shore for a bit before driving back south to check in to Aulani. The freeway signs on Oahu can be very confusing, suggesting multiple exits in different directions for the same place. But Ko 'Olina, the resort area where Aulani is located, is very easy to find right off of H1.
We had expected the resort to be a similar size and feel as some of the Disney World resorts, but it's much larger. The best way I can describe it is that it's kind of like a combination of the Polynesian, Wilderness and Grand Californian, only on steroids with a Hawaiian bent. Everything is big, wide, lush, fragrant and beautiful.
Check-in was a piece of cake. We had a dedicated 2-bedroom ocean view room on the 11th floor that looked out onto the entire recreational middle area of the resort as well as the ocean. Like the newer 2-bedroom DVCs, there was a pullout sleeper chair as well as a sleeper sofa in the living room, a third toilet area in addition to the two bathrooms, and a third balcony door from the second bedroom.
Although we could see the resort below from our balconies at night and were impressed, we had no idea what sights we were in for when the sun came up. As I teased in an earlier comment, Disney has outdone itself in every way with this resort.
The decor in the rooms is stunningly beautiful and colorful with a rich feel. The hallways are wide and warm. The common areas have stone floors, similar to the Poly.
In the outdoor center of the resort are most of the recreational and dining areas. There is a main pool, large and with regular and zero entry, a LONG lazy river, snorkeling pond, separate water playground and infinity hot tubs overlooking the ocean. The body slide empties into a cave under the volcano stairs to the tops of the slides, and the tube slide empties into the lazy river. Beyond that is the ocean beach that's been made into a cove by breakwaters but still sees some rolling swells. There's also currently an open tank with a stingray interactive experience, (which I understand will close soon), and a firepit that's the storytelling hub. A large lounge bar, Off the Hook, is adjacent to the main pool, with one of the restaurants, 'Ama 'Ama, behind it overlooking the beach and ocean. Pathways filled with the most beautiful tropical plants and flowers wind through all the different areas, and there are soft, beige beach chairs in abundance.
You could stay for a week at Aulani and have a great time without ever leaving the resort. There are so many activities, from the pools, character meet and greets, snorkeling, water craft rentals, crafts, storytelling, beachfront fitness, the spa, I could go on and on. The Starlit Hui was not performing because of construction while we were there, and although we missed seeing it, we didn't mind because there was so much else to do. I'm sure I'm not even remembering all the amenities. We stayed at Aulani all day on Tuesday.
Wednesday we went to the Aloha Stadium for the semi-weekly market swap. If you want to buy Hawaiian souvenirs, this is the place to do it. Beautiful rayon wrap sarongs for $5, shell necklaces for $1, basket purses lined with Hawaiian fabric and rayon Hawaiian shirts for men for $15. The booths ring the parking lot outside the stadium, so it's very hot walking on the asphalt. Bring an umbrella.
After that we briefly stopped at Pearl Harbor. My parents and I had visited before, so we didn't do the tours of the USS Missouri or the USS Arizona memorial, but I wanted my son to see them and understand what happened here. Then we drove over to the east side of the Island, had a GREAT garlic shrimp and roast chicken meal at Mike's Huli Huli truck in Kaneohe, drove to Lanikau beach for the softest sand on earth, and drove back to Aulani for dinner at 'Ama 'Ama.
Thursday was our travel day home, so we stayed at the resort again. Swam in the ocean, took a few more spins down the slides, had lunch at Off the Hook, did some souvenir shopping at the sundries store (where my mom couldn't resist purchasing the Mickey lamp featured in the guest rooms).
Regarding the construction I was so worried about, we hardly noticed it. There were a couple of days when one of the pathways was closed off; we just took another path. One area right next to the main building was walled off, but again, hardly noticeable. Most of the construction noise was on the opposite side of the building where our room was located, and until we walked on that side, we never even knew it was there.
All in all, a trip to remember! Hawaii is marvelous in itself, but I can't recommend Aulani enough. Everything about it is wonderful -- the rooms, the resort, the CMs. Nearly every server we had loved to chat (and my dad loves to engage them), and I felt we actually made some friends. I mean it when I say a trip to Hawaii is worth it just to stay here. And DVC members get every bit of their money's worth and more from this resort. Please feel free to ask me any questions!
P.S. I'm planning on putting some photos up on Flickr and I'll put the link in my profile when I get that done.