Welcome to Disney Discovered, where today we are blogging about Aulani, a beautiful Disney resort in Oahu, Hawaii. If you’re thinking about visiting, we recommend it! You will love it.
There are a lot of things to do there, so here are some pointers.
The Aulani Pools, Waterslides and Chairs
There are 3 pools and they are a place to have fun.
Waikolohe Pool: This is the main pool and the waterslides end here. This is towards the middle of the resort. It has an area for the younger kids that is two feet deep.
Ka Maka Grotto: In my opinion, this is the best pool. It’s an infinity pool, filled to the top, and it has a grotto with a hot tub. Ka Maka Grotto has the best view, overlooking the lagoon, and it’s also less crowded than the Waikolohe Pool.
Wailana Pool: This is the quietest and smallest pool, behind one of the Towers. Wailana actually means calm waters in Hawaiian.
There are two waterslides. One you can ride on a tube with a second person, and the other one is just a slide that goes through a tunnel. You should go on the slides early or late because the line is very long from 12:00pm-5:00pm. Also, be alert that the splash is very big!
If you want a chair around the pools, you should get there early. Most of those are usually filled by noon. The magic of Disney is that even if all the pool chairs are taken, the pools don’t feel crowded!
Tip: If you can’t find a chair around the pool, don’t worry, there are usually available chairs with umbrellas on the sand by the lagoon. The lagoon is a great place to swim or do water activities like paddle boarding and boogie boarding. You can rent boogie boards for free from Makiki Joe’s Beach Rentals, while paddle boarding costs around $45 for one hour. Makiki Joe’s also rents game equipment like giant Connect 4, cornhole, ping pong, and beach toys so you can build sand castles.
Aulani Lazy River & Menehune Bridge
The Menehune Bridge is a fun water park, but you are only able to go on it if you are less than 4 feet tall and a parent. They have two small slides that are fun and not scary for kids.
There is a second splash area for even smaller kids, called Keiki Cove. It is near Ulu Cafe.
The Lazy River is for all ages and is really relaxing. You can go on a single tube or a double tube. This is very popular, so for more space on the Lazy River, go before 1:00pm or after 6:00pm. You can find the entrance and tubes near the Kawele Korner and the Whirlpool Spa near the 1923 bridge. The Kawele Korner is the place to get your towels and daily colored wristband to go in the pool.
Dining: Food, Snack & Drinks At Aulani
The food in Aulani is awesome. You should definitely get shaved ice in the afternoon. The line may be long, but usually moves fast. You can get your shaved ice with Mickey ears!
If you don’t want to wait in line or prefer ice cream or Dole Whip, you can get this from Little ‘Opihi’s near Makiki Joe’s. The Dole Whip comes in two flavors – pineapple, like at Disneyland, or watermelon. You can get a swirl of both!
Next to the Shaved Ice, you can get food like mini corn dogs and chicken tenders from Mama’s Snack Shack.
Take advantage of refills. You should buy an Aulani cup and popcorn bucket at the start of your visit. Drink refills are free and popcorn refills are $3. Tip: make sure to fill your ice from the machine on your hotel floor before you get in line for drinks because the ice can run out quickly on hot afternoons!
Lastly, you should eat before or after meal rushes because there aren’t many restaurants and the waitlists can get a bit long. Off The Hook has mobile order if you want to get your food to go. We had Mickey waffles from Off the Hook in our room a couple mornings.
Scavenger Hunt
There is a free scavenger hunt at Aulani, where you can get clues and look around you the resort for something specific like a hidden cave, a conch shell, or moving rocks.
You can check out your tablet for an hour at a time from the Pau Hana Room. This scavenger hunt takes 1-2 hours, so there’s a good chance you will need to go back a second time to get the tablet. Make sure to do the scavenger hunt the days before you leave because you will get to do a picture scavenger hunt after that, and after you finish that one, they send you to the DVC preview room to find 3 Hidden Mickeys in there.
More to come on the scavenger hunts in upcoming Disney Discovered posts!
KA WA’A Luau at Aulani
There is a luau on site at Aulani, on the Hālāwai Lawn, called KA WA’A. In case you’re hoping to see Disney characters here, make sure you’re there for the start of the luau performance after dinner. Mickey and Minnie make an appearance on stage.
On the luau menu for kids, there is chicken tenders with BBQ sauce, kalua pork, cauliflower, and mac & cheese. Kids also get a Mickey marshmallow with fruit, a Moana chocolate cupcake and a pink guava cake. For adults there is a buffet.
Before dinner and the luau performance, there are a few small activities like making poi, stringing a lei bracelet or a temporary tattoo. Even if you don’t get in early with preferred seating, there should still be enough time to try everything.
Aulani Hotel Room
When you enter the hotel room, the TV screen welcomes your Ohana (family) with your family name. Whenever the TV is on without any show on it, birds chirp so you probably aren’t hearing things!
We still have plenty to share from Aulani, so make sure to stay tuned for our next posts, where we’ll be writing about Rainbow Reef, Aunty’s Beach House and more!
Disney Discovered 