AULANI - January 2012 - The DVC Boards at MouseOwners.com - the place to talk DVC and Walt Disney World

buffalorun · 07-07-2012, 02:39 AM

Aloha.
The Aloha spirit is alive and well at Aulani. What a beautiful resort! The reverence in which the local people spoke of Aulani truly touched our hearts.
We treated DSis and another couple to the Grand Villa. It was spectacular.

We were in the top villa with the verandah reaching across the entire face of the building. Very nice! Disney knows how to to it right!

DH and I had plans to go elsewhere on the island, but Aulani captivated us and we spent our entire time in the water or on our balcony watching whales.

Rainbow Reef was more fun than we had expected. It is a nice little pool in which to get up close and personal with a diverse grouping of fish that are rather friendly and docile.

There are turtles that laze in the lagoon, and this one is named "Lucky." He would come up for air and just hang around with us, so long as nobody accosted him. Lucky was quite the social butterfly.

This is an odd little creature that DH found in the lagoon. Anybody know what he is?

We really enjoyed Aulani's Laniwai spa, going there for several massages. This was the most relaxing spa experience DH and I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. No sales pitch, no hawking of products. They were there for our relaxation and just wonderful!

The Waikolohe Stream is a great lazy river, that captivated for hours. A hat worked nicely for sun and for drip protection on the sunglasses. It was really fun. Be sure to look for designs in the "rocks."

Aulani is different, in that it is the destination, so coming back to the room from playing is no big deal.

We had done meal planning before leaving home, making a shopping list prior to departure, buying our groceries at the local market. In general, we prepared casserole-type dinners in disposable aluminum baking pans, making clean up a snap. We had breakfast in the villa most of the time, lunch at one of the resort options, then dinner in our villa. This is the first time I have ever DVC cooked. It was great!

Fun snacks around the resort: Shaved ice! Enough said. Sweet potato fries. Free soda once you buy the cup. (We put our name on ours with a permanent marker).

Our helicopter tour was cancelled due to weather, our snorkeling adventure was cancelled due to rough conditions, but we just didn't mind. The resort was so enjoyable! Weather does what weather does.

We would all meet on the balcony periodically for whale watching. Sipping champagne while watching whales was a nice way to spend a part of our day. We cannot wait to go to Aulani again. We loved it and cannot wait to see what else they come up with.

We were able to watch all of the shows from the comfort of our balcony. They had various activities that explained Hawaiian culture, with different stations for dispersing the guest. Well done. One of our favorite things was the evening ceremony of saying goodbye to the day and greeting the night. It was very spiritual. We have decided to implement a similar act into our evenings to remind us to let go of the happenings of the day and to relax and quiet our minds in preparation for the night.

Aloha to you and yours.

mikayla73 · 07-07-2012, 03:15 AM

Sounds like a wonderfully relaxing vacation.

buffalorun · 07-07-2012, 03:28 AM

Apparently our little weird fish is a Helmet Gurnard family of the Dactyloperidae Orientalis. A fish.

cheyenne · 07-07-2012, 01:11 PM

Aulani in an oceanview GV. Ahhhhhhh, the good life! Thanks for your TR & great pictures. Really looking forward to seeing Aulani for myself sometime soon.

Brian5581 · 07-07-2012, 01:16 PM

Great summary of your stay, thanks for sharing. Glad you enjoyed immensely.

TikiTwinsMom · 07-07-2012, 01:51 PM

Sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

kidsatheart · 07-07-2012, 07:23 PM

Will there be more? Hoping so!

okw2006 · 07-09-2012, 08:40 PM

Great report! In the Gulf of Mexico we would call your little fish a Sea Robin.

07-07-2012, 02:39 AM	#1
buffalorun One Bedroom Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Mile high in mountains of Northern Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. Posts: 343	AULANI - January 2012 Aloha. The Aloha spirit is alive and well at Aulani. What a beautiful resort! The reverence in which the local people spoke of Aulani truly touched our hearts. We treated DSis and another couple to the Grand Villa. It was spectacular. We were in the top villa with the verandah reaching across the entire face of the building. Very nice! Disney knows how to to it right! DH and I had plans to go elsewhere on the island, but Aulani captivated us and we spent our entire time in the water or on our balcony watching whales. Rainbow Reef was more fun than we had expected. It is a nice little pool in which to get up close and personal with a diverse grouping of fish that are rather friendly and docile. There are turtles that laze in the lagoon, and this one is named "Lucky." He would come up for air and just hang around with us, so long as nobody accosted him. Lucky was quite the social butterfly. This is an odd little creature that DH found in the lagoon. Anybody know what he is? We really enjoyed Aulani's Laniwai spa, going there for several massages. This was the most relaxing spa experience DH and I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. No sales pitch, no hawking of products. They were there for our relaxation and just wonderful! The Waikolohe Stream is a great lazy river, that captivated for hours. A hat worked nicely for sun and for drip protection on the sunglasses. It was really fun. Be sure to look for designs in the "rocks." Aulani is different, in that it is the destination, so coming back to the room from playing is no big deal. We had done meal planning before leaving home, making a shopping list prior to departure, buying our groceries at the local market. In general, we prepared casserole-type dinners in disposable aluminum baking pans, making clean up a snap. We had breakfast in the villa most of the time, lunch at one of the resort options, then dinner in our villa. This is the first time I have ever DVC cooked. It was great! Fun snacks around the resort: Shaved ice! Enough said. Sweet potato fries. Free soda once you buy the cup. (We put our name on ours with a permanent marker). Our helicopter tour was cancelled due to weather, our snorkeling adventure was cancelled due to rough conditions, but we just didn't mind. The resort was so enjoyable! Weather does what weather does. We would all meet on the balcony periodically for whale watching. Sipping champagne while watching whales was a nice way to spend a part of our day. We cannot wait to go to Aulani again. We loved it and cannot wait to see what else they come up with. We were able to watch all of the shows from the comfort of our balcony. They had various activities that explained Hawaiian culture, with different stations for dispersing the guest. Well done. One of our favorite things was the evening ceremony of saying goodbye to the day and greeting the night. It was very spiritual. We have decided to implement a similar act into our evenings to remind us to let go of the happenings of the day and to relax and quiet our minds in preparation for the night. Aloha to you and yours. __________________ Last edited by buffalorun; 07-07-2012 at 03:05 AM.

07-07-2012, 03:15 AM	#2
mikayla73 Grand Villa Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Phoenix area Posts: 2,765	Sounds like a wonderfully relaxing vacation. __________________

07-07-2012, 03:28 AM	#3
buffalorun One Bedroom Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Mile high in mountains of Northern Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. Posts: 343	Apparently our little weird fish is a Helmet Gurnard family of the Dactyloperidae Orientalis. A fish. __________________

07-07-2012, 01:11 PM	#4
cheyenne Add-on Aficionado Join Date: May 2008 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 5,569	Aulani in an oceanview GV. Ahhhhhhh, the good life! Thanks for your TR & great pictures. Really looking forward to seeing Aulani for myself sometime soon. __________________

07-07-2012, 01:51 PM	#6
TikiTwinsMom Grand Villa Join Date: May 2008 Location: Philadelphia suburbs Posts: 1,233	Sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing. __________________ Walt Disney World visits: 29 since 1986 Disneyland visits: 4 since 2003 Disneyland Paris visits: 1 since 2009 Aulani visits: 1 since 2012 Where I'm going:

07-07-2012, 01:16 PM	#5
Brian5581 Add-on Aficionado Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: New Jersey Posts: 15,196	Great summary of your stay, thanks for sharing. Glad you enjoyed immensely.

07-07-2012, 07:23 PM	#7
kidsatheart Grand Villa Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 1,639	Will there be more? Hoping so! __________________ Disneyland, offsite 1989, Disney Magic New Years' 7-day cruise 2006, Disney Magic 7-day cruise 2007, SSR 2008, Emerald Isle AbD 2008, Backstage Magic AbD 2009, SSR Grand Villa 2010, VGC 2011, Sister Trip SSR 2011, NYE 2011 AULANI!

07-09-2012, 08:40 PM	#8
okw2006 Studio Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Troy,Al. Posts: 120	Great report! In the Gulf of Mexico we would call your little fish a Sea Robin.

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