Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa Reviews

Overall we had a great experience. Servers were great, food was good but unfortunately We did have a financial crisis at the time of check in. The front dest had charged my card twice which left me uncertain, embarrassed, and livid. Obviously it takes 3-5 business days for that to clear and be credited back (it was a friday). We all know a disney resort isn't cheap and when I say that we really had to save up to be there, I do not take that lightly. With that being said my family hadn't received any compensation (food or % off our stay..nothing) the receptionist was rude and had no compassion for the situation. They had no remorse, for a mistake that was solely controlled by the billion dollar corporation and offered no control to the situation AT ALL. Aloha goes both ways. I hope to have a better experience next time around.

Great water features for the whole family. Amazing atmosphere

The staff were amazing. The rooms were nice. So was the location and the views. The only weak spot I felt was that the food was medium at the $50+ buffet.

Wonderful, relaxing, scenic and expensive. Definitely worth the money, but you better have it to spend. Not the type of vacation that you want on the card and earning interest.

Good stuff. Olelo room sunset hour there's a couple decently priced items. Limited public parking for beach which is a nice walk.

What a wonderful facility , so much to do. The staff was by far the best !!! So much kindness and compassion for the guests and a all around well rounded establishment. We highly recommend it to anyone. We will be there again.

.Wonderful atmosphere and top notch services. Pools are amazing

Ambiance, Styling, Breathtaking Sunrise and Sunset, Beach, Pools, Restaurants, Family Friendly

Did not meet high level of expectations based on previous DIS experience

Perfect getaway if you have kids travelling, sure was a lot of fun here though pricey as expected. It can be crowded and finding a chair might be tough, but just spend the time on the water! There are slides, lazy river, a play house, breakfast with characters, fish feeding, infinity pool, a calm beach and more. Rooms are so clean and spacious!

Amazing resort, great for families and couples. Not overcrowded with kids like most would think.

Breakfast with the Disney characters is a must if you're a Disney fan. Great time but food was a little limited. (buffet food)

The grounds are very well maintained, the entry and common area of the building are equally well kept and visually stunning. Rooms have contemporary design elements, and are in good condition for their age. There are all sorts of amenities on site - multiple pools, a couple of adult-only areas, snack spots, and a lazy river. There are also multiple restaurants and shops - as well as a spa and kid hangout area.

Love this resort, one of our best investments when we joined the Disney Vacation Club

Great atmosphere, the rooms, food and anemities, and the staff is very friendly

Staying in the Disney club is easy to stay. Other accommodation is expensive. Breakfast with Disney can be booked online and is very fun.

Great resort, very well maintained and clean, beautifully designed with Hawaiian culture in mind, all staff were great and treated us like family, good beach right in front with private ocean cove, great pools for all ages plus water slides and a lazy river, rooms are really nice, very clean, warm and cozy feel, everything you would expect from a high end resort, we will definitely be returning.

Aulani is an amazing resort. They know how to cater to families. The childcare piece and attentiveness of Aunty's is great for parents to be able to have some time together.

Nice bar menu, no kids @ 9 PM. Easy smoking access. Pure Disney first class touch. I'll be back.

This place has a great brunch, it is pricy and reservations must be made if you are not staying at the hotel. I live in Kapolei and it is about 15 minutes away. It is fantastic for kids events.

Great family destination. The lagoons are so calm and perfect to practice stand up paddle boarding.

Beautiful resort. Ate at Off the Hook. Food was okay. Drinks were good. It was pricey though.

One of Disney's best Hotel and Resort. Some of the best staff within the Disney chain.

Great facilities, the pools were really fun, the kids day care was top notch.

Love Aulani! It's our DVC home resort. So clean and beautiful.

Our second time here and it was just as good as the first time. Service is what you d expect at a Disney property and our 1-bedroom villa was great for kids. Lots of activities for kids and the pools are great.

We also did the Luau dinner and it was of high production value, food was pretty good too.

We stayed at a two-bedroom villa this time. A large room that is a condominium but can accommodate up to 9 people with a room size of over 110 square meters.
Hospitality, facilities together Super discount hotel & condo that seems to be Disney.
However, the meal with the character greeting doesn't change so much in breakfast and dinner, so I think that either one is good.

Its a Disney resort. I dont like Disney but its pretty and the people are nice.

Ok, this is not a bargain destination by any means, but sometimes splurging is worth it - and that is definitely the case at Aulani! This resort is so awesome for families. The pools keep our kids entertained all day, the kids club is fun for a day (they tend to cycle through the same activities), and the beach is calm and beautiful! Everywhere you go, you feel the ALOHA from the staff and the food is quite delicious! For an extravagant family vacation in Hawaii - this is the spot!!!

We went here for birthday celebration and overnight staycation. They have lei greetings upon arrival in the front of lobby, staff are really friendly and awesome. Food from character buffet are great, just that there were big flies flying around trying to get in your food. It sucks when you are trying to eat and you have to shoo them away at the same time . Some of the flies go to their buffet line on the poke salad station, which I avoided -1 . Getting around was horrible due to the construction, they should put more sign around so people dont get lost. Pathways are so DARK. It feels like im walking thru a street without lights on, they should put more lighting fixtures on, the ambiance inside of the hotel is not very welcoming, it feels gloomy and way too rustic. Lastly, you gotta fix the A/C unit in room 607, it felt like we were inside the sauna which gives it another -1 .

Great food but was very sad I didn't get to see Stitch

A VERY UnDisney Experience an open letter to Elliot Mills, Vice President of Hotel Operations

Oh, Disney. It saddens me to write this this review. We ve been Disney Vacation Club owners for 10 years and have never written a negative review of any property we ve stayed at, including the six times we ve stayed at our home resort, the Aulani. We love the Aulani and until this trip have never regretted buying into the DVC family and calling the Aulani our home. This trip, however, made us rethink the future value of keeping our timeshare at Aulani.

We arrived on Thursday morning and the desk agent who checked us in apologized and told us that the machine that coded the key cards was not working and could we please come back again in a few hours when it should be working. No problem.

We came back at 2 PM, our cards were coded and we were told that we would receive a text message with our room number when our room was ready. No problem, as I know Disney is fairly strict about not letting guests, even DVC members, check in before 4 PM.

We had lunch and since we were operating on three hours of sleep, our family of five found a quiet, shaded spot by the pool and fell asleep. I set my phone to vibrate so that I would hear when the text with our room number came through. I woke at 7:30 PM to find that the front desk still had not texted us our room number.

I went to the front desk and spoke to Ashlyn, who apologized for the error and asked if I would like to speak to a manager.

When I explained to the manager, Kaleimakamae, that not only did we have to check in twice due to a check-in malfunction but it was now 7:30 PM and we still had not received a text from the front desk providing us with our room number. The following is the exact exchange verbatim:

Kaleimakame: Did it never occur to you to come to the front desk and get your room number?
Me: I m sorry, what did you just say?
Kaleimakame: Did it never occur to you to come to the front desk and get your room number?
Me: Stunned into silence by the implication that a) it was somehow my fault that I never received my room number and b) that I was a dimwit for not coming to the front desk sooner to ask why they hadn t done the job they were supposed to do unless I returned a third time to ensure it got done.
Me: That is incredibly insulting. I can t believe you are suggesting that this is somehow my fault and that I lack the intelligence to rectify an error made by your front desk staff.
Kaleimakame: I m sorry you feel that way. Which we all know is the invalidating statement people make when they don t care enough about you to address the matter respectfully.

Well, Kaleimakame, I am sorry that starting our family vacation this way didn t matter more to you, and that you single handedly shifted the joy that we felt coming back home to Aulani this year. And that this feeling was still lingering the next morning when our daughter, who has multiple health issues, turned on the jacuzzi jets in our bathtub (Room 176) and black mildew came spewing out all over her. Or that it has now been 48 hours since we called to have it sanitized and the black mildew is still sitting in our bathtub.

Yes, I am sorry indeed as up until now, we ve never questioned our decision to buy our timeshare at Aulani. Right up until now.

We just went to check out the grounds. Free parking. Great shave ice, French fries, other snacks. At very fair prices. Nice pools.

Was very disappointed. Checked in the day of possible hurricane and pool as well as everything except restaurants were closed. Was hoping for a comp of some kind but they took no responsibility and said it wasn't their fault the hurricane came. Unbelievable

The service exceeded my expectations right when we arrived. As soon as we identified ourselves when we drove in, they radioed ahead so that the system is that we arrived. Check in was ridiculously straight forward, they even knew about our daughters birthday and or anniversary. The site is Disney through and through.

The hotel is beautiful. There are a lot for kids to do includes free kids club, water slide, lazy river, and water plaing area. Staff are always courteous and friendly. Rooms are very nice with just a hint on Disney characters.

We took my grandson's here for one night to celebrate the older one's birthday. I expected to see characters walking around... Especially because it is super expensive. Not only were there no characters, but no one told us to make reservations for the breakfast buffet. I think if that is the only place that is Disney they should say something when you book or check in. Needless to say neither of my grandson's got to experience the joy of Disney. It was just like any of the fancy resorts we can go to just more expensive!

The food was good and the place is awesome, the kids love it.

This was our first stay at the resort and we can't wait to come back. The hotel is beautiful with great amenities and a great lagoon to swim in. The staff live up to the Disney reputation of being extremely friendly and helpful, we've had some really great interactions with some of the staff. We were in a one bedroom ocean view and it had a great view of the lazy river and volcanoe as well as the ocean, overall great room and great vacation.

Very disappointing - bed bugs, flies infested sushi, etc...
Both of our kids had numerous bed bug bites, disgusting. Even more disgusting was our treatment by the management. We reported the bed bugs and the staff sent us new blankets, did not even transfer us into another room. After our stay, the hotel emailed us saying that no bed bugs were found in our room - bunch of lies and offered a $250 check. You can keep your $250, very disappointed...

P.S. We booked a reservation at the dinner buffet for our anniversary to find displays of sashimi and sushi infested with flies. Could not believe that this could happen at a Disney resort. Made multiple requests to get in touch with the resort general manager but was never provided the contact.

Lots of activities, amenities and character interaction

If you are planning to rent a paddle board or kayak be sure you know what you are doing, if you pass the buoys you are nothing to the staff in the water, you have to wait till 911 services comes. I was told by one of the staff on the water and he said he wasn't even a certified life guard.

The happiest place in Hawaii! Great room, pools and beaches. The one bedroom villa was awesome. Very spacious, equipped with a full kitchen, jet bath, washer dryer, and amazing ocean views. The character breakfast is a must (better than the dinner in my opinion). There's even have a diy bbq area on the property. Only wish we could've stayed longer to use it!

A very nice place to share with family. However expensive food like all Hawaii and not top level.

Was very disappointed. Checked in the day of possible hurricane and pool as well as everything except restaurants were closed. Was hoping for a comp of some kind but they took no responsibility and said it wasn't their fault the hurricane came. Unbelievable

Hate to be that guy, but this place was just ok. The views and atmosphere was amazing but the service is lacking a bit. Me and my family make trips to Disneyland almost yearly, and the service we get there has always been top notch. At aulani it wasn't. Disneyland and the Disney hotel we have never heard the word no when it comes to certain request that are within reason. Aulani we heard the word no a few times. We also got a lot of "I don't know" responses without getting a follow up. The staff never even made an attempt to look for an answer. At Disneyland and their hotel, if we were told "I don't know" we got a follow up within 5min. We always got an answer from the cast members. The staff at aulani was nice, but not the Disney experience we come to expect. The food was also sub par at the character dinner, the food at the snack huts were better than the character dinner. Also the characters were hardly around, I only saw maybe like 3 characters. The only thing good about the character dinner was the dessert and that's really it. If we knew how it was gonna be at the character dinner we would have NEVER spent almost $300 there and go elsewhere. If we ever decide to go back to aulani, it will definitely be a very long time before we do.

They had good service. Fun for kids and had good food

The resort is amazing. Rooms were very clean. Amenities were top notch.

Just like Mary Poppins: practically perfect in every way!

Overpriced and out in the middle of nowhere. I didn't feel like i was at a Disney resort. Only thing close is Paradise Cove luau.

We often visit the Disney Aulani Resort and it is always an amazing experience. This recent visit was just to pick up some things at the gift shop. The gift shop reminds me a lot of the ones at the other Disney properties but with a Hawaiian touch to it. The property is amazing and there's so many activities for the families. The kids prefer the pools including the infinity pool, the lazy river, and the slides. The kids can also enjoy some time at Auntie's Beach House while the parents can take a break for a bit. Of course, just outside the property is a lagoon if the ocean water is your preference. The are much more activities that I haven't mentioned in this review. The only con I have to mention is that it is very expensive as it is with all Disney properties. With that being said, it's totally worth it to watch our kids have so much fun and to experience being a kid again myself. I highly recommend the Disney Aulani Resort to both visitors and Kamaaina.

The most amazing resort in the world, the grounds are immaculate and beautiful, Hawaii with a touch of Disney

If you don't care for noisy places full of kids then stay away. If you have kids it looks pretty fun.

Perfect. Clean, amazing staff, and the characters where awesome. Highly recommend for anyone with kids.

Just like every other Disney place, fully magical and amazing to be at

The islands with the people in general are absolutely outstanding.
Such unique part of the world to experience.

Such a beautiful place to vacation. Great for adults and kids.

Dinner was great its always a plus to have crab legs on the line

Had breakfast with my daughter on Mother's Day, and it was wonderful! Food, service and coffee were all awesome.

Great experience for the kids. Low key on the Disney if that's not your thing. Amazing pools!

Awesome. Gorgeous. Pools are amazing. Staff is friendly and helpful. WiFi is spotty, but who needs wifi in paradise?

Too crowded and bunched together. Walked through, would never stay there.

We had a fantastic lunch at the 'Ama 'Ama. The veiw was fantastic, the cocktails strong, and the food was tasty. We would love to come back and stay at this incredible resort!

Gorgeous place, family friendly with lots of amenities.

My family was treated to this experience from a good friend. :D The staff here is exceptional and friendly. Even when things were drama on night one, they tried to eventually work with us and smooth things over. The only issue is, of course, the resort prices. Everything is expensive! But other than that, it was a wonderful experience. :)

Best place to relax and get into the culture of Hawaii

Did not want to leave! AMA AMA and the Olelo Room have really good food. Hotel staff is very attentive as with very Disney vacation spot. The sunsets were amazing and the Rainbow Reef is so much fun!

We love this resort, it's Disney so it is expensive. Their spa is first rate although some of the outdoor spa facilities were in a state of disrepair... outdoor shower experience didn't work at all.

Great family friendly destination...can't beat it if you have young kids. It's awesome!