Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa Review

Aulani was fantastic. It was out first time in Hawaii. They have some cultural tours which were very interesting with incredible artwork. The service was great, rooms in great shape and the lazy river/pools on the resort were alot of fun. They use saline in the pools instead of chlorine, which makes for a nicer swim. There is a small cove shared with two other resorts for swimming and snorkeling. Probably the highlight was the luau, great to watch and the food was the best at any Disney resort I've ever been to. Probably the low point is the wi-fi, which can be spotty, making it difficult to upload tons of pictures. Parking is free for DVC members, so we rented a car and toured much of the island. Overall, great experience!

Room was clean and had an amazing view. Can't beat the service. The pools and beach were the best part of my stay.

They really care about customer service and making amends for anything that is not to Disney's standards.

It s very nice it should be better with others like locals and other people from other hotels to not go there. I had to wait awhile because of people like locals and other people from other hotels. It is very annoying to have other people annoy your vacation. Also I have seen people who aren t staying at the hotel in the hotel s swimming pool. Step up your game Disney and keeping the others out. Other than that great experience. I bumped you up a star be happy.

One night use. The pool was really worried about the smell of chlorine at first, but there is free rental of floating rings, and there are also two types of water sliders, making it fun. There is also a SUP rental on the private beach, which you can enjoy freely. Restaurant is good in quantity, quality in location that can watch the setting sun over private beach, too. When I visited on the honeymoon, I got a sign at the front desk, and the staff blessed me in various places, and although I did not ask from the restaurant, they prepared surprise desserts. Character greetings are also held from time to time, and people are not as crowded as in Japan, so you can meet me with Mickey Minnie and various other characters and take photos.

Very relaxing atmosphere with great music and food!

Cast members are amazing! So much fun! Stayed there 2 nights and never left property!

One of the best resorts we have stayed at as Disney Vacation Club members. Great accommodations, great food, great water park area, and great beach. Very helpful and friendly staff.

Great place to take your children. But not to many activities for the grown ups.

Location is not good (far from Waikiki), but room and service are good and thinks that it is the only option for Disney lovers

Such an amazing place! Worth a stop, even if you aren't staying at the resort. Gift shop was fantastic for unique Disney items.

Place was good and entertaining. I wish that I had a little bit more attention from waitresses when trying to check out.

Was good one of the slides were down. So 4 stars with a 5 star price.

We are staying here for a week for family vacation and to celebrate my daughter's second birthday. We are Disney fans and are thoroughly enjoying the resort. It is very family friendly from the rooms, to the amenities and the restaurants. Your kids can go just about anywhere and there is so much for them to do. My daughter was too young to be left at aunt's house ( a sort of day care). But we wouldn't have left her there anyway, not our type of vacation. They lost activities for teenagers as well, and there is enough for them to do here too. I had heard complaints that resort wasn't Disney enough. After being here I think it's just right. I am in Hawaii and expect to be surrounded more by Hawaii culture than Mickey and mini. You will see plenty of characters at their character dining and just walking around the resort. You will also see them at Aunty' s house. That was enough for us. The resort itself is beautiful. It has a private cove where there water is very calm which is perfect for a toddler to swim/wade. The pools here are really nice too. There is a lazy river that even my toddler was able to enjoy. There is also a water play area with mini slides and fountains everywhere. All in all I would come back again. We are having the time of our lives!

We do Disney but this is probably one Disney facility I will not be returning to. Part of the DVC hotels it is situated on a lovely little cove next to the 4 seasons resort. Aulani is massive with all the facilities at your disposal, at a price! Slides, pools, sandy beach and about 5 different eateries. The rooms are decorated in the Hawaiian style and also in the DVC fixtures and fittings code. Now why won't we be returning. It is packed. Do not expect a quiet island nor a dining experience at the Aulani. If you want that go elsewhere. Mass produced everything and that really effects the quality. If you are eco friendly you will be upset. Disney has got it wrong here. We are on a gorgeous island and the amount of waste is unbelievable. Be it from the constant use of plastic knives and forks to the suppository recycled plates to the massive towel usage... it is a horror show. If you are not worried about the environment, you'll love it. One other thing. Increase your mortgage. The prices for everything everything is astronomical!

I went to the Makahiki character buffet for breakfast. It was very welcoming and is a good place to bring kids, or even just the adults. Pluto was nice to me, and the food was delicious.

Experience paradise- Aulani Resort and Spa by Disney is an absolutely amazing with the service and perfection that only Disney could provide.

Overall, it's a nice theme resort. The Disney theme is not overwhelming which is great. Yet, it's a treat for kids. With a nice beach and plenty of water activities at the resort. The food is pretty mediocre at best. You feel like eating luxury fast food.

Beautiful hotel and views. Children and adult pools. Nice rooms. Pleasant staff. Food n beverages are a little pricey. Great for family vacations

I went here a couple years ago. The rooms were good but the hotel was very boring. I was expecting more. I stayed at aluni first then went to hilton. Hilton was better in my opinion though.

A great place to get away from all the bad fires in California, kids love the lazy river and the ocean view from the resort is the best. Close to a lot of good eats, rooms are super quiet they spent a good time engineering this resort , Disney is always top notch with vacations, well worth the money for the memories.

Disney does everything right! Wonderful entertainment, beautiful surroundings and everything is super clean.

One of a kind place to be at. Have a very friendly vibe in it. It's like a vacation within a vacation. I would definitely come back.

It was quite pricy, but I'd say it was worth it. We wouldn't eat food at the resort, but walk across the street to the shops and restaurants instead. I highly recommend going, and while you're at it, check out the DVC (Disney Vaction Club) presentation, too.

There is so much to do at the resort and everyone is very friendly. Disney took great care to show elements of the Hawaiian culture and has a very knowledgeable staff. I recommend taking the free tours which give insight into the great lengths that Disney went through to preserve and acknowledge the people and culture of Hawaii as opposed to just using the land.

This place is AMAZING! Although it is owned by Disney, or has maintained the culture and heritage of Hawaii. Beautiful cove for snorkeling and paddle boarding. Beautiful pools for kids and adults along with a long ride on the lazy river. Lots of activities for all ages and excellent staff typical of Disney properties. I would highly recommend a visit for all.

Really nice upscale Resort, a great place to take the family. Kids had a blast. So much to do at the resort traffic getting there gets a little backed up on highway. If you want to watch their Hawaiian Luau for free, get a room facing the lawn and garden.

Awesome! Staff is the greatest! Only issue is the people in the next room are smoking, told front desk, and still nothing is being done, otherwise, would give 5 stars

Staying here and is the best hotel in Oahu a very very great

The Aulani Disney hotel was a nice hotel, but had a lot of problems. If you are a DVC member, they will give you bad rooms, unless you have a lot of points. We checked in, and they gave us a room on the first floor. We requested to move, and they said we are 100% full right now. You can check out tomorrow at 11am, and check in to another room at 4pm. Ok, there s no way that would work for us, because we can t be without a room for 5 hours. So we just took the first floor room. When we got there, for some reason, there was very poor cell reception on Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T. The lobby on the third floor had perfectly fine service, but since we were all the way down on the first floor, there was no service. Then, I tried just connecting to the WiFi. The WiFi was horrible. It was very slow to load text based apps, Spotify would sometimes load, but Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube all wouldn t work. People say when you re on vacation, you should relax, but I have trouble relaxing when I can t watch Netflix. So then, I tried to watch the TV. The TV kept cutting out the whole time I was there, since they had DirectTV (I knew because it said so on one of the channels they didn t subscribe to). There was not a storm, no rain, not even clouds, and the TV kept cutting out. Then I just had to sit there, and do nothing once I got back to the hotel room. The pools were good, but very crowded and it was very hard to find a seat. The lazy river was a little too slow for me, but it looked like most people didn t think that. One more thing I need to add - they only come through the room every three days. They didn't even give new towels until 3 days, and the room only came with 6 towels, in a two bedroom two bathroom room for 4 people, so we were forced to reuse towels, and it didn't tell us that when we checked in. It had a note that said leave the towels on the floor to get new ones and hang them up to keep them. Only 2 of us showered the first night, because we got there late, and we put the two towels on the floor, and the next night when we got back to the room at 5:30, the towels were still on the floor. No one tried to come through the room at all. I assume this was because we were Disney Vacation Club members, but I have no way of knowing for sure. Overall, the hotel was nice, but there were quite a few of problems that made the trip less enjoyable.

Great experience all around. Being our 2nd visit, we had a better understanding of all the amenities available and how to maximize their uses. Spending 11 nights there also helped to pace ourselves and relax.

Spectacular place and location. So many family memories.

Hello, this is our third trip to the Aulani and this was one of our worst trips I have had at the Aulani. Beside that the time we were there, it was fall break, many kids, Ok no problem. What was a problem getting the room that I got and the service we received from Aulani? Let me explain. Check in, paid good money to have a view of the pool area, my room only had a view of the palm trees. Asked if we could get a higher room. I was told that floors 1 to 5 are for guest only, 6 and above are for the Disney Vacations. That made me a little upset. When making the reservation, never was told I would not get higher than the 5th floor. Not only that, we got a Handicap room. Not good. Then I am one who leaves a tip for the maid, just my appreciation for the clean room, but no the maid did not clean my room and took the money .
I made my complaint to the Hotel and all they did to make up for it was to create a couple of Swan s out of towels and left the note: The Aulani is sorry for your unconvinced and asked if this satisfied me. I wanted more, but they would not budge.
Aulani is so communalized now that they just don t care about the customers, only interested in the money they get from each and every one of us This was our last time at the Aulani and we even cut our time at the Aulani shorter then we reserved for.

I went only to the dinner (with my brother, his wife, and my niece). The buffet was so-so by most standards--none of the entrees, etc were particularly noteworthy(I hear the breakfast was much better overall, so maybe that's the best choice).The show was fairly fun. The Disney characters were very fun to meet, but--and this is only an issue because the mouse rules all--our session did not have Mickey or Minnie in attendance. Donald, Chip & Dale, and Stich came by every table for a photo op, which was good. But, the lack of Mickey and/or Minnie was a sore point with the niece who was really really REALLY looking forward to the mouse (mice) to show up and was really really REALLY disappointed when no mouse made an entrance. Disney puts the mouse EVERYWHERE in the resort, so when the mouse doesn't show to a dinner it's a glaring omission.

Food was pretty terrible and overpriced. Surprised for how much they charge there they couldn't have a bar with a good menu or food.

Grounds are beautiful. Lots to do for the whole family.

The over all experience was poor. The dancers costumes were not traditional and all plastic. Wasn't impressed with the food. The staff was nice. Good entertainment. But you need to put more effort into your food. The pig ceremony seemed faked. No steaming banana leaves or rocks. I will never reccomend to friends or family.

3 doldoen peongpeong children cried in front of the ice cream shop. The ice cream I ordered was not what the child wanted. But it was too big to make one more again. I was sitting on a nearby bench and trying to soothe them, but the staff handed me the ice cream that the child wanted. It was a gift. Which can only happen Disney story ... except the breakfast quality and satisfaction!

With both the Disney and Hawaiian flare this place is awesome! The staff must get tired being so friendly all the time. My kids feel safe as they have lifeguards and staff everywhere. We have stayed a few times and each time it seems guests get less and less. Activities like the luau used to be FREE for guests and they even took away the teen lounge.

Great fun for the kids! Kind of crowded but we our room was awesome!

Quiet and beautiful location by the lagoons of Ko'olina Oahu. Grounds are well maintained with tropical plants and the staff are very friendly. Food prices may be higher than other parts of the island and this location is not a walking distance to malls, supermarkets, department stores, or gas stations. There are two other hotel properties in this area: Four Seasons and Marriot. Aulani is the most exciting of them all.

My Mom and I celebrated my birthday here and had such an awesome time!! So pleasantly surprised. I honestly was worried prices would be outrageous but we were treated so well at their restaurant and had an awesome waitress named Brittany. The whole experience was so memorable and I took priceless pictures with my Mom! This was my first time visiting after staying on Oahu fower many years and traveling from Maui. We had a nice surprise seeing Moana around the grounds before sunset!

I cannot say enough about the menehune dinner show. What a fantastic show story and that buffet was priceless. The poke a was fresh and delicious the crab legs plentiful the salads were beautifully done the meat carving station was amazing the desserts were phenomenal and the staff was so stellar

Wonderful place. Our fifth time here. Won't be our last.

The most amazing highlight of our Hawaii vacation is seeing and hearing Jerry Santos & Kamuela Kimokeo perform beautiful Hawaiian music and talk story at the Olelo Room. It's good for the soul.

My 6yo daughter was obsessed with the luau! Food was awesome!

Rooms and amenities are nice. Kind of pricey so bring a fat wallet if you plan to stay in the resort itself. If you like the beach, the beach is right outside of the resort or if not and you like just the regular swimming pool, then they have a nice pool, lazy river and water slides. They even have a section for the little ones. A for the entire experience, I'm sure you will have a great time. The only drawback is the price you have to pay to have a good time.

Great views from the room.. but find it annoying even thought you pay top dollar to stay at this location barely anything is included and requires additional cost. Paddle board cost 45$ for rental per hr.. kind of ridiculous when you pay a premium to stay at these locations and still have to pay more for most of the activities.

It is a Disney resort. What more can you say. They do it up right. And it is a beautiful part of the island. Softest sand on Oahu.

Somewhere between 4 and 5 stars. Having gone to Disneyland, Disneyworld, and on a Disney cruise, I had pretty high expectations, and they were almost met. Very friendly staff who goes out of their way to be helpful. Nice pools, though a bit crowded. Actually overall the whole place feels a bit crowded, but understandably it is President's days weekend in February. Food is good, well portioned, pricey though of course.

They are correct when they say the "Disney" is not as strong here -- you can easily forget that this is a Disney resort.

Aulani is absolutely amazing! It's what I've come to expect from Disney. The staff are the best. Alisha, one of the Photopass photographers, has such a wonderful attitude and enthusiasm to take the best pictures she can of my wife and I on our honeymoon. RJ, one of the DVC guys out there, was very helpful in guiding us around the resort and making suggestions. Running into Disney characters and getting photos with them in their vacation clothes is another highlight. Oh and the Laniwai Spa really makes for an amazing spa day. We loved all the extras before and after our scheduled massage as well as the massage itself. We are loving our stay at Aulani right now and can't wait to comeback!

Had breakfast with Disney characters and my 16 month old loved it. The food was great and the staff was friendly.

Aulani is an amazing place. It is definitely not on the cheap side, but if you value seeing Micky every year then a timeshare membership could be right for you.

We just got off the NCL cruise, and it has been so refreshing to have excellent customer service as Disney does.

The diner was great. There was many different options to eat. Seeing Disney characters like Stitch and Dale as we dine was cool.