Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa: an immersive resort experience

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In a nutshell: Come for Mickey and stay for the immersive on-site experience and epic pools. The Aulani is a well-done Disney Resort with a hotel and Disney timeshares, but it can be pricey!

Overview of Disney’s Aulani

Combine your love of Disney with a Hawaii vacation at Disney’s Aulani in Ko Olina. With an incredibly long list of experiences, amazing pools, and villas with full kitchens, it’s easy to see why so many people choose to spend their vacation here. 

Ko Olina is a vacation resort area with three hotels located on four man-made lagoons. These lagoons offer easy swimming as they are protected from waves and strong currents. And the lagoons are connected by a nice walking path making it easy to take long strolls. 

Learn more about Ko Olina in our full guide. 

Disney’s Aulani Location

Enjoy the Aulani’s sunny spot on lagoon one in Ko Olina, a resort development on the sunny leeward side of Oahu. Located 30 minutes west of the Honolulu airport and 45 minutes from Waikiki, Ko Olina is a bit secluded and it can take a while to get to other sights on the island. But you trade lack of accessibility for a dreamy, sunny, beach resort location. 

Highlights of the Aulani

Pools

The pools at the Aulani are probably the best pools on the entire island. There are eight different pools or pool areas, including: 

• Keiki splash zone
• Menehune Bridge with two slides (a giant play structure!)
• Waikolohe stream and pool (a lazy river and a large pool)
• Ka Maka Grotto, infinity pool
• Wailana quiet pool
• 5 whirlpool spas, including 2 adults only spas

Rooms

There are two wings at the Aulani: a building with hotel rooms and suites and another wing with Disney Vacation Club (timeshare) villas.

• Standard rooms: these rooms sleep up to four guests with a choice between two queen beds or a king and a sleeper sofa
• One bedroom suites: 750 square feet or 1,500 square feet with the ability to sleep 5 guests
• Two bedroom suites: sleep up to 6 people in a 1,900 square foot suites

The Disney Vacation Villas offer a range of options, from a studio to a three bedroom (2,100 square foot!) villa. The studios feature a kitchenette, while the one, two and three bedroom villas offer a full kitchen and a washer/dryer. 

Restaurants

There is no shortage of food options on-site when you’re staying at the Aulani. And there’s even more across the street at the Ko Olina Center and station. 

On-site restaurants include: 

• Wailana Pool Bar
• Off the Hook poolside lounge
• Ulu Cafe serving breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Makahiki for the character breakfast and a pre-set 3 course dinner
• Olelo Room lounge for cocktails and appetizers
• Mama’s Snack Stop (poolside)
• Papalua Shave Ice
• ‘Ama ‘ama contemporary dinner-only restaurant

Activities

Honestly there are an endless number of activities to enjoy on-site. So many that trying to keep to your activity schedule will probably leave you feeling a little exhausted. So take it slow, choose a few to enjoy and then chill out the rest of the time. Some activities include: 

• Aunty’s beach house: a free kids club for ages 5-12
• Character experiences: pose for photos and meet your favorite Disney characters
• Ukulele lessons
• T-shirt stamping (additional fee)
• Menehune adventure trail scavenger hunt
• Mo’olelo Fire pit storytelling
• Swim with the fish in their rainbow reef (additional fee)
• Stargazing (additional fee)

Disney’s Aulani Review: why we love it

• The pool: This is the best pool on the island. It is crowded, but it is also so fun. It’s easy to spend a full day (or many full days) splashing around here. 
• Kids amenities: I know this is to be expected, but we loved how kid-friendly everything was. They had everything we needed for a comfortable trip with our two young kids. They even offer bed rails so we could be confident our preschooler would be safe and snug in bed. 
• No resort fee: Resort fees are the norm in Hawaii, so finding a hotel that doesn’t charge a resort fee feels like a win. 
• Service: Everyone was extremely friendly and happy to help, which makes the experience even more wonderful!

Things to Know Before Booking Disney’s Aulani

• Crowded: The resort is large and crowded. Finding a quiet spot can be difficult. It’s also located on lagoon 1, which it shares with the Four Seasons. This is the most crowded of the four man-made lagoons. 
• Mediocre rooms: For the price, we expected a little more from the rooms. Our room was dark and fine, though the price we paid was on-par with the Four Seasons next door (which offered a significantly better room). 
• There can be long lines (and sometimes disappointment): Some of the experiences book up early. If you’re hoping to head to the character breakfast, you’ll want to make reservations 2-3 months in advance (or queue early morning). We wanted to do the rainbow reef snorkeling, but it was sold out for the day when we got to the reservation area mid-morning. And there was often a line for towels or wristbands at the pool.
• Overwhelming at times: there is so much to do (and enjoy!) that I felt a lot of pressure to do it all. That meant I was checking the schedule for the day often and either failing to make a reservation early enough to enjoy the activity or pulling my son from the pool to do something on the schedule. Honestly, on day 3 I was pretty tired. It was fun, but it wasn’t a chill, relaxing experience. If you don’t want to do it all, put down the schedule and just relax. 
• Parking fees: if you’re not a Disney Club member, you’ll need to pay for parking whether you choose self-parking or valet ($37 per night as of December 2022). Self parking for Disney Club members is free. 

Ready to plan the rest of your vacation? We have you covered with our Oahu itinerary. This download and go itinerary takes you on a planned out route around the island seeing the best sights and eating at the best restaurants.

Ko Olina Guide and More on Disney’s Aulani (video)

To learn more about Ko Olina and Disney’s Aulani, watch our Ko Olina Guide video below. We share a footage of our room at the Aulani and a lot of footage of their amazing pool.

My wife and I just returned from Oahu, and had the most amazing trip! The Oahu itinerary was perfect, and we used it as a guide to make sure we maximized our week in paradise. Thank you for such a comprehensive plan…it was really a no-brainer. We can’t wait to come back to visit other islands.

Chad Z.