Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa

Really beautiful grounds, and beautiful resort with fantastic rooms. But be aware that if you book a “standard” view, there is a good chance it will be a mostly blocked view. Our standard view room is mostly just looking at the side of a building (two stories up from lobby floor) for the next two weeks. So keep this in mind when booking! On the positive side, since I now won’t spend the any of trip sitting on the porch enjoying the view, it will definitely encourage us to leave the resort a lot more and explore the rest of beautiful Oahu!

This resort is beautiful but still, overall, a disappointment. Our initial impression was negative. We were tired from our flights and lugged our suitcases, etc. in the front entrance to find check-in. (I thought check-in is normally near the front entrance so I was not expecting a treasure hunt for check-in with our bags.) There were no signs telling us where check-in is. Employees were too busy talking to each other or on their phones to help. We went the wrong way initially until we found someone to ask. Apparently, my significant other’s complaint to the check-in cast member (Marley) about the lack of signage violated her ‘safe space.’ After belittling and literally making fun of him (she mocked his complaint and, while literally laughing, said - ‘oh no - now your whole vacation is ruined because there was no sign to check-in’) she said that she refused to check us in and we had to wait for a manager. The manager, Kalei, said that there is no sign because they wanted cast members to assist guests to check-in. Ok - well that was a fail too because they didn’t. Then she said that as a courtesy, she would get us in to a class for Sat that was otherwise full. We didn’t receive confirmation of the class like she said we would - so I’m adding a star on the off chance she is going to keep her word. I’ll change that if she was not truthful. Communication about everything from the location of ice machines to laundry procedures is lacking. This leads to just enough confusion and wasted time to really piss a person off. Imagine, you get to the laundry room to do a load of laundry as a DVC member and there’s a sign saying that you either have to pay for laundry tokens (which is supposed to be included for DVC) or go to the front desk, with your dirty laundry, to pick up tokens. They are super cheap with the tokens at the front desk and don’t allow enough for a full washer and dryer load. Tip: get tokens every day so that you’ll have enough to do your laundry after a few days. Or you can just pay extra for something that’s supposed to be included which seems to be par for the course here. When we got to our room, it was dirty and the trash from the previous occupant was still in the bin. There were also things still in the drawers from the previous occupant. Fine. We learned not to bring anything to the attention of management because they will take it out on you later and talk negatively about guests in private, The whole resort pretty much shuts down at 6pm so it’s no wonder that others report every minute of the daytime is chaotic. Food choices are slim. The location of the resort is terrible if you want to do anything off property. Since the on property vibe is so bad, we did tours, etc. off property and not through Disney. Literally everything you want to see is at least an hour’s drive each way or more in heavy traffic. Our tour was 100% great and the no -Disney Luau was outstanding, but we were wishing we’d stayed at the Holiday Inn Waikiki for th

This was our first time staying at Disney’s Aulani Resort on Oahu, and while we had high expectations, the experience left us fairly disappointed. Unfortunately, it feels like we were paying for the Disney name rather than the quality of the resort itself. The food quality was particularly disappointing—some of it was practically inedible, and it seemed like it had been microwaved, even at the mid- to higher-end restaurants. It was also difficult to find seating at the pool areas. For instance, most chairs are full by 9 am. And good luck finding a few seats together. The trick we were told is to put towels down at 7 a.m. and then to keep moving them around within each hour so the staff doesn’t flag them as being unused. What a fun way to experience a vacation. There was also no room service. Booking the character breakfast was nearly impossible unless done 30 days in advance within a very short window, though we were able to line up at the restaurant at 6:45 am to get a reservation two hours later (though that is not guaranteed). The rooms were basic, though the beds were comfortable. On the positive side, the staff were all very friendly and welcoming, with the warm Disney smiles we’ve come to expect. The lagoon was also a nice feature, offering calm waters perfect for relaxing, and the pool area, including the waterslides, was enjoyable. The lobby architecture is really nice as well, though we spent almost no time there. However, the food quality was really crappy. Denny’s would probably top any of the meals we had. And expect to pay an ultra-high premium for subpar dining. For example, at the grab-and-go breakfast spot, we paid $70 for a few bagel sandwiches and some eggs for a family of four. If this weren’t a Disney-branded resort, there would be absolutely no hype. It would likely be ranked as a three-star hotel. In the end, Aulani seemed to be more about the Disney brand than delivering a truly exceptional experience.

Terrible resort and not worth the money! Do not waste your time and money visiting this resort. Where do I begin. The staff and very unfriendly and not interested when you try to make a complaint. You cannot get a deck chair unless you are down at 0630 - When you pay almost $2000 per night for a room, would expect to be able to get a deck chair. There are far too many rooms for the resort area as the pool area is far too crowded. Can’t get breakfast at the restaurant unless you reserve 30 days in advance. Staff very unfriendly and just laughed at our complaint. Pools are dirty. Housekeeping forgot to clean our room the second day of our stay. There is no form of management at this hotel and the service is shocking. It should be ashamed to call itself a Disney resort.