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Aulani 2024: Day 1 – Recap, Thoughts & Observations (2/18/24)

Jason @disneygeek.com , 

Aulani Day 1 – Sunday, February 18, 2024

For president’s week 2024 we traveled to Hawaii and stayed at Disney’s Aulani Resort on Oahu.   Visit my 2024 Aulani Trip Summary page for links to all my picture posts, videos and more from this visit.

Daily Log:

Woke up at 2:45am to be out the door by 3:30am.  Arrived at LAX parking by 4:30, took the shuttle to the terminal and checked in, no TSA line and at the gate with plenty of time to spare.  Boarded on time and left a few minutes early.  Bad headwinds so arrived almost 45 minutes late.  Picked up the rental car and made a meal and grocery stop on the way to Aulani. Checked in, parked the car, and unpacked a bit.   Went for a walk around the grounds and out to the beach.  Then back to change into swim clothes for a couple laps of the lazy river.   Back to the room to change again then out to catch the Aulani Lei Hiwahiwa out near the pool.  Walked around a bit and caught the second hula at 7:30 before calling it a night heading back to the room.

Thoughts and Observations:

  • We encountered no delays or troubles this morning with our travels. It was an early wake up call but we had no issues driving to the airport, parking, checking in, with TSA or at the gate. All ran according to plan. The plane was early and ready to go early even.   The flight left more or less on time but due to bad headwinds we were about 45 minutes late arriving in Hawaii.
  • The flight itself was relatively smooth. Several time the seatbelt sign came on but the turbulence was not horrible.    Delta uses a 767 on the LAX to HNL route so it was an older plane that appears to also be used for some international routes.   The first-class seats were lay flat which was a nice bonus for us, allowing a couple hours of comfortable sleep.  The downside is the TV screens were very small and no live TV.  There was no free wi-fi available for all but luckily I could use my T-Mobile and was able to get online that way.    I preselected the French Toast option. It was ok but a very small portion.
  • On approach to HNL we had a nice view of Ko Olina and Aulani as the plan made a U-Turn for final approach. Typically when you land in  Honolulu from the main land you cut across the east side of the island over the city then travel along the coast past the airport and make a U-turn over the ocean past Ko Olina then return back to land traveling east.
  • At the airport in Hawaii we lucked out and the baggage claim for we were assigned happened to be directly across the street from the rental car facility. So it was a quick walk across the street and no shuttle or hike to get our car.
  • On our way to Aulani stopped for lunch at McDonald’s since no one was that hungry. Always a bit of a sticker shock to eat in Hawaii.. for example, a medium French fries cost just under $5.   We also stopped at Target to pick up some groceries since we were staying in the DVC villas at Aulani.    Both are within a 10-minute drive of Aulani along with a number of other fast food and shopping options.
  • No issues with our arrival at Aulani a cast member greeted us as soon as we left the car. Interesting note she was from Germany, not what you would expect for an Aulani greeter. We had checked in online so our room keys were ready and the process was quick.  Our room was not ready.   The rest of our group had not done online check-in and had to go inside.  They took a few minutes longer, but lucked out with their room ready.
  • One challenging part of the Aulani check in process is there is no registration parking and depending on your luck the valets are eager to move the car. Our car was moved so we had to wait for them to bring it back around so we could self park. My brother lucked out with his car and they had not moved it yet.
  • By the time we found a parking spot in the garage I received a text that our room was ready. So that was great timing.
  • We encountered our first run of bad luck as we loaded up and set off for the room. One of the suitcases the wheel broke enroute and on a second we were carrying some drinks and thanks to the uneven floor it went flying in lobby and a couple of cans burst making a mess. Several cast members showed up to help us clean up the mess, but it was not a smooth transition to the room today.
  • We had a 1-Bedroom villa on the 9th floor of the Ewa Tower (this is the south tower, on the left when looking toward the Ocean). The rest of the group had a 2-bedroom villa on the 5th floor of the same tower.   Our room was considered an Ocean view theirs a pool/garden view. They were right at the tree line and could see a little (better than my first stay at Aulani where I was on the 2nd floor and looked directly at a tree and could not see anything.  Our room offered a great view of the pool, lobby and ocean.
  • We took a lap around the hotel and the nephews really wanted to go in the water so we changed and headed for the Lazy River. The air was cool and water was not warm.  So overall less than ideal swimming conditions but they loved it!
  • Dining at Aulani is expensive… you have Disney plus Hawaii pricing. For example, chicken strips and Fries were $18, corn dog nuggets with no fries $12.    Several places open later and close early. By 5pm the options in the pool area and by the beach are closed.  I was a bit disappointed in the chicken strips.. they were really large, almost more chicken breasts for sandwiches than strips. I would prefer smaller strips and more vs larger ones.
  • The Aulani Lei Hiwahiwa nice hula was created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Aulani last year. They still perform this on select days and today happened to be one of them.  It was performed twice out by the pool.    I thought the second one under the lights was a little nicer than the daylight version.

My posts from today: