Photo by Disney Aulani, by @lottiedoesdisney

It’s already been one month since we’ve returned from another amazing week in Hawaii, staying exclusively at the Disney Aulani for our family vacation, and the kids are already asking to go back.  As we save up and plan for our next trip, I love that we have all these fun memories from this vacation that the kids can remember and talk about from photos taken and stories told.

From our first visit to Aulani last spring of 2017, we fell in love with the resort and immediately knew we would return the following year to celebrate our 10^thwedding anniversary.  The week was nothing short of amazing. From the service to the food, drinks, hospitality, and activities, we could have easily spent an entire week here and still not get to do/experience everything.  The weather was a perfect 85 degrees all week – a nice break from the 105+ degree summer weather in Texas!  My only complaint is that there’s never enough time in the day to enjoy all that this resort has to offer.

At the time of this trip, Jonah at 8-years-old and Baron at 2-years-old, both kids could experience a variety of attractions at the resort.  I feel that their age is ideal for the attractions that the resort offers such as separate age-appropriate pools and water features in the water park and activities at Auntie’s Beach House, while the resort also offers family attractions such as the luau, character dining, character events, and other family activities that the entire family could participate in and enjoy together.

Some of our favorite memories during our week in paradise:

Check-In

From the moment you arrive to the front doors of the Aulani, you immediately experience a unique check-in process unlike any other Disney resort offers.  After a long flight from Dallas-Fort Worth, we especially appreciated Aulani’s warm welcome with their traditional lei-greeting, fresh cold citrus infused water, and being ushered by the friendly staff.  The 10-year anniversary pins the staff gave us were a nice surprise and delight!

Cute souvenirs at check-in and love these 10 year anniversary pins the staff made us!

The Olelo Room & Lounge

After checking in to our room, unpacking and freshening up, our first night was spent unwinding at the Olelo Room enjoying pupus, drinks and live music on the patio.

Outfit details: Floral Top: Who What Wear for Target | Pants: Mossimo | Sandals:  similar here

John’s Shirt: sold out,  similar here

Jonah and Baron’s Outfits: Shirts Toddler here

The food at The Olelo Room features island favorite pupus (appetizers) such as poke, sliders, wings, etc. There’s also a simple kids menu to accommodate smaller appetites.

Chicken & Waffles for the kids, poke and Korean fried chicken wings for John and me!

Nothing more refreshing than Sangria on the patio and the soothing sounds of live Hawaiian music playing

Beach Day

One of the days was devoted to an entire beach day.  According to Jonah and Baron, the beach was their favorite thing to do while at Aulani. John and I enjoyed watching the boys play from our Beachside Casabella lounger and enjoyed drink service.  Our Hawaii family also joined us at the beach for a beach picnic and brought all the local grinds – fresh poke, manapua, noodles, short ribs, garlic chicken, mango from auntie’s tree, and malasadas from Leonards!  Jonah and Baron really enjoyed playing and bonding with their cousins too.

Outfit details: Swimsuit:  Becca Swim  | Hat:  Brixton

The Beachside Casabellas were a great amenity to have for the day. It was our base camp for our beach day where I could lounge while keeping an on the boys playing on the beach right from my casabella.

Boys at the newly remodeled Menehue Bridge

Makahiki Character Breakfast

The character breakfast at Aulani is one of our favorite dining events at the resort. It features a delicious breakfast, photos with Mickey, and interactive entrainment for kids.

Outfit details: Dress: Who What Wear Ruffle Hem Maxi | Mules:  Universal Thread

John’s Shirt: his own

Jonah and Baron’s Outfits: Shirts | Junk Food Boys’

The breakfast fare at Makahiki features an extensive selection of traditional breakfast favorites such as bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, pancakes, eggs Benedict, a custom omelet station, pastries, fresh fruit, and of course, Disney’s signature Mickey Waffles, along with Asian and Hawaiian dishes such as congee, fried rice, Loco Moco and Portuguese Sausage. You’ll definitely need to come here hungry as there is more food than you can handle!

When in Hawaii: Loco Moco and Portuguese Sausage!

A Crowd Favorite: Mickey Waffles

We love how the characters make their way around to each and every table to visit with families, interact with the kids and pose for photo opps. It’s a great incentive to get your kids to finish their meal before Goofy arrives!

A special thanks to the staff at the Makahiki Restaurant for the special anniversary surprise. What a delight for the staff to remember our special day and another reason we let the kids indulge in as many sweet treats on this trip.

Sweet treat from the staff at Makahiki! Mahalo!

Ka Wa’A Luau

Outfit details: Dress:  Mimi Chica

John’s Shirt: Junk Food Mens  similar here

Jonah and Baron’s Outfits: Shirts: On Jonah  Junk Food Boys and on Baron  Junk Food Toddler

A new experience for the boys on this trip was attending their first luau, Aulani’s Ka Wa’A Luau. It’s a fantastic family friendly event and should be experienced at least once whether or not you are a guest staying at the Aulani. The kids loved the pre-show activities with Kakao tattoos, poi pounding, ukulele lessons, lei bracelet making, and paper stamping.  We enjoyed the VIP experience.  VIP ticket holders get a better luau experience overall: separate entrance, no lines, better seating closer to the stage, early entrance to enjoy the pre-show cultural and interactive activities, and an open bar for the adults – need I say more?

Lei bracelet making

Baron’s temporary tattoo

The setting of the Ka Wa’A Luau takes place on the beautifully landscaped Halawai Lawn at Aulani. The setting is just gorgeous and the vibe is luxuriously relaxing.  Guests staying in rooms that face the lawn actually get a view of the show.

We had the best seats directly in front if the main stage.

Yummy Lechon!

The Kids’ Dessert Station

Toward the end of the show, the performers invite all the kids to come toward the front of the stage for a special kids dance performance.

The actual show was a deep storyline that was equally entertaining as it was educational.  They told a great story that celebrated Hawaiian culture with lots of hula, fire, songs, and music. The story they told was so beautiful and the narration was very touching.

Vow Renewal Breakfast @ Ama Ama

As shared in my previous vow renewal post, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at the Ama Ama Restaurant after our vow renewal ceremony. Ama Ama is another dining option at Aulani, and is the more formal of the three sit-down restaurants at the resort. The Ama Ama has stunning views with tables facing the ocean.  We had a beautiful table set up on the patio overlooking the ocean and next to the fountain. Our view from our table was truly like a postcard.  The cuisine at Ama Ama is also topnotch. Each main entree dish is carefully crafted and prepared with the highest quality and attention.

Special thanks to the Ama Ama staff for hosting our party and surprising us with some special tropical treats for our celebration. They make a mean tropical acai bowl that is always a favorite. The kids loved sharing the Mickey celebration dessert. 

We also had cake! This was mostly enjoyed by Baron because he absolutely loves chocolate. 

Looking back at our week at Aulani, we had such a memorable time, and it reminded me that no matter how busy we get with work, school and life, we all need to take the time to travel, rest our bodies and minds, and to celebrate every day.  I will treasure this trip forever!