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| Looking at the main lobby lanai |
While at Aulani, we enjoyed the pool areas and the beach. The water was a bit on the cool side in the kids play area (Menehune Bridge) and the lazy river (Waikolohe Stream) but a good temperature in the family pool and the hot tubs.
I also took the opportunity to enjoy a manicure at the Laniwai Spa, while my husband entertained the kids back in our suite.
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| Laniwai Spa |
Laniwai is a full service spa and salon, offering many luxurious
treatments, with a Hawaiian touch. I had reserved my appointment for a manicure the morning
of, and luckily, they had a spot open for me. I would not have gotten an appointment that same day, however, if I had wanted a different package, since the treatment rooms were full already. The decor of the whole
place has a calming effect, and the music playing made me feel relaxed as well. The staff know how to make you feel welcome too; I was offered a glass of fruit-infused water while I waited.
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| reception desk |
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| Waiting area and boutique |
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| entering the salon |
Use the Daily Iwa (the name of the resort activity guide) to determine what you would like to check out. Some things are free, and some are an extra fee to cover materials, etc. but these are great. Try out the lei making classes, or the hula lessons; take the tours, do the interactive Menehune Adventure Trails, go to all the character meet and greets, check out the firepit story telling in the evenings, and definitely go to the Starlit Hui Luau. There is a lot to write about in terms of activities but I'll just touch on the ones we enjoyed the most.
Aulani Art Tour
If you take this tour, you will really begin to appreciate the effort and thought that has gone into the design of this resort. Just a couple of highlights, but you should take the tour which is certainly worth the time.
The 'A' in Aulani is the same shape as the arch's for the roof structures. This is the shape of the shelters that were used to store canoes when they (Hawaiians) returned home, and is meant to symbolize that guests are returning home to Aulani.
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| looking up at a tower |
The pictures behind the front desk are photographs taken by local Hawaiian students - each student had to take a photo focusing on one colour. Then the 138 photos were arranged to form a rainbow collage behind the desk.
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| rainbow photo collage behind the check-in desk |
The resort has currently two buildings with the west: one themed masculine (Wai'anae Tower); and the east themed feminine (Ewa Tower). The water gardens have waterfalls on the masculine side, and there are no waterfalls (just calm water) on the feminine side. There are also flowers on the feminine side, and no flowers within the building on the masculine side. There is a third building standing there which is to be opened up next year at some time
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| the Aulani resort towers-one to be opened next year |
Even the compass on the floor of the lobby has arrows made of specific materials depending on where it is pointing (coral towards the ocean, koa towards the mountains where koa trees grow, black rough lava rock to the west - the masculine side, light smooth lava rock to the east - the feminine side).
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| The compass features the Ewa bird in the centre, with four Taro leaves surrounding it |
There are also menehune hidden around the resort - Evan had a great time finding as many as he could. Menehune are small people of legend who live in the forests and valleys of Hawaii. They are supposed to be excellent and fast craftsmen who built temples, canoes, etc. If you bribed them with poi they would even build stuff for you. The thing is, they work only at night and once they start building something, they have to finish it that night or they can never finish the job. Since they were so good and fast at building things, they often got bored and so they would cause trouble during other times and earned a reputation of being mischievous. See how many of these you can find - they're hidden everywhere: under water, in keyholes, on the ceiling, behind trees, in elevators.
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| Menehune in the garden |
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| Menehune underwater |
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| Menehune under a table |
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| Menehune on a ledge |
Menehune Adventure Trails
This is an interactive trail, in which we were given a smartphone to find each of the areas around the resort, that revealed a touch of the Menehune's magic. The phone would play a tune, and then something unexpected would happen around us, like in the garden (rocks move), or the pond (where things emerge from the water). It was great fun for Evan.
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| The phone showed us where to go |
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| The canoe at the top spills water over at the kids play area after you hear the conch |
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| lit images appear on the paths outside, and disappear almost as quickly |
Aulani Nature Tour
It was great to learn about the native plants used
to decorate the gardens as well as the kukui nut torches which are
specific to Hawaii (tiki torches are native to all of Polynesia). There are also hundreds of animal carvings worked into the design of the stones around the resort.
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| Kukui nut torches |
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| can you find two sea turtles? |
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| Look closely at the mountain- how many animals can you identify? |
Movies under the stars
It was a great breather to grab a mat and sit on the lawn at Makaloa Garden. The view is good regardless of where you sit, and it seemed like there was enough space. Still, arrive early to get your preferred spot. They don't have this every night, but be sure to check it out. We watched 'A Bug's Life" while we were there.
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| Movie night: pre-movie trivia |
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| Makaloa Garden- where the Starlit Hui and Movies night take place |
Starlit Hui
We were able to check this out on our last night at Aulani and it was phenomenal. Although not a traditional luau, the show was great, and is limited to guests of Aulani only - by the way, no food is served either. They don't have this show every night and many people look forward to it, so get there early, and I mean earlier than 1/2 an hour. A line does form and it gets packed, although it never really felt too crowded based on the capacity of the lawn. We were fortunate enough to get there early and grab a good mat location to view the show. The show actually starts about an hour after they let you in, but there is a pre-show where you can go do some crafts at a table near the back and play some traditional Hawaiian games. I went to the crafts table and got a really nice fresh flower arrangement made for my hair.
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| these fresh flowers were clipped to my hair at the Starlit Hui |
The atmosphere during this pre-show was almost like a family get together and the animation crew made you feel very comfortable participating in everything.
When the show starts you can feel the excitement. They make it interactive for the kids who can join the act on stage and bang coconut shells together for the music. The dance does tell a story which is narrated by uncle (from the firepit story telling) and there are a number of musical performances. The grand finale is great where all the Disney characters you would see here (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Stitch, Chip and Dale) got on the stage and started a dance party which everyone could join into and dance the night away. Did I mention that the Starlit Hui is included for guests at Aulani - awesome value. It was the best end to an unbelievable vacation.
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| During the show |
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| after the show, Disney characters came out to party |
Hawaii is beautiful, full of culture, and satisfies those with a thirst for adventure. If we could have spent more time there we would have, and the Hawaiian Islands should definitely go on your bucket list of places to visit.
Aloha! and Mahalo for following our journey
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