I had a 4 days stay at this resort with my wife and daughter; we all loved it and miss it in the end!! I must admit that the first impression when I arrived this hotel was not some what I expected. I been to just about all the Disney Worlds/Play-lands around the world, but this is the first time I visit a Disney resort.

The Disney resort takes a little different approach as normal Disney play-lands. You see Disney characters all around the properties, but you will just have to FIND them because there are limited characters walk around at any given time. With this is a hotel/resort property rather than a play-land in mind, I think Disney nailed the perfect balance to distinguish the differences.

Rainbow Reef was my favor since you can pay 35 for unlimited entrance during your stay (I would recommend the all stay fee rather than 25 one time entrance because the water is fairly cold and you will want to take a break after 30 mins... and you will want to go back again!) I visited 5 times during my stay because during different time of the day, they have different activities at Rainbow Reef. Rainbow Reef looks rather small, but give it a try and you will enjoy it!!

The Tube slide is my wife and daughter's favorite. Aulani was fully booked during my stay and in avg the tube slide wait is about 5-10mins... which is very good!

Food and beverage are on the higher side, but it's HAWAII !! You can easily walk across the street and you will find a ABC store within 5 mins walking distance and you can get mostly you need there.

I stayed at Waikiki beach area after Aulani and I sure miss Aulani A LOT !!

I will definitely visit it again when I get a chance!

I visited this resort for 3 nights with family (including 2 young ones) and we all loved it. The beach is stunning and the pools are great for kids. however, it is not always that relaxing but this was expected being a resort that largely caters for children. It can be quite overpriced, especially the restaurants but in saying this, the food and drinks were generally good.

A true resort with everything and more. Pricy, yes, but worth it if you take advantage of all the amenities they offer (pools, beach, daily activities). Expect what you see in the advertisements. Restaurants in the boundary were expectedly expensive; we only tried the character breakfast which I may add was good but could be better (food wise as well as entertainment); could have added a princess such as Ariel to the limited 3 characters (Mickey, Minney, Goofy). But my kids were thrilled nonetheless. Gorgeous beach/lagoon- got to swim with sea turtles without having to go deep. The BEST resort so far for me and my family.

Rooms: stayed in a 2 bedroom with a full kitchen. Clean. Roomy. Comfortable. No complaints. Beautiful room with the view of what you pay for. Loved that a dishwasher, washer & dryer with one time use detergents were provided. All necessary kitchen tools were also provided including a rice cooker.

Staff: most were pleasant but you had a few that were indifferent whose attitude was "non-Disney like".

Hope to see better reviews of the restaurant so that we'll be motivated to try next time.

One more piece of advice call the actual resort for the weather rather than trusting the weather forecasts.

Aulani is AMAZING, we thought this would be a one off trip, to check out Disney in Hawaii. But, the from the moment you arrive, you know you are somewhere very special, very well thought and detailed in everyway possible. The 2nd part of our trip, we moved over to Waikiki, and ended up changing our mind and coming back to Aulani + became DVC members which is something that I never expected to do on this trip but the hotel is just so amazing, you feel like you want to become a part of it :-) We traveled as a family, with 2 young children (4 & 6). They loved this hotel! We have done Disney before and never have they almost left somewhere is tears, of all the nice places they have been to. Aulani touched our family, and we can't wait to return!

The only parts that could do with improvement are:

#1 - Food options. It was expensive to eat at the Makahiki buffet. The food was nice but I felt the child prices could be lower. My 4 year old ate less than a plate full, so when we returned to this restaurant I ordered a child's meal from the menu for him, which was much better for his appetite. Around $8.50 for a meal, drink and dessert. Some healthier lunch food options for the kids would be good also, everything seems to come with fries and we lived off chicken tenders (they were good - very good - but not so healthy!)

#2 Add a child's stepping stool to all the rooms. The sinks were too high for even my 4 year old to reach the taps, making teeth brushing and hand washing something that I always had to attend to myself.

~~Love the staff, the property is beautiful, I loved receiving the daily IWA, a schedule of everything on offer for the day. Lazy river, pools, Menehune play area and slides all great and the beach just beautiful and very relaxing. I loved the Menehune Adventure trail, you will discover just how well thought out this hotel is, when the adventure reveals all the hidden magic. The Menehune makes it fun for the kids, my children loved them!