Christmas in Hawaii - Aulani Trip Report

[adventuregirl]

Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka!



So yeah…this trip report is a couple months old but I am only now settling in back home. Also, I needed to update my DL and WDW pre-trip report and realised I had some regular reporting to do! It was a fabulous trip and I loved the resort. We spent 8 nights at Aulani and 5 nights in an AirBnB in Kailua, which is where I grew up, met my husband and we had our son. We live abroad now, but felt the pull to come for a visit and what better way than to go Disney? Sadly our daughter was not able to join us, but otherwise it was a fantastic trip.



Aulani was decked out for the holidays!




Being a former local, it was fun to play tourist and we did a fair few “touristy” things which included:


Watching Pipe Masters on North Shore

Eating our body weight in shave ice (that may also be a local thing)

Waikiki

A snorkeling sail

Hanauma Bay

Laying on a lounger at the resort and falling asleep under the pool umbrella

Day drinking (probably also a local thing, but one I indulge in only on holiday)


We did some local things too:

Eating dim sum in Chinatown

Decorating “Christmas trees” on the beach

Getting stuck in traffic

 

[adventuregirl]

The Resort:

Aulani is lovely, albeit a bit dark in hallways. I loved the creative use of space and the way the pools seemed to be everywhere with little nooks and surprises around every corner. CMs were always friendly and helpful.



Grotto Pool




Adult Hot Pool


We had no issues finding chairs, but not always directly at the pool side. We did go down early one day (830 am) and had a front row at the Grotto Pool where I subsequently fell asleep under the umbrella. Bliss!

 

[adventuregirl]

Tourist Bits:


Da best! Actually, Island Vintage Shave Ice is delicious and Island Snow also very good. Our son had at least one shave ice a day from many places including the resort. He is thinking he should start a business here in the summer...


Snorkel Sail - Holokai Catamaran. A really fun morning which included swimming with turtles and a cruise off Waikiki Beach.


Hanauma Bay Snorkel Day - get there early! We got there at 730 am to grab parking. We had borrowed snorkel gear from friends, so that was a bonus. We ended up there for about 2.5 hours before heading out to lunch in Chinatown.

 

[adventuregirl]

We had rented a car as we had a lot we wanted to do away from the resort. It was worth the parking fee to have the ability to roam the island, but ouch it is spendy!

We did not eat at the resort other than snacks and drinks. There are so many fantastic places to eat in Hawaii and I wasn't keen to spend on resort food. We did hit up the Monkeypod restaurant for Happy Hour a few times for drinks and appetizers. The signature MaiTai at Monkeypod with the likikoi (passion fruit) foam is so so yum. Mai Tai's at Aulani were also good (I think they taste better with a pool and ocean in sight).




We also hit up happy hour next door at the Four Seasons one afternoon and that was beautiful. It is a very elegant and quiet space, and we had a lively and sweet server there as well. You can see the shared cove of Aulani and Four Seasons in the background.



We left Aulani on the 23rd to head over to my home town. I do not look excited to say Goodbye.

 

[adventuregirl]

We spent the last 6 days in Kailua. Even though we had left Disney behind, it was a fabulous relaxing Christmas.






Until the next adventure...

 

[adventuregirl]

We did not eat at the resort other than snacks and drinks. There are so many fantastic places to eat in Hawaii and I wasn't keen to spend on resort food. We did hit up the Monkeypod restaurant for Happy Hour a few times for drinks and appetizers. The signature MaiTai at Monkeypod with the likikoi (passion fruit) foam is so so yum. Mai Tai's at Aulani were also good (I think they taste better with a pool and ocean in sight).

Umm...noticed I spelled lilikoi incorrectly. I may have my Hawaii card taken from me. Anyway it looks like this:

 

[alohamom]

Oh I am soooo jealous that your home town is KAILUA!

I love it there and if I won the lottery I would live there in a heartbeat.

We did not eat at the resort other than snacks and drinks. There are so many fantastic places to eat in Hawaii and I wasn't keen to spend on resort food.

This is great advice! I find that there are lots of great places popping up all the time as well so no matter how many times we go back to Oahu there is always someplace new to try.

Sounds like a wonderful Christmas, thanks for the report!

 

[adventuregirl]

Oh I am soooo jealous that your home town is KAILUA!

I love it there and if I won the lottery I would live there in a heartbeat.

Thanks! It was a really great place to grow up, but holy smokes it has changed sooooo much! It was a sleepy little town in the 70's/80's and now there is Whole Foods, Target and a new Roy's restaurant. My parents left after 40 years in 1999 and we left in 2005 when our son was a year old so we don't get back there often, but it was really great to catch up with friends and watch the sunrise over Kailua Beach each morning.

For food, we had to hit up all our old favourites and introduce our son to "plate lunch" - so ono!