Disney Aulani Tips & Ways to Save

Have you stayed at Disney Aulani on Oahu before? What tips would you share for staying? 


We live on Oahu and we are stationed here with the military -- Go Navy!  Disney Aulani is about 25 minutes from our house. Our kids love love going for a little staycation when we're able! Here are some tips and Aulani stay ideas that I'd like to offer up. We love to save money where we can...

1. Bring food if you can! 

The food is expensive at Aulani. Every room has a fridge, even the standard rooms have a decent sized mini fridge. We always bring snacks, yogurts, drinks, sometimes a little milk and cereal for easy breakfast in the morning. We splurge for things like "Mickey shave ice" (with ice cream underneath) 🍧 -- $6.25 for one. But, thankfully, it's big enough to share!  

We love to get Dole Whip sometimes from the Ulu Cafe.

An adult chicken tender meal comes with several tenders, fries and dip for $16 at the Ulu Cafe. My kids like it and it's plenty to share if we have other snacks as well.


2. Pack light. 

I made the mistake of packing a lot of clothes and extras the first time we came, but it turns out we really only need a couple bathing suits to trade out each day, toiletries and food/ snacks. 

Maybe you'd want to pack an outfit for enjoying a nice meal out if you want to do that. There are sit down restaurants at Aulani and Monkeypod and other good restaurants within close walking distance. 

3. Check out the Pau Hana activity room!

The room opens at 10am. It's where you can  pick up free craft packs for the kids, and do the "Menehune Trail" interactive game around the resort (from 11am to 8pm each day). My kids loved the hunt with their own iPad (the Pau Hana room lends them out for free) to guide them through the game. It's really cool to see all the interactive pieces around the resort. There are features that light up and make noise, features that shoot water and even rocks that move.

You can also sign up to make fancy Hawaiian style Mickey ears. A lot of people like to do this. Finally, there are two other treasure hunts on paper that you can complete at the resort from the Pau Hana room. Just ask!

3. Keep your eyes peeled!  

Enjoy all the hidden creatures in the rocks around the pools and water features and there are little Menehune (think leprechauns, but Hawaiian) hidden around the resort, in the elevators, etc... It's fun to spot everything with the kids. 

5. Check the sunset time

So you can enjoy a sunset from the lagoon!  The perfect way to wrap up a fun Aulani day with your family. ❤


6. On your room TV look for the "Disney bedtime stories" channel. Right now you can choose from 4 or 5 different bedtime stories. They are around 12 minutes in length and my kids loved the novely of a Disney story read to them on the television! 



 Mahalo (thank you!) for reading!















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