I know I’ve already told you a lot about the Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa experience, but I wanted to share this great video that underlines how much fun everyone in the family can have at the resort.

The video also demonstrates – just in case you had any doubt – that no Aulani vacation can be fully enjoyed if you don’t get really, really wet.

Slide into the darkness of the Volcanic Vertical and, after you land in the pool at the bottom, wait in a corner so you can hear the screams of the next person to slide down (I love the point-of-view shots in this video). Sail down Tubestone Curl and into the drifting Waikolohe Stream, where you can spot Menehune-in-hiding without too much trouble. Recently I even stood under the Menehune Bridge (although I was clearly the oldest guy on the playground) just long enough for the magically refilling bowl to turn over and drench me.

Speaking of the Menehune, another family fun highlight shown in the video is the Menehune Adventure Trail, a high-tech scavenger hunt that leads you through Waikolohe Valley as you solve riddles, search for hidden statues and discover surprises left by the Menehune, with special effects involving fire, water, light and animation…all part of the magic of Aulani.

Check out these posts to learn more about Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa:

• New A La Carte Dinner Menu at Makahiki at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa
• Imagineer Joe Rohde Shares a Story of the Menehune at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa
• Confirmed: The Pleasures of Laniwai, a Disney Spa at Aulani

Tagged: Aulani, DVC, Video

Filed: Aulani, Disney Vacation Club

We love a buffet, but sometimes it’s just nice to sit back and, well, be waited on…and enjoy a generous plate instead of lots of small bites (since our tendency is to try a taste of this ‘n’ that at the buffet).

Guests at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, head to Makahiki for breakfast and dinner, where the buffet stretches with dozens of global tastes. At breakfast, you can have all-American eggs and toast, or a taste of the islands with miso soup with dried seaweed and pickled vegetables. The dinner buffet is equally interesting, from fresh seafood to roast chicken, fried noodles, nishime (Japanese vegetable stew) and roasted veggies.

The new a la carte dinner menu is a nice combo of tastes, from a classic Caesar salad to pork and vegetable spring rolls and a simple shrimp cocktail for starters. Entrée standouts include amazing island-style barbecue pork ribs, a half-pound Angus bacon cheeseburger, and country fried chicken with mashed potatoes. You still can get a curry bowl with chicken and steamed white rice, or teriyaki-grilled salmon with Japanese noodles, but most of the dinner choices are more mainstream, such as bow-tie pasta with veggies and creamy basil pesto or a rib-eye steak with roasted red potatoes and creamed spinach.

Kids get a choice of cheese or pepperoni pizzas, pasta or chicken. And for sweet endings, sip a cup of Kona press pot coffee and eat a New York-style cheesecake with fruit sauce, Hawaiian chocolate cake or apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Sit back, relax…ahhhh, that’s vacation.

Tagged: Aulani, Dining, DVC

Filed: Aulani, Disney Dining, Disney Vacation Club

One of my assignments at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, was to find and photograph as many Menehune as I could. I found out that it was easier said than done.

This first one was in an elevator that I rode every day, but didn’t I see him until almost the very last day of my trip. I just know he was laughing at me every time I took that elevator.

I really enjoyed photographing this next pair of Menehune. It was a perfect day, no wind at all – at least that’s what I thought. After about five minutes standing under the water, trying to get the perfect star effect in the photo, this big gust of wind came up and drenched my camera and me. Mischief makers or just mother nature? I’m not sure.

Whether under the water, on top of telephones outside the conference center, or hiding in a canoe as you’re enjoying the water slide, the Menehune will eventually make their presence known!

Tagged: Aulani, DVC, Menehune

Filed: Aulani, Disney Vacation Club, Menehune

Residents of Hawai‘i and most visitors know the tales of the mysterious Menehune, but how many have actually seen one?

Not too long ago, Disney Parks Blog author Gary Buchanan went on his own personal safari to find the Menehune concealed around Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, Ko Olina, Hawai‘i.

How’d he do? You be the judge.

Tagged: Aulani, DVC, Video

Filed: Aulani, Disney Vacation Club, Menehune

After a leisurely day at the beach or exploring the island, what a pleasure for Disney Vacation Club members to return to their villas at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, and find supper is ready. The resort recently introduced a new way to end the day, a perk just for Disney Vacation Club members.

The chefs are creating four different meals that serve up to four diners with an entrée, side dishes, a salad and dessert. The baked pasta, for instance, comes with a Caesar salad, garlic bread, grilled vegetables and a cheesecake with berries. Roasted rosemary chicken incudes corn on the cob, mac ‘n cheese, a green salad, dinner rolls and a fruit cobbler. There’s also meatloaf and baked salmon with all the fixin’s.

Disney Vacation Club members may order their meals by calling Private Dining before 12 noon for delivery that evening between the hours of 5 and 10 p.m.

Sure makes it easy to enjoy the spacious kitchens and dining rooms in the villas!

Tagged: Aulani, Dining, DVC

Filed: Aulani, Disney Dining, Disney Vacation Club, Menehune

UPDATE: Congratulations to everyone who correctly answered our Menehune takeover trivia questions today. Here are the correct answers:

What celebrity recently hosted her daytime talk show live from Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai’I?
ANSWER: Kelly Ripa

According to Aulani’s storyline, Menhune were responsible for building which unique guest offering?
ANSWER: Menehune Bridge (name for the children’s water play area)

Where can you interact with stingrays at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai’I?
ANSWER: Makai Preserve

No Foolin’ – The blog is under new “Menehune” management today and the first order of business is to hold a trivia sweepstakes for loyal Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa fans and Disney Parks Blog readers.

If you’re one of the first 50 people to answer three trivia questions correctly, we’ll send you a wonderful Menehune-inspired Vinylmation. We only sell them on the island, you know.

Just as the Menehune hide throughout Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai`i, the answers that’ll lead to a chance to receive a Menehune-inspired Vinylmation are hidden in Disney Parks Blog posts. Here are the questions:

1. What celebrity recently hosted her daytime talk show live from Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai’i?
2. According to Aulani’s storyline, Menehune were responsible for building which unique guest offering?
3. Where can you interact with stingrays at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai’i?

To enter, just e-mail your answers along with your full name and mailing address to contests@disney.go.com. Once the sweepstakes is over, we’ll send notifications to the recipients via e-mail. To read all the sweepstakes rules and eligibility requirements, click here.

Good luck, and please don’t spoil it for others by posting guesses or answers in the comments.

Sweepstakes open to US residents 18 and over. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. Ends 4/2/12.

Tagged: Aulani, DVC, Vinylmation

Filed: Aulani, Disney Vacation Club, Menehune

Sometimes I think Imagineer Joe Rohde is a bit like the Menehune – I sense his influence peeking out of countless nooks and crannies around Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa.

Joe oversaw the creative design and content of the resort, and he was a strong advocate for the celebration of Hawaiian culture that can be found throughout Aulani. I’m sure the project kept him plenty busy, and yet he somehow found time to illustrate “The Untold Tales of the Menehune,” a storybook in verse by Scott Ritchey that touches the very heart of the resort and the legends of Hawai’i. Here’s Joe, reading a passage from the book.

So, for those uninitiated in the ways of the Menehune, that was a little introduction read by Joe himself. “The Untold Tales of the Menehune” is available for purchase at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa.

Tagged: Aulani, DVC, Video

Filed: Aulani, Disney Vacation Club, Menehune