Travel and ideas for specific destinations such as cities, countries, parks, or areas of interest
Disney employed more than 100 local consultants to advise them on everything from storytelling to music to architecture. Local fish and produce are served at the resort restaurants and children can learn to snorkel with Hawaiian fish in the artificial Rainbow Reef.
Even in the same family, travel styles—and travel dreams—differ widely. One person’s dream is another’s nightmare. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever been backpacking with someone whose idea of roughing it is a hotel without a blow drier or room service.
There are already 1,000 weddings a year at Walt Disney World in Orlando–upwards of 20 per cent among blended families, says Korrie McFann, who oversees Disney’s e wedding and honeymoon business around the world. The company anticipates Aulani to rival Orlando for the wedding business.
So go ahead. Bring the little ones. You don’t have to stay a week. And you don’t have to see everything. You can’t even if you try.
We’re sitting on woven mats under the stars listening to the best Ukulele playing I’ve ever heard. Rather than a huge luau with terrible food and hackneyed performances, Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa on Oahu has opted to celebrate Hawaiian culture with the Aulani Starlit Hui
“This isn’t passive entertainment,” promises Bill Vollbrecht, the LEGOLAND Parks designer who walked me through just before opening. “Kids aren’t just being entertained here. They are part of the process.”
Laniwai (the name means freshwater heaven in Hawaiian) is supposed to embrace the Hawaiian connection to nature. I think it can enhance family connections too both by encouraging families to enjoy the facilities together and on their own
There’s so much to keep kids busy right here at Aulani–the water slides and ides and lazy river, the Rainbow Reef snorkel lagoon, the chance to interact with the stingrays and play in the calmest lagoon I’ve ever seen.
Ready to learn the Coconut Walk? “Aunty,” who actually is well known Hawaiian entertainer Sonya Mendez, leads the children as they clap Coconut shell instruments together around the outdoor restaurant. In between songs, Goofy, Minnie and other Disney Pals—all decked out in Hawaiian gear—stop by for photos and hugs
What I like most is that this big resort—when it is fully open it will include 359 rooms and 481 two-bedroom condo units—is that it will up the ante for family resorts in Hawaii and elsewhere, improving the family experience in the process.