"Best Of" Week: Aulani – Disney Magic in Hawaii - update

Make your reservations soon. Aulani opens in less than a year.

Well, what do you see when you get to Aulani? For one, you will not see a volcano. Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde, Senior Vice President and Creative Executive of Disney Imagineering, who grew up on Oahu didn’t think it would be believable. What you do see on Oahu is lava flows piling up on one another making fantastic shapes. So Aulani sits in the Imagineered “valley” in the Disney Story of Aulani (everything with Disney is based on a story) called Waikolohe, which is Hawaiian for “mischievous water” There will be what Disney describes as a “not-so-lazy river” going around a Pu’u Kino or large lava formation which will contain 2 water slides twisting in and out of the rock formation.

An article about Aulani in Disney Files Magazine (Disney Magazine for DVC Members) Fall 2010 reads:

“And, in upholding a Disney and Hawaiian tradition that will play our in every aspect of Aulani, there will be more to these volcanic formations than meet the eye.”

“It is part of Hawaiian culture to see images and meaning in the world around us…Sometimes, this is a deep cultural practice with spiritual overtones, but other times , it’s like, “hey, that rock looks like a dolphin!” …It’s the notion that you don’t get the full meaning of something until you really explore it. We definitely applied that principle to the design of the resort, and the magical touches we’re putting into the rock formations are great examples of that principles.”

Disney is hoping that guests to Aulani will discover theses creations as they explore and “our hope is they won’t notice many of these symbolic images on the first day of their trip.” Many DVC members will come back to Aulani year after year and Disney is hoping they are “creating some details so subtle that a family may not fine them until decades after their first visit.”

A reader of Yesterland.com visited the Ko Olina resort and sent them some fantastic pictures of the construction and the first pictures of model rooms at the DVC Sales office across the street from Aulani. See their pictures here.

On Disney’s web site you can make reservations at Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa, Ko Olina, Hawaii starting August 29, 2011. A Standard room starts at $399 a night with an ocean view room going for $549 a night. Vacation Club points for Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas, Ko Olina, Hawaii start at 22 points per night for a Deluxe Studio Standard view to 29 points per night for a Deluxe Studio Ocean view.