If you are thinking about visiting Disney’s Aulani resort with your baby, read on for the ultimate guide to enjoying Aulani with your baby. I’m covering all the activities, tips, tricks and everything you need to know to make the trip enjoyable for you and your baby.
We flew from Seattle to Hawaii which was a 6 hour plane ride. With a 5 year old and a teething 6 month old, it definitely made for an interesting plane ride to say the least. But when we arrived at Aulani, all was forgotten about the long plane ride, we were SO happy to be there!
How to enjoy Aulani with a baby
Before our trip I had done so much research about going to Aulani and especially staying at Aulani with infants/babies and could find very little info. When I was there though, I noticed that there were a ton of babies! I’m happy that it’s a destination that a lot of families go to, even with very young babies. So, I wanted to write this post to help ease the fears for mamas like me who just want to be extra prepared when heading on vacation to Aulani with their little ones.
Book the Room or a Villa?
Layla showing off our beds in the standard ocean view room
We split our trip and stayed in a standard ocean view room the first part of the trip and a one bedroom villa for the last half of the trip. I’m not going into full description of each room as their website does a great job (and so does a quick google search). My tip: Splurge for the one bedroom villa.
Edie in the master bedroom of the One Bedroom Villa at Aulani
Don’t get me wrong, the standard room is still a fantastic choice and I would still book a stay there. However, for our family of 4 (2 adults, a 5 year old and a 6 month old), having the extra space to unpack and make a mess without tripping over everything made a big difference. The other reasons why you should get a villa:
- The kitchen is a must have to prepare/store food for the baby, wash bottles, etc…
- Lots of room for the pack and play (that the resort provides) so you don’t have to move it/unfold it each night
- Plenty of space to keep a dedicated diaper changing area
- Separate master bedroom to close off for naptime/bedtime so the rest of the family can still be up and watch TV/movies in the living room.
- Huge tub to bathe both kids easily after days at the pool/beach
- Dining area with a high chair (also provided by the resort) made it easy to get food to go and eat in the comfort or our room
- Washer and Dryer in the room! Babies and kids are messy, enough said.
Activities for babies at Aulani
The resort is great at scheduling lots of events for kids throughout the days. We are not a family that is good at (or likes) set schedules. It’s so hard to get everyone ready and out the door and we end up running late which in turn make mom and dad stressed out. We decided not to deal with that this trip and just do a few scheduled things but the rest of the time, we just did what we wanted, when we wanted.
Activities that were fun and easy to enjoy with the baby
- Waikolohe Pool: I loved that it was big (never felt too crowded) and shallow enough for my 5 year old to walk around in and allowed mom and dad to carry the baby around in too.
- Aulani Beach at Ko Olina Lagoon: The beach was also very easy to get to and plenty of beach chairs to sit and rest in once the baby got tired. My tip: Bring your stroller on the beach! Just carry it and place it by your beach chairs so you have a shaded area for your baby to sleep.
- Waikolohe Stream: The entire family loved the lazy river! You can seriously make it lazy by just sitting in the tube (I had baby sit on my lap) and let the gentle current carry you throughout the river. If your baby can sit up pretty well, you can also pop her on the top of the tube and hold her while you kick your feet in the water to have a bit more control over the experience. It was a very easy and relaxing time for all of of us!
- Menehune Bridge: It’s basically a huge play structure that sprays water in certain spots and has small slides. It was perfect for my 5 year old, but don’t be afraid to bring the baby in! While big sister played, my husband or I held the baby and let her splash around too. It was never too crowded so we didn’t feel like we had to dodge bigger kids and plenty of spots for us to sit with the baby and the water splash down around us.
Is Aulani Baby Friendly?
YES! So baby friendly! I would 100% recommend coming here with a baby as you don’t need to bring a ton of gear as they have it readily available (highchair, pack and play, diaper pail and bottle warmer can all be requested!)
I’m still breastfeeding and was a bit worried that I would need to be running back to our room or finding a private spot every time she nursed but it wasn’t like that at all. Everyone there is with small kids and paying attention to their own family that nobody will even notice you (or care if they do.)
I nursed her at the pool and at the beach. The beach chairs were all very comfy and if you are able to snag a shady spot under an umbrella or by a tree, you are set!
I wore one piece swimsuits that were easy to pull down to nurse and used either my favorite nursing cover or a swaddle to cover both of us.
Milksnob cover (above) || Aden and Anais swaddle (below)
Bring your stroller
Aulani is very stroller friendly, lots of pathways with no obstructions to worry about. Even though it’s a big resort, it never felt like you had to walk miles to get to a location. I loved how each area was separate but also easily connected. Even to get food/snacks it was just a short walk from each pool or beach.
The stroller is great not just to transport baby but also a place for them to nap and still be covered. As you can see here, Edie slept very well by the pool.
We used the Ergobaby Metro – our favorite travel stroller. So lightweight and compact. It also reclines very easily for naptimes.
I also carried her which was another easy option but don’t feel like you HAVE to carry your baby. The stroller is definitely welcome at the resort and it’s spacious enough where you are not having to dodge things or even other people or strollers.
Edie is a “face out” kind of baby, she doesn’t like to face in when being carried so I love this lillebaby carrier which keeps us both happy.
SHOULD I BRING MY BABY TO AULANI?
Trust me when I say I thought about this a lot before I booked our trip. It’s okay to be scared to bring an infant or baby to Aulani. They are fussy, high maintenance and unpredictable. Sometimes it’s just easier to stay at home and not have to deal with the extra stress. But, for us, it was worth the trip. I know people say “they won’t remember it”, but you as their parent will remember it. I will treasure the memories that we made from this trip forever!
I would not say this trip was easy or relaxing. It was HARD at times especially when we wanted to make sure that big sister got to do all the fun activities that she wanted to do and working in nap times and feeding times for the baby. However, we went with the flow, made it work and all of us had so much fun.
My biggest tip when traveling or vacationing with a baby, is to let go of your expectations. Don’t try to jam pack your schedule with everything that you want to see or do. It’s just not realistic with a baby. Take it day by day, have a loose schedule of what you want to do and try the best to stick with it.
Keep a loose schedule and discuss it the night before
I like to keep my family informed the night before or what’s going on the next day that way they are aware of what time I will be waking everyone up, when/where we will be eating and any other activities that we are doing that day with a loose timeline. Sometimes everything goes as planned, sometimes it doesn’t but as long as we are all on the same page, everybody is still happy!
Going to a place like Aulani is perfect for a family with young kids as we felt no pressure to leave the resort. We had plenty to eat and do while we were there and the staff is so accommodating for families.
Stay tuned for part two where I will cover all of our activities and what you can do with your pre-school/kindergarten aged kid at Aulani! Let’s just say that Layla had no complaints!
Thank you to Aulani for hosting our stay. All opinions are my own.
