075 Disney Aulani

Did you know that Disney has a resort in Hawaii? Find out everything you need to know about booking at Disney Aulani vacation from insider experts Kristi Marcelle and Kimberly Tate. ON THE PODCAST 00:32 - Talking with Kim about her recent Southern California trip 12:30 - About Kristi Marcelle 15:22 - Accommodations at Aulani Resort 21:55 - Pools and Beaches 26:10 - Activities for kids 34:50 - Character times 37:50 - Favorite foods 41:13 - Money saving tips 46:20 - Places to see outside of the resort 49:24 - Kristi’s favorite travel gear 49:55 - Favorite airline 52:33 - App of the week ABOUT KRISTI MARCELLE Kristi Marcelle is a Travel Advisor with Ciao Bambino and mom of two. She loves an interesting destination, a good glass of wine & Green Bay Packers. You can also find her writing on MiniTime, Ciao Bambino & CBSLA. Follow Kristi on Twitter and Instagram. DISNEY AULANI TIPS Outside of your regular rooms, the Disney Aulani has 1, 2, and 3 room villas that have a washer and dryer as well as a kitchen. Just note that villas book up very quickly. The Disney Aulani also has Disney Vacation Club units, but those are rarely available to non-owners. Head to the pool early to snag a chair, but at the beach you will also find chairs as well as attendants that you can order drinks and snacks from. If you do get up early and grab some chairs, keep an eye on your chairs. The chair attendants constantly walk around and if there is a towel on the chair they will fold it and put it on the back of the chair. This is a type of signal and timer. If you don’t move it they will eventually take the towel, opening up the chair for other guests. Kids clubs at Aulani is very similar to the kids clubs that are offered on Disney cruises. They provide a daily planner that will list all of the events and tell you if certain ones need to be registered for. Some activities need to be booked in advance or first thing in the morning. Make dinner reservations in advance, especially for character meals. Adventuring off the property is a great idea to experience some of the real island. Also not far is a beach where you will see turtles hanging around. FAVORITE TRAVEL GEAR Kristi loves to wear her Lulu Lemon leggings along with a long sleeve cardigan and a pair of tennis shoes. APPS OF THE WEEK Snapseed and VSCO are some great photo editing apps to use on your family vacation photos. These apps are a little on the professional side but with some video tutorials it can help you out a bit. Diptic is also a great app that can help you create collages to post on Instagram or other places. Word Swag is a great app to use if you would like to add words onto your photos. MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST Food at the Aulani Hawaiian Culture at the Aulani FOLLOW US AND SPREAD THE WORD! If you liked this show, please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play and leave us a review! Have a question or comment? Send us an email or leave us a voicemail at +1.641.715.3900, ext. 926035# You can also follow our travels on Stuffed Suitcase and We3Travel, or follow the Vacation Mavens on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for listening!