Disney in Hawaii

We went to visit the Aulani resort with Taryn and Davis. It's Disney's newest hotel. It was big, tropical and very Hawaii. It's a beautiful hotel, but I didn't feel any of the Disney magic because there's nothing in the architecture or decor that screams Disney. Eric covered the grand opening back in August and he said the guest rooms had a Mickey lamp, that's about it!

This statue of Stitch was the only Disney decoration we saw on the property. This hotel is rather pricey. Hawaii residents pay $300 a night, so I can imagine it's even more if you're from out of town. Parking is $35, but it's free if you spend that much and believe me you will!! They had only one restaurant open for lunch and we had to wait about 2 hours to be seated. I enjoyed our pulled pork in steamed buns and seared ahi, but the portions were very small for the price.

We were planning to bring Lexie here for her birthday. They have a character breakfast and thought she would enjoy that, but since visiting the hotel, we decided to nix those plans. Since we've already gone to two other breakfasts while were at Disneyland, we've decided to spend our money on something else.

Guests can pay to snorkel with fishes. Lexie liked watching the fishes but when a snorkeler came by and waved at her, she didn't want to look at the fishes anymore.

Since we were there, we got Lexie a Stitch doll. That's her favorite Disney character right now. There was a cute playhouse for children. Kids can dress up, play games and be in air conditioning. It was very hot there, but they do have a beautiful beach if that's your thing.

We saw Mickey and Donald. For some reason, Lexie didn't want to go near them. She wouldn't even give Mickey a high five.

This will probably be the last time we visit the Aulani. It's one of those places that we had to go to at least once. I think if we want the real Disney experience, it'll be in California.