Beach and Pool Days at the Aulani

Our trip was planned and paced perfectly, we alternated lazy days at the hotel enjoying the beautiful pools and beaches with days out exploring the island. I have complied pictures from all our relaxing pool days in this post.

There are several different pools in the sprawling Waikolohe Valley pool area, during our stay, we bounced around and explored quite a bit of it. We found our favorite lay out area, with chairs looking out over the private lagoon, we swam in several of the pools, my favorite was the infinity hot tub. We, of course, floated in the lazy river. Lex and Lu tried out some of the exhilarating waterslides and Laura tried out the snorkeling experience.

We also tried out several of the food and drink options, that were served to us at our lounge chairs. 

This was my favorite of the drinks we tried, it's a passion fruit pina colada.

Chicken quesadillas with pineapple-tomatillo salsa made for the perfect pool side lunch!

This was the view from our favorite lay out spot, doesn't get much better than that.

We also had to try out all the Disney treats! Two of the most raved about Disney treats available at the Aulani are the Micky shaped shaved ice, which we got a couple of times...

... and Dole Whips!

In the afternoons, there was story time next to the pool with different characters, Moana came to one!

We often stayed at the pool until sunset, and we got the most breathtaking views of the magnificent Hawaiian sunsets.

I had seen these chocolate covered pineapple gummy bears at a couple of the stores around the resort and I couldn't resist the temptation to try them out. Thank goodness I did because they were my favorite treat of the entire trip! They were so unbelievable good, I bought a few more bags to stock up and to take home to family and friends.

One day, I spent the entire afternoon at the quiet, adults only pool. It is located in a beautiful, shaded secluded area, and is quiet and serene.

More delicious menu items that we tried out:

The Liliko'i Splash

Liliko'i (passion fruit)

Fresh Lime juice

Fresh mint

Soda water

Yummy and very refreshing, but not as good at the passion pina colada.

And is there anything better than a gourmet burger on a brioche bun with giant, crispy onion rings served pool side? 

During one of our pool days, Laura and I made a lunch reservations at Roy's, located on the Ko Olina golf course which was basically across the street from our hotel.

Roy Yamaguchi, who is a culinary pioneer and founder of Roy's, is regarded as an international culinary visionary and the creator of Hawaiian fusion cuisine.

I got the Big Island Burger with pineapple chutney with a side of garlic fries. 

Look at all those layers! I am a sucker for a good burger, if I'm at a fancy restaurant, and there is a burger on the menu, 9 times out of 10 I will order the burger.

And a post about the Aulani pool experience wouldn't be complete without mentioning the Ulu Cafe. We visited this quick service food stop pretty much every day.

It has all kinds of treats, baked goods, ready made meals to go, as well as a pizzeria where you can get freshly baked, made to order pizzas or just pick up a slice of one of the pizzas of the day.

Those shelves lining the back of the shop were my favorite place to check out every day. Thats were they had all the baked goods, and they rotated what was available every day. This is where we could get more Disney treats! Most things were Mickey shaped and were so adorable, we would often stop by in the morning and stock up on treats to enjoy at the pool or in our room. Our favorite thing we tried was a Mickey shaped brownie topped with macadamia nuts.

Also, these cups must get a mention. They are refillable cups available at the Ulu cafe. We bought ours the very first night we arrived, and then we got unlimited refills throughout our entire stay. They had Coke freestyle machines in a couple of places around the pool area, so we could fill up as many times as we wanted. Sometimes we would come down from our room just to get a drink, and then bring it back up to our room. These cups are a genius idea.