Disney Vacation Club’s Aulani Resort and ’Ama ‘Ama

Happy New Year! It’s not quite February yet so I’m still allowed to say that, right?  Were your holidays magical?  Did you get to include some Disney magic into the season in some way?  I sure did and today’s blog is about the magical place with lots of aloha, aka love,  we know as Disney’s Aulani Resort.  If you are a DVC Member you are probably already somewhat familiar with Disney’s 11th vacation club property located on the southwestern side of the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii.  For my vacation this year I booked the NCL 7 day, Hawaiian island hopping cruise which conveniently leaves out of Honolulu.  Coming in the day before departure allowed me to head over to this incredible resort and have dinner with a friend in the full service, waterfront restaurant, ’Ama ‘Ama. The name refers to a “delicious local fish once coveted by Hawaiian Royalty and immortalized in a popular Hawaiian song” – according to this Disney Parks video – and spoken conveniently by another Shontell! (I had no idea until I did the research)  Let’s talk about the resort and then, the food!

I can honestly say the pictures barely do this resort justice. It is surrounded by perfectly manicured, lush Polynesian foliage that immediately envelopes you with the feeling of what can only be described as paradise. I regrettably only had one evening and I’m certain I could spend weeks there appreciating everything from the greenery to the dozens of floral varieties, from the fascinating language to the Hawaiian artifacts, and of course, the mesmerizing ocean to the beautiful, loving, Hawaiian Ohana. 

I’ll admit I have yet to travel the world so perhaps my perspective is limited – but the coolest, most notable concept of all the resorts in Hawaii is the open air front desk, concierge and overall resort feeling of letting the winds blow through.  Nothing is really enclosed but left free to breath and appreciate the average 78-80 degree temperature and mild breezes from the Pacific Ocean.  In true Disney style, each area of the resort offers unique touches of Hawaiian culture inviting you to immerse yourself in their background, their aloha and lifestyle. I truly can’t wait to go back and actually stay in this resort.

On to dinner! The lovely ‘Ama ‘Ama is located on the backside of the property adjacent to a private cove where some paddle boarders were enjoying the gorgeous evening as we were seated at our waterfront table. Our server was friendly and quite attentive despite the restaurant being busy.  She recommended a couple of drinks and we opted for the Big Island Iced Tea and a Cucumber-Lychee Fizz.  We both agreed the Fizz was our favorite, being lite, refreshing and not too sweet.

The menu is notably seafood based and it was tough to choose with all the delicious options! I started with the Ahi Poke with Crispy Rice while my friend opted for the Edamame Spiced Fritters.  I think the Poke won as our favorite, layered with some delicious sea asparagus which were the most unique item of the night. It tasted nothing like normal asparagus but rather more of a salty, cucumber which brought out all the flavors of the tuna perfectly!  While the sauce with the fritters was delicious, they weren’t quite as noteworthy as the poke.

For our entrees we went with our server’s recommendation of the Shrimp Pasta with squid ink and linguine pasta and the Day Boat Scallops with the mac-nut brown butter sauce.  Both were equally delicious and beautifully presented.  At her insistence, our server brought an additional sauce, the black garlic lemon-ginger aioli. Both were fantastic and I’d be hard pressed to pick just one.

Apologies to all my dessert lovers out there. Even on vacation, I tried to stick to my keto way of eating so we didn’t even look at the dessert menu and I failed to even take a picture to share here. Probably due to traveling for 12 hours and my body thinking it was 2am at this point in my day.

While limited, my overall experience at this restaurant and this incredible resort are definitely 5-Star.  I can’t wait to go back and I will gladly encourage all my fellow DVC Ohana to get there as soon as life permits. I’m betting you’ll never want to leave!

Have you been to Aulani? Please share your experience in the comments below.   May you and yours be blessed abundantly in the 2019! Thanks so much for reading.