By Princess Diva

We definitely got a lot of strange looks when we decided to take the 3 Disney Brothers on our 10^th anniversary trip to Aulani in Hawaii.  There was so much for them to do at the resort; it was almost like having a vacation by ourselves.  The best place for the kids to spend time while at Aulani is at Aunty’s Beach House (Aunty is a term of endearment used for elder females in Hawaii).

Aunty’s Beach House is a wonderful, safe place to let kids hang out so that parents can relax.  The oldest Disney Brothers didn’t want to leave! (Disney Baby was too young to leave on his own…have to be 3 years old and fully potty trained)  There are some activities for his age, but more on that later.

Aunty’s Beach House is divided into sections.  One half is dedicated to younger children.  Here there are stories with counselors, a fun Disney themed dress up corner, game tables, outside play sets, and much more to keep little Disney fans occupied.

The second half of Aunty’s Beach House is for the older kids.  Here, there are video games, computers, craft tables, and more.  They also hold free activities during the day like creating ‘Space Goo’ with Stitch, learning about volcanoes, learning to hula and story time with Aunty herself.  See the full list of complementary activities for kids here.  There are also premium activities that cost a bit extra and fill up fast, so you want to make reservations for these early.  Each premium activity is about 3 hours long.  The oldest Disney Brothers participated in both of these experiences: Fish are Friends and Surf’s Up with Chip and Dale.  During Fish are Friends, the boys prepared food for the resident fish that call Aulani home, and were able to feed them too.  They had lunch and learned all about local fish.  They left with a Nemo and friends drawstring backpack, local fish chart, and Disney’s Oceans DVD.  During Surf’s Up with Chip and Dale, the boys decorated small wooden surf boards, danced, played games, and hung out with some fun Disney Characters.  Don’t worry about not getting pictures of these fun activities, photographers are taking pictures the whole time and you can add them to your photo pass before you leave.

On select mornings, Aunty’s Beach House offers Aloha! Disney Jr. and Play Date at Aunty’s Beach House for Disney babies and their families.  We checked out Aloha! Disney Jr. on our first morning of vacation and had a wonderful tour of the beach house.  Disney Baby was able to play and dress up and then head outside for some dancing and games.  He had a great time and everyone was really excited when Mickey showed up to dance with us.

I’ve mentioned before that I am pretty comfortable dropping my kiddos off at Disney facilities and this was no exception.  The security measures in place are phenomenal.  Prior to the first drop off, there is some paperwork to complete (you can do this prior to check in now).  At this time you will create a password that you must remember in order to pick up your children.  Kids get a bracelet that is activated when they enter the beach house and deactivated and left there when they leave.  All visitors are required to wash their hands as they enter the doors to pick up their kids.  Whoever is picking up the kids will need their room key and the password.  Once this is done, counselors will issue you a visitor’s tag and you are free to go and find your children.  We found out that if two parents go to pick up kids and only one parent has their room key, only that one parent can go back to pick up the kids!

There really is so much to do at Aunty’s Beach House…we had to MAKE the Disney Brothers spend time with us!

This is only the beginning of what Aulani has to offer for kids.  There are separate areas and activities for teens and tweens too.  Guess we’ll just have to plan another trip when the Disney Brothers are a little older so we can check this part out too!

Don’t be afraid to take the kids on a vacation like this.  It was a great experience and there was plenty to keep them busy.

Would you take your kids on an Aulani trip, or save it for mom and dad only?