I was fortunate enough to be the guest of Disney for the opening of Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai’i. The place is fantastic.
Before the trip I wasn’t sure whether or not the magic of Hawai’i needed a touch of Disney’s, but the fit is seamless. The combined storytelling of the islands and the mouse make for an amazing adventure. Really. I’m already making plans to return with my family so that they can also enjoy all that Aulani has to offer.
Walt Disney Imagineer Joe Rhode moved to the Aulani project a few months into its life. Since then he’s focused on adding the sort of details that Disney’s Animal Kingdom became famous for under his leadership. With the hotel’s grand opening coming August 29th, Rhode… Read More »Imagineer Joe Rhode Video Tour of Aulani – Disney’s Hawaiian Resort
For years, the Disneyland hotel has been the black sheep of the Disney owned hotels in Anaheim. It’s age and location left it the least desirable property of the three hotels. But the culmination of upgrades made over the last 5 years have finally paid off. AAA has bestowed its coveted 2012 Four Diamond award upon the landmark Disneyland Hotel making it the second property at the Disneyland Resort to secure such a high rating.
Only four percent of the 31,000 hotel properties AAA reviews achieve this enviable distinction. In fact, in order to become a five star resort you need to have a golf course and on-site spa. These are conditions Disneyland’s hotels can never meet. So four stars is really a great score.
“This is tremendous news, especially for the 1,000 Cast Members who work at the Disneyland Hotel and create magical experiences for our guests,” said Tony Bruno, vice president resort hotels and Downtown Disney. “The award underscores our continued investment in the guest experience and all our ongoing work, which has transformed the Disneyland Resort and Anaheim into Southern California’s world-class, multiday tourist destination.”
Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa also is a AAA Four Diamond award winner and is home to yet another AAA Four Diamond recipient: the popular Napa Rose restaurant.
“North America’s AAA Diamond Rating System is a long-time trusted systematic method of rating lodgings and restaurants,” said the Auto Club’s Approved Accommodations Supervisor Patricia Marenco. “Southern California’s hotels and restaurants that earn the AAA Four Diamond award maintain a very high standard of service in their hotels and restaurants in order to continue pleasing their guests.”
Earlier this summer, the Disneyland Hotel marked a milestone in the property’s major “re-imagination” project with the opening of a new courtyard, restaurant, bar, pool and water play area.
We’ve been drooling over the concept art and watching construction of the Art of Animation Resort for a long time. Now, thanks to the Disney Parks blog, we get to see some interior rooms for the first time. The Art of Animation resort is first… Read More »Art of Animation Family Suites Unveiled
Flickr user Coconut Wireless is recently uploaded a huge collection of photos taken in and around Disney’s Hawaiian resort Aulani, located in Ko Olina near Honolulu, Oahu. He’s also published them under creative commons which means I get to share some of them here. However,… Read More »Aulani Photo Update
The monorail station could be looking like this a lot more when Disney institutes its new reduced hours for the trains.
One of my favorite Robert Heinlein short stories is “The Roads Must Roll.” Written in 1940, it speculates about a rapid transit system that would move people across the country in speed and comfort. The high speed nature of the rolling roads meant that maintenance was a huge deal. When the employees decided to organize for better working conditions, well, the shit hits the fan. In some ways it foretold the air controller strike of the Reagan era. These days there is an odd tie-in to the Walt Disney World monorails system too.
Walt Disney World just announced they would be reducing the operating hours of their monorail fleet. They used to run 1.5 hours after the parks closed or after the last scheduled event (extra magic hours, christmas party, etc). Sometimes these hours were stretched even further on the EPCOT line. Now they will all shut down 1 hour after the posted closing time for the park with no allowance for extra magic hours or other events. Guests will be placed on buses or water craft to be returned to their hotels or the TTC and EPCOT parking lots.
Initially, there was a lot of outcry directed at Disney for reducing benefits to resort and park guests at the same time they are raising prices, but soon word leaked out that there was an important reason behind the shift. The reason? The monorail fleet is just breaking down under the strain.
Beginning November 2011 Disney’s Contemporary Resort will give guests yet another option to customize their dream vacations with Walt Disney World’s first health and wellness suites, combining the magic and fun of Disney theme parks with healthy and relaxing amenities at the deluxe resort.
This seems like the perfect fit for the Contemporary and will fit in well with the already modern room designs and amenities available to patrons. They will be replacing just the 14th floor, so it’s not a huge portion of the hotel given over to this concept, but it could be expanded later if it becomes popular.
Check below the jump for an interesting interview with a Disney representative who provides many more details about the new concept:
Disney World has been experimenting with lightly themed rooms at its resorts for the last few years. You may have stayed in a Pirates or Little Mermaid themed room at the Caribbean Beach Resort. They’re even building a whole new resort (Art of Animation) with… Read More »Disney World reveals plans for Princess themed rooms
Before the trip I wasn’t sure whether or not the magic of Hawai’i needed a touch of Disney’s, but the fit is seamless. The combined storytelling of the islands and the mouse make for an amazing adventure. Really. I’m already making plans to return with my family so that they can also enjoy all that Aulani has to offer.
