Disney Aulani Resort on Oahu, Hawaii, Isn’t Worth It for Kids Under 5

She’s never been to Disney parks, but we thought she’d love the beach, pools, and characters, while her dad and I were excited about the beautiful location.

It’s not cheap. We booked our ocean-view room six weeks in advance and paid $775 a night. At the time, the cheapest standard view room ($550/night) was sold out.

Source: Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa

With taxes and parking, the two-night stay ended up costing $1,900.

That price was for one of the more affordable rooms with a garden view and the ocean in the distance.

The room was 382 square feet with two queen beds and felt like any other standard hotel rooms I’ve booked.

We’d never usually pay so much, but Aulani felt like a splurge we could handle. The rest of our trip, we stayed at two other hotels; one was far cheaper, and the other we paid for with credit-card points.

The resort has six pools, a lazy river, daily character meet-and-greets, a private beach, and 10 dining options.

The resort has all sorts of activities, most of which are included in the nightly price. According to the hotel’s website, more than 30 activities are complimentary, in addition to others that incur a small fee.

Source: Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa

On the hotel’s app, I saw activities listed that included t-shirt art classes, scavenger hunts, movie nights, nature walks, ukulele lessons, and more.

Source: Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa

The only problem was, none of those activities applied to my daughter. At 21 months old, she was too young for every free, or premium, activity.

(Representatives for Disney did not respond to Insider’s request for comment on the activities and amenities available to young children.)

Read more: Photos show why I need a vacation from my vacation after taking my toddler to Hawaii

She was also too young for Aunty’s Beach House, which is a complimentary kids’ club with daily activities for children over 5.

Because of my daughter’s young age, I felt like we only got a fraction of the value of our nightly room rate and what was included in each stay.

While my daughter had a blast in the splash pads and pools, and loved meeting Minnie and Moana, we couldn’t do many of the things most people come to the hotel to enjoy.

Even those character meet-and-greets were limited, as we had to miss some to work in my daughter’s nap schedule.

My daughter also needed to go to bed before any nightly events.

She was also too young to zip down the big waterslide or explore the hotel’s snorkeling reef, aside from viewing it in one area.

Since my daughter can’t swim, more than half the pools were too big or deep for her. We really only brought her into this zero-entry pool with a shallow end ….