Just a brief follow up. My wife opted to stay at our Aulani 2BR ocean view the entire time. Our Aulani unit was significantly smaller than the dedicated 2BR 6th floor ocean view MKO unit, but there were several advantages to Aulani:
(1) The Aulani units felt warm and cohesively themed with the resort. Although our dedicated 2BR (Naia building) had been recently completely remodeled--I believe in December--and felt brand spanking new, from the time we stepped out of the elevator and into the unit, it just felt so sterile, like a refurbished office building. Part of that sterile feeling also stems from the lack of a grand lobby to walk through when staying in a detached building. At Aulani, both towers are attached to the grand lobby, which I prefer.
(2) The sound dampening (walls, floor, front door, patio doors) is far superior to MKO as well. MKO unit felt like cheap construction, and it was easy to hear neighbors and outdoors. At Aulani, it was like a fortress. Solid, like they built it both to withstand a nuclear holocaust and record a studio album.
(3) The master bathroom layout at Aulani is hands down superior to MKO. The Aulani master bathroom is open with a sizeable luxurious shower, soaker tub, sink, and enclosed toilet room all in the same space. At MKO, the main sink and tub were separated by a door from from the other room the toilet, shower, and another sink. It feels like two smaller bathrooms, and because the toilet/shower section also opens out into the kitchen, it creates an unnatural disjointedness and lacks the privacy that I would expect from a master.
(4) The architecture and theming of the resort is above anything else I have ever experienced. Plain remarkable.
(5) The Aulani Laniwai spa was the pinnacle of the trip for my wife. She could have lived there it was so indulgent.
There were also advantages to MKO:
(1) The feel of the MKO grounds was so relaxing and lush. The pools were inviting, and everything was so open feeling, with a huge green lawn in the center. The footprint of MKO was so spread out compared to Aulani, which felt like they shoe horned a city in there. Aulani does have a large lawn, but is like an inconspicuous big side yard. I don't like the placement at all.
(2) As mentioned above, the MKO unit was much larger. The kitchen was larger, there was a large dining area as opposed to Aulani's dining table nook thing, and the living room was huge compared to Aulani's.
(3) The Fia Fia luau and show was fantastic, and right in the center of the resort. We got rained out of the Aulani Starlit Hui, which was in that side lawn area, so I don't have a point of comparison.
(4) DVD rentals were free (one per night) using a redbox like machine, and they had new releases. Aulani had free DVDs but they were all titles within Disney family of entertainment companies, with no new releases that I could tell.
In retrospect, I would have preferred to stay at MKO for the last week, since we preferred their pools even over Aulani's lazy river. All in all, both resorts were great and I would stay at either.
