July Disney Aulani Construction Update v1.5

To see the complete collection of pictures, go here

Received a call from my friend who lives out in Ko Olina. She gave me some information and I made a special trip out to the resort on Saturday, July 23 to take some more pictures. I walked around the Aulani property, took some shots and in just ten days since my last visit there were noticeable changes. I tried to take pictures from Ihilani looking over where Laniwai will be. Unfortunately, most of those pictures didn't come out. I went out a couple hours earlier in the day from when I usually go. The windows were dirty and with lower angle of the sun, my camera kept focusing on the glass and not the view beyond.

Here is what I noticed:

• More road paving had been done leading into the Ko Olina property.
  Pic
• The water feature at the entrance to Ko Olina now has water!
  Before After
  
• Just after the security station, there is now a sign warning people of the property improvements happening.
  Pic
• New lagoon signage on both sides of Aulani.
  Pic Pic Pic Pic
• Sprinkler/irrigation was being tested on the west side of the resort along Olani Street.
  Pic
• There was some stone laid in Laniwai.
  Pic
• The public parking lot before Aulani is now repoened.
  Before After
  
• Flag stone was done being installed at the base of the path from the west side public parking lot.
  Pic
• The planters by Ihilani were completed.
  Before After
  
• The embankment on the east side of the lagoon had grass planted/laid in.
  Before After
  
• The east side public parking is still closed.
  
• The irrigation/sprinkler system on the west side was installed.
  Before After
  
• There was a crew working to take up the top soil along the front of the property.
  Pic Pic

AND....what caused me to head out in the first place - The large green construction wall along Aliinui Drive was removed for the most part and replaced with orange safety netting. This allowed direct unobstructed view into the property along the front of the property.

Before

After

The opening is getting close. When I entered the Marriott, there was a sign for a rehearsal room. They are gone now, but there were posts that I saw talking about Kealii Reichel and I think it was the Tau dance company who were practicing for the opening of Aulani. For those that don't know, Kealii is a singer, song writer and a kumu hula. Over the years he has also won a number of Na Hoku Hanohano Awards which is Hawaii's equivalent of the Grammy award in different categories including Favorite Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year.

When you look at the collection over on Flickr, I have some different detail shots and some fun ones of people and activities happening over there. If you are interested in making a kamaaina or military discount booking contact Lindsey and let her know that Joel sent you!

To see the complete collection of pictures, go here