Aloha from Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Hawaii! My first trip to Disney’s Hawaiian vacation destination has been nothing short of magic and part of that experience for me included a shopping trip to Kalepa’s Store. Here you can find pretty much anything bearing the resort’s logo, but it also feels a little bit like shopping at Tokyo Disneyland because Duffy and his friends reign supreme here, particularly 'Olu Mel, a ukulele playing turtle who made his debut at Aulani.
Christmas is just around the corner and with the November 1st reopening of the resort, new holiday merchandise hit the shelves. Items greet you right away when you enter the store and the central section of 'Olu Mel merchandise also includes all of this year’s seasonal goodies. From t-shirts to ornaments, mugs, and cookies, Aulani is making spirits bright. Mele Kalikimaka!
The main center display behind the holiday items are mostly themed to 'Olu Mel, including a spirit jersey, plushies, thermos, and a messing dress and Hawaiian shirts that match a pre-dressed plush and even a suitcase.
Cookie Ann is Duffy’s newest friend and a small selection of merchandise is available, including a hoodie and headband.
More headbands and shirts celebrate Duffy and all of his friends. The characters also decorate beach bags, Loungefly bags, phone cases, coffee mugs, stationary, magnets, and suitcases.
Less commonly found anywhere in the world is Duffy branded apparel for men. Aulani had a t-shirt and button down shirt in their collection, not including other couples Hawaiian shirts that feature the characters in the print, such as the 'Olu items featured above.
Stella Lou has a special Aulani outfit for the standard plush and also has some Aulani exclusive goodies, including coffee mugs, figurines, and keychains.
Based solely on merchandise, ShellieMay’s popularity has waned, reduced to just a small collection of merchandise, although she is included in all of the group items.
While this won’t be the last you see of Duffy in this post, it is the last Duffy-specific merchandise display. This Hawaiian shirt and dress, available in adult and child sizes, matches what the pre-dressed Duffy and ShellieMay plushies are wearing.
Moving on to spirit jerseys, we saw a lot of them unique to Aulani. The majority of them have the Aulani logo on the front and say the resort’s name on the back. The exception was a pink and blue jersey that had Minnie’s silhouette on the front with a lei flower behind one ear that says “Aloha” on the back and the Make a Wish blue jersey similar to the ones that debuted at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. A pair of ears that match were stocked later in the week.
Disney pin collectors will find lots of cute ways to commemorate their visit to Aulani, including lots of pins with Duffy and his pals, Disney characters enjoying the resort, and simple resort logo pins.
Souvenir mugs are another Disney gift shop staple and Aulani has lots of fun ways to remember your adventure with every beverage, including mugs shaped like ‘Olu’s head and one that has the resort’s pool tubes as a handle.
It’s pretty hot here in November, but should you ever find it breezy or on the chillier side, they do sell a gorgeous windbreaker.
Outside of the Duffy and Friends items we’ve shown so far, we haven’t focused much on items for kids. There’s a lot that’s unique to the resort, including themed stationary items, playing cards, and even a child-sized roller bag with a Mickey shave ice on it.
Stitch also has a sizable section of merchandise with a few items I’ve only seen at Aulani, plus a collection of Moana merchandise, which seemed to match what they carry at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
A lot of the kids apparel can be found on shelves mixed in with adult sizes and the resort sells a lot of unique items that allow families to match. This typically involves a Hawaiian print with Disney touches available in Hawaiian shirts and dresses.
Most of the beach wear and sundries items are at a small shop under the volcano at the center of the pool area called The Lava Shack, but Kalepa’s Store does have a small selection of pool-related items, including beach towels. There are also island and beach themed collections, as well as a Hawaiian rainbow collection of items.
Mouse ear headbands are available in a lot of styles. Most of the exclusive ones to Aulani feature a Hawaiian flower on the band and the resort also sells a few styles that you’ll find at other Disney Destinations.
The resort is full of Menehune, Hawaiian mythical little men, and there’s an interactive game that Guests can play throughout the resort in addition to seeing them here and there, including inside one of the elevators. If you find yourself enchanted by them, you can celebrate with figurines, keychains, hats, shirts, and coffee mugs.
It’s time to talk about snacks! If you’ve been to a Disney Resort, you’re familiar with things like the Goofy Candy Co., Chip & Dale Snack Co., and Minnie’s Bake Shop. At Aulani, you can get some of those items but most of the packaged snacks are from Mickey’s Tropical Treats with snacks such as praline macadamia nuts, macadamia caramel popcorn, and chocolate covered macadamia nuts and pineapple chunks. In the Christmas section above, the resort stocked some holiday tins of Honolulu Cookie Company snacks. The resort also carries a Mickey-themed box of cookies and other varieties.
Magnets, keychains, and postcards are also available in different styles. Most of the postcards are on a thicker papyrus-style paper. We also noticed one lithograph for sale in this section depicting Mickey enjoying the beach at Aulani with Duffy and all of his friends.
Under normal circumstances, another store called Hale Manu would sell more luxury based goods. It’s closed at this time with the resort operating at a reduced capacity, but we did notice a corner of the store that sells higher end polo shirts and hats.
There’s also a selection of resort exclusive Dooney & Bourke bags and you can purchase the Mickey Mouse lamp that’s on display in your room.
Last, but certainly not least, the shop has a display case of Pandora charms and we noticed one resort exclusive prominently displayed, a charm with the Aulani logo on one side and a colorful ‘Olu Mel on the other.
Mahalo for shopping with us. If you enjoyed these photos, we did a live walking tour of the resort, including the gift shop, which can be viewed below.
no obligation quote from MouseFanTravel.com