Aulani’s Makahiki Character Breakfast Experience & Review

Another Aulani wishlist item crossed off the list!

Back in 2020, when I was planning my first Hawaii trip (that did end up getting canceled), I was very excited for the character breakfast experience at Makahiki, one of Aulani’s Resort’s restaurants!

Admittedly, I’m not actually someone who is very drawn to character meet and greets because they honestly make me nervous and give me a lot of anxiety. But I think the character dining experiences are a fun way to kind of meet the characters without having to be too engaged if that’s not something you’re super comfortable with.

About Makahiki

Makahiki is one of the restaurants located on the resort premises. They offer a breakfast and dinner service, but only the breakfast is a character experience.

One thing to note is that while Makahiki’s breakfast used to be a character dining buffet experience, they no longer offer the buffet but instead of a set menu.

Reservations here are highly recommended since the character dining experience is very popular, especially among families with children! They’re easy to get on the Aulani website! Similarly to other reservations, these open up 60 days in advance.

When we visited, the price was $57/adult (pre-tax).

Dining Experience

Mickey meet and greet

After we checked in with the host, which was quick and easy, we were given a name card and got in line to meet Mickey! I like that everyone gets an opportunity to meet and take a picture with Mickey! I believe this is pretty standard for character dining experiences, but since I haven’t done too many myself, it’s always a pleasant surprise!

The photos came out very cute and the overall meet experience was fun and a great way to start our morning! The cast members are very quick about everything and make the process super smooth. While they do take photos for photopass that you can purchase afterwards, they also take photos on your own device which is nice!

After photos were finished, we headed back in to the lobby to wait to be seated, which didn’t take very long at all (maybe about 5 minutes?).

Choosing your meal

Since this is no longer a buffet breakfast, everyone is provided with a set menu. If you want to take a look at it ahead of time, they do share the menu online as well.

Every meal comes with coffee, tea, and/or juice as well as fresh fruit and a malasada as the starter, and then you have your choice of the entree.

I got chose the Punaluu Sweet Bread French Toast and Aldrin got the Kalua Pig Omelet.

The food

The malasadas came out fresh and fluffy! I really enjoyed it! They were coated in powdered sugar so they were nice and sweet, and the bread was so fluffy and airy!

The fresh fruits were nice and refreshing as well.

As for the entrees, the portions here are very large - we both had plenty of leftovers to take back to our room with us!

The French toast was made with a really nice thick and bouncy bread. It had a really nice sweetness to it, so it very matching with its name! I enjoyed the cream cheese icing on it as well along with the fresh fruits. I’m a sucker for a good French toast, and I would definitely count this as one of them!

The Kalua pig omelet was also very hearty. It had a generous amount of pork and spinach. It looked very filling and savory, and the pork was well-flavored and tender!

Meeting more characters

During our meal, several characters walked around: Minnie, Stitch, and Pluto! They were all very cute and interactive!

I like that the characters make sure to get to every table for an interaction and will take photos with you and everything. They mostly come around for dedicated time once, and then they’ll continue to walk around throughout the meal. It’s nice to see them, and it’s a low-effort type of meet and greet - great for those of us who get a little nervous about them!

Overall impressions

This was overall a fun experience, and I did enjoy seeing the characters! The food was also tasty and filling.

However, I will say that I felt it was quite expensive for what it was.

Character meet and greets are great, and it’s nice that they come to you so you’ll definitely get a chance to meet them; however, if you really enjoy meeting characters, you can also see them throughout the day around the resort. They have an entire daily calendar of character meeting opportunities. You do need to take the time to line up for those, but at least for those there are no additional costs.

As for the food, it was tasty and I did enjoy it, but I felt like the quality was on par with breakfast spots you could enjoy outside of the resort for even half the price per dish. I could understand the cost for a breakfast buffet since you have more options and variety, but $57 for a single breakfast entree, fruit, and a malasada just feel a little too expensive for me.

Personally, I didn’t think this experience was entirely worth it, so I don’t think I’d return the next time I’m visiting Aulani.

But what do you think? Would you want to try Makahiki? Or have you tried it before and absolutely loved it? I’d love to hear about your experience as well!