Bad news at the horizon for Disney's Aulani Ko Olina resort on Oahu Hawaiian island as the project of an Atlantis resort right next door to Disney's hotel is apparently on track to move ahead and we have the first renderings showing its design.
According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the state Commission on Water Resource Management approved in January a water use and well construction permit for the Atlantis project, though the city is currently reviewing Oceanwide’s application for another building permit to build a retaining wall and significant shoreline path improvements.
Back in 2016 Chinese developer China Oceanwide acquired several acres of land in Ko Olina for a planned new luxury Atlantis resort which would include 1,400 rooms and Atlantis-branded residences, restaurants, bars, conference facilities AND the now famous Atlantis water park and stunning aquarium. Recently, TravelPulse founder Mark Murphy told CBS: “What they’re trying to do is they’re trying to take that property they have in Dubai on the Palm Island and replicate it in Hawaii in a gorgeous setting. We’re talking about massive aquariums, wildlife, great experiences. It’s a fantasy world.”
And that's where the problem begin as Disney's Aulani resort and its superb theming by Imagineer Joe Rhode and his team is supposed to be the one with an Hawaiian "fantasy world". Guests of the Atlantis resort as you can see on the renderings above and below will not only enjoy Oahu's beach on one side but a huge water park with slides, lazy river, huge aquarium, etc, on the other side, much bigger apparently than the water areas of Disney's Aulani. And guess what others guests will be able to see it through their windows without being able to enjoy it? That's right, Disney's Aulani guests, specially the ones with the rooms on the left side of Aulani hotel.
And there is an even bigger problem, this time in terms of architecture design. As you can also see on the renderings the Atlantis resort architectural style and the one of Disney's Aulani couldn't be more far one from the other. Personally i much prefer the architecture style of Disney's Aulani which i think fit better for an hotel in Hawaii, but having this Atlantis Resort with, let's say, a kind-of Tomorrowland architectural style right next to Disney's Aulani kind-of Adventureland style will be hard to swallow as there is no way Disney's guests will be able to avoid seeing the Atlantis. I'm sure the seaside land at Ko Olina is tremendously expensive but that's the kind of thing which indeed can happen when you don't buy / secure enough land...
Even if it will take some years before the Atlantis open ( if it goes through the final authorizations ) its construction will likely take 2 or 3 years which will mean lot of noise for Disney's Aulani guests during these years, not to mention that the construction of such a huge building is always an eyesore... not the kind of thing you expect for a tropical holiday in Hawaii… Note that actually, on the left of Disney's Aulani - looking from the sea - there is already another hotel, that you never see on Disney's Aulani official pictures as they take care to don't have it in the frame, which was built long before Disney built his resort, but this one is less of a problem. Also, the Atlantis resorts usually include a casino and we don't know yet if it will be the case at the Atlantis Ko Olina resort - may be not, it will depends probably of Hawaii regulations - but if yes, Disney is not going to like that at all.
A question that one could ask is why they don't use the famous architecture of the Atlantis resorts in the Bahamas or Dubai? It is possible that Sol Kerzner sold to the Chinese group the license to use the name Atlantis and the concept but not the architecture of his Atlantis resorts... or that the Chinese were not ready to pay the price to use the original architecture. The other Atlantis resort that the Chinese built in Sanya, China also does not look like the ones in the Bahamas or Dubai. But what is rather strange is that, when you look on the Atlantis Sanya website HERE where there is pictures not only of the others Atlantis resorts around the world but also the rendering below for the upcoming Atlantis Ko Olina, the hotel architecture on the rendering look like the ones in the Bahamas or Dubai, which in my opinion would have been a much better choice, and not like it looks on the above final renderings.
The description of the upcoming resort on the Atlantis website says: "Inspired by the ocean, providing contemporary elegance, Atlantis Ko Olina will celebrate the incredible natural elements of Hawaii's environment, landscape and architecture and its distinctive heritage and character. Overlooking both the stunning Honu and Kohola Lagoons, Atlantis will offer a sense of awe-inspiring discovery, encompassing over 26 acres of unparalleled excitement and larger than life experiences, revolutionary water play in Aquaventure Waterpark, The Ambassador Lagoon and The Lost Chambers Aquarium and incredible dining experiences."
Don't get me wrong, the Disney's Aulani resort will still be great and elegantly themed, no doubt about that, but it's never a good news to have a competitor right next door with plenty of exciting water attractions when you're the one who is supposed to be the specialist of this kind of thing.
Although the opening date of the new Atlantis at Ko Olina is not known yet, if the project goes ahead as planned it will likely take some years before it open, which is probably the only good news here for Disney.
Pictures: copyright Oceanwide Holdings.
