Arriving at Aulani Feb 4th! Excited! Any tips for me?

disneyfan21 said:
You will love Aulani!! We just returned yesterday from our 3rd trip to Aulani. My son is little bit older so I can't answer any questions on the kids club since we never had to use the service. We have always stayed in a one-bedrom villa and yes the beds and pillows are very comfy. Since you are a DVC member you don't have to worry about the $35 a day parking. You just use the room key to go in and out of parking. For groceries there's an ABC market across the street or you can try the nearby Costco, Walmart, or Target which we used to stock up on a few items. For the most part we cooked breakfast in our villa and used the quick service/cafe at Aulani for lunch..prices are reasonable. Most of the time we would go out for dinner so we didn't get a chance to eat at the resort. Definitely sight see around the island...North Shore a must as others mentioned. Also check Groupon and Living Social for any discounts on Sunset dinner cruises or other activities. Have fun and feel free to ask any questions!!
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Hi! We will have a car, so we will be able to get groceries and go out for dinner as well. Although, one of the main goals of this trip is to enjoy the resort. So, we do plan on spending a lot of time there. I hope some of the eats are better than we are expecting by reading the reviews. I hate that Disney hasn't made the food better, bc the food at WDW is really good and we have ate a lot of it:)
 
CruisingCamper said:
Hi! We will have a car, so we will be able to get groceries and go out for dinner as well. Although, one of the main goals of this trip is to enjoy the resort. So, we do plan on spending a lot of time there. I hope some of the eats are better than we are expecting by reading the reviews. I hate that Disney hasn't made the food better, bc the food at WDW is really good and we have ate a lot of it:)
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I know what you mean about the reviews...I guess that's the main reason why we haven't really given it a try. At WDW we always get the DDP and love the food. This time around at Aulani we did have some cocktails and appetizers which were really good. Maybe next time I'll try to eat dinner there. Enjoy your trip!!
 
We spent seven nights over Thanksgiving and had a great time. Here are some thoughts to your questions

1. Island Exploring - keep in mind that Oahu is relatively small. Aulani to the North Shore is about an hour's drive. However, traffic can be heavy in and around Honolulu. Try and avoid rush hour.
2. Dining prices. Food is expensive in Hawaii regardless of where you go (Disney, off site, restaurant, or grocery store). I am glad we did not eat all our meals at Aulani. Some of our best meals were at the Monkeypod (across the street) and Duke's (Waikiki).
3. Our kids are too old for Aunty's house but we did see long lines everyday in the morning to sign up kids for various programs.
4. We had a standard view room. We did not spend much time in the room, so the view was not that important to us. In general, I didn't see people hanging out on their balconies or decks all that much.
5. We rented a midsize for about $225 for the week. As mentioned previously, the cost of parking is the killer at $35 per day at Aulani. Ouch.
6. We bought our drinks at the grocery store. Much cheaper and we also prefer non-soda options (ice tea, sports drinks, etc.)
7. not sure
8. pillows. we don't recall them being good or bad.
9. we've not been to Disney's private island. Thanksgiving was a busy week (most rights were sold out). It felt busy but not crowded. If you are set on specific pool areas or pool chairs, you may need to get them early. We didn't bother and were able to find spots.
10. As referenced earlier, food is expensive in Hawaii. If you want to avoid over buying at the grocery store, i suggest going to the ABC store across the street. Otherwise, be prepared for high prices and limited selection at Aulani. It is also important to note that outside of Honolulu, you dining options (i.e. North Shore, etc.) are somewhat limited. We packed a lunch most days. Not many options by the beaches.
11. We have AT&T and the coverage was good at Aulani as well as most of the island. The WiFi at Aulani was really good (and free!). We were able stream youtube/netflix with no issues on the wifi.

A couple of tips:
-Free DVDs are available for check out.
-Take advantage of the free activities. Pick up the activity list at the front desk the evening before. Good way to plan the next day.
-Enjoy the relaxed pace of Aulani. Watch the sunset. Soak in the infinite hot tub. Best lazy river ever.
 
jakesmum said:
Thank you for providing the link for the pirate cruise, it looks like a lot of fun. I've just noticed the conditions of the voucher state "must be Hawaiian resident or military". Unfortunately i'm neither of these, do you know if they are flexible with this?
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Oh gosh, sorry I didn't notice that! They didn't have this requirement when we went 2 years ago, but they were still pretty new then. I checked for their Groupon deal and it also has the requirement and says "must present valid ID on redemption date", so I don't think they're flexible about it. :( Maybe grab a copy of all the tourist magazines at the airport and check for coupons there.
 
So jealous! We went 2 summers ago! If you decide to do Pearl Harbor across from it is The Aloha Swap Meet. We had so much fun!! Buy all your local trinkets here and be be sure stop at the both that has homemade cinnamon rolls. They featured pineapple rolls which were out of this world! We stocked up at Costco which made it easy. We did buy all our macadamia nuts here too. Enjoy every moment!
 
We will be arriving on Feb 5th, also from Louisiana. This will be our first trip to Hawaii and we can't wait.
 
ColoradoDisney said:
We spent seven nights over Thanksgiving and had a great time. Here are some thoughts to your questions

1. Island Exploring - keep in mind that Oahu is relatively small. Aulani to the North Shore is about an hour's drive. However, traffic can be heavy in and around Honolulu. Try and avoid rush hour.
2. Dining prices. Food is expensive in Hawaii regardless of where you go (Disney, off site, restaurant, or grocery store). I am glad we did not eat all our meals at Aulani. Some of our best meals were at the Monkeypod (across the street) and Duke's (Waikiki).
3. Our kids are too old for Aunty's house but we did see long lines everyday in the morning to sign up kids for various programs.
4. We had a standard view room. We did not spend much time in the room, so the view was not that important to us. In general, I didn't see people hanging out on their balconies or decks all that much.
5. We rented a midsize for about $225 for the week. As mentioned previously, the cost of parking is the killer at $35 per day at Aulani. Ouch.
6. We bought our drinks at the grocery store. Much cheaper and we also prefer non-soda options (ice tea, sports drinks, etc.)
7. not sure
8. pillows. we don't recall them being good or bad.
9. we've not been to Disney's private island. Thanksgiving was a busy week (most rights were sold out). It felt busy but not crowded. If you are set on specific pool areas or pool chairs, you may need to get them early. We didn't bother and were able to find spots.
10. As referenced earlier, food is expensive in Hawaii. If you want to avoid over buying at the grocery store, i suggest going to the ABC store across the street. Otherwise, be prepared for high prices and limited selection at Aulani. It is also important to note that outside of Honolulu, you dining options (i.e. North Shore, etc.) are somewhat limited. We packed a lunch most days. Not many options by the beaches.
11. We have AT&T and the coverage was good at Aulani as well as most of the island. The WiFi at Aulani was really good (and free!). We were able stream youtube/netflix with no issues on the wifi.

A couple of tips:
-Free DVDs are available for check out.
-Take advantage of the free activities. Pick up the activity list at the front desk the evening before. Good way to plan the next day.
-Enjoy the relaxed pace of Aulani. Watch the sunset. Soak in the infinite hot tub. Best lazy river ever.
Click to expand...

Wow! thank you for all the info! I think you are correct, we won't spend much time in our room. When we booked the room, the Ocean View was the only thing available or we would have saved the points and just got standard ourselves.

I

We don't have to pay for parking, and I am so glad bc that's steep!
 
goincrusin said:
We will be arriving on Feb 5th, also from Louisiana. This will be our first trip to Hawaii and we can't wait.
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What part of LA? We are in Sterlington, which is about 10 miles north of Monroe. I grew up south of Alexandria, little community called Elmer. We all should have a meet and greet! There's another person who will be there on the 7th. I'm getting so edited!
 
CruisingCamper said:
That's great!! Who' traveling with you?
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Just me and my other half, we're doing a pre-night in LA to go to Disneyland and California Adventure then heading to where you guys are :)

I'm actually excited to go to Monkey Pod for the awesome happy hour specials!

I wanna eat at Ama Ama one day, but I dunno if it's worth it....it seems pricey just to be pricey. I live in New York and the prices at top dining venues compare to it. We'll see

What are you doing share your itiniary :D
 
CampbellzSoup said:
Just me and my other half, we're doing a pre-night in LA to go to Disneyland and California Adventure then heading to where you guys are :)

I'm actually excited to go to Monkey Pod for the awesome happy hour specials!

I wanna eat at Ama Ama one day, but I dunno if it's worth it....it seems pricey just to be pricey. I live in New York and the prices at top dining venues compare to it. We'll see

What are you doing share your itiniary :D
Click to expand...

We are driving to Dallas Fort Worth airport for our flights. The airport is about 4.5 hours from our house, but it's so much cheaper to fly from than our home town. So, we are staying the night prior to our flight there.
Our flight is at 8AM Feb 4th and we fly through Denver and lay over there a few hours. I am really nervous about this bc of snow and ice. I know Denver deals with it all winter, so I guess that I shouldn't be worried. Then we leave there and fly to Oahu and arrive at 4:30 or so. Once we land and get our rental car, we will head to Aulani. We are going to stop by a store and grab some drinks on the way.
Once we get to Aulani and check in, we don't plan anything on travel days. With the time difference, I am sure the kids will be ready for bed, bc it will be after midnight our time. I am wondering how the kids will do with the time difference? Anyone have experience with this? Good or bad?
Our first and probably second day (Friday & Saturday) will be spent at the resort exploring all it has to offer. I guess I will make us reservations at Ama Ama one night and for Monkeypod the other night. I know Ama Ama is really expensive and I am sure hoping they are better than the reviews. I plan on getting copies of the things going on at the resort and plan accordingly for these two days. I'm sure the kids will go to Aunty's House some. They are excited about going there, but I have tried to tell them that it isn't like cruise ship kid's clubs on Disney. I think that's what they think.
On the third day (Sunday), we plan to get up really early and go to Pearl Harbor. I want to get there when they open and have heard that Sunday's are best bc the weekend traffic is much lighter than the weekdays. If we have time, we may go to the that Swap Meet. The reviews of it look like it's a lot of fun and you can get some great stuff.
The fourth day (Monday), we will be back at the resort. This night, I want to do the Paradise Cove Luau. I haven't booked it yet, but read the reviews and I think it's the one we will do. During the day, I wanted to see if they offer Surfing Lessons for kids.
The fifth day (Tuesday), we will do the character breakfast, and then we plan to go to the North Shore. My son who is 9 wants to see the big waves and surfers trying to ride the waves. I am sure we will eat a late lunch somewhere and then eat a light dinner. I plan on reading the reviews and hoping to find us a nice beach spot to eat lunch.
The sixth day (Wed), we will just stay at the resort again. I always hate this day bc we have to begin packing up to go home. Is there any boating trips from there? I would like to take the kids for a sail in the ocean, they haven't ever been to the Pacific Ocean. We may try the buffet this night or go out to eat somewhere. My husband and kids are pretty picky eaters so the buffet may not be for them. I'll have to read and see what's on it.
On Thursday, we are planning to check out fairly early and head toward Waikiki.
This weekend, I booked us a room for our last night there at the Embassy Suites Waikiki. We check out of Aulani on Feb 11th, but our flight isn't until Friday night, so we are going to sight see and walk around Waikiki on Thursday and Friday at the end of our trip.
I am not sure that you where asking for me to write you a "book" LOL, but this helped me to write it all down, now I know what I need to get done.

I also set a box in my room and started throwing things in that I know I need to pack. So far, I have swim socks for the kids, kid's goggles, a few trial size toiletries, and meds. This week, I plan on getting out all the kids clothes. I am only taking everyone 4 short outfits each, two dinner outfits, two swimsuits, a light jacket, underwear for 4 days, 2 PJ's, water shoes, Crocs, and an extra pair of sneakers. Then I will take me a few extra things, like a swim cover-up & flip flops. We are packing very light. We will have a washer and dryer, so I would rather wash a load every few days than pack a bunch of stuff to have to unpack when we return:)
 
OP, I'd love to see your thoughts on Aulani when you return! We are going in July with our DS8 and DS6. Lots of great info in this thread! Thank you.
 
CruisingCamper said:
fly to Oahu and arrive at 4:30 or so. Once we land and get our rental car, we will head to Aulani. We are going to stop by a store and grab some drinks on the way.
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I have found that this is a good time to grab something to eat for the kids. Mine are older teens but we have been travelling to Hawaii with them since they were babies and it is a looong flight from Toronto! The drive to Aulani from the airport area can be busy at that time of the day and the last thing I want is a bunch of cranky big babies because they are hungry (DH is included in that mix LOL). Plus, it can take a while once you get to the resort, check in, get to your room, get your bearings and finally try to trek out to get something to eat. Last time we stopped in Kapolei where Target, Safeway, Costco are and we ate first. Shopped a little for water, POG juice, snacks and then headed out so we could enjoy the actual Aulani arrival!
 
alohamom said:
I have found that this is a good time to grab something to eat for the kids. Mine are older teens but we have been travelling to Hawaii with them since they were babies and it is a looong flight from Toronto! The drive to Aulani from the airport area can be busy at that time of the day and the last thing I want is a bunch of cranky big babies because they are hungry (DH is included in that mix LOL). Plus, it can take a while once you get to the resort, check in, get to your room, get your bearings and finally try to trek out to get something to eat. Last time we stopped in Kapolei where Target, Safeway, Costco are and we ate first. Shopped a little for water, POG juice, snacks and then headed out so we could enjoy the actual Aulani arrival!
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This is a great recommendation. I am sure after flying all day from Dallas, that we will be tired and hungry too. So, eating on the way to Aulani is probably a very good idea. That way we can enjoy actually getting there and seeing the resort for the first time, rather than not being to pay attention to anything bc all you can think of is getting something to eat.
 
Checked our flights today, to make sure there were no more changes. All looks good to go. We will have seatback entertainment going and will have to use our own devices on the return trip.

Also I think I may start packing today:)
 
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