Food Costs at Aulani

[Lawdawg]

If we are there for 7 full days, with probably 2 days off property sightseeing, how much should we realistically expect to pay for food while we are there? Most likely on days at the resort, we would eat a larger, sit down breakfast, a smaller meal/snack at the pool/beach for lunch, and then a restaurant dinner at night. We are a family of 4, with my daughter being 13 and son being 9. Should I expect $250, $300, $400 per day? Just trying to plan a ballpark amount to budget. Thanks!

 

[jodybird511]

If you are planning to eat at restaurants on Aulani property (Makahiki, AMA AMA, Ulu, poolside eating) for those days (meaning no eating in/cooking in villa), I would budget $300-$400 per day...The food is very expensive and, mostly, IMO, just okay. AMA AMA is the exception

 

[DVCdisneyfam]

I want to go in couple of years so following this thread. Thanks for posting

 

[alohamom]

Within a 5 minute walk off the actual Aulani property are some slightly less expensive places to eat so dont have to limit yourself to the Aulani restaurants even if you dont plan to be sightseeing-just fyi

This link shows all the places as of right now that are walking distance, scroll down to see the ones at Ko Olina station that are a little less money

http://koolina.com/experiences/dining/

 

[pepperandchips]

When we are on vacation we budget about $100 per adult per day and do a mix of budget eating (sandwiches in unit), sit down meals, and we also drink alcohol and include that cost in our per-day averages. I would budget $100 per day per adult and $60-75 for your kids, expecting you will mix things up as we do where you’re not enjoying Ama Ama for three meals a day!

Don’t discount the very good options in short walking distance across the street. Especially if you need to pick up soft drinks, snacks, alcohol, desserts, etc from the Island Country Market. That helps ease the blow. Monkeypod is good. Maybe not worth the price but hey you’re not in Athens... (did I get that right from your username? I live in Atlanta)

So... in short, I think $350 per day is probably okay as long as you’re not doing three sophisticated sit down meals a day.

 

[wendlle]

Wow that is a lot of money on food, we no way spent that much or anywhere near it!
We stayed for 5 nights and probably spent a total of $150 a day. That was for QS lunch and TS dinner, we had one character breakfast and snacks all day long. Two Adults and 1 Kid.
We found the food to be reasonable actually, the small amount of grocery food they have in the shop at Aulani was CHEAPER than at the ABC grocery market across the road. We purchased Bagels and cereal for Breakfast.

 

[jodybird511]

Wow that is a lot of money on food, we no way spent that much or anywhere near it!
We stayed for 5 nights and probably spent a total of $150 a day. That was for QS lunch and TS dinner, we had one character breakfast and snacks all day long. Two Adults and 1 Kid.
We found the food to be reasonable actually, the small amount of grocery food they have in the shop at Aulani was CHEAPER than at the ABC grocery market across the road. We purchased Bagels and cereal for Breakfast.

Right, but remember, OP said they planned to do a large, sit down breakfast, restaurant dinner, and quick service lunch each of those days. No way you can do that for $150 per day for four people. For example, Makahiki is going to run over $200 for 4 people, and that's only one meal per day. Last time we were there, we did LUNCH at AMA AMA, ate light, and got the DVC discount, and it was still around $100 for four of us, including am 8 year old and a teen.

 

[pepperandchips]

@wendlle table service dinner alone for 3 (2 adults, one child, and appropriate gratuity) is $150, based on the buffet price at Makahiki, probably even more at Ama Ama, since one course lunches for two adults usually ran me about $75 before gratuity. I don’t see how that could have been your entire daily budget if you were having sit down meals. Or were you not talking about the restaurants at aulani?

Aside from the $16 fish and chips basket for QS lunch nothing else appealed to me. I’m being honest about my receipts in response to a poster who I presume to be in my same profession in my same state of residence. Their dining habits are not the same as yours based on what the OP said their plans for dining were.

 

[wendlle]

oh yeah, i'm sure that much can be spent i'm just saying it doesn't have to be. Some people might be reading this and think "Woah, I'm not going to Aulani it's too expensive" I'm just saying that I think the one day we did the character breakfast was the most expensive day we had. Aside from that we spent very little and it can be done while still having really nice food and lots of snacks.

 

[pepperandchips]

oh yeah, i'm sure that much can be spent i'm just saying it doesn't have to be. Some people might be reading this and think "Woah, I'm not going to Aulani it's too expensive" I'm just saying that I think the one day we did the character breakfast was the most expensive day we had. Aside from that we spent very little and it can be done while still having really nice food and lots of snacks.

I’m sure I’m coming across rude but I don’t mean to be rude to you - you a make a great point but that wasn’t the question. The op didn’t ask “how can I save money at Aulani” he/she said “what should I budget for the following meals”. So @jodybird511 and I were giving them a realistic budget if they’re going to proceed with their plan.

I’m not saying you’re wrong - there is definitely money to be saved if you plan. But I also don’t think it’s fair to say “we spent very little” on dining at Aulani. Aulani is expensive even if you try to save on costs. I packed a whole case full of food and still spent a fortune in two nights even though I thought I’d learned my lesson on expensive grocery runs the year prior. If you do table service at either restaurant at Aulani for dinner, it’s expensive. There’s no way around that!

 

[wendlle]

I’m sure I’m coming across rude but I don’t mean to be rude to you - you a make a great point but that wasn’t the question. The op didn’t ask “how can I save money at Aulani” he/she said “what should I budget for the following meals”. So @jodybird511 and I were giving them a realistic budget if they’re going to proceed with their plan.

I’m not saying you’re wrong - there is definitely money to be saved if you plan. But I also don’t think it’s fair to say “we spent very little” on dining at Aulani. Aulani is expensive even if you try to save on costs. I packed a whole case full of food and still spent a fortune in two nights even though I thought I’d learned my lesson on expensive grocery runs the year prior. If you do table service at either restaurant at Aulani for dinner, it’s expensive. There’s no way around that!

Maybe it's because I'm from Australia and food costs here are so much more expensive than the USA. Hawaii was more expensive than mainland USA which is where we are used to traveling to but compared to here it is cheap.
You'll pay $25 for that fish & chips that you get for $15 at Aulani here and that's just at a regular take out place. Same as burgers and fries, typically they will set you back $18 - $25
So for us spending the money at Aulani wasn't that big of a deal.

 

[pepperandchips]

Wow that is a lot of money on food, we no way spent that much or anywhere near it!

So for us spending the money at Aulani wasn't that big of a deal.

 

[corgi_monster]

Here's some info on what food prices are like outside Aulani:

Sit-down breakfast at a casual restaurant such as Anna Miller's - $12-$15pp including coffee, tip, and tax
Light lunch/snack - $7-$10pp
Casual sit-down restaurant dinner at a local spot like Zippy's or Big City Diner: $15-$20pp including soda, tip, and tax
Restaurant dinner someplace similar to CPK, Chili's, Applebees: $30-$40pp including a soda, tip, and tax
Most of the nicer restaurants on Oahu are located in hotels, so prices will be similar to AmaAma. I think nice restaurants that are NOT located in hotels (i.e. Alan Wong's) are just as expensive.

The food in the shopping complex across from Aulani, while cheaper than Aulani, is still a tiny bit more expensive than comparable meals in Kapolei, a 5 minute drive away.

For what it's worth, my family of 2 adults and 1 toddler who eats like a 9yo consistently spent $40-$45 per counter service meal at Aulani. Snacks REALLY ate into our budget, about $40/day . . . because we just HAD to have the Mickey bars, shave, ice, donuts, cookies, and sodas

 

[kyton]

I think it comes down to you can spend as little as you want or as much as you want. When we visit Hawaii I don’t cook - at all!! I cook 6-7 days a week at home, holidays are my time out of the kitchen.

If we stay in Ko Olina we tend to eat at Denny’s or Ruby Tuesday’s for breakfast most mornings - for our family of 2 adults, 13, 11 and 9 year olds that’s normally around $70-90 including tip.

Lunch we don’t tend to eat much as we are busy, sometimes something from one of the quick serve shacks but less then $30-50.

Dinner we usually haunt Roy’s, Ama Ama, MonkeyPod, Eating House (back in Kapolei) or Longboards at the Marriott. These can run from $150-$300 or more depending on what the kids choose.

I once kept a spreadsheet when we stayed at the Beach Villas for 25 nights - it was way too scary (and I did actually cook some dinners and breakfasts) so I don’t track it anymore LOL.

 

[jodybird511]

oh yeah, i'm sure that much can be spent i'm just saying it doesn't have to be. Some people might be reading this and think "Woah, I'm not going to Aulani it's too expensive" I'm just saying that I think the one day we did the character breakfast was the most expensive day we had. Aside from that we spent very little and it can be done while still having really nice food and lots of snacks.

Agreed--you ABSOLUTELY do not have to spend that much. I would not spend that much. OP, not sure if you're in a villa, and also not sure if you are interested in saving money, but if you are, I would HIGHLY recommend considering buying some groceries--esp snacks and booze if you enjoy cocktails. During our last trip, we saved, I'm sure, hundreds of dollars by eating all breakfasts in our villa, at least a 2-3 dinners (over the course of 6 nights), a lot of snacks, and all of our cocktails--we bought a bottle of rum and a mai tai mixer for the week. We added up the number of cocktails we got out of our bottle and calculated that we saved about $150 off the price of buying by-the-cocktail at resort prices. The only "good" deal we found on property was the family size pizza at Ulu--only around $25 I think, and we got two meals out of it. Even if you don't want to COOK, per se, you can still save a lot of money by dining off property.

 

[tink too]

If we stay in Ko Olina we tend to eat at Denny’s or Ruby Tuesday’s for breakfast most mornings - for our family of 2 adults, 13, 11 and 9 year olds that’s normally around $70-90 including tip.

If you don't mind me asking, where are Denny's and Ruby Tuesday's located? We'll be visiting Aulani for the first time this summer and probably won't be dining at the resort every day.

 

[kyton]

If you don't mind me asking, where are Denny's and Ruby Tuesday's located? We'll be visiting Aulani for the first time this summer and probably won't be dining at the resort every day.

Tink too, they are located next door to each other at the front of the car park where Target, TJ Maxx and Ross are in Kapolei. You can’t miss them - there is also a Down to Earth that has takeaway options.

A word of warning - don’t go on a Sunday! Denny’s especially must be a favourite get together for local families on weekends, the lines are massive.

 

[linco711]

Tink too, they are located next door to each other at the front of the car park where Target, TJ Maxx and Ross are in Kapolei. You can’t miss them - there is also a Down to Earth that has takeaway options.

A word of warning - don’t go on a Sunday! Denny’s especially must be a favourite get together for local families on weekends, the lines are massive.

Tink too, they are located next door to each other at the front of the car park where Target, TJ Maxx and Ross are in Kapolei. You can’t miss them - there is also a Down to Earth that has takeaway options.

A word of warning - don’t go on a Sunday! Denny’s especially must be a favourite get together for local families on weekends, the lines are massive.

Within a 5 minute walk off the actual Aulani property are some slightly less expensive places to eat so dont have to limit yourself to the Aulani restaurants even if you dont plan to be sightseeing-just fyi

This link shows all the places as of right now that are walking distance, scroll down to see the ones at Ko Olina station that are a little less money

http://koolina.com/experiences/dining/

Within a 5 minute walk off the actual Aulani property are some slightly less expensive places to eat so dont have to limit yourself to the Aulani restaurants even if you dont plan to be sightseeing-just fyi

This link shows all the places as of right now that are walking distance, scroll down to see the ones at Ko Olina station that are a little less money

http://koolina.com/experiences/dining/

Do you know anything about Longhi’s in the Marriott? The memo looks great!

 

[alohamom]

Do you know anything about Longhi’s in the Marriott? The memo looks great!

The setting is gorgeous, it is open air with tall ceilings and surrounded by a koi fish pond and tropical plants and gardens, really lovely.

I have not eaten there but I have eaten at Longi's in Lahaina Maui and it was pretty good. I had their house specialty of shrimp scampi and it was ok, not the best I have ever had. It wasn't enough for me to want to try eating there in Ko Olina.

Here is the Yelp link for them

https://www.yelp.com/biz/longhis-kapolei-kapolei

It is a nice easy ocean front walk over from Aulani on a paved path past all the lagoons.

 

[Mommy2Logan]

I have not been to Aulani but have been to some other high end resorts in Hawaii and am basing the budget off of that (as well as looking at the Aulani menu prices online).

We are budgeting $450-500 a day for two adults and a 4 year old. We drink alcohol (not the four year old). We like a nice sit-down breakfast so we are planning $100 a day for breakfast including the tax but you can buy some groceries across the street or do a smaller breakfast from the cafe for less. 3 poolside meals at lunch and 4 cocktails and 2 juices will be $170 with tax and tip. 2 shave ices $20. The rest goes towards dinner.

It's a lot of money and we will probably shave off $20 here and there on some meals but others will be more than what we anticipate so it will shake out to about $450 a day. If we spend less, great but we are mentally preparing ourselves for $450 a day so that we aren't stressing about it while we are there. I went to Kauai with a friend in October and I spent $175 a day on food for myself. It really adds up fast.

There are some great happy hours nearby. Marriott, Roys, Monkey Pod. We might take advantage of some of those if it works out, but we also didn't like the idea of leaving the pool before we are ready to, so its not going to be part of our plan unless it works out that way. Monkey pod has half price flatbreads and some appetizers are half off. Roys has a pretty decent menu of appetizers as well. You can check out the menus with happy hour prices online.

For what its worth, after I booked our rooms, I checked online every day for a better deal and ended up calling the day I saw a better deal and got $700 taken off our total cost of our rooms. Putting that towards the food.