Packing Pointers

ebenmax

DIS Veteran
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Believe it or not, I’m starting my packing list for Aulani (Kauai & Maui) in June!!
Are there any unique items that we might not necessarily think of that you consider “essentials” or “make a trip more enjoyable” when vacationing at Aulani or the other islands? We also have a 1 year old traveling with us. Anything not obvious to pack that will make our life easier?

Thanks tons!
 
Will you be staying in a villa or hotel room? I hear that if you have a kitchen, it's a good idea to bring your own spices.

I'll be interested in hearing what others have to say as we'll be there in June. I've been to the islands plenty of times but always learn something from these lists!
 
Will you be staying in a villa or hotel room? I hear that if you have a kitchen, it's a good idea to bring your own spices.

There will be six of us in a 2BR villa for a week. We plan to do some cooking everyday. We will also have a rental car.
 
I always bring ziploc bags - gallon and sandwich sizes. When we have a kitchen, I'll bring foil (pull out some sheets and fold them up). Takes up no space and always comes in handy.

I bring antibacterial wipes to wipe down the plane (armrest, tray, window, seat belt) - especially important with a 1 year old.
 


I brought my own bbq tools and I was glad I did. Having read in past reports about others having to wait for bbq tools I just grabbed some inexpensive ones from the dollar store. Also foil as @wanderlust7 said, I like to cover my food when bringing it back to the room because of birds etc.

I used to bring sunscreen from home but now with the addition of Target and Walmart to the islands I find it is the same if not cheaper to buy it there.

I bring my own spices, laundry pods, a sharp knife and cutting board.
 
I brought my own bbq tools and I was glad I did. Having read in past reports about others having to wait for bbq tools I just grabbed some inexpensive ones from the dollar store. Also foil as @wanderlust7 said, I like to cover my food when bringing it back to the room because of birds etc.

I used to bring sunscreen from home but now with the addition of Target and Walmart to the islands I find it is the same if not cheaper to buy it there.

I bring my own spices, laundry pods, a sharp knife and cutting board.

I’m butting in with a question. I’m the cook in our family and always bring my knives when we travel(not by air). How does that work if you fly? I’m such a nerd, I triple wrap them to even bring them to be sharpened, because I’m afraid of getting pulled over with deadly knives :rolleyes1:scared::laughing:
 


I’m butting in with a question. I’m the cook in our family and always bring my knives when we travel(not by air). How does that work if you fly? I’m such a nerd, I triple wrap them to even bring them to be sharpened, because I’m afraid of getting pulled over with deadly knives :rolleyes1:scared::laughing:

I make a cardboard sleeve and slip that on top of the knife I am bringing and then put it and the small plastic cutting board inside of a large ziploc. @buffettgirl is correct, I just put it into my checked baggage.
 
I would suggest a swim shirt for your one year old. We ended up buying one for each kid there because we did a ton of sun screen and the kids still got burned.
 
In addition to what others have posted, we bring:
-basket coffee filters (buy coffee there, better than in room pouches)
-snorkels (no fins)
-Children’s Tylenol
-baby floating ring for lazy river
-sun tent, waterproof beach blanket for baby
-spices & condiments for cooking that you don’t want to buy regular size, baggies, aluminum foil, ziplock plastic food containers, plastic IKEA clasps for chips
-snacks
-buy the Aulani refillable mugs for bringing homemade cocktails/drinks to pool
-reuseable shopping bags
-plastic bags (only paper or reusable in stores, but we need a few for wet things on our last day and dirty diapers)
-beach bag
-don't need bug spray
-small collapsable cooler bag and ice pack to bring beer/snacks to pool or day trip sandwiches
-water bottles
-headphones, chargers, computer, iPad
-small bag of rice (villa has rice cooker) & soy packets or small container of soy sauce
-hand sanitizer
-flashlight for when baby is asleep
-scissors (none in villas)
-umbrella
-stroller and ergo baby carrier
-consider bringing Apple TV with remote, plug in and HDMI cable (for Netflix)
-don't bring highchair (Aulani has wooden highchair and stool)
-don't bring water wings/life jacket (Aulani has free life jackets to borrow) or sand toys (Aulani has free boogie boards, umbrellas, and sand toys)
-the villa knives are fine for us.
 
Great tips! Very useful!
Why no fins? (we're diving, so we're bringing the fins anyway, but I wonder if it isn't allowed when snorkeling?)
Is there a freezer in the room to cool the ice pack enough?

We love to snorkel and we have our own gear, mask, fins, snorkel we always bring everything. I can't see snorkeling without fins... not unless it like a protected reef or something along those lines and they only allow the drifting type of snorkeling, you know were you use a noodle or some other type of floating device to drift over the area...
 
In addition to what others have posted, we bring:

-don't need bug spray
I disagree. If you're venturing into any of the 'tropical' areas of the islands then some sort of insect repellent (could be wipes vs. spray) is a good idea.
 
Don't pack beach towels if you're staying at resorts. All the resorts we stayed at had pool towels that we would take and use on beach days off property. Just be courteous and be sure to return them.

Also, I am a notorious over packer - I didn't wear real pants or jeans the whole 16 days we were there! We were there in September which I imagine is similar weather to June. I stuck to shorts, leggings, and dresses the whole time. Jeans would have been too hot. Also never wore the light hoodies and sweaters I brought either. So, next time, I'd bring one hoodie/sweater and one pair of long pants. I brought tons of different outfits but when the time came to get ready each day, I stuck to the most basic, lightweight, comfortable things. This was also good for when I was sunburned!
 
WOW!! What fantastic suggestions so far!!
Has anyone used those oversized plastic bags (where you compress the contents) for more space in your bag? I’m wondering if they are helpful.
 
I’ve tried the compressor bags with not much luck. But in the two bedroom you’ve got laundry. We go to aulani every year for 10 days and I only bring enough clothes and underwear for everyone for 3 or 4 days because I end up washing at least every other day. In a dvc villa you don’t get new towels every day so I usually wash our towels every other day too

I bring small salt and pepper, seasoned salt because my husband loves them on his eggs, lots of gallon storage bags, laundry pods and dryer sheets and some extra dishwasher pods. I find sunscreen to be expensive on the island so we bring that too.

At the store on way to aulani we get groceries like milk, eggs, bread, lunch meats from the store deli, salad fixings, fruit, easy dinner stuff like chicken and pasta sauce. I get a frozen pizza for my kids to have when my husband and I go to ama ama for dinner.

At the four seasons next door the out door restaurant the Fish House has a happy hour from either 4 or 5 for a couple hours. Half price drinks and bar food. Worth the walk over, sit on the terrace overlooking the ocean.
 
One thing to remember about packing - if you're in a DVC villa, you can do laundry! So you don't need to pack clothes for every day - and that allows you to fit some of the other things you need (snorkel gear, etc).

We try to only pack in carry-on luggage and managed to do a 2 week trip last time to both Aulani and the Big Island in only carry-ons (though we did buy an extra suitcase at Costco to check for the trip home...). We are trying to do the same thing for our upcoming 2 week trip to 3 islands - since we have laundry facilities in all of our condos, we only plan to pack 5 days worth of clothes. That leaves some extra space for warmer gear to wear on Mauna Kea and Haleakala.
 
Plastic cup with lids so you can bring your own drinks to the pool.
Extra laundry detergent (and pack light).
Crocs.
Plastic shopping bag (think they'll charge you extra for bags in Hawaii)
Collapsible water bottle / bag.

Take advantage of the rice cooker. There are tons of recipe where you can make an entire meal using the cooker and it's fast. I also bring my own rice and steel cut oatmeal with me.
 
WOW!! What fantastic suggestions so far!!
Has anyone used those oversized plastic bags (where you compress the contents) for more space in your bag? I’m wondering if they are helpful.

I use packing cubes. There's a bit of compression, but the main thing is to keep things organized. Usually one medium bag of clothes for each person. To unpack all I do is stick them in a drawer, only taking out a few things that need to be put on a hanger. Compression will save space, but be careful about going over the airline weight allowance for checked bags.

We did laundry almost everyday at Aulani too. Our swimsuits are machine washable, so I would throw them all into the washer along with whatever dirty clothes there were.
 

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