Thanksgiving crowds?

ChewyJ

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jul 19, 2015
Historically, how have the crowds been at Aulani during Thanksgiving? We usually try to travel offseason, but with work and school, it's proving to be a challenge.

This is a bit last minute, but we're thinking of traveling in the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and leaving the Monday afterwards.

Thanks for any insights!
 
We will be there Saturday before Thanksgiving and flying out on Thanksgiving day using our DVC points. I later called to book a room for my brother in law and there were only two days available in a DVC room and he got the LAST one! I am going to assume it will be very busy that week:)
 
The thing about Aulani is that capacity is limited to the amount of rooms they have. I'm not sure what occupancy rate Aulani normally operates at, but I'd imagine its relatively high most of the year, making it feel a little busier when its completely sold out. But its not like Disney parks where crowds can be shoulder to shoulder and noticeably packed. I wouldn't hesitate to go to Aulani over a holiday personally, if that's what worked best for me in terms of travel. I would be a little concerned about high airfare costs that week though.
 
Agree it will be busy but I also agree w/Nkereina that I would still go (and I've stayed at Aulani 4 times). One thing to keep in mind is that lots of locals love to go to Aulani on weekends and holidays. A good number have bought memberships to allow them to do so and then there are kama'aina rates (local discounts) often at Aulani as well.
 


Historically, how have the crowds been at Aulani during Thanksgiving? We usually try to travel offseason, but with work and school, it's proving to be a challenge.

This is a bit last minute, but we're thinking of traveling in the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and leaving the Monday afterwards.

Thanks for any insights!

We were there Thanksgiving of 2016. Crowds were very manageable. You had to be diligent (early risers) on Fri-Sat right after Thanksgiving if you planned to hang out at the pool, but overall we never had a problem with dealing with a ton of people.

I would make any and all dining reservations, including Thanksgiving dinner now if you haven't already done so. The weekend (thurs to sat) was very busy at all restaurants.

Otherwise, plan to visit the adjacent sea turtle cove yourself (walk over) and rent a car for day trips to Pearl Harbor, Kualoa Ranch; dole plantation; north shore beaches; hike Diamond Head; etc...

It's an absolute great time of year. Festive, fun, upbeat and the weather was picture perfect.

Would love to go back.
 
We were also there over Thanksgiving 2016. I agree that it was definitely busiest over the weekend following Thanksgiving. The days before were no problem. I believe when we checked in, the staff told us they were at 80% of capacity, a few days before the holiday. (We asked the staff bringing our bags to our room) We decided to keep it simple and eat the Thanksgiving meal at Ulu Cafe and that wasn't the best choice. I would book a reservation now, if you want to eat at one of the restaurants.
 



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