Tokyo or Aulani?

[wendydarling78]

We are joining a two week package tour next summer that starts in New Zealand, hops to Australia, and ends in Hawaii. We are trying to decide if we should add days on the front to see Japan (historical/cultural sites plus 2 days at Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Sea) OR if we should add days on the end of the tour and stay at Aulani.

Of course, doing both would be great, but my hubby's vacation time is limited, and I'm afraid that splitting it wouldn't do justice to either place and we'd just feel rushed.

Ultimately I know it's personal preference, but anyone who's done one or both want to weigh in?

Perks for Tokyo:
We've never been to Japan. Tokyo Disney Sea looks AMAZING and is a favorite Disney park for many people. We would be there for Tanabata Days- a Japanese festival that includes special costumes, decor, and parades. We would get to see Mt. Fuji and other beautiful temples and sites. Only "downside"- we are nervous about not speaking the language.

Perks for Aulani:
My hubby and I have been to Hawaii before (me- 4 times, him- 2 times, kids- 1 time), but we've never done Aulani. It would be a nice relaxing end to our trip. We could see Moana! The kids are newly obsessed with earning National Park Junior Ranger badges and want to "redo" the Hawaii parks so they can get them!

 

[Douglas Dubh]

The only time we ran into the language barrier in Japan was trying to special order food. We went all over on our own and generally had no problems.

 

[Kyjin]

How many days would you have for Japan? I honestly wouldn't recommend less than a week, and even then I'd advise to stay in Tokyo area rather than going out to Kyoto.

If you're doing tourist areas (Tokyo, Kyoto, etc), the language barrier shouldn't be too much an issue, so I wouldn't let that deter you! But if you can find time to give yourself a decent length trip in Japan, that would probably be better.

 

[wendydarling78]

How many days would you have for Japan? I honestly wouldn't recommend less than a week, and even then I'd advise to stay in Tokyo area rather than going out to Kyoto.

If you're doing tourist areas (Tokyo, Kyoto, etc), the language barrier shouldn't be too much an issue, so I wouldn't let that deter you! But if you can find time to give yourself a decent length trip in Japan, that would probably be better.

It would be 5-10 days, depending on the actual tour dates and how the weekends fall. We should be getting confirmed dates soon! Will be late June-early July.

 

[wanderlust7]

We've been to both. If you have the 10 days, I think you should do Japan, especially since you've already been to Hawaii.

I was worried about the language issue too, but practically it turned out to be so minor. When we were in Odaiba, the kids wanted to go to McDonald's , I thought great, how am I going to order a Happy Meal with all the options? But I just said "Happy Meal?" and they pulled out an English menu with pictures for me to point at.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Japan, Japan, Japan. For sure, Japan. I've been to both and, seriously, this is not even a question. Even if you only had time for the Tokyo parks and nothing else, I would still vote for Japan over Aulani. Not that there's anything wrong with Aulani, but it's just a hotel. One that's kinda sorta reminiscent of Animal Kindgom Lodge, but smaller, and much less Disney-fied, on a man-made beach, and all the food options close early... It's not a mini-Disney World in Hawaii by any means, it's a hotel. A hotel that in no way compares to the awesome experiences you could have in Japan (the country or the parks).

ETA: You'll be absolutely fine getting around Japan without speaking the language. Lots of signage is in English, just about everybody knows enough English to point you in the right direction even if they might be a little shy to speak it... You'll be fine. No worries there.

 

[wendydarling78]

We've been to both. If you have the 10 days, I think you should do Japan, especially since you've already been to Hawaii.

I was worried about the language issue too, but practically it turned out to be so minor. When we were in Odaiba, the kids wanted to go to McDonald's , I thought great, how am I going to order a Happy Meal with all the options? But I just said "Happy Meal?" and they pulled out an English menu with pictures for me to point at.

LOL! Awesome, thank you!

 

[wendydarling78]

Japan, Japan, Japan. For sure, Japan. I've been to both and, seriously, this is not even a question. Even if you only had time for the Tokyo parks and nothing else, I would still vote for Japan over Aulani. Not that there's anything wrong with Aulani, but it's just a hotel. One that's kinda sorta reminiscent of Animal Kindgom Lodge, but smaller, and much less Disney-fied, on a man-made beach, and all the food options close early... It's not a mini-Disney World in Hawaii by any means, it's a hotel. A hotel that in no way compares to the awesome experiences you could have in Japan (the country or the parks).

ETA: You'll be absolutely fine getting around Japan without speaking the language. Lots of signage is in English, just about everybody knows enough English to point you in the right direction even if they might be a little shy to speak it... You'll be fine. No worries there.

Thank you! This is what I was a little worried about. That we might be let down by Aulani. For the price per night, we really want to love it!

 

[planningjollyholiday]

I love both japan and Aulani. They are both very different vacations, it really just depends on what you are looking for. My initially thought though was that you should do Japan since you've never been. Tanabata days at the park are great. It's fun seeing everyone in their summer kimonos. Seeing Mt.fuji can be hit or miss depending on cloud coverage. The language barrier is not that big of a deal.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Thank you! This is what I was a little worried about. That we might be let down by Aulani. For the price per night, we really want to love it!

Aulani is a nice resort to stay in while one is in Hawaii; it is not the reason to go to Hawaii. It is not a destination in and of itself, IMO.

 

[3monkeys4me]

I haven't been to Japan yet (planning a visit for October 2018) but I have been to Aulani and agree that Aulani a nice resort to stay at but not a reason to visit Hawaii. That being said we really love Aulani. When we went we stayed for 6 nights and we stayed with friends that live on Oahu for about the same.

For a 10 day trip I would probably pick Japan/Tokyo Disney. We are planning a 14-16 day trip but a good portion of that will be spent around Osaka/Kyoto.

 

[Flossbolna]

We were in Japan in early July this year and Tokyo and Kyoto are going to be hot, highs in the 90s, night temps around 80. This made touring quite exhausting, especially in Kyoto which also was very humid.

I think it depends on what you want after your tour which sounds like quite a big itinerary in itself. We absolutely loved Japan and the language barrier was not an issue. However, after the tour with New Zealand and Australia, I think I would prefer a more relaxing end of the trip. Especially since you would have to add in another long flight to Japan from Hawaii and then home. Japan is definitely worthy as a stand alone destination in itself!

 

[Flossbolna]

Also, for Aulani you could look into renting DVC points as that might be more economical than paying for the hotel rooms.

 

[wendydarling78]

I love both japan and Aulani. They are both very different vacations, it really just depends on what you are looking for. My initially thought though was that you should do Japan since you've never been. Tanabata days at the park are great. It's fun seeing everyone in their summer kimonos. Seeing Mt.fuji can be hit or miss depending on cloud coverage. The language barrier is not that big of a deal.

Yes! I was super excited that TanabataDays would fall while we're there! Hoping we could get a Disney summer kimono! And some pictures with/of the characters in kimonos!

 

[wendydarling78]

Aulani is a nice resort to stay in while one is in Hawaii; it is not the reason to go to Hawaii. It is not a destination in and of itself, IMO.

Agreed. Our trip ends with two days on Oahu, so we would add a few days to see Aulani if we picked Hawaii.

 

[wendydarling78]

I haven't been to Japan yet (planning a visit for October 2018) but I have been to Aulani and agree that Aulani a nice resort to stay at but not a reason to visit Hawaii. That being said we really love Aulani. When we went we stayed for 6 nights and we stayed with friends that live on Oahu for about the same.

For a 10 day trip I would probably pick Japan/Tokyo Disney. We are planning a 14-16 day trip but a good portion of that will be spent around Osaka/Kyoto.

Yes, so much to see in Kyoto! If we do Japan, I'd love to try to do Kyoto, but not sure we'll have time.

 

[wendydarling78]

We were in Japan in early July this year and Tokyo and Kyoto are going to be hot, highs in the 90s, night temps around 80. This made touring quite exhausting, especially in Kyoto which also was very humid.

I think it depends on what you want after your tour which sounds like quite a big itinerary in itself. We absolutely loved Japan and the language barrier was not an issue. However, after the tour with New Zealand and Australia, I think I would prefer a more relaxing end of the trip. Especially since you would have to add in another long flight to Japan from Hawaii and then home. Japan is definitely worthy as a stand alone destination in itself!

If we do Japan, we'll tack it onto the front and then join the tour in New Zealand. If we do Aulani, it will be last since the tour ends in Hawaii. Thank you for the weather info!

 

[wendydarling78]

Also, for Aulani you could look into renting DVC points as that might be more economical than paying for the hotel rooms.

Yes! We were planning to try this if we do Aulani. We just rented them for our WDW trip, and it was very easy!

 

[Flossbolna]

Yes! I was super excited that TanabataDays would fall while we're there! Hoping we could get a Disney summer kimono! And some pictures with/of the characters in kimonos!

Tanabata Days was really nice, but at least this year there was no Disney summer kimono to be had. I also did not see anyone wearing one. The summer kimonos are all really pretty, but when I looked into getting one they are quite expensive. The cheapest I saw was around 100 $ for a set including the obi (the belt).

 

[wendydarling78]

Tanabata Days was really nice, but at least this year there was no Disney summer kimono to be had. I also did not see anyone wearing one. The summer kimonos are all really pretty, but when I looked into getting one they are quite expensive. The cheapest I saw was around 100 $ for a set including the obi (the belt).

Oh darn! Well, $100 would be pretty expensive for a beautiful Halloween costume!