Disney_Fan_01
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2016
We had a great time during our first visit to Aulani over the Memorial day weekend. We were there from May 25th-31st. Prior to Aulani, we spent 3 nights at a hotel near Waikikki. My initial thought prior to the trip was that we may possibly plan another trip in 5 years, but now that we have experienced what Hawaii and Aulani has to offer, we all agree that our return trip should be planned in the near term with a potential return time-frame of June 2019.
Here are some thoughts and background information from our trip that may help others. I am unable to upload pictures, but will try later.
1. Our family - 4 of us including DH, DW, DD (5) and DS (3). We are all Disney fans and have been to Disney World multiple times. We live in Texas so we are used to the summer heat
2. Planning for this trip - Our planning started in July 2016. I casually mentioned to my wife that we need to do something special for our upcoming 10 year anniversary in 2017. I suggested that we go to Hawaii as neither of us had gone and we just went with the flow. Before I know it, I had figured out how to rent DVC points from DVC brokers and booked a 1 bedroom OV room in early August. Next steps were flight tickets and stay at Waikikki, which were confirmed in Dec.
3. Pre-trip activities/reservations - we made reservations at Ama Ama and Makahiki for Breakfast and Dinner around 4-6 months out. We did Aunty's beachhouse registration for our kids 60 days out and got free activities that we had requested. I had also booked the surf with chip and Dale activity for my kids so that we could plan a romantic dinner at Ama Ama, which worked out great. In addition, we had couple spa reservations for one afternoon and Luau reservations at Paradise Cove Luau one evening. We had planned a morning at Pearl harbor and we made reservations for 9 AM for the USS Arizona Memorial tour.
4. Day 1 - Flight to HNL - We flew direct on AA from Dallas. The flight was long and boring. It is hard especially with a 3 year old and a 5 year old to keep them entertained for so long, but we did good overall. We got to HNL around 12:45 PM. We took out bags, got the rental car and headed to our hotel at Waikikki. We got there around 2:30. Had a quick lunch and headed to the waikikki beach.
After a little beach time, we spent rest of the evening by the pool. We all had an early bedtime and went to spleep around 7:30.
5. Day 2 - Makappu Lighthouse and kailua Beach - We were up early around 4:30 AM. We had planned to do a sun rise trek to Makappu lighhouse early in the morning. It was good we planned that way, as it gets really hot later in the day. We were done with our hike around 8:00 AM. It is a very easy hike with beautiful scenery. I highly recommend this for families with young kids who may not be able to do Diamond Head.
After the hike, we stopped at Cinnamon restaurant for brunch on our way to kailua Beach, which is at the windward side of Oahu. Kailua beach is beautiful and very different from waikikki beach as it was way calmer, but still not as calm as Ko Olina lagoon. Our Kids had a great time playing here.
We got back to Waikikki around 2:30 PM and rested in our hotel before our Dinner reservations at Tommy Bahama Cafe. Tommy Bahama Cafe is a fun place with a patio on top. We had a good time with some good food and drinks!
6. Day 3 - Hanauma Bay - We left waikikki early to arrive at the Hanauma Bay parking area around 8:15ish; we got there just past 8:30 and there were a few spots still available. I believe all spots were taken by 8:30, so beware of the warning. Parking does get full early. This place is absolutely gorgeous. We spend around 2-3 hours and had a great time. We had brought our own snorkels so we did not need any rentals, but there is a rental shop at the base for snorkels and other gear. there is also a concession stand and a gift shop at the top. I recommend buying trolley tickets as it gets hot in the afternoon coming up. I believe it is $2-3 per person.
After Hanauma Bay, we stopped at Kona Brewing Co, which is 5 minutes away for lunch. This place is really good with great selection of beer and good food. Thanks for suggestion to others on this forum that influenced me.
7. Day 4 - Pearl harbor and Aulani - We had Malasadas from Leonards Bakery (Yumm!!)
and headed to Pearl Harbor. We got to Pearl Harbor around 8:15 and spent 30 minutes visiting the grounds to get ready for our 9 AM Arizona Memorial tour. The tour takes and hour and a half and is very moving. They show you a movie before you go on the boat to tour the Memorial site. Keep in mind the movie is very intense, especially for young kids, but very moving.
After the tour, we spend some time at the gift shop. We could not do the Bowfin or USS Missouri as our son was 3 years old. I believe, kids 4 and under and not allowed. We decided to heard back to Waikikki, have a quick lunch, pick up our bags and head to Aulani. We stopped at target, which is 5 minutes before you reach Aulani on Highway H1 to pick up some basis groceries. We reached Aulani around 2 PM.
Our room was ready and we had a great room in the EWA tower, room 1482, Top floor of our building. All my requests were honored (EWA tower, overlooking the pool, higher floor).
We had dinner reservations at Monkey Pod, which has great food and drinks. $9 drinks during happy hour. After that we called it a night.
8. Day 5 - Character breakfast, resort day and Paradise Cove Luau - We started the day with a character breakfast at Makahiki. Aunty leads the party and it is a lot of fun for kids and adults. After breakfast, we got our kids registered at Aunty's beachhouse and also checked it out. The registration process takes 10 minutes. We spent time at the open house to get kids familiar with the place. Stictch showed up and danced around during that time as well. Rest of the morning was spent exploring the resort pools. We had evening reservation at Paradise Cove Luau, which is a quick walking distance from Aulani. The outdoor setting is impeccable. We had a great time and did a lot of crafts. We had the deluxe package, so we were served dinner, which was just ok. Show starts at 7:15 ish and is very entertaining. They keep the families entertained and it is very interactive. The fire part of the show was really cool! Our night ended close to 9 PM and we were all tired from a long day!
9. Day 6 - Resort day and Spa - We spend the morning at the resort pools. Kids had 12:30 reservations at Aunty's for an activity, so we dropped them at noon as he rule is to drop off 30 minutes in dry clothes prior to the activity to keep the spot. we had a couples massage booked for 1 PM, so we headed to the spa. The spa is awesome and very relaxing. We had a great time. I picked up the kids close to 3:30 and we got ready for our family portrait session at the beach which was scheduled for 5:30. The pictures from the portrait session came out really nice.
After that, as we were all dressed up, we headed to Roy's for our 6:15 reservations. The food at Roy's is really good. I highly recommend it!
10. Day 7 - Resort day and Ama Ama dinner date - we spent the morning around the resort area playing in the pool and beach. Did some stand up paddle boarding, which was a lot of fun. Kids can sit on the paddle board, while one parent does the rowing. My wife and I took turns as we had rented for an hour. We also participated ion one of the family play activities on the beach, which was a lot of fun as we got to interact as a family and get to know some other families as well. We had a dinner booked for the 2 of us for 5:30 at Ama Ama and I had registered kids for surfs up with Chip and Dale which from 5:30-8:30. Dinner at Ama Ama was incredible, with great views of the sunset. After dinner, I let my wife shop at the boutique store. She found a cute dress and a bag. Kids had a good time at the Chip and Dale party, but it was expensive at $79/kid. Next time, I will just stand up in line at 7:30 and get them registered for Dinner at $9/kid, that way they will have a guaranteed spot without having to do the party as they would be fairly content playing around as well.
11. Day 8 - Ama Ama breakfast, Pinneple Dole Plantation and North Shore - We had breakfast at Ama Ama and headed to the Dole plantation. Breakfast at Ama Ama is really good. Macadamia nut pancakes, fritatta, and some other options. All are good. We got to the dole plantation around 9:30 as it opened. We did the train ride, walked aroudn the garden, had a dole whip and did the maze. We were done around 11:45 and headed towards North Shore. Traffic was bad, and it took us over an hour to get to the area, we stopped at Ted's bakery for lunch. After lunch, we drive around Waimea Bay, and turtle beach and saw some turtles. Kids fell asleep in the car, so we did not stop. We headed back to Aulani. Kids had a good nap, so we decided to make most of the early evening by exploring the Meneheune bridge, which had just opened after being closed for almost a month for repairs. Kids had a great time at the bridge. Swimming pools were open until 10 PM as it was Memorial day weekend, so we made most of the extended time and enjoyed the pool. Had pizza for dinner by the pool. Nedless to say, it was another long day!
12. Day 9 - Resort day, DD's spa appointment, dinner at Makahikki - We spent the morning playing at the resort pool and beach. I did snorkeling at the Rainbow Reef. Water is cold, but lots of fish and water is clear, which makes it easy to see. FYI, there is also a good reef area on the beach near the Wainae side where you can snorkel. I saw quite a lot of fish there as well. DD had her spa appointment at 2 PM to dress up as a hawaiin princess. She got her nails and hair done and got a nice dress. It was fun to watch her get excited! We did the tablet thing in the afternoon and then headed to our dinner reservations at Makahikki. This is the Meneheune mischief with Uncle. It was fun, but if i had to choose one, I would do breakfast over dinner. I was not a huge fan of the food for dinner Breakfast food was slightly better, and also it is less expensive. Characters for dinner included picture with Donald, and Goofy and Stitch made the rounds.
13. Day 10 - Last day
- We were checking out at noon. So we enjoyed one last morning at the resort. I had planned to drop off our kids at Aunty's for the afternoon as our flight was not until 9:30 PM. I stood in line at 7:20 AM. I was 4th in line. I was able to register the for an activity at 12:30 and for lunch which is served at 11:30. That way they would have a guaranteed spot that day. Wife and I had a date lunch at Ama Ama. The food for lunch is especially good. We did the tablet thing as a family in the afternoon and then waited for our last meal at Hawaii. We had dinner reservations at Monkey Pod for 4:45. We left at 6 PM to head to the airport and got there in no time as there was no traffic.
Some tips:
- The pool chair situation - We never had an issue getting pool chairs and we were there during the busy time. I recommend getting there early around 8-8:15 ish and you will be fine. Otherwise, there is always a chair or 2 available. We never needed more than 2 chairs
- Aunty's beachhouse - Register your kid/s online for free activities. That guarantees them a spot. Also, I never had any issue dropping my kids off. They all are very nice and your kids will have a great time. The only time you need to stand in line is when you need to register them for a meal or an extra activity for that day. That is not bad at all. I believe one parent can get down around 7:20 and they start taking names around 7:45, so in 30 minutes you are all done to take care of your business.
- Malasada's - Ulu Cafe has Malasada's. It is not like Leonard's, but they are really good. I actually preferred it over Leonard's and we had it every day. They are small in size and perfect to eat when you need a little extra snack before lunch. Keep in mind that they stop serving those at 11 AM.
- Shaved ice - We had shaved ice every day. It is really yummy and perfect way to cool off from the heat
- Island Cafe - We had island latte every afternoon from across the street. The best iced latte's I have ever had. There were two kinds that I alternated between: Island Latte adn Hawaiin Honey Latte. Can't find anything like it at Starbucks. I am still looking.
- Tablet activity - This is a lot of fun. There are 3 or 4 versions. You can only reserve for an hour. So plan accordingly. We did 2 during the last 2 days of our trip. Had we known earlier, we would have started earlier, as it is a lot of fun.
- Sunset pictures - Do plan to do this as a family. We reserved a private session, but you need not do that. You can just grab one of the photopass photographers and get some good family pictures. However, you do get what you pay for, and our private session pics are really good.
- Spa - The spa is really relaxing. Next time, we will plan to use our spa day for the last day when we are checking out. Getting ready at the spa is another experience itself and if we have another late evening flight, we will plan on that.
We all still think about our time spent at Hawaii and Aulani. It is truly a magical place. I read a lot of trip reports and opinions which helped me plan for our trip. I doubted some people when they plan to spend their entire time at Aulani without seeing any other part of the island; however, now that I have been and seen it all; I believe there is no wrong choice. You can have a great time by just staying at Aulani and not venturing out anywhere. Especially for young families, this is the case. It is hard to manage a full day by site-seeing and also relaxing. For our next trip, We plan to spend 4 nights at another island, most probably Maui and 4 nights at Aulani. Now that I have done all the touristy things, I will just stay put for the entire duration at Aulani!
I tried to upload pictures, but am having a difficult time with it. I will try to figure out later.
Here are some thoughts and background information from our trip that may help others. I am unable to upload pictures, but will try later.
1. Our family - 4 of us including DH, DW, DD (5) and DS (3). We are all Disney fans and have been to Disney World multiple times. We live in Texas so we are used to the summer heat
2. Planning for this trip - Our planning started in July 2016. I casually mentioned to my wife that we need to do something special for our upcoming 10 year anniversary in 2017. I suggested that we go to Hawaii as neither of us had gone and we just went with the flow. Before I know it, I had figured out how to rent DVC points from DVC brokers and booked a 1 bedroom OV room in early August. Next steps were flight tickets and stay at Waikikki, which were confirmed in Dec.
3. Pre-trip activities/reservations - we made reservations at Ama Ama and Makahiki for Breakfast and Dinner around 4-6 months out. We did Aunty's beachhouse registration for our kids 60 days out and got free activities that we had requested. I had also booked the surf with chip and Dale activity for my kids so that we could plan a romantic dinner at Ama Ama, which worked out great. In addition, we had couple spa reservations for one afternoon and Luau reservations at Paradise Cove Luau one evening. We had planned a morning at Pearl harbor and we made reservations for 9 AM for the USS Arizona Memorial tour.
4. Day 1 - Flight to HNL - We flew direct on AA from Dallas. The flight was long and boring. It is hard especially with a 3 year old and a 5 year old to keep them entertained for so long, but we did good overall. We got to HNL around 12:45 PM. We took out bags, got the rental car and headed to our hotel at Waikikki. We got there around 2:30. Had a quick lunch and headed to the waikikki beach.
After a little beach time, we spent rest of the evening by the pool. We all had an early bedtime and went to spleep around 7:30.
5. Day 2 - Makappu Lighthouse and kailua Beach - We were up early around 4:30 AM. We had planned to do a sun rise trek to Makappu lighhouse early in the morning. It was good we planned that way, as it gets really hot later in the day. We were done with our hike around 8:00 AM. It is a very easy hike with beautiful scenery. I highly recommend this for families with young kids who may not be able to do Diamond Head.
After the hike, we stopped at Cinnamon restaurant for brunch on our way to kailua Beach, which is at the windward side of Oahu. Kailua beach is beautiful and very different from waikikki beach as it was way calmer, but still not as calm as Ko Olina lagoon. Our Kids had a great time playing here.
We got back to Waikikki around 2:30 PM and rested in our hotel before our Dinner reservations at Tommy Bahama Cafe. Tommy Bahama Cafe is a fun place with a patio on top. We had a good time with some good food and drinks!
6. Day 3 - Hanauma Bay - We left waikikki early to arrive at the Hanauma Bay parking area around 8:15ish; we got there just past 8:30 and there were a few spots still available. I believe all spots were taken by 8:30, so beware of the warning. Parking does get full early. This place is absolutely gorgeous. We spend around 2-3 hours and had a great time. We had brought our own snorkels so we did not need any rentals, but there is a rental shop at the base for snorkels and other gear. there is also a concession stand and a gift shop at the top. I recommend buying trolley tickets as it gets hot in the afternoon coming up. I believe it is $2-3 per person.
After Hanauma Bay, we stopped at Kona Brewing Co, which is 5 minutes away for lunch. This place is really good with great selection of beer and good food. Thanks for suggestion to others on this forum that influenced me.
7. Day 4 - Pearl harbor and Aulani - We had Malasadas from Leonards Bakery (Yumm!!)
and headed to Pearl Harbor. We got to Pearl Harbor around 8:15 and spent 30 minutes visiting the grounds to get ready for our 9 AM Arizona Memorial tour. The tour takes and hour and a half and is very moving. They show you a movie before you go on the boat to tour the Memorial site. Keep in mind the movie is very intense, especially for young kids, but very moving.
After the tour, we spend some time at the gift shop. We could not do the Bowfin or USS Missouri as our son was 3 years old. I believe, kids 4 and under and not allowed. We decided to heard back to Waikikki, have a quick lunch, pick up our bags and head to Aulani. We stopped at target, which is 5 minutes before you reach Aulani on Highway H1 to pick up some basis groceries. We reached Aulani around 2 PM.
Our room was ready and we had a great room in the EWA tower, room 1482, Top floor of our building. All my requests were honored (EWA tower, overlooking the pool, higher floor).
We had dinner reservations at Monkey Pod, which has great food and drinks. $9 drinks during happy hour. After that we called it a night.
8. Day 5 - Character breakfast, resort day and Paradise Cove Luau - We started the day with a character breakfast at Makahiki. Aunty leads the party and it is a lot of fun for kids and adults. After breakfast, we got our kids registered at Aunty's beachhouse and also checked it out. The registration process takes 10 minutes. We spent time at the open house to get kids familiar with the place. Stictch showed up and danced around during that time as well. Rest of the morning was spent exploring the resort pools. We had evening reservation at Paradise Cove Luau, which is a quick walking distance from Aulani. The outdoor setting is impeccable. We had a great time and did a lot of crafts. We had the deluxe package, so we were served dinner, which was just ok. Show starts at 7:15 ish and is very entertaining. They keep the families entertained and it is very interactive. The fire part of the show was really cool! Our night ended close to 9 PM and we were all tired from a long day!
9. Day 6 - Resort day and Spa - We spend the morning at the resort pools. Kids had 12:30 reservations at Aunty's for an activity, so we dropped them at noon as he rule is to drop off 30 minutes in dry clothes prior to the activity to keep the spot. we had a couples massage booked for 1 PM, so we headed to the spa. The spa is awesome and very relaxing. We had a great time. I picked up the kids close to 3:30 and we got ready for our family portrait session at the beach which was scheduled for 5:30. The pictures from the portrait session came out really nice.
After that, as we were all dressed up, we headed to Roy's for our 6:15 reservations. The food at Roy's is really good. I highly recommend it!
10. Day 7 - Resort day and Ama Ama dinner date - we spent the morning around the resort area playing in the pool and beach. Did some stand up paddle boarding, which was a lot of fun. Kids can sit on the paddle board, while one parent does the rowing. My wife and I took turns as we had rented for an hour. We also participated ion one of the family play activities on the beach, which was a lot of fun as we got to interact as a family and get to know some other families as well. We had a dinner booked for the 2 of us for 5:30 at Ama Ama and I had registered kids for surfs up with Chip and Dale which from 5:30-8:30. Dinner at Ama Ama was incredible, with great views of the sunset. After dinner, I let my wife shop at the boutique store. She found a cute dress and a bag. Kids had a good time at the Chip and Dale party, but it was expensive at $79/kid. Next time, I will just stand up in line at 7:30 and get them registered for Dinner at $9/kid, that way they will have a guaranteed spot without having to do the party as they would be fairly content playing around as well.
11. Day 8 - Ama Ama breakfast, Pinneple Dole Plantation and North Shore - We had breakfast at Ama Ama and headed to the Dole plantation. Breakfast at Ama Ama is really good. Macadamia nut pancakes, fritatta, and some other options. All are good. We got to the dole plantation around 9:30 as it opened. We did the train ride, walked aroudn the garden, had a dole whip and did the maze. We were done around 11:45 and headed towards North Shore. Traffic was bad, and it took us over an hour to get to the area, we stopped at Ted's bakery for lunch. After lunch, we drive around Waimea Bay, and turtle beach and saw some turtles. Kids fell asleep in the car, so we did not stop. We headed back to Aulani. Kids had a good nap, so we decided to make most of the early evening by exploring the Meneheune bridge, which had just opened after being closed for almost a month for repairs. Kids had a great time at the bridge. Swimming pools were open until 10 PM as it was Memorial day weekend, so we made most of the extended time and enjoyed the pool. Had pizza for dinner by the pool. Nedless to say, it was another long day!
12. Day 9 - Resort day, DD's spa appointment, dinner at Makahikki - We spent the morning playing at the resort pool and beach. I did snorkeling at the Rainbow Reef. Water is cold, but lots of fish and water is clear, which makes it easy to see. FYI, there is also a good reef area on the beach near the Wainae side where you can snorkel. I saw quite a lot of fish there as well. DD had her spa appointment at 2 PM to dress up as a hawaiin princess. She got her nails and hair done and got a nice dress. It was fun to watch her get excited! We did the tablet thing in the afternoon and then headed to our dinner reservations at Makahikki. This is the Meneheune mischief with Uncle. It was fun, but if i had to choose one, I would do breakfast over dinner. I was not a huge fan of the food for dinner Breakfast food was slightly better, and also it is less expensive. Characters for dinner included picture with Donald, and Goofy and Stitch made the rounds.
13. Day 10 - Last day
- We were checking out at noon. So we enjoyed one last morning at the resort. I had planned to drop off our kids at Aunty's for the afternoon as our flight was not until 9:30 PM. I stood in line at 7:20 AM. I was 4th in line. I was able to register the for an activity at 12:30 and for lunch which is served at 11:30. That way they would have a guaranteed spot that day. Wife and I had a date lunch at Ama Ama. The food for lunch is especially good. We did the tablet thing as a family in the afternoon and then waited for our last meal at Hawaii. We had dinner reservations at Monkey Pod for 4:45. We left at 6 PM to head to the airport and got there in no time as there was no traffic.Some tips:
- The pool chair situation - We never had an issue getting pool chairs and we were there during the busy time. I recommend getting there early around 8-8:15 ish and you will be fine. Otherwise, there is always a chair or 2 available. We never needed more than 2 chairs
- Aunty's beachhouse - Register your kid/s online for free activities. That guarantees them a spot. Also, I never had any issue dropping my kids off. They all are very nice and your kids will have a great time. The only time you need to stand in line is when you need to register them for a meal or an extra activity for that day. That is not bad at all. I believe one parent can get down around 7:20 and they start taking names around 7:45, so in 30 minutes you are all done to take care of your business.
- Malasada's - Ulu Cafe has Malasada's. It is not like Leonard's, but they are really good. I actually preferred it over Leonard's and we had it every day. They are small in size and perfect to eat when you need a little extra snack before lunch. Keep in mind that they stop serving those at 11 AM.
- Shaved ice - We had shaved ice every day. It is really yummy and perfect way to cool off from the heat
- Island Cafe - We had island latte every afternoon from across the street. The best iced latte's I have ever had. There were two kinds that I alternated between: Island Latte adn Hawaiin Honey Latte. Can't find anything like it at Starbucks. I am still looking.
- Tablet activity - This is a lot of fun. There are 3 or 4 versions. You can only reserve for an hour. So plan accordingly. We did 2 during the last 2 days of our trip. Had we known earlier, we would have started earlier, as it is a lot of fun.
- Sunset pictures - Do plan to do this as a family. We reserved a private session, but you need not do that. You can just grab one of the photopass photographers and get some good family pictures. However, you do get what you pay for, and our private session pics are really good.
- Spa - The spa is really relaxing. Next time, we will plan to use our spa day for the last day when we are checking out. Getting ready at the spa is another experience itself and if we have another late evening flight, we will plan on that.
We all still think about our time spent at Hawaii and Aulani. It is truly a magical place. I read a lot of trip reports and opinions which helped me plan for our trip. I doubted some people when they plan to spend their entire time at Aulani without seeing any other part of the island; however, now that I have been and seen it all; I believe there is no wrong choice. You can have a great time by just staying at Aulani and not venturing out anywhere. Especially for young families, this is the case. It is hard to manage a full day by site-seeing and also relaxing. For our next trip, We plan to spend 4 nights at another island, most probably Maui and 4 nights at Aulani. Now that I have done all the touristy things, I will just stay put for the entire duration at Aulani!
I tried to upload pictures, but am having a difficult time with it. I will try to figure out later.
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