Aulani: What's the One Thing You Wish You Knew?

ratt1345 · May 22, 2016

I will tell one that I would have said had I not been on these DISboards...the locals come in on the weekend, more so on Saturday. We were there back in October 2015. We arrived on a Thursday and used Friday to relax and enjoy the resort. Saturday was our day for Pearl Harbor. When we got back from our trip to PH, we saw the last river, the water slides and everything else water related were packed. Glad we used that day for Pearl Harbor and listened to what this board said!!

jtba · May 23, 2016

brimorga said:
One key will work for everyone. My kids keys never left the room.

that's so odd! i see that you were just there a couple weeks ago. interesting that we needed all our keys back in april yet you only needed one. i guess different CMs have different ways of doing things. perhaps they could've just looked us all up, then.

Mokat76 · May 23, 2016

ratt1345 said:
I will tell one that I would have said had I not been on these DISboards...the locals come in on the weekend, more so on Saturday. We were there back in October 2015. We arrived on a Thursday and used Friday to relax and enjoy the resort. Saturday was our day for Pearl Harbor. When we got back from our trip to PH, we saw the last river, the water slides and everything else water related were packed. Glad we used that day for Pearl Harbor and listened to what this board said!!

I thought those were controlled access. Or were they packed because the beach was more crowded with local residents?

twodogs · May 23, 2016

I think I read on here that locals get some special rates on the weekends to stay at the resort (stay-cation), so they are able to use all of the amenities since they are staying onsite for the night (I would assume they could stay for only Saturday night, but arrive/check-in early Saturday morning and leave at the end of the day on Sunday, thereby getting 2 days of the amenities for the price of a one night stay).

WDW_Diane · May 23, 2016

DisneyCruisin said:
Does anyone have car rental discount codes to share, or point me in the right direction to? Found codes here for our trip to Aulani two years ago, and saved a nice amount. Can't seem to find anything now. Heading back 6/12!

We are also arriving 6/12 after 5 nights on Kauai. We only get to stay 3 nights at Aulani, looking forward to it! We currently have a car rental with discount hawaii car rental as we got a great rate with them on our trip 3 years ago.

msaseifert · May 24, 2016

I have also read that locals pack the place on sat and sun. We arrive fri afternoon in Hawaii and sat at aulani. We plan to do pearl harbor on sunday so we can just relax the rest of the week. Also if something happens that we cant get our complete pearl harbor tour in because of weather, we have the rest of the week to do it.

heybets30 · May 26, 2016

MoKat76 - in October, especially (we were there also in October 2015 - the 6th through 10th), there is "fall break" in Oahu. We timed it horribly - but we chose to endure fall break in Oahu rather than be stuck in Ironman on Big Island traffic that trip after we booked our free flights. All the schools are out. That Friday/Saturday Aulani was at 100% capacity - front desk told me as we were checking out that Saturday that this is one of the BUSIEST weekends for local residents to come to the hotel. I have never been so happy to leave paradise than that morning with the influx of people checking in. At 8am, the pools/chairs were PACKED. It was pretty insane. We felt like sardines - lines for towels, kids didn't get to ride the slides - ~1/2 hour wait. Loses the charm real fast.

NancyDVC · May 30, 2016

Having read about "fall break" from school I am presuming that is over Columbus Day weekend? We are going October 8-15 on the Pride of America and staying at Aulani October 15-24. So hopefully we will be missing the fall break crowd. I am planning to do Pearl Harbor on our first Sunday so that we will have time to go later in the week in case the weather cancels our tour to the Arizona.

cgattis · May 30, 2016

NancyDVC said:
Having read about "fall break" from school I am presuming that is over Columbus Day weekend? We are going October 8-15 on the Pride of America and staying at Aulani October 15-24. So hopefully we will be missing the fall break crowd. I am planning to do Pearl Harbor on our first Sunday so that we will have time to go later in the week in case the weather cancels our tour to the Arizona.

That is our same plan for June of next year! Please come back and report on the cruise!! (As a matter of fact, I think I will go start a cruise thread right now!) Are you planning to do the swap meet after PH? Some have said it tends to wrap up earlier on Sunday, so that kinda puts a kink in what I had thought I'd do.

MichelleB · May 30, 2016

Has anyone done the swap meet in Oahu? Can you tell me about it? How long do you suggest we plan to be there & what are the best things to watch for?

happymommy · May 31, 2016

MichelleB said:
Has anyone done the swap meet in Oahu? Can you tell me about it? How long do you suggest we plan to be there & what are the best things to watch for?

I lived on Oahu so have been dozens of times. It's Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays (but more vendors on the weekend).

Go early! It gets horribly hot. Bring some water to drink.

Some things that are good deals are touristy tee shirts (average $4 each or so, often cheaper), beach towels, Aloha shirts, cheap luggage & bags, sarongs, tacky souvenirs, dried fruits and nuts (I like cuttlefish but I'm weird), and also often times you have folks selling soaps and bath salts, homemade jellies, and baked goods (which I avoid since they're sitting out in the sun, or at least I'm cautious of).

We usually stop for lunch on the way back to Ko Olina in Pearl City or take a drive up north to Dole Pineapple Plantation then the North Shore and make a long day of it (I own at the Marriott so go every other year now from the East Coast).

MichelleB · May 31, 2016

happymommy said:
I lived on Oahu so have been dozens of times. It's Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays (but more vendors on the weekend).

Go early! It gets horribly hot. Bring some water to drink.

Some things that are good deals are touristy tee shirts (average $4 each or so, often cheaper), beach towels, Aloha shirts, cheap luggage & bags, sarongs, tacky souvenirs, dried fruits and nuts (I like cuttlefish but I'm weird), and also often times you have folks selling soaps and bath salts, homemade jellies, and baked goods (which I avoid since they're sitting out in the sun, or at least I'm cautious of).

We usually stop for lunch on the way back to Ko Olina in Pearl City or take a drive up north to Dole Pineapple Plantation then the North Shore and make a long day of it (I own at the Marriott so go every other year now from the East Coast).

Thank you for the information! Can't wait to check it out!

AEB123 · Jun 4, 2016

MichelleB said:
Am I correct in that we'll get a lei when we check in? I was going to pay to have it done at the airport but hate to do that if the resort does it too.

Do you if every guest gets one when you arrive, even if you are just spending the day at Aulani visiting the restaurants and the spa?

happymommy · Jun 4, 2016

They have lei stands at the airport with folks making them - near the interisland terminal.

I used to get them there when I'd be picking up friends or family who came to visit us when we lived there.

twodogs · Jun 4, 2016

The other place we saw a mini version of the swap meet was near Giovanni's shrimp truck on the north shore. They had dresses, t shirts, inexpensive bracelets, hair clips, purses Etc. We didn't make the real swap meet because PH took so long, so this served our needs.

ski_mom · Jun 4, 2016

twodogs said:
The other place we saw a mini version of the swap meet was near Giovanni's shrimp truck on the north shore. They had dresses, t shirts, inexpensive bracelets, hair clips, purses Etc. We didn't make the real swap meet because PH took so long, so this served our needs.

Do you know if it's open every day?

twodogs · Jun 4, 2016

I'm not sure. It looked like a pretty permanent place. We were there on a Monday, Memorial Day.

twodogs · Jun 4, 2016

It was small, just one long stand. But they had a lot of the items others have mentioned at the swap meet. Price example: 4 for $10 for flower and wooden bead bracelets, flower hair clips,or flower Bobby pin clips.

MichelleB · Jun 5, 2016

AEB123 said:
Do you if every guest gets one when you arrive, even if you are just spending the day at Aulani visiting the restaurants and the spa?

We got them at the check in desk. They gave the girls flower ones & the guys the nut ones. They did confirm our reservation first. Glad I asked here because I was going to do it at the airport but waiting saved us a lot of $! Thank you all for the information!

Mokat76 · Jun 17, 2016

It was said countless times, but if you have access to a washer/dryer, pack less. Take more swimsuits and cover-ups. Take fewer street clothes.

DON'T FORGET TO USE YOUR SUNSCREEN. (Smarty-pants 20-somethings paid dearly for that mistake!)

Relax. The faster you get on island time, the better.

Aulani: What's the One Thing You Wish You Knew?

Always wishing I was Disney cruisin'!!!

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