First Time at Aulani! For our Honeymoon!

StaceyDarling! said:

Hi everyone!

Me and DF will be going on our honeymoon this November to Aulani!!!! We are SO excited! We have never been to Hawaii, let alone Aulani! We both have been to Disney World many time before. But I have to admit, aside from my research online I am short for knowledge on the in's and out's of Aulani!

We would really appreciate ANY tips, advice or ideas for good excursions, etc. Must see's and do's.

I do have a few specific questions as well, but I'm really looking for any advice and suggestions!

1. Renting a car is worth it, right?
2. I'm sure excursions need to be pre-booked, but does dining NEED to be book in advance? As in all of our dinners. Will those have to be book in advance. I 'm sure we will book one or two during our 7 night stay, but I'm not sure if we will eat in a restaurant every night. We may look off property, as well as maybe room service.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide

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happymommy said:

Aloha! We don't stay at Aulani, but at the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club right next to it!

Renting a car - YES in my opinion you can't visit Oahu without a car. At all. You will likely want to explore, go to Pearl Harbor, the North Shore, the Swap Meet at the stadium, and into Kapolei to pick up groceries, like some breakfast items, or liquor or souvenirs at Costco, Target, or Walmart (I'm not a huge fan of Safeway on Oahu - even when we lived there but then I shopped mostly at the commissary).

Do you like sushi? And local? Sushi Bay in Kapolei has really great food, very cheap, and we went there 10 times last trip. No joke. My son loves fish. It's fun and casual (like super casual). Or you can always call and do take out. Rental car.

Hawaii is more casual than you can imagine. That was a culture shock when we moved there. Don't overdress or overpack! You will be fine anywhere (unless since it's your honeymoon you do want to dress up a bit for nice dinners). But you can easily get by very casual. My husband lives in swim trunks and a tee with flip flops the entire time we go back! I used to see folks in Safeway barefoot all the time. No joke.

Not 100% sure on dining, but I've heard the character breakfast many enjoy. Since you may not have kids, not sure how appealing that is to you. Most dining nearby you can get reservations at once you arrive, but I think that the character breakfast is popular with families so some book it beforehand. Not being a big breakfast eater, I can't relate, LOL!

Bring a floatie for the beach! It's so nice to relax on one in the lagoons! They're so peaceful! Not sure if Aulani has inflators, but the Marriott has two places to inflate them, so I buy them on clearance ahead of time at Target usually.

I don't know if Aulani has snorkels to borrow or not, but you can pick them up at Costco. If you go out early with stale bread, it's fun to snorkel (my kids have been snorkeling at Ko Olina since they were in preschool pretty much, so we've gone through many sets of them).

I have heard, over and over, to get up and out early to claim pool chairs at Aulani. To me that is a frustration, but it is what it is. There are only so many loungers. For a honeymoon, if you want a pool day, they have cabanas or something you can rent? I would splurge if you want to do a day at the pool.

Sunscreen is your friend.

Enjoy!

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Princess Tess said:

Congrats! Hubby and I were lucky enough to be there during their grand opening 5 yrs ago. It was amazing!
Tips: YES to a car - it's an island, not that hard to drive around (other than the traffic in Honolulu). I would save your $ from the excursions and do your own thing. Again it's an island, not that hard to drive. Visit the Turtle Bay resort - have a bite to eat at their outside bar and watch the surfers - visit Haleiwa and the Dole Plantation (have a Dole whip - you will thank me)
Food at Aulani was (IMHO) typical Disney food - nothing great. Ama Ama was very good. Across the street from Aulani is the Ko'Olina Golf Resort - there is a restaurant (Roy's) - excellent!
Sunsets are free and incredible - we snuck some champagne, pineapple and Honolulu Cookie Company cookies over to the rocks between Aulani and the resort next door and watched the sun set for over an hour (after it 'set') I've never seen such a beautiful sky - it was the highlight of the 2 weeks we spent there.

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igomezhnl said:

Congrats!

1. As a resident of Oahu. I would say it would be best to rent a vehicle. Especially if you want to tour around the island with no restrictions. Driving is easy compared to other cities, however traffic can be brutal but not unbearable. Parking at Aulani is pretty price at $35 per day. Many guests staying at Aulani rent a car partially on their trip. It is also common for guests not to rent a car during their stay, rather spend most of the time enjoying the resort and reserving excursions with included transportation. Alamo Rental is located at the resort, however pricing can be higher than renting it straight from the Airport.

If you are renting a car you can hike without booking an excursion. Plenty of tourist friendly hikes. Must do excursions is obviously Pearl Harbor, Surfing and my favorite zip lining

2. I would pre book dining reservations. Two sit down restaurants on site, Ama' Ama and Makahiki. I actually think breakfast at Ama' Ama is better then Makahiki. Although you don't have the fun of the character breakfast. Olelo Bar is great to enjoy appetizers, great drinks and hawaiian music. Room service is also pretty good, the Buffalo Wing Sandwich is great.

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Lizziemom said:

Aloha, Just got back Sunday 9/11 from 8 nights at Aulani. This was by far one of the best vacations ever. We were there for our 25th anniversary and enjoyed the resort and Oahu in general very much.

We rented a car and put more than 600 miles on it. Trips into Honolulu, the North Shore, The Windward and Leeward side of the island. There is so much to see and each side of the island has its own personality as well as different terrain. We used Yelp to find unique restaurants and ate where the locals eat. We found the traffic into Honolulu not that bad, of course we both often drove into Boston during rush hour so this didn't seem so bad. There is a HOV lane and it is for two or more riders, so that got us into town quickly.

We ate at Ama Ama for our anniversary and Roy's on our last night in Hawaii. Roy's was more memorable, I can't even remember what I had at Ama Ama. Kalbi Beef was fantastic, found it at several places. Never had it before but we both loved it. The Malasadas were as good as everyone says they are. Hade Poke three or more times, fantastic.

I thought we would spend all our resort time at the adult pool, but we enjoyed the beach more and always found chairs there.

Coming from the east coast, the time change has us up and out early. We explored and then had lunch out. Were back to Aulani by about 2PM for afternoon on the beach. Some nights we never had dinner after such a big lunch.

Didn't wear half the clothes I brought, will bring alot less next time.

Used Google Maps and a good old paper map we picked up at AAA before leaving home. The paper map saved us more than once when google maps fell short. You can't get very lost though, it is not that big of an island!

Resort was much less crowded once the weekend was over. Was tough to get a parking spot on the weekend, and the garage was wide open during the week.

Highlights are:
Diamond Head climb - bring sneakers, saw people in flip flops, kind of dangerous.
Pearl Harbor and the Punch Bowl
North Shore, bring bathing suit is worth a swim
Tour of Marine Base, my nephew is stationed there and got us on base

Not worth the price of admission:
Waimea Falls - 1 mile paved path to an ok water fall. Cost was about $38 for my husband, nephew and me.

Enjoy your Honeymoon, you picked a great place to go to!

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