Aulani as a local?

[Looptyloo]

Anyone else who lives in Hawaii? My husband is in the military so we recently moved to Honolulu for a few years. I'm interested in a staycation at the Aulani at some point but was wondering if there are any special tips as somebody already living in the area...

Also, if anyone has last minute needs while at the Aulani I'd be happy to help out and/or meet some other Disney fans!

 

[happymommy]

Hi! I'm no longer on the island, but was for 3 years 1995 - 1998 (K Bay). We used to LOVE to drive over when it was just the Ihilani hotel for dinner and drinks a couple times - felt like a neighbor island without the flight. We often would go for the night on a weekend to Waikiki to the Hale Koa or more often the Moana (they had great Kamaaina rates, $99).

I moved to Maryland but we bought at the Marriott Ko Olina years ago, so go every other year (but did the last 3 years in a row due to a trip to Korea in between our years).

My one tip is to TAKE ADVANTAGE of your time there! Go on staycations! Visit the other islands while you can, especially with your discounts! We took our son after he was born at Tripler to Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island, plus also went to Kauai when I was pregnant, and Maui two other times (Big Island was my favorite - go stay at KMC if you can get a cottage but we broke it up between there and a condo rental in Kona). If you can get a Kamaaina or military rate at Aulani, go, as much as you can. You will never regret it. You're lucky that you can bring a cooler with your own food, meats and fish to grill, drink mixings, etc... I finally learned how to cook fish living in Hawaii, and it's to grill it! Our commissary had just gotten a great fish market area, and it was amazingly cheap and fresh. I grilled fish all the time.

It can be hard living there. We had bug/gecko issues in our (old) house on base. It's been torn down since then and new housing was built (about time). I hated some aspects of that, but enjoyed doing fun touristy things since we got such good deals.

Sorry I'm rambling but if you want to PM me I can answer any questions!

 

[buffettgirl]

Anyone else who lives in Hawaii? My husband is in the military so we recently moved to Honolulu for a few years. I'm interested in a staycation at the Aulani at some point but was wondering if there are any special tips as somebody already living in the area...

Also, if anyone has last minute needs while at the Aulani I'd be happy to help out and/or meet some other Disney fans!

I'm also here (live in AMR) and I don't think I can justify the expense of aulani when there are so many other things to do and so many other hotels to stay at. We've eaten there and met friends there on the beach/drinks and it just doesn't do much for me, considering what a big WDW fan I am. It was fun, but I'm not going to stay there unless I see some incredible rate. We also don't have any little kids with us, so there's no real draw for my older teenage son, either. We have gone to the lagoon (4th lagoon) and that was fun, just for the day. Mostly now we do our beach time down in waikiki getting drinks at the hale koa or at one of the other places and exploring all the restaurants on the island. When we first arrived we were beach front in waikiki anyway, so I feel like I've done that already. I think my next staycation will be one of the cabins at Pililaau or Barbers point, or even Bellows, or again down on waikiki. And probably in the fall we'll do another island. But I don't see there being a staycation at Aulani unless my (former CM) daughter comes to visit and then I know there will be no getting around it. LOL

 

[Looptyloo]

buffettgirl, we are on AMR too! We only got to Hawaii in January and we are definitely enjoying our time so far, checking out different beaches and fun stuff We spent 30 days at the Hale Koa when we first got here so we've had our full of that for at least a little while haha.

Our kids are 7 & 8 and love the idea of the lazy river and everything at the Aulani. We've spent some time at lagoon #4 and #2 with a walk over to Aulani for a snack and to see some characters. I think at least a short stay will be a must before we leave the island

Happymommy, I didn't know about kamaaina rates at the Moana, I will have to check it out since I've drooled over it every time we drive by, haha!

I guess for now I will just keep an eye out for not so crazy rates

 

[buffettgirl]

Well, hey there neighbor!

With kids that age, then I certainly think you should give it a try. They'll love the lazy river and the slides and that stuff. Absolutely! The nice things about the lagoons are that they're great for kids who might not be great with waves. There's a lot of fun to be had just floating around. But the beach at Hickam is also nice for that sort of stuff too, and it's close and usually there are lots of kids to play with. Too bad our stupid pool isn't open...grrrrrrr

 

[Looptyloo]

We haven't been to the beach at Hickam yet, I will have to check it out since it's probably the closest beach...
It is too bad about the pool! I know they say lack of lifeguards but I wish they could just put up notices of no lifeguards and let us swim on our own...

 

[buffettgirl]

We haven't been to the beach at Hickam yet, I will have to check it out since it's probably the closest beach...
It is too bad about the pool! I know they say lack of lifeguards but I wish they could just put up notices of no lifeguards and let us swim on our own...

Don't even get me started! LOL Luckily, there are beaches and they're not far. But I feel bad for those without cars and who have little kids and they just want to get them in the pool. Unfortunately, with the crap that is going on all the time at the basketball court I'd keep my kids far far far away from the splash pad, unless you want them to learn a whole new vocabulary.

 

[Looptyloo]

Don't even get me started! LOL Luckily, there are beaches and they're not far. But I feel bad for those without cars and who have little kids and they just want to get them in the pool. Unfortunately, with the crap that is going on all the time at the basketball court I'd keep my kids far far far away from the splash pad, unless you want them to learn a whole new vocabulary.

Haha, luckily my kids are old enough that the splash pad seems a bit small to them. My sister bought us a season pass for Wet N Wild, so we like going there for water play that is easier clean up than the beach But it would be really difficult with the very little kids or without a car

Are there any favorite restaurants you would recommend? I'm always looking for a good place to try out for date night or with the family...

 

[buffettgirl]

Haha, luckily my kids are old enough that the splash pad seems a bit small to them. My sister bought us a season pass for Wet N Wild, so we like going there for water play that is easier clean up than the beach But it would be really difficult with the very little kids or without a car

Are there any favorite restaurants you would recommend? I'm always looking for a good place to try out for date night or with the family...

We've only been here since last summer, so we're still trying new places all the time, but I like Big City Diner in Aiea , in the mall parking lot.(there's also one in Ward next to the movie theater) It's sort of a mash up of asian meets local meets american. And over in Kalihi on N School street, just past Houghtailing heading Diamond Head way, there's a local place called Helenas for take out. Neighborhood is sketchy but if you happen to be at the Bishop museum it's walking distance. My son and his friends ate at the Hot Pot place in the strip mall across from Pearlridge and he said that was an experience. I guess also at lunch you can get a bunch of food trucks in the Hickam parking lot by the Burger King but we haven't done that yet. Oh Makers and Tasters downtown near the fish pier (Ward / Ala Moana) has a lot of trucks too and they have different themes on fridays once a month. We've had some good stuff there. And I just saw in the paper today that the new Japan Village Walk is open in Ala Moana. Dying to check that out. Oh.. Moanalua 99 is good too but wicked trashy but lots of good stuff to try. That's on Mapunapuna at the very end. Past where Ben Franklins is on Paa st.

 

[alohamom]

And I just saw in the paper today that the new Japan Village Walk is open in Ala Moana. Dying to check that out.

YES! I cant wait...

 

[Looptyloo]

YES! I cant wait...

Maybe that's what I saw the HUGE line for at Ala Moana this morning? Haha

 

[sgrap]

Have you been to Bellows Beach on a weekday yet? My friend who used to be stationed there gave us that tip. Only open to military on weekdays. We went because our son just commissioned, so has a CAC. It was amazing. Softest sand I've ever felt and hardly anyone there. There were signs that said the beach was closed due to training, but we kept driving on the road and eventually asked at a gate, and the guard said it was only a certain part of the beach and the recreational beach was still open. It was the best beach we went to on the island by far!

I was also told that many locals do Aulani when the rates are cheaper. They do like a 1-night stay but get 2 full days out of it. I think it would totally be worth it because the grounds are so beautiful and the lazy river is the BEST!

Enjoy your time there!

 

[buffettgirl]

Maybe that's what I saw the HUGE line for at Ala Moana this morning? Haha

Really? It did open today I think. Locals talk about the original with such nostalgia, so maybe.

Have you been to Bellows Beach on a weekday yet? My friend who used to be stationed there gave us that tip. Only open to military on weekdays. We went because our son just commissioned, so has a CAC. It was amazing. Softest sand I've ever felt and hardly anyone there. There were signs that said the beach was closed due to training, but we kept driving on the road and eventually asked at a gate, and the guard said it was only a certain part of the beach and the recreational beach was still open. It was the best beach we went to on the island by far!

I was also told that many locals do Aulani when the rates are cheaper. They do like a 1-night stay but get 2 full days out of it. I think it would totally be worth it because the grounds are so beautiful and the lazy river is the BEST!

Enjoy your time there!

I have been over to bellows a few times. It's gorgeous over there. But it takes me like 45 min to get there from home and most of the time I'd rather just make a quick run down to Ala Moana or Waikiki...sit and swim for an hour or two, and come home. It takes me about 15 min to get downtown on a day like this with no traffic. Like right now...heading there. It's already 2. We'll have no trouble with parking. We'll swim. Maybe get snacks and a drink. come home. I don't feel like "oh I just drove for 45 min I should stay longer". We also like going over to Pililaau just north of Aulani, but again, that's like 45 min or so and sometimes I just want to get there and plop my *** in the sand.

 

[Looptyloo]

Have you been to Bellows Beach on a weekday yet? My friend who used to be stationed there gave us that tip. Only open to military on weekdays. We went because our son just commissioned, so has a CAC. It was amazing. Softest sand I've ever felt and hardly anyone there. There were signs that said the beach was closed due to training, but we kept driving on the road and eventually asked at a gate, and the guard said it was only a certain part of the beach and the recreational beach was still open. It was the best beach we went to on the island by far!

I was also told that many locals do Aulani when the rates are cheaper. They do like a 1-night stay but get 2 full days out of it. I think it would totally be worth it because the grounds are so beautiful and the lazy river is the BEST!

Enjoy your time there!

Thanks so much! I've only been to Bellows once so far and it wasn't even for the beach, haha! We will definitely have to try it out on a weekday.
The cheaper Aulani rates are what I'm hoping for, but I have no idea HOW cheap I should be watching for and how often that might happen... A 1 or 2 night stay would be great since we just want to hang out at the resort haha

Really? It did open today I think. Locals talk about the original with such nostalgia, so maybe.

I was over there at about 9:30 to let my girls pin trade outside the Disney Store (with the DVC people) and the line went from the side closest to Piikoi to well past the Old Navy. At first I thought they were people lining up for Old Navy's $1 Flip Flops haha! I couldn't see exactly what they were lined up for because of how they were controlling the traffic.
There was also a new bakery opening but their line looked more reasonable at least...

 

[buffettgirl]

I was over there at about 9:30 to let my girls pin trade outside the Disney Store (with the DVC people) and the line went from the side closest to Piikoi to well past the Old Navy. At first I thought they were people lining up for Old Navy's $1 Flip Flops haha! I couldn't see exactly what they were lined up for because of how they were controlling the traffic.
There was also a new bakery opening but their line looked more reasonable at least...

I think that's the side of the mall where the Japan thing is, right? the Ewa wing? That would be crazy nuts. I'm going to go this week and check it out.

 

[dclpluto]

Hi! I'm no longer on the island, but was for 3 years 1995 - 1998 (K Bay). We used to LOVE to drive over when it was just the Ihilani hotel for dinner and drinks a couple times - felt like a neighbor island without the flight. We often would go for the night on a weekend to Waikiki to the Hale Koa or more often the Moana (they had great Kamaaina rates, $99).

I moved to Maryland but we bought at the Marriott Ko Olina years ago, so go every other year (but did the last 3 years in a row due to a trip to Korea in between our years).

My one tip is to TAKE ADVANTAGE of your time there! Go on staycations! Visit the other islands while you can, especially with your discounts! We took our son after he was born at Tripler to Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island, plus also went to Kauai when I was pregnant, and Maui two other times (Big Island was my favorite - go stay at KMC if you can get a cottage but we broke it up between there and a condo rental in Kona). If you can get a Kamaaina or military rate at Aulani, go, as much as you can. You will never regret it. You're lucky that you can bring a cooler with your own food, meats and fish to grill, drink mixings, etc... I finally learned how to cook fish living in Hawaii, and it's to grill it! Our commissary had just gotten a great fish market area, and it was amazingly cheap and fresh. I grilled fish all the time.

It can be hard living there. We had bug/gecko issues in our (old) house on base. It's been torn down since then and new housing was built (about time). I hated some aspects of that, but enjoyed doing fun touristy things since we got such good deals.

Sorry I'm rambling but if you want to PM me I can answer any questions!

SEMPER FI

 

[happymommy]

OOh Yah!

I feel like once you live in Hawaii it never leaves you.

We may move back one day to retire.

 

[higoofy]

Yes, Go. Doing a staycation at Aulani was the best thing we did as a family besides island hop while we were stationed on Oahu. We went the weekdays after the new year when the kids were still on vacation and most people were back at work. it was great!

 

[Looptyloo]

Yes, Go. Doing a staycation at Aulani was the best thing we did as a family besides island hop while we were stationed on Oahu. We went the weekdays after the new year when the kids were still on vacation and most people were back at work. it was great!

Oh, that sounds like a great time! That's the other thing is finding a cheaper time that goes along with the kids school schedule.

How long did you stay?

 

[APears]

You should definitely stay atleast one day! They have kama'aina and military rates, though I just called today and those are all blocked out through the summer (until the end of August). If anything, I'd suggest coming to just walk around and hang out at the lagoons and grabbing a bite at Monkeypod for happy hour.

We live in Kapolei so Aulani and the lagoons are much closer to us, though if we lived on the other side of the island I'd be at Bellows every single week! We're here for a few more years, and we've loved being stationed here so far. Enjoy the hikes, beaches, and food!