First time at Aulani...need all the suggestions!

[candacesib]

We are hoping to score a 2 bedroom villa at Aulani next June. Our booking window opens on the 25th to rent DVC points so we won’t know that we have secured a reservation until then. We are looking at either a standard or island view. Can anyone recommend a room or tower? We will be there 5 nights and plan to do several things in Hawaii since this is our kids’ first trip. What are must-do’s at Aulani? I’ve read mixed reviews on the Luau. What are your thoughts on that?

Thank you!!

 

[Fred M]

Which tower is pretty much a non issue for most folks. The Ewa Tower is the longer of the two and has more rooms in it. All (or most of) the hotel space is in the other tower, so most of your DVC space will be in the Ewa Tower.

We’ve never done the luau on property because of the price point. A lot of people prefer to go to a luau in Honolulu if they happen to be out at that end of the island for the day.

For me there is no “must do” event at Aulani. Don’t get me wrong, it is the most relaxing place I’ve ever been! There will be daily activities on property (e.g. story telling, movie night, Aunty’s for the kids), and there are rentals on the beach for things like kayaks. But there is no one event that will make or break an Aulani visit.

Biggest issue at Aulani is the food. You have AMA AMA, the upscale restaurant, Makahiki, which is your character breakfast and dinner buffet, and Ulu Cafe, which is quick service. Then you have the pool bar and some kiosks. So there is not a lot of selection. With a 2 BR I’d take a quick trip to Walmart, Super Target, or Costco, all of which are close to the resort. The gift shop has basic DVC sundries and groceries, but it’s all very pricey. You also have a couple of restaurants across the street and an ABC store.

Good news is there is no wrong way to do Aulani.

 

[candacesib]

Thank you! My husband and I did Oahu and Maui last year without the kids and loved it! This trip we are bringing the whole family. We did Diamond Head Luau last time but I prefer to do something different this trip. We will be there 5 nights, which concerns me a little. I feel like we need more time to enjoy the resort and let the kids experience what Oahu has to offer.

Which tower is pretty much a non issue for most folks. The Ewa Tower is the longer of the two and has more rooms in it. All (or most of) the hotel space is in the other tower, so most of your DVC space will be in the Ewa Tower.

We’ve never done the luau on property because of the price point. A lot of people prefer to go to a luau in Honolulu if they happen to be out at that end of the island for the day.

For me there is no “must do” event at Aulani. Don’t get me wrong, it is the most relaxing place I’ve ever been! There will be daily activities on property (e.g. story telling, movie night, Aunty’s for the kids), and there are rentals on the beach for things like kayaks. But there is no one event that will make or break an Aulani visit.

Biggest issue at Aulani is the food. You have AMA AMA, the upscale restaurant, Makahiki, which is your character breakfast and dinner buffet, and Ulu Cafe, which is quick service. Then you have the pool bar and some kiosks. So there is not a lot of selection. With a 2 BR I’d take a quick trip to Walmart, Super Target, or Costco, all of which are close to the resort. The gift shop has basic DVC sundries and groceries, but it’s all very pricey. You also have a couple of restaurants across the street and an ABC store.

Good news is there is no wrong way to do Aulani.

 

[dachsie]

Have you considered staying a few days at Waikiki to do some of the touring stuff and then go to Aulani. 5 days does t seem long enough to do both to me

 

[Fred M]

Thank you! My husband and I did Oahu and Maui last year without the kids and loved it! This trip we are bringing the whole family. We did Diamond Head Luau last time but I prefer to do something different this trip. We will be there 5 nights, which concerns me a little. I feel like we need more time to enjoy the resort and let the kids experience what Oahu has to offer.

I think 5 nights is more than enough to enjoy what Aulani has to offer. If left to my own devices, I would just cruise around the lazy river for 5 days (meals included!). But 5 nights for both the rest of Oahu and Aulani might not be enough.

The age range at Aunty’s is 3 to 12. If there is one must do and you have kids in that range is to feed the kids early and get a nice table for 2 at AMA AMA for a sunset dinner. It won’t disappoint!

 

[candacesib]

Have you considered staying a few days at Waikiki to do some of the touring stuff and then go to Aulani. 5 days does t seem long enough to do both to me

I am wanting to extend vacation by a couple of days but not sure hubby can take off from work that long.

 

[candacesib]

I think 5 nights is more than enough to enjoy what Aulani has to offer. If left to my own devices, I would just cruise around the lazy river for 5 days (meals included!). But 5 nights for both the rest of Oahu and Aulani might not be enough.

The age range at Aunty’s is 3 to 12. If there is one must do and you have kids in that range is to feed the kids early and get a nice table for 2 at AMA AMA for a sunset dinner. It won’t disappoint!

We have 3 kids in that age range and will definitely check out Aunty’s. We are busy travelers who love to get up and go and do as much as we can. I’d love to extend vacation but not sure hubby can get off from work any longer.

 

[TreAntDeu]

Dinning:

check out the dining at The Marriott and the Four Seasons, which are both walking distance from Aulani along the beach.

Avoid AMA AMA, way overpriced and the food, while not bad, is not worth even a 1/5 of what you will end up spending. If you want a fancy dinner on the beach, do something at The Marriott or Four Seasons, I like Mina's Fish House.

Look at the stuff across the street as well. Like Monkeypod Kitchen.

Makahiki is better at dinner in my opinion.

Ulu Cafe is great at lunch(poké bowls).

The fish stand by the pool is good for what it is.

Pool bar is safe food that kids will love.

Olelo Room is a bit pricey, but we love sitting there getting apps and listening to music.

Do breakfast in your room. You will have a rice cooker so buy some nice raw rice(not minute rice, go for legit but cheap sticky rice or buy the bag they have at the resort) and enjoy that thing. I love having the scalding hot sticky rice with a runny egg and some soy sauce in the morning.
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Luau was awesome. Fantastic show, great food, and the VIP seating was so worth it for us. The kids having extra time to do the activities and stuff is great with VIP. Plus, the unlimited drinks at the bar were great.

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Do at least one of the free (or charged) activities everyday. We got a tour of the resort from Uncle to learn about the Hawaiian cultural influences on the architecture and botany. And we did stargazing with an astronomer. So fun.

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Take the family to Dole Plantation one day. I loved the store there as a kid and the train ride plus the instructional live demos are great educational fun. We learned how to make chocolate, grow our own pineapple, and found out about Li Hing Powder(powder you put on pineapple when you eat it. Its like drugs its so good.)

 

[tankin]

@candacesib So here's our suggestions ...
Plan one day on the North Shore (Dole, Turtle Beach, Polynesian Cultural Center).
I'd skip AMA AMA for the kids. We tend to do the dinner buffet first night, character buffet the next morning and then hit the grocery store for breakfast and lunch after than.
We like Monkey Pod across the street (I have a couple of friends who live on Oahu and drive out to eat there)
Island Country Market across the street should be your go to for non-disney items. Much cheaper.
Depending on your kids, I'd make sure that Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head and Waikiki were all on your list (in that order). Try to score your Pearl Harbor tickets directly from the park service (60 days out I think) you'll save yourself some money.
We've done a couple luaus. My kids like Disney's because its kid friendlier.

 

[gatechfan99]

We recently did 6 nights there with 3 kids aged between 5 and 11.
-They were ok with Aunty's Beach House, but said the DCL Kids Clubs were better.
-We took 2 days for non-Aulani things. One day we went to Kualoa Ranch for the movie site tour and then circled the island on the way back through the North Shore. That was a great day to just see the island and make some unscheduled stops. The other day we left was for Pearl Harbor and it was only really a half day.
-We had character breakfast at Makahiki which felt like a must-do. Ama Ama was fine, just expensive. We rented a car and had lots of groceries in the kitchen so that helped with breakfast, some lunches, snacks.
-We did eat at the Pizza restaurant across the street along with the Mexican place. I didn't see they were really any cheaper than eating on property.
-Obviously the pools and lazy river are great. Kids loved the water slides too. Our youngest enjoyed the toddler area very much. Easy to spend hours out there without getting bored or feeling too crowded. If you want to spend time on the beach and in the lagoon, that's great too and probably less crowded.
-Best advice is just to give yourself leeway to have time to explore while you're there. I had to fight myself not to fall into the Disneyworld trap and overschedule everything. That left a lot of free time while we were there which made it very relaxing.

 

[candacesib]

Thank you all for the tips! Dole Plantation and Pearl Harbor are both on the list. We did those our last trip and loved it but we didn’t have kids with us. We also thought about doing a submarine ride or a dolphin encounter. We love DCL and have heard that Aulani is similar.

 

[starryrita]

Fill out forms for Aunty's before trip so you don't have to do it there. Dole Plantation bring sunscreen. The maze is awesome. Kualoa Ranch do the UTV tour. Feels like a four wheeler but you can take the whole fam. We LOVED it. Surf lessons in Waikiki not anywhere else. Longer waves, less turbulent. Luau was great. Catamaran was with snorkeling but we had dolphins swim with the boat. Touched an baby octopus and starfish in the ocean!

 

[crazydad123]

With kids, I'd recommend a rental car and go in to Kapolei for some local food. Koa Pancake House is great, also small places with lunch plates (entree, rice, macaroni salad) are good for a midday meal, get malasadas from Leonard's food truck or in Honolulu, and hit the north shore for garlic shrimp. For days on the go, get good stuff from the island market across the street, or the supermarkets. For true culinary adventures, try Zippy's. Makahiki is great, but I only do it once--huge breakfasts mean I have no energy the rest of the day. Ama Ama is also a one-time treat.
Drive all around the island, enjoy Aulani when you want to rest, swim, watch movies, etc. Can't get much better!

 

[Amw1064]

This was our 4th trip over the past 5 years to Aulani. We went for a once in a lifetime trip and loved it so much we went back 3 years in a row. My daughter made this video of our trip this time around. We were there for 11 nights. This trip we did not do Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation or a luau, but have on previous trips. (this is a 16 year olds perspective on our trip. I was allowed no input or there clearly would be no up close videos of me

 

[TreAntDeu]

This was our 4th trip over the past 5 years to Aulani. We went for a once in a lifetime trip and loved it so much we went back 3 years in a row. My daughter made this video of our trip this time around. We were there for 11 nights. This trip we did not do Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation or a luau, but have on previous trips. (this is a 16 year olds perspective on our trip. I was allowed no input or there clearly would be no up close videos of me

Love that music. Brings me right back to the lobby. Great Video.

 

[nkereina]

Can anyone recommend a room or tower?

Agree with PP that tower doesn't matter. The resort is not that big and you can easily walk between the two towers both outside and through floor 3 where they connect (lobby area). The Waianae tower is slightly smaller and closer to the parking garage, spa, Ulu Café, and adult pool. The Ewa tower is closer to the store, Aunty's, Luau, Makahiki, Ama Ama and Off the Hook.

What are must-do’s at Aulani?

Rent the iPads and do the Menehune hunt around the resort with the kids. It's free. DH and I did it as two adults just to kill time before going to the airport and it was cute. You'd never see or realize the special effects that exist within the resort unless you do this! Also, we enjoyed breakfast at Ama Ama and happy hours at Monkeypod across the street, which is family friendly. Book a reservation on Open Table before you go to avoid the standby wait.

With 5 nights, I would do 1-2 days offsite only so you have time to fully enjoy the resort. With kids, I would visit Kualoa Ranch and maybe the North Shore or Kailua. You could do both in one day. I love Waikiki, but with kids and limited time, it wouldn't be my first choice.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I disagree about the tower. We love Ewe rooms in the 50 series 9th floor and above for ocean view. Or below 5 for garden and pool view. The rooms on the 50 series side, 950, 952, etc all have the bigger rectangle balconies and great views of ocean and pool. Also you can sit on lanai and listen to the music from the Oleo room rght below. And be sure to request dedicated two bedroom not the lock off, you get two and half bathrooms.

We have been to Aulani 6 times. Never for less than 10 nights. But we have seen the island and all the others too. We just love the resort. We alwYs go in May. Good luck with June. It gets a lot harder but a 2 bedroom is easier than a studio. The 2 bedroom standard or garden will be harder than ocean view. Too bad you can’t go earlier than June. The points for 2 bedroom ocean view are 70 per night in May but go up in June as do all the other room types.

 

[sticker231]

This was our 4th trip over the past 5 years to Aulani. We went for a once in a lifetime trip and loved it so much we went back 3 years in a row. My daughter made this video of our trip this time around. We were there for 11 nights. This trip we did not do Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation or a luau, but have on previous trips. (this is a 16 year olds perspective on our trip. I was allowed no input or there clearly would be no up close videos of me

Thanks for sharing the video

 

[Mommy2Logan]

I've been to a lot of luaus and this was not my favorite, nor the worst. For $500 for 3 people, we decided it was one and done. What I loved about it was the focus on the kids and all of the activities beforehand. My son got a Maui hook which he still wears when we go out to dinner and he also got a temporary tattoo that was a lot of fun. What I didn't like was the story line. The costumes were beautiful and the dancers were good. The food was average but on par with other lauas I've been to.

Regarding the towers, I forget which tower we were in (it is the one with the spa) and we had a room on the 2nd floor overlooking the lazy river/gardens. We were VERY pleased with our room. I loved sitting out on the balcony in the morning and listening to the water and soft hawaiian music that they pipe in. It is the quietest time of day at Aulani (other than when you are sleeping) and it was such a peaceful way to start the day. It felt like we were in a rainforest or jungle with all of the green foliage.

Ask some staff/locals about secret beach which you can walk to along the path by the Four Seasons. You will have to climb some rocks, but we did it with a four year old so its doable with kids.

We did a boat ride at Aulani and it was a highlight of our trip.

If you want to Paddle board, get on a waiting list early, around 9. It's a blast but it can get windy in the afternoon and sometimes there was a long wait. Other times we got one right away.

If you like mai tais, walk down to the Marriott Beach Club and get a frozen mai tai from Longboards. It is out of this world and much better than the mai tais at Aulani and they are $5 before 11 a.m.