First timers, bunch of questions

[VGCgroupie]

My family and I will be taking our first trip to Aulani (and Oahu in general) in May. I have a few questions if anyone could help out.

1. We booked the luau already but is this info right on the rest?

1.1. Dining is 30 days out (day by day)

1.2. Activities (make your own ears, ukulele) now 45 days out (day by day)

1.3. Cabana rental is 90 days out (length of stay) (over the phone)

Are all of these midnight Hawaii time? Or 6 am like Disneyland? Reports seem to be all over the place when I google and get old threads here. Some people say midnight some say 6 am….

2. I hear getting pool chairs are a pain, but what about the lagoon beach? We’d rather be by the ocean water than the pool, do I need to get out there at the break of dawn also?

3. I rented DVC points for the first time , and I see dvc gets free parking. Is there anything special I need to do to make sure I don’t get charged?

4. My son is dying to ride around in a jeep . Can anyone recommend a rental car company that does jeeps with removable tops (airport pickup and drop off preferred)

5. We are planning to explore the island (dole, botanical garden, Waikiki etc) is there anywhere on the island a young, tourist family should avoid?

Any other hot tips would be great!

Ive read many many reviews that Dole is a bust. Personally I would skip it unless you know you have a bunch of time or will be back many times. We also chose to skip the botanical garden, honestly every time we left Aulani my son (9) was just wanting to get back to Aulani, although he did love the UTV at Kualoa. He didn't love the ride in a bus movies tour there though, he was a bit bored.

We strongly disliked Waikiki. It doesnt feel super family friendly to me. I don't mean it's unsafe, I just mean it felt like a busy fully packed bikini/hard body surf city... complete opposite of Aulani. Our encounters with people who work in Waikiki was also not great, they aren't great with kids.

 

[Monykalyn]

Everyone should see Waikiki for themselves at least once. We own in Waikiki with a view to Diamond head. The area is very walkable and sunset at Tikis or Dukes is a must do at least once. There’s surf lessons available, chairs for rent etc.
the island has a completely different personality on other side-stunningly gorgeous and lots of easy to moderate hikes.
Leonard’s malasadas. Eat when hot and fresh. We get ours from one of the food trucks so much shorter line .
Sunset catamaran sail-just wow.
Have a great time !

 

[jimmymc]

3. I've heard of some people being charged before, but the front desk removed them with no questions asked. Normally it's automatic, but software bugs happen.

5. As a tourist, you won't end up anywhere dangerous. Just don't leave anything in your cars when parking at tourist places. Car breaks in are common.

Places I recommend going, in no particular order:

• Pearl Harbor
• Haleiwa
• Kawela Bay Beach
• Ka'ena Point State Park
• Kualoa Ranch
• Makapu'u Pointt
• Halona Beach
• Koko Crater
• Diamond Head (get there very early)

Food recommendations:

• Sunrise Shack
• Leonard's Malasadas
• Foodland
• Moke's Bread and Breakfast
• Jax Wood Fired Pizza
• Kono's BBQ
• Food trucks on Kamehameha Highway - I though Giovanni's was overrated, but there are tons of other options
• Zippy's
• Any ramen, pho, or other noodle place you find. Oahu has great noodles

 

[jimmymac613]

Any parking recommendations for visiting Haleiwa or Laniakea Beach on the North Shore?

 

[pineapplepalms]

If you’re planning to have a car, we bought the Go City Oahu passes from Costco and got more than our money’s worth. We did the Aloha Kai luau using the passes and had a great time, although it is a longer drive from Aulani. Coral Crater is close to Aulani and has ziplining which my friends did, but we just did the Adventure Tower which is included with the passes. I think the tower is actually more challenging than ziplining since you need to balance and it takes a while to cross the various stages of the course.

Costco had a lot of options for shirts and sarongs, as well as snacks and nuts to bring home. If you go to Foodland, you can sign up for a free account to take advantage of their sales.

We’ve done various hikes before kids, but with our kids we just did the Waimea Valley hike which was great for us. We also did the luau there, which was good but we preferred the Aloha Kai luau a bit more. In terms of luau food, we actually like the Aulani one the best since it has more options and better options for our kids.

We love doing a North Shore day (or 2!) where we stop at various food trucks for garlic shrimp and other food, plus shave ice places and fresh fruit. We stop at some beaches along the way, and this time we also did a lei making class on the beach using the Go City passes.

Waikiki is great for shopping and dining. Our friends spent half their week at Aulani relaxing and enjoying the pools and beach, and the other half staying in Waikiki going shopping and eating good food. Their kids also did surf lessons there.

 

[PoppyJ]

Haleiwa

Assuming you want to park and walk around town?

Put in directions for Matsumoto Shave Ice. Right before you get there, you can turn left into a parking lot behind the buildings. If there's no parking there, keep driving and there's another small parking lot on your left.

People also park on the side of the road.

Laniakea Beach

Parking is horrible, and I've never wanted to stop. I believe there is parking if you go really early in the morning but you also risk getting double parked.



If you are going here just for the sea turtles, I recommend walking from Aulani down to Paradise Cove Public Beach. We saw sea turtles there every time we went.

For snorkeling, I recommend driving a little further up and going to Shark's Cove (but not in winter).

 

[jimmymac613]

Thanks PoppyJ- you're awesome!

 

[jimmymac613]

Any parking recommendations to go walk around Waikiki with 9 and 7 year old girls? Anything special for them to see?

 

[GrimGrinningGuy]

Laniakea Beach on the North Shore?

Isnt Laniakea beach on the Windward (East) side of the island?

 

[PoppyJ]

Isnt Laniakea beach on the Windward (East) side of the island?

You might be thinking about Lanikai Beach in Kailua. Also very nice!

 

[GrimGrinningGuy]

You might be thinking about Lanikai Beach in Kailua. Also very nice!

Yep that’s the one. It’s on my list too!

 

[PoppyJ]

Any parking recommendations to go walk around Waikiki with 9 and 7 year old girls? Anything special for them to see?

Other than the beach, the Honolulu Zoo and Waikiki Aquarium are at the end of Waikiki near Diamond Head. I've never been but the kids might like it! Highly recommend Diamond Head.

Most of Waikiki is filled with designer stores...

Ala Moana Mall is close by. Nijiya Market is fun to check out Japanese products and food. Liliha Bakery is really good. And I really like the Uniqlo store there.

There's tons of public parking garages in Waikiki. You won't have any problem finding one. If you're looking for free parking, parking is free at Ala Moana. I belive there are plenty of buses going to Waikiki.

 

[GrimGrinningGuy]

Any suggestions when we should rent our far for the best price? Going in May

 

[PoppyJ]

Any suggestions when we should rent our far for the best price? Going in May

So my husband cannot hang out at the resort for an entire day... We go somewhere every day, even if it's just for a couple hours, so we rent a car for our entire stay. Since we get free parking at the resort (DVC), it's worth it for the convenience. I know some people do things differently.

For us, I book through Costco, then keep checking for lower prices. Usually a month or so out, prices drop. But prices seem pretty reasonable right now for May.

Unless you need a bigger car to accommodate the number of people in your party, I suggest getting a smaller car. Parking can be tight at some places (not nearly as bad as UK/Europe). For our last trip, we booked a compact car and got a Hyundai Kona, which worked great for us.

If you want a car for only part of your stay, you can rent through I think Enterprise and pick up at Aulani or the Marriott down the road. I think once you factor in the cost to rent a car for a few days from these locations, the cost for transpiration to/from Aulani/the airport since you won't have a rental car and the convenience of having a car for your entire trip, it's worth it to just rent a car from the airport for the length of your stay.

 

[GrimGrinningGuy]

So my husband cannot hang out at the resort for an entire day... We go somewhere every day, even if it's just for a couple hours, so we rent a car for our entire stay. Since we get free parking at the resort (DVC), it's worth it for the convenience. I know some people do things differently.

For us, I book through Costco, then keep checking for lower prices. Usually a month or so out, prices drop. But prices seem pretty reasonable right now for May.

Unless you need a bigger car to accommodate the number of people in your party, I suggest getting a smaller car. Parking can be tight at some places (not nearly as bad as UK/Europe). For our last trip, we booked a compact car and got a Hyundai Kona, which worked great for us.

If you want a car for only part of your stay, you can rent through I think Enterprise and pick up at Aulani or the Marriott down the road. I think once you factor in the cost to rent a car for a few days from these locations, the cost for transpiration to/from Aulani/the airport since you won't have a rental car and the convenience of having a car for your entire trip, it's worth it to just rent a car from the airport for the length of your stay.

Thanks
I was thinking of a smaller car for that reason but I son really wants a jeep where we can remove the top. I can’t blame him
It looks like the 2 door jeeps are smaller so I think I’ll go for that
Alamo has it for the week after taxes and fees for $600ish
Does that seem about right for a week?

 

[PoppyJ]

Thanks
I was thinking of a smaller car for that reason but I son really wants a jeep where we can remove the top. I can’t blame him
It looks like the 2 door jeeps are smaller so I think I’ll go for that
Alamo has it for the week after taxes and fees for $600ish
Does that seem about right for a week?

It looks like Jeeps are more expensive than a compact or intermediate car, so I'm not sure what a good price for a Jeep is. For comparison, we paid $400 for a week for our last trip for a compact car.

 

[Magnum44]

Cabanas open for reservations at 90 days from the first day of your reservation for the length of travel - I just did this earlier this month.

 

[GrimGrinningGuy]

Cabanas open for reservations at 90 days from the first day of your reservation for the length of travel - I just did this earlier this month.

Only can do that over the phone right? Did you call at midnight Hawaii time and someone actually answered?

 

[jimmymac613]

I called a few weeks ago just after midnight Hawaii time and got a live person who reserved me everything that I wanted.

 

[Magnum44]

Only can do that over the phone right? Did you call at midnight Hawaii time and someone actually answered?

Yep, had to call - it was this way pre-pandemic too. I called at 8 AM PT 90 days out from our check-in day and had no issue getting a cabana for 6 days after check-in.