How many nights - aulani?

[missycj96]

Hi - Thinking of a summer trip to aulani with 2 small kids 3 and 8. We prefer resort days with kids activities to sightseeing. Is @12 nights too long? It's such a long flight and with the time difference from the east coast that we want to stay a while. Has anyone stayed with kids for that long? How was it? My 8 year old loves the kids clubs on the cruise and at wdw resorts. It will be the first time the little one would be old enough for the "real" kids club. She goes to full time day care and would be with her sister so she should be fine. What are your thoughts and experiences?

 

[Anal Annie]

I don't think that 12 nights in Hawaii is too long but I think 12 nights only spent at Aulani is too long. I agree it is a long and expensive flight but that's all the more reason to spend time on another island. I would definitely recommend island hopping while you are there - esp. if you have 12 nights available to spend there.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Will you have fun if you stay at Aulani for 12 nights? Sure. But I think you will tire of the food offerings and there isn't THAT much to do there. I suggest a few days at another resort or island hop to Grand Hyatt Kauai, great resort for kids and adults alike.

 

[dsneygirl]

With kids 3 and 8 yes for sure. We stayed 9 nights but had a red eye so 10 full days, we easily could have done 2 more. My ODS was just shy of 6 and on the go all day long. Swimming, at the beach, in the kids club, on the water slide etc. He went back to the club 3x for Stichs Volcano activity he loved it do much.

We ate 90% of the time in our villa, groceries were close by and we enjoyed not racing to get dressed for dinner, it was much easier to just pop up to the villa and grab some snacks. It was so easy to just do nothing but relax. I know a lot of people want to see all of hawaii but we knew we'd be back so we followed our kids leads.

With 12 days you could easily do a few other days trips but we found it a hassle to pack up cooler, beach stuff etc when everything at Aulani was right there in front of us and already paid for.

We want to go back in 2016 our kids will be 9 and 4 and we are hoping for 10 days again.

 

[disneybirds]

If you are going for 12 days, then I would do two islands. We were gone 12 days this summer and we spent the first half on the Big Island and then the second half at Aulani. You will have a great time!

 

[Meemoo]

We did 13 nights at Aulani for our last trip and no it was not too much BUT we did rent a car and ate off property a lot and ventured around the island. I think 12 nights eating constantly on site would not be recommended, although there are some other dining options across the street, the freedom of having the car was really worth while.

 

[happymommy]

We own next door at the Marriott Ko Olina, and always go for 14 nights. It feels just right to us! We have a car the whole time, so alternate days at the resort with driving around the island (used to live on Oahu, so go back to where we used to hang out and also do the tourist things as well).

Island hopping eats a full day, so for 12 nights that is tight in my opinion. If you've never been to Hawaii, I'd do Oahu the first trip. There is so much to do! Plus days enjoying the resort area is great. If you do hop, the quickest other island I'd consider would be Kauai. It's smaller and can be explored over a weekend (we've done that when we lived there).

We also eat 90% of our meals in our condo (grill a lot). It's so much more relaxing for the family to eat in. Once we stock the condo, I can't imagine having to pack up and go elsewhere. We do a lot of our shopping at Costco, so have a case of soy milk, lots of produce, cases of water, etc....

 

[wdwlver]

We have 14 nights. 8 of them booked at aulani. it's our first trip from east coast and will do a lot of activities/excursions. I have the same question, should we start out on another island or maybe stay in a different part of oahu for first six nights? Traveling with three kids (youngest is 8). Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[Cinderpamela]

We have 14 nights. 8 of them booked at aulani. it's our first trip from east coast and will do a lot of activities/excursions. I have the same question, should we start out on another island or maybe stay in a different part of oahu for first six nights? Traveling with three kids (youngest is 8). Any suggestions appreciated.

We did an Island hop over to Maui after 6 nights at Aulani for our trip back in 2012 and it was great. I would have liked to have done that again on our trip a few weeks back but going at Christmas time made the flight cost too prohibitive.

So this time around we stayed for the first 4 nights in a condo I found through VRBO in Waikiki and got most of our touristy stuff done from there (Pearl Harbor, Hanauma Bay, Waikiki Beach, the North Shore) then headed out to Aulani to relax. 4 nights in Waikiki was fun but by that 4th night we were really ready to leave the hustle and bustle of the big city.

I would maybe do it a little differently next time... our kids wound up loving the North Shore so I think next time I would schedule less time in Waikiki (if at all) and instead rent a condo up at Turtle Bay Resort. The vibe on the Northshore was great and I think we would like to spend more time up there.
Either that or we would Island hop over to Maui.... depending on the cost.

 

[krisbars]

Our family of 4 (2 adults, 1 eleven-year-old, and 1 four-year-old) stayed nine nights. I agree that for this long of a stay, having a car is a must. Our family is accustomed to very busy DW trips, so we started intensely exploring the island by day three. Staying at Aulani with children is very nice, because Auntie's beach house is so fun for the kids. Parents can have some intimacy while the kids are having fun. This is one of the best perks of Aulani for families. Personally, 12 nights would be too long for our family. We did start to get bored towards the end even with all of the activities at the resort. I think staying on a different island or staying awhile in Honolulu may have enhanced the time we had at Aulani.