Any questions about Aulani? :)

Just saw this on the Guest service website


Parking for Overnight Guests

There's so much to do at and around Aulani that you may not need a car! For overnight Guests who wish to park, self parking is $35 per day*—or for the same price, enjoy convenient valet parking service. Plus, Disney Vacation Club Members enjoy complimentary parking for up to 2 vehicles
 
If anyone has any questions about Aulani (the Disney resort in Hawaii), feel free to post them here and I'll try to answer them :) I've been a cast member there for a little over a year and my boyfriend has been there since the resort opened so hopefully I'll be able to answer any inquiries :)

Hi! I'm thinking of booking a family vacation at Aulani in the spring. I'm just wondering what else is included in the price. I found a package on expedia.ca that includes flight and 5 night stay plus breakfast for 2 and the price is very reasonable. I'm just wondering though about the dining, do they have a package? Or for the buffet, do we have to pay each time?

Thanks for any info you can provide.
 
Haven't heard about the free parking for DVCers staying on points. Like the OPs we would like confirmation on this and also any other perks of DVC there. Thanks in advance.:cool1:

I just got home a week ago from 8 fabulous nights at Aulani, and can confirm that if you are a DVC member staying on points, there is no charge to self-park.
 
Hi! I'm thinking of booking a family vacation at Aulani in the spring. I'm just wondering what else is included in the price. I found a package on expedia.ca that includes flight and 5 night stay plus breakfast for 2 and the price is very reasonable. I'm just wondering though about the dining, do they have a package? Or for the buffet, do we have to pay each time?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

I don't know of food included or dining packages, but we ate offsite mostly.
 


We rented a car from Thrifty. It was a quick shuttle ride to their facility and we were on our way to Aulani shortly. I didn't feel like it was a long ride at all...maybe a half hour or less. There are 2 shopping areas right off the highway at Exits 1A and 1B. Exit 1A has Target, Ruby Tuesdays, a pretty large organic food store, and some other stuff. Exit 1B has Walmart and a bunch of fast food and other stores. We didn't know about Walmart until after we stocked up at Target.

I think we ate at Aulani 3 times...twice at Ulu Cafe and Aunty's Breakfast at Makahiki. We had gotten cereal, bagels, milk, cold cuts, bread and stuff from Target. We ate across the street at the pizza place, and from the ABC store. We ate at Outback (Exit 1b) and Ruby Tuesday (1A) other says, as well as while we were out and about sightseeing,

We did two beach days (tried for 3, but it rained). Saw Pearl Harbor. Drove to the North Shore -- didn't think it was a long ride at all, but we stopped a bunch of times. Had lunch in Historic Hale'iwa Town. Had shaved ice at Masimotos. Saw Turtle Beach, Waimea Bay and Valley, bunch of other beaches, Punchbowl National Cemetery, Diamond Head, etc.

We actually drove around the entire island one day because after going through Honolulu to get to Pearl Harbor and swinging through the Waikiki area, my husband decided he didn't want to drive in traffic anymore, so we just followed the map around, stopping at various sites. It was great.

We did the luau down the road at Paradise Cove. My husband hit golf balls across the street at Ko'olina Golf Club. We had a blast. Having stayed in the Ko'olina area, I don't think I'd want to stay in Waikiki.

My husband, who never gets excited about anything, asked me on maybe the 2nd or 3rd day, "When will we have enough points to come back?"
 
Hi! I'm thinking of booking a family vacation at Aulani in the spring. I'm just wondering what else is included in the price. I found a package on expedia.ca that includes flight and 5 night stay plus breakfast for 2 and the price is very reasonable. I'm just wondering though about the dining, do they have a package? Or for the buffet, do we have to pay each time?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

As far as I know, there is no dining package for Aulani. With such limited restaurants, it would get pretty old eating there all the time. We very much enjoyed the Ulu Cafe (very good for quick service, awesome pastries), the Makahiki breakfast buffet, Mama's Snack Shop (kiosk with Puka Dogs and coconut shrimp) and the shave ice place. We weren't all that impressed with 'Ama 'Ama, but it was okay. Yes, for the buffet, you would pay each time. We also ate across from Aulani at Monkeypod Kitchen and Pizza Corner and both were yummy.
 
We never made it to MonkeyPod, but Pizza Corner was good. The sandwiches and salads at the ABC Store were also good.

There's also a Mexican place, a BBQ place and a sushi place in the same area.
 


So, a breakfast package is all that is offered. If you are getting a villa with a kitchen, go to Costco that is 10 minutes away (assuming a rental car is part of the deal). If you are getting a DVC room without a kitchen, there will be a microwave and fridge. We didn't have a kitchen, and we still saved so much by going to Costco. There are cupboards to put snack items. There is enough room in the fridge to put some microwaveable, frozen items. Just buying snacks will save you a lot of money. The DVC rooms have bowls, dishes, and silverware. You can score a DVC room rather than a standard room by requesting a microwave. That's what we did.
 
Has anyone taken a sunset cruise? Did you like it and was it worth it? We are going to Aulani in March and I was looking at different things we might like to do as far as sightseeing goes. This kind of sounded fun any thoughts?:)
 
Yes, I just booked our party in for the New Years Eve celebration at Aulani as part of our stay. I just want to know, at $225pp, is it worth it? I was quite surprised by the cost and the website is not clear as to what that really includes. Do you or anyone else have any previous experience with New Years at Aulani?
 
Been looking for an Aulani thread. We are looking at possibly booking a trip this year for our 30th anniversary and have a bunch of questions:

Any idea about the best time of year for discounts? We are thinking May but would postpone to fall if there were better discounts.

Do they offer a photopass CD? How much and are there lots of photopass photographers on site?

Would you rent a car or depend on public transit or taxi?

If anyone can point me in the direction of other Aulani threads, would appreciate it!
 
Would you rent a car or depend on public transit or taxi?
We rented a car for the week for a little over $100 from Thrifty. However, we stayed on points, so we didn't have to pay the daily parking fee. Oahu is a gorgeous island to explore and so many things to see.
 
Been looking for an Aulani thread. We are looking at possibly booking a trip this year for our 30th anniversary and have a bunch of questions:

Any idea about the best time of year for discounts? We are thinking May but would postpone to fall if there were better discounts.

Do they offer a photopass CD? How much and are there lots of photopass photographers on site?

Would you rent a car or depend on public transit or taxi?

If anyone can point me in the direction of other Aulani threads, would appreciate it!

Since Aulani is a DVC resort, look under the "DVC Resorts" section and you'll find lots of threads.

We were there this past October and loved it! It was a great time to go in terms of crowds and weather. We used DVC points, so I can't help with discount advice.

Yes, there are Photopass photographers everywhere and you can buy a CD. I think it's $99, but I'm not sure. There was always another CM with the Photopass photographer, and they were always more than willing to take pictures with our camera, so we didn't get the CD.

If you plan to check out the island at all, definitely rent a car. Taking a taxi just from the resort to the airport is pricey, and you can usually get good deals on rental cars (prices dropped drastically 3 weeks before our trip). Since we're DVC members, we didn't have to pay for parking, but I think it's $35 per day, so you will definitely want to take that into consideration. Disney does offer excursions to Pearl Harbor and other places, so that is an option.
 
I saw this thread so I thought that I would add in my brief comments. My DH and I stayed at Aulani for 3 nights in mid November following a 5 night stay at the Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki. The combined experience was fantastic but I must say that we really did prefer our 3 nights at Aulani in KoOlina. We found Waikiki to be just another big city area - and we felt like KoOlina was a place where we could relax.
 
Thanks for that update.
Did you rent a car, by any chance? If not, how did you get to Aulani from the airport?
Did you go on any excursions?
 
We did not rent a car. We pre-booked Charley's Taxi service from our Waikiki hotel to Aulani. On our trip from Aulani to the Airport the Taxi cabs are always there (they use Charleys's). It is a flat rate and I thought it was reasonable.
We did a ton of excursions when we were in Waikiki because I believe that it is a lot more convenient to do them from Waikiki.
When we were at Aulani we just relaxed and enjoyed the facilities at the resort (since we were only there for 3 nights). We did go to a Luau when were were at Aulani. The Luau at Paradise cove is within walking distance and my husband and I really enjoyed it.
 
#1, how close is Target? We are not planning on renting a car. OR how affordable is the grocery store across the street.

#2, Does Aulani use the Photo Passes?
 
#1, how close is Target? We are not planning on renting a car. OR how affordable is the grocery store across the street.
Target is the exit before Aulani on the highway. Walmart is two exits before Aulani. How are you getting from airport to resort?

The store across the street is priced higher than Target or Walmart, but still cheaper than Aulani. I wouldn't recommend trying to shop for a week there though...
 

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