Just back from Aulani! A few unique (I think?) tips and a light trip report

[cmph]

This board was so helpful to me! I wanted to offer feedback from our amazing trip for future visitors.

LOVED Aulani. DH, DD11, DS7, and I were all totally charmed. DD asked if we can go there instead of the parks from now on. We understand why she would say that!!

We had a 1 bedroom villa, island garden view. I wouldn't pay for that again. If you are high enough up, you'll have a view of the top of the valet parking garage if you look down. But it was preferable to our first 5th floor room, which had an amazing view over the Halawai lawn (with trees blocking a view of the hui stage) and even the ocean in sight... but it was godawful loud from the air returns as it was the end of the wing right above them. We couldn't enjoy the balcony, it literally gave us headaches to be out there more than 5min. And I could feel the vibrations through the wall while I slept. I'm spacing on the room number... started with 5, was even - 560ish?

We changed rooms to the 15th floor -1563 - and dealt with the parking garage b/c beyond that, it was lovely to look over the island and I could actually sleep! Next time if I would get a pool garden view, I think, esp now that DH knows enough to understand why we're paying more. I'm posting photos but can't figure out how to put them where I want them... so I suspect they'll all just load together. The first is the 5th floor view, next 3 from 1563.

Food: yup, expensive. We got our money's worth out of Makahiki for breakfast and dinner, but not enough to justify eating either more than once, esp with an 11yo "Disney adult". We would do that once per trip, though, as we did like the food, particularly breakfast. We ate everywhere, and found ourselves going back to Ulu the most. The daily rotating plates were actually not a bad deal at all - $15 for the protein of the day (meatloaf, honey roasted chicken, steamed fish, etc) with veggies, rice, and mashed potatoes. Too much for even my weight-lifting big-eating DH on chicken night. The sandwich specials could be made gluten-free, too, fyi. Not sure how tacos are "sandwiches" (ha!) but the kalua pork tacos and shrimp with chile aioli tacos were great there. Loved the caramel pillows there for breakfast. Poolside dining menus aren't adventurous, but are fine, and are the same at Off the Hook, the adult pool, and poolside-service. DD loved the coconut shrimp also avail at Mama's Snack Stop. Ama'Ama breakfast was lovely, and DS loved the giant fluffy mickey head pancakes.

One thing I HAVE to warn everyone about: do not eat dinner at Ama'Ama after sunset. If you get seated near the hanging lights, you'll be swarmed by bugs. We had a relaxing, pleasant appetizer course, then the sun set about the time we got our entrees, and it was AWFUL after that. Now, the kids and I probably don't have a great tolerance for irritating bugs, but DH does - and even he sped through his entree. They flew down our shirts/dresses, up the guys' pants legs, landed in our food and crawled around it. Just atrocious. Never saw them anywhere else in the resort, definitely the hanging lights that drew them in. The table behind us booked it out of there, and the ladies to the front of us asked for a different table anywhere else, as they hadn't gotten their food yet, so it absolutely wasn't just us being fussy (although if you're cool with bugs crawling through your food, maybe we have different definitions of fussy!). We were going to stay for coffee and dessert, but just couldn't deal with the bugs. Barely enjoyed our entrees, and the kids booked it out of there while we were still eating (DS took his chicken strips and ran off to listen to Uncle's Mo'Olelo story with DD, who was so disturbed she couldn't eat). We got dessert at Ulu instead. $200 for a half-miserable experience, eek. Totally avoidable if you eat early - so make that res for 5, 5:30 and you'll be fine!

Pool chairs: the 8am thing really has cleared that issue up. We had no intention of camping in one place all day, and we could get a chair or two to throw our stuff down wherever we wanted even during busy times. If you are the camp-all-day type, get there by 9. Around 8:15, 8:30am yesterday, maybe like 10% were actually saved when I passed through to get breakfast from Ulu. I wouldn't recommend getting your towels/bands right at 8, b/c the lines are stupid long then but virtually gone 30min later. No issues whatsoever getting beach chairs - tons free every time we went. Don't forget to get your bands even if you're heading to the beach and skipping the pools, b/c CMs will patrol those using the chairs for bands.

Beach freebies: get there early, or be prepared to stalk people returning stuff to Makiki Joe's. Or, go to the beach after dark and gather up beach toys... plenty are just left there overnight. We found this out our last night so the kids finally had a chance to use them the last day.

Aunty's: not super exciting to my kids, but fine. The bands are just WDW Magic bands, FYI, but have Stitch on them so your kids will want to keep them anyway (sigh, as we have "free" magic bands floating around in toy bins already!). You can take them off if you have to and they will reattach them the next time you go. We had to take them off for a dolphin encounter at Sea Life park. When it's "full", they will defy their own "get there at least 30-45min before your scheduled activity" rule and ask you to come back right at 30min prior. However, when that happened on our spa day, I politely asked for a way around it at the desk (bypassed the CM at the door) and got them checked in anyway... although she did totally call the spa to confirm both DH and I had appts, in case we were liars! So don't try this unless you have a res to get to that they can confirm.

Speaking of the spa, I swear my email confirmations said to arrive 30min early way back when I booked, but the reminders said 60min prior. Hence the above confusion with Aunty's, as I had timed the spa appts with Stitch's Space Goo.

I will post later on with some thoughts on our excursions, traffic, et, but feel free to ask any resort questions you have!! I saved the Daily 'Iwas from the whole trip, too, and a few other papers (maps, dining guide that gives all the eatery hours) that I haven't gotten around to photographing but will post if someone wants.

One last tip as I sit here somewhat sad to be home and exhausted from our red-eye... do not bank on your family getting up super early b/c of the time change! This just did not happen with us. 7am the first day (we're from AZ, so 3 hour time diff), on up to 8:30am wake-ups later in the trip. No one ever got up any earlier than normal. Maybe that's just us, but I wanted to mention it b/c some recommend early excursions on the assumption everyone is always up early... and that wouldn't have worked for us at all. We apparently magically adjusted immediately.

Sorry for any weird typos... too tired to re-read and edit!!

 

[jtba]

love all the tips, esp. the bit about bugs! our two dinners at ama ama were both before 6, so we didn't encounter the bugs at all. good to know for next time!

to insert an image in your post, you upload it first (which i see you figured out how to do above). the file will appear at the bottom of your "edit mode" window. at the place in the paragraph you want to insert the image, click "Full image" and it'll put the picture right there.

 

[cmph]

love all the tips, esp. the bit about bugs! our two dinners at ama ama were both before 6, so we didn't encounter the bugs at all. good to know for next time!

to insert an image in your post, you upload it first (which i see you figured out how to do above). the file will appear at the bottom of your "edit mode" window. at the place in the paragraph you want to insert the image, click "Full image" and it'll put the picture right there.

Thanks... I would have investigated more if not for the whole red-eye no-sleep thing!! I'm trying to get back to our time zone now so we can actually get to our dentist appts, etc rather than sleep through them... but man, I'm worn out.

btw, when we were discussing our favorite parts of our Hawaii trip at dinner, DH asked DD what she most wants to do for our next trip. "I'd really, really like to go on a Disney cruise." I wonder if that will replace Aulani as her #1 vacation??

 

[jtba]

btw, when we were discussing our favorite parts of our Hawaii trip at dinner, DH asked DD what she most wants to do for our next trip. "I'd really, really like to go on a Disney cruise." I wonder if that will replace Aulani as her #1 vacation??

hmm, very hard to say! we did a 7-night disney alaskan cruise last july. that was my favorite vacation. then we went to aulani in april. and now it's a toss-up! the cruise had lots and lots of things to do; aulani is more of a relaxing, kick-back-and-hang-out-at-the-beach/pool-all-day type of vacation for us. i love both very much--i guess we'll just have to keep alternating between the two.

we haven't gone to Disneyland nor WDW as a family yet, but from what i understand it's more hectic and the lines are much much longer. i wonder if how my kids will like that, now that they've done both DCL and aulani. hmm...

EDIT: cruise = "free" breakfast, lunch, & dinner + "free" snacks + many many more characters + broadway-calibre stage shows + variety shows + movies all day long + scavenger hunts + kids' club that you can drop off any time (no worries about it filling up like aunty's) + adult activities well into the night + i can't even remember what else!

 

[cmph]

hmm, very hard to say! we did a 7-night disney alaskan cruise last july. that was my favorite vacation. then we went to aulani in april. and now it's a toss-up! the cruise had lots and lots of things to do; aulani is more of a relaxing, kick-back-and-hang-out-at-the-beach/pool-all-day type of vacation for us. i love both very much--i guess we'll just have to keep alternating between the two.

we haven't gone to Disneyland nor WDW as a family yet, but from what i understand it's more hectic and the lines are much much longer. i wonder if how my kids will like that, now that they've done both DCL and aulani. hmm...

EDIT: cruise = "free" breakfast, lunch, & dinner + "free" snacks + many many more characters + broadway-calibre stage shows + variety shows + movies all day long + scavenger hunts + kids' club that you can drop off any time (no worries about it filling up like aunty's) + adult activities well into the night + i can't even remember what else!

Yeah, we already know just how much we'll save on the food alone!! My kids can EAT. Like 6 meals a day. Especially on vacation, apparently. We joke that the cruise will pay for itself via constant food access alone, for those two!

Haters abound re: magic bands and fastpass+ at WDW, but with smart use of those and dining reservations, WDW isn't that bad. I think it's the folks who don't research at all and haven't been in years that are shocked, b/c you really do have to plan well in advance. DL feels much more crowded to me b/c it's smaller. We haven't stayed in deluxe resorts at WDW, just moderate... but we could have done a couple WDW trips for the cost of the 1 Aulani trip... I had also priced it out to be cheaper than DCL at Christmas/New Year's. Sounds nuts, but it is less of an investment to go to the parks than Aulani or DCL! We'll have to take a break from Disney next year and do national parks or something cheap instead, LOL!

 

[Silver Queen]

I wonder if the bug problem is a sporadic issue. We were at Aulani during the third week in April and had no problems whatsoever with our 7:00 dinner. Our table was overlooking the beach and fire pit area and we had a great view of the sunset. I'm so sorry that your family experienced that problem, not at all pleasant!

 

[cleophus12]

Our Ama Ama problem didn't have anything to do with bugs. We had a lovely table for a 6:30 reservation, so we were all set to watch the sunset. Our issue was more of a noise thing. We were seated beside a table of eight people that were really enjoying themselves. I don't begrudge their right to enjoy their dinner, but they were super loud. I suppose we could have asked for another table, but fortunately they finished up about half way through our dinner and left. It was much nicer after that. So that was the only thing that "bugged" me about our dinner at Ama Ama.

 

[blondietink]

Glad you loved it! Yes, the food is expensive, but we usually eat in our villa as we get a one bedroom. We are die hard WDW veterans, and we haven't been back since Dec. 2014 after a Disney cruise (which we hated). We went to Disneyland for the first time last November and LOVED it! We also love Aulani and Hawaii in general. So, from now on we are saving our vacation money to spend in either Hawaii or Disneyland. We won't be back to WDW until they have all their new lands open .... Star Wars, Avatarland, etc. Hate all the Frozen stuff. So, Aulani is tops followed by Disneyland.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We just got back from 11 nights in aulani on June 1. Our fourth trip there. We love it! Already planning next year.

We did have dinner at Ama ama at 715 one night. Table on the edge with incredible view. Not a bug in sight! Sorry they spoiled your dinner. We were on our lanai every night, 12th floor ocean view looking out over lazy river to ocean...incredible view. I will ask for this one bedroom again.

Also did both character breakfast and dinner. They offer a dinner a few notes a week with uncle, chip and Dale, Donald and stitch thst was a lot of fun. The food was fine and the sushi fresh.

I agree the change on saving chairs is great.

The four seasons had a soft opening while we were there. Meaning they had only a few guests and only one restaurant open. During the day they had security making sure non guests could not enter. My husband and I walked over one night and walked in and around. It's lovely and sedate. Lots of white marble and modern fixtures. A store was open. Fell in love with a purse...$500 and a pair of sandals...$300. So you can see why rooms will start at about $500. Next year we hope to try out their restaurants. They have blocked off the way to the little snorkeling beach on the other side so that you have to walk on the rocks on ocean to get there. Kind of funny to us...the beach has lovely chairs and constant wait staff offering towels and water and such. But all beaches have to be open to the public. So on our last day there a local family had come to the four seasons end of the lagoon and basically camped out with umbrella, chsirs, children, etc. right in front of the fancy lounges. Must have driven management crazy!

 

[crystal1313]

Great report!! I keep wondering what my boys will do with the time change! I keep imagining them up at 4AM! They get up between 6-7 in CA. My DH keeps telling me not to assume they will get up early.....but I am prepping for that! If they sleep in, fantastic!!

Thanks for the beach freebies tips, we plan to hit the pools early and hit the beach in the afternoon and I know my boys will want beach toys. Might get them some at the ABC store.......

Besides the bugs at Ama Ama, did you need to use bug spray at all during the trip? I am glad our reservation is early for Ama Ama! I am so sorry that happened to you!

Thank you for sharing!!

 

[cmph]

The four seasons had a soft opening while we were there. Meaning they had only a few guests and only one restaurant open. During the day they had security making sure non guests could not enter. My husband and I walked over one night and walked in and around. It's lovely and sedate. Lots of white marble and modern fixtures. A store was open. Fell in love with a purse...$500 and a pair of sandals...$300. So you can see why rooms will start at about $500. Next year we hope to try out their restaurants. They have blocked off the way to the little snorkeling beach on the other side so that you have to walk on the rocks on ocean to get there. Kind of funny to us...the beach has lovely chairs and constant wait staff offering towels and water and such. But all beaches have to be open to the public. So on our last day there a local family had come to the four seasons end of the lagoon and basically camped out with umbrella, chsirs, children, etc. right in front of the fancy lounges. Must have driven management crazy!

Did you see them filming for their promos?? We thought that was hilarious. We were blocked on the walking path for them to film the "pool lounging" scene, and we laughed at the meticulously chosen extras for the scene. DH referred to the men in their "James Bond trunks", such a funny contrast to the atmosphere next door at Aulani. We also saw them filming the restaurant scene, so obvious, b/c everyone was wearing blue and beige, and the place was packed with people even though it was dead the rest of the week. At least we got to see those fireworks for free, which I assumed were b/c of the promo filming. Of what we saw of the place, my kids declared it super-boring looking, so we are clearly not their intended guests.

 

[cmph]

I wonder if the bug problem is a sporadic issue. We were at Aulani during the third week in April and had no problems whatsoever with our 7:00 dinner. Our table was overlooking the beach and fire pit area and we had a great view of the sunset. I'm so sorry that your family experienced that problem, not at all pleasant!

Sounds like we were in the same area, and yes, I'm sure there is a seasonality thing about it! The funny thing seemed to be that the waitstaff TOTALLY knew about the issue. We were the second to last table seated over there. The ladies next to us, who asked to be moved, were the last table seated there. The rest of the restaurant was packed, so they were avoiding putting people there. We heard our waitress explain to the ladies that "unfortunately, the insects are the price we pay for this lovely outdoor setting." ??? I guess they seated them there b/c they were walk-ins and that was all they had left, and just hoped the bugs wouldn't annoy them very much. So it wasn't a one-night only thing, for sure, but maybe it depends on the wind or something as to how bad they get.

 

[cmph]

Great report!! I keep wondering what my boys will do with the time change! I keep imagining them up at 4AM! They get up between 6-7 in CA. My DH keeps telling me not to assume they will get up early.....but I am prepping for that! If they sleep in, fantastic!!

Thanks for the beach freebies tips, we plan to hit the pools early and hit the beach in the afternoon and I know my boys will want beach toys. Might get them some at the ABC store.......

Besides the bugs at Ama Ama, did you need to use bug spray at all during the trip? I am glad our reservation is early for Ama Ama! I am so sorry that happened to you!

Thank you for sharing!!

That was literally the only time that bugs bothered us the entire trip! I brought spray pretty much everywhere, just in case, but it wasn't an issue anywhere we went on the island (north, east, Honolulu, elsewhere on the resort). They weren't bitey bugs or anything, just super-irritating; maybe the length of a regular fly but thinner and with longer wings. I mean, there is no polite way to fish flapping bugs out of your cleavage or shake them out of your pant legs... and you hardly want them in your $40+ entree.

 

[crystal1313]

That was literally the only time that bugs bothered us the entire trip! I brought spray pretty much everywhere, just in case, but it wasn't an issue anywhere we went on the island (north, east, Honolulu, elsewhere on the resort). They weren't bitey bugs or anything, just super-irritating; maybe the length of a regular fly but thinner and with longer wings. I mean, there is no polite way to fish flapping bugs out of your cleavage or shake them out of your pant legs... and you hardly want them in your $40+ entree.

Great to know! Thank you =) So glad you had a wonderful trip!! We can hardly contain ourselves for ours next month!!

 

[cmph]

If I don't sit here now and write about our excursions, I won't get around to it later, so here goes!

While we LOVED the resort, 3/4 of us had never been to Hawaii and we couldn't justify staying put the entire trip. So we rented a car for the entire stay (8 nights/9 days), b/c it was cheaper to do that and pay for parking then pay for a day at a time and airport shuttling for 4. Had a great deal from that discount Hawaii car rental site, about $300 for the entire time in a small SUV from Alamo. We ended up with a Jeep, which was fun, and also useful on the return to the airport b/c the road was flooded (I think a fire hydrant issue). DH was gleeful to take that thing through flooded roads.

Traffic: it sucks. I am not used to quiet small-town traffic. College and almost my entire adult life was in the Baltimore/DC metro area until we moved to Phoenix last summer. I have family in Chicago and have driven through rush hour there more than once; I have driven through LA rush hour more than once. So every time I read about the Oahu traffic, I thought meh, can't be that bad. Sadly, it was! We were on the road at 3:00pm from the airport and it took us 45min to go the first 5 miles. Not pretty. Traffic is better on the weekends, but even attempting to only drive mid-day on weekdays is unpredictable. Accidents abound. We hit traffic b/c of accidents on practically every trip away from the resort - along the North shore, coming back from Honolulu, coming back from Pearl Harbor, even coming back from Safeway on a Saturday evening (that took us more than 30min!!). Assume every trip is going to take 20-30min longer than you expect, and if there isn't an accident - pleasant surprise that your journey wasn't awful! Perhaps we had terrible luck with all the accidents, who knows. I meticulously planned to avoid weekday rush hours (both AM and PM) and it just didn't matter. Just be prepared mentally for it to be bad, and have snacks and water in the car for the kids. The kids hated hated hated the traffic and it provoked a fair number of near-meltdowns for the 7yo.

Having said that, I'm glad we did all that we did away from the resort. I purchased the 3-day Go Oahu card and was determined to get more than our money's worth out of it. It saves A LOT of money if you use it wisely, highly recommend if you want to save money. I think we would have spent about twice as much out of pocket otherwise.

Day 1 on the Go Oahu card: jungle jeep tour at Kualoa ranch, then Byodo-in Temple, then Sea Life Park with the dolphin encounter. (Note: at this point, the Go Oahu card has just about paid for itself, and 2 more days remain - so serious savings!) The drive to Kualoa is amazing; words can describe the green mountains you drive through. If you have a Jurassic World fan in your family, the jeep tour is perfect; you drive through the indominus rex enclosure movie set. DS was thrilled beyond the telling, and everyone in the jeep went "OOOH" as soon as we drove up to it. Very cool. Lots of other movie/TV filming info from the guide, plus general site/area/Hawaiian history. Highly recommend. Next we drove to Byodo-in, which was on the driving route from Kualoa to Sea Life park. We picked up Subway across the street from the cemetery and picnicked out of the Jeep. It was serene, lovely, kids got to hit a giant gong, and we thought driving through the giant cemetery was cool (it's segmented by religion/culture). It's not out of the way at all if you're going to Kualoa, so in general, I would recommend it if you are going to Kualoa; probably not worth the drive to get there just for that, though. Then we continued south to Sea Life. Again, gorgeous drive, and the coastline as you approach Sea Life is amazing. I have mixed feelings on Sea Life Park; it's not nearly as impressive as the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and it's slightly sad, but the animal caretakers seem very happy and genuine and love their animals. We elected to go there b/c DD really wanted to meet a dolphin up close and DS was apprehensive (which is not his norm) when we talked about doing a wild dolphin snorkel tour out of Ko Olina. The 3 day Go Oahu card offered the dolphin encounter as one of the 3 premium activity options, and that was more "controlled" than wild dolphins, so we went with it. Thank goodness we didn't pay $500 for the wild dolphin snorkel tour, b/c DS ended up refusing to get in the water with the dolphins and sat to the side on a bench. Sigh, can't make everyone happy! DD, DH and I loved it, got to pet, kiss, "dance" with one of the dolphins from 50 First Dates. It wasn't a waste of an excursion for DS, b/c he did love the sea lion show and the hammerhead sharks. Would I recommend Sea Life? I don't know. Without kids, probably no... go see the local wild dolphins and turtles in a natural environment they're meant to be in (like I said, mixed feelings on this one!). With kids who want to see dolphins up close? Yes, but not if you paid full price out of pocket at $130pp. That's crazy expensive.

After a couple days at the resort, we had a short day off-site planned. In order to maximize the Go Oahu card, we needed to do the swap meet and USS Arizona tour on a separate day from the paid Pearl Harbor stuff. I decided it wasn't that stupid, b/c parking is free there anyway, and if we did the USS Arizona first, it was kind of like focusing on the beginning of US involvement in WWII one day, and during/end-of-WWII the next. Not saying I recommend doing this to everyone, but it did work for us, and the kids got more out of Pearl Harbor when we spaced it out. That will depend on your kids, of course. If you are a true history buff adult, I can't see how you can do ALL of Pearl Harbor in a single day, so I would also space it out this way for those who want to see absolutely everything in depth. So we did the swap meet late in the morning, followed by 2pm pre-scheduled timed tix for the Arizona. The swap meet was fine, as expected, nothing I would purposely drive to buy if you weren't already headed in that direction. The kids got jewelry/trinkets cheap and were happy. FYI on the Arizona: they want you there an hour early, but they don't mean at the ticket booth an hour early. We got to the booth 30min early and it was fine. You don't actually need to be present at the departure zone until 15min before. An hour is smart though if you want to see the free exhibit next to the Arizona departure area first.

The next day was day 2 on our Go Oahu card: paid Pearl Harbor stuff followed by 1pm Makani catamaran ride. This didn't allow nearly enough time for the paid Pearl Harbor stuff, really. We skipped the aviation museum b/c we had the good fortune to have been to the DC area Smithsonian Air and Space museums enough that the kids weren't interested. (I'm sure it's not the same, but there was no point in dragging anyone to something they had no interest in!) We did the entire Bowfin experience, which the kids enjoyed. Note to older/taller folks: this may not be a good idea for you. You have to climb through the air locks. I'm 5'10" and the whole time I kept thinking that my 6'5" dad (now in his 60s) would have a really hard time with it and would have whacked his head about 20 times on equipment. I would tell my claustrophobic mom to skip too. There is a museum with the Bowfin, at least, if you don't want to go in the sub itself. Then we headed to the Missouri. We should have eaten at the Bowfin eatery first. The Missouri food truck line is long and slow; food sounds good but yikes, who wants to take 30min out of your touring time to stand in a food line (and this was 11am, not even 12 or 1). We pushed through with snacks until we returned to the main visitor area. The shuttle bus ride itself was very informative! You need at least 2 hours to tour the Missouri thoroughly, which we didn't have, but we hit the main parts at least. My dad, even skipping going into the sub itself, would have needed a full 8 hour day to see the Missouri, Bowfin museum, and aviation museum with a stop for lunch. Adding the Arizona (with exhibit) would have pushed the limits of time. I wanted to make a point of saying this to anyone who really enjoys WWII history and is visiting for the first time (um, without kids, probably!). The Makani catamaran ride was a good follow-up, b/c we could relax and sit there after walking around all morning with the kids; one drink pp is included. The boat was nice, had big viewing nets you could sit on, wasn't too crowded at all. I didn't see anyone get seasick, but I had prepared by taking meds (and giving it to the kids) just in case. We saw a pod of wild dolphins, lots of fish, and a sea turtle, and the route took us from Ala Moana past Diamondhead... this is the best way to see Waikiki: without traffic, ha! I'd definitely recommend it on the Go Oahu card, but maybe encourage people to find something closer to Ko Olina if you don't have one. Traffic was not fun heading back to the resort.

Our last day on the Go Oahu card: big plans to go to Waimea Valley and PCC and possibly stop at Dole on the return for whips. Somehow we got a late start (I think this was the day no one was awake until 8:30). By the time we approached Dole, I knew we were never going to make it to Waimea without an early lunch (despite the late breakfast... have I mentioned how much my kids eat??), and Dole was right there... so we just stopped. I got in line for train and maze tix, DH got in line for food. The food was actually pretty good, surprisingly, but it was a busy place. After eating, the line for the train was a bit tedious. I noticed when we left, the lines at the ticket booth and for the train were much much shorter, so aim for Dole post-lunch rather than morning/lunch time if possible. We rode the train, did part of the maze, skipped the plantation garden tour. Regarding Dole in general: it's a bit of a tourist trap, as expected. If you have little kids, they'll like the train, the maze and the pineapple photo op... but if you have teenagers or only adults, I would only stop if you want a "true" Dole whip float (made with fresh juice) and are passing by. Once was enough for us, wouldn't make a point of going back there again. We stopped in Haleiwa to toss the frisbee that came with the Dole kids' meal then drove along to Waimea. For $10pp, you can take a shuttle up and down to the falls, otherwise it's about a 30min walk unless you book it. Could definitely be longer if you pause to look at the various things along the path (a craftsman making things, shrines, etc). We didn't swim, but that was available, with a lifeguard who played the guitar for tips, and mandatory life vests. My ungrateful kids said "that's it? that's a tiny waterfall" but we grown-ups loved the walk up and down. I think they were more enchanted with the peacock who strolls around the restaurant/store/parking lot area. And at this point we have thoroughly given up any notion of going to PCC b/c the kids are done!!

All that we did would have cost $1130 at the booths, and we spent $600-something on the Go Oahu cards. We didn't even hit the aviation museum, or go on the plantation garden tour at Dole, so I'm not including those in the cost (purely including what we did), so savings could have been greater. Doing PCC instead of Waimea and/or Dole would save more b/c it's pricey.

Whew, that was a lot, but I'm glad I got it all down before I forgot bits of it! What will we do next time? Well, we've seen a lot of Oahu, so we'll island hop for sure. We'll start on one of the other islands (that have much less traffic!!) then end with maybe 4 days at Aulani so we can relax and thoroughly enjoy everything the resort has to offer. We'll probably try to take a single day to go to PCC and maybe stop in at Kualoa for a different tour, b/c we loved seeing that part of the island so much. We won't rent a car for the entire time, just one day.

Family favorites from the whole trip:
DS7 - Uncle's Mo'olelo fire pit story telling and the sea lion show at Sea Life Park, followed by the Kualoa jungle jeep tour and making sand creations on the beach
DD11 - Makahiki character breakfast, animation classes, and meeting the dolphins at Sea Life, followed by the catamaran ride
me - the drive to Kualoa, walking around Aulani after dark, and sipping on a cocktail made from Hawaiian coconut vodka and passionfruit/guava/orange juice on our balcony or the beach
DH - at work, will have to ask him later.

 

[cmph]

In writing that last bit about "favorites", I realized I didn't plug Uncle's Mo'olelo story telling in my initial post or talk about night time entertainment in general. We loved the storytelling, esp if you go after dark. Uncle Ito's intro is the same, but he tells different Hawaiian myths. Very neat. Def go! Get there 20min before for good seats.

We liked the hui, but I guess it just felt so crowded, DS preferred the Mo'olelo and movie night to it. Glad we saw it, but once was enough for us. No one in our family was interested in going a second time.

We actually really loved the movie experience. It was neat to watch it outside, not crowded at all, so you could just arrive right at the start time and get perfectly good seats. If you arrive early, they have cute cartoons playing first. During our stay, 101 Dalmatians, A Bug's Life, and Aladdin were the movies shown.

The non-movie, non-hui nights only offered a paid star-gazing activity (other than Mo'olelo, which is every day but different number of times / evening). It was pricey, $39pp if I recall. We didn't opt to try it.

 

[SplashMom]

Great report! We got back a few weeks ago and had a similar experience with our room views. The first room we had was on the 5th floor but when you went on the balcony, it was like you were in the rainforest, lol. It was hard to see anything through the trees. We moved to the 9th floor and had a view of the valet parking garage but the mountains were nice. I agree with all of your tips and information! We did many similar things and just relaxed so much!

One thing we did that was so worth it was booking a cabana on our last day. Normally, I wouldn't pay the price when I could find chairs for free but our flight to the east coast didn't leave until 10pm and we had to be out of the room by noon. We stored our luggage and booked the cabana. It was perfect! We had a locked drawer for our stuff and didn't have to worry about checking it often. We had a base for the day which was perfect! We were all adults so we got one near the adult pool which is $100 less than the others, plus we had our DVC discount. We got a lovely fruit tray, dessert tray, water and most importantly, had a spot to relax out of the sun for the day while going from pool to pool. Our lunch was relaxing and we were next to the refill station for drinks. We used the lounge to get showers and then picked up our luggage and left around 7. It really made our last day...I highly recommend it!

 

[GeneralTso]

Nice job--great detail!

 

[cmph]

Glad you loved it! Yes, the food is expensive, but we usually eat in our villa as we get a one bedroom. We are die hard WDW veterans, and we haven't been back since Dec. 2014 after a Disney cruise (which we hated). We went to Disneyland for the first time last November and LOVED it! We also love Aulani and Hawaii in general. So, from now on we are saving our vacation money to spend in either Hawaii or Disneyland. We won't be back to WDW until they have all their new lands open .... Star Wars, Avatarland, etc. Hate all the Frozen stuff. So, Aulani is tops followed by Disneyland.

Yes, same here, waiting for the new lands at this point! We did go to DL to see the 60th anniversary stuff, but def holding off on WDW for a bit. Even with just Star Wars construction in DL, it was a bummer how much was closed down for construction. This was a good time to try out Aulani and DCL for us.

 

[DisneyMomJen]

Can you explain what the 8 o'clock thing is with the chairs? Thanks!