‘Ohana ‘Imiloa Nā Hoku - Explore The Stars - how was it?

[ngl]

Wanted to get input from anyone that has done this at Aulani. We did something similar in Joshua Tree NP a few years back and we all loved it (it was a private excursion and just the 4 of us - including dinner under the stars) so not sure if there will be too many people to get as many views from the telescope? Looks like they max at 15 but wanted to get impressions from anyone who has done this at Aulani previously? Any input appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Iceman93]

I've had a great experience (years ago when the only people signed up were my family), a poor experience (when it was a full group of 15 so everyone barely had any telescope time to actually see anything), and then a non-experience my last trip where they deemed it too cloudy and cancelled after everyone had already showed up. I appreciated not being charged the high fee if we couldn't see much, but the refund process was clunky--instead of just refunding everyone automatically, we all had to stand in line in the Pau Hana Room and wait for refunds to be manually processed, group by group.

 

[ngl]

Really appreciate this feedback!! Having done it just the 4 of us, thinking 15 might be a lot. Thanks!

 

[CastAStone]

Apparently the one next door at Four Seasons is less popular and less attended. They have a mix of adult only and family sessions. You don’t have to be staying there to buy a ticket for it; I believe the price is the same (the same people do both)

 

[WDWLODGE]

Apparently the one next door at Four Seasons is less popular and less attended. They have a mix of adult only and family sessions. You don’t have to be staying there to buy a ticket for it; I believe the price is the same (the same people do both)

We were booked for the one at Aulani last year, but it was cancelled because of American Idol. Because of that we found out about the Four Seasons. The guy that does the Aulani Experience also does the Four Seasons experience. We found a deal on Groupon and had a great experience. There were 3 families (10 people) in our group and we had plenty of time on the telescope. The gentlemen that runs the experience is extremely passionate & knowledgeable.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

We did the Aulani version last month and my kids thought the first 15 to 20 minutes were awesome but the 8yo was a little bored by the end. We were five people, and there were about 15 people total, our group had a very inquisitive/talkative adult who did not know the basics of astronomy or physics with a LOT of questions like “how can we see planets if they are so far away?” and I think it slowed the guide down, but it still didn’t seem like that much waiting between turns and the planets we saw in the telescope were very cool. We discussed what we had seen as a family between turns. You also get airdropped some cool images taken by the telescope at the end.