Alumni June 2018- Pre pre planning, HELP needed!

[SnowWitch]

We are in the early planning stages of our Hawaii adventure.

Dates (hopefully) June 2018- 10 nights
Accommodations: 2 bedroom (any view will be fine)
Party:
Me (40 something female)
Son (1) 28
Son (2) 26
Son #2 (GF) 23
DD (1) 13
DD (2) 11

We love resorts days, so we plan to rotate resort day with an activity day. We are looking at spending roughly 4 days doing off resort activities.

1. We have looked at hiking diamond head, snorkeling with turtles, Pearl Harbor, rainforest horseback riding. Any thoughts and/or recommendations on these? Cost? Appropriate for our group?

2. Do we need a rental car? If not what are our options?

3. Spa activités for the 11 yr old? Can she join her sister in the 13-17 yr old? What do they offer for this age group?

4. How is the dining in the area across the road? There appears to be a pizza place, Mexican, ice cream, Monkeypod. What is the little grocery deli place, can you stock a frog from there or should you seek out the Super Target 2 exits down?

5. Options around the pool: Cabanas vs ? Cost? Pro and cons?

6. What is the chair rental fee on the beach? Umbrellas?

Any and all suggestions are appreciated!!!

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

You'll find lots of great info here to help you plan your trip!

Q1: The hiking is free, and the cove to the north of Aulani (Paradise Cove) has turtles in it. Google National Parks Pearl Harbor to find tickets for Pearl Harbor. You don't have to get your tickets ahead of time, but I recommend it. They are $1.50 and that includes a boat ride out to the Arizona memorial.
Q2: GET A CAR. Ko Olina, where Aulani is located, is out of the way. There is not public transportation to get you to the places you want to go. Yes, there is Uber available at times, but then you're subject to their availability. Get the car.
Q3: There is a kids spa, which your 11 and 13 year old can go into. The 17 year old can go into the adult spa, so long as you are with her the entire time, including during her service. My daughter was 14 when we went last year, and they were not going to let her back. It doesn't say that there is a "no kids" policy for the spa, but there basically is. I get it, they want it to be quiet and relaxing, and kids are less than quiet. We were both scheduled for a massage, and they had to move us into a shared room in order for it to happen. She could not have had her service if I wasn't in there. Check out the spa page on the Aulani site for services and prices.
Q4: The majority of our meals are eaten across the street. We're not "foodies", so we are not going on vacation to find the greatest eats on the island. If I would let my daughter eat the chicken noodle soup from the ABC store across the street every day she would be happy. The ABC across the street has a great deli with hot food, grab and go, and made to order sandwhiches and salads. Search yelp for Island Country Market Ko Olina to see what they have. We also like order pizza (free delivery to Aulani) to eat when we sit out on the lawn for the movie nights. It's good pizza. Nothing super fancy, but we like it. If you're going to be staying in a room with a kitchen, I suggest hitting the Costco and Foodland in Kapolei for your supplies. The ABC store has a small grocery in it, and they do have a semi-good selection of things, but you'll be paying for the convenience of their location.
Q5: I have never done a cabana. I look at the price and I just can't. When I think of what I could spend that money on, I just can't We hang out at the beach, where there are always chairs, so for us we don't need it.
Q6: No charge for chairs or umbrella's on the beach!

 

[mrp4352]

If you get a car - I'd go ahead and get one booked now, then start watching for price drops. We did that and ended up dropping the initial price by about a 1/3rd. Since that last drop, the prices have risen to over double what I'm locked in at (at just over a week before we travel).

 

[nkereina]

1. We have looked at hiking diamond head, snorkeling with turtles, Pearl Harbor, rainforest horseback riding. Any thoughts and/or recommendations on these? Cost? Appropriate for our group?

2. Do we need a rental car? If not what are our options?

3. Spa activités for the 11 yr old? Can she join her sister in the 13-17 yr old? What do they offer for this age group?

4. How is the dining in the area across the road? There appears to be a pizza place, Mexican, ice cream, Monkeypod. What is the little grocery deli place, can you stock a frog from there or should you seek out the Super Target 2 exits down?

5. Options around the pool: Cabanas vs ? Cost? Pro and cons?

6. What is the chair rental fee on the beach? Umbrellas?

1. We did Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor. We also did Kualoa Ranch where they have various tours and packages, some include snorkeling and horseback rides. We did Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor each as part of an organized tour from our hotel in Waikiki. I highly recommend getting to Diamond Head early because parking is challenge and you could end up walking a ways before you even reach the start of the path. It also gets much hotter and more crowded as the day goes on. For Pearl Harbor, if you go on your own, try to reserve your tickets in advance through the web site.

2. I would say 100% yes on the car. And if you are staying on DVC points, parking will be free. If you don't have a car, your options are limited. Ko Olina is pretty secluded, not much around, and some of the Aulani excursions can be pricey.

4. We ate at Pizza Corner which was just ok but budget friendly. We loved Monkeypod - we ate there twice, once during happy hour which I recommend. The ice cream place was nothing special, we ended up just going to Aulani for dole whips. There's also a sushi and a mexican place that we did not try. The ABC Store has a lot of necessities. If you have the car, I say go to Target. It is not a super Target, but we did get everything we needed there. The ABC Store will make do if you don't have a car, but you will pay more and have fewer selections. You also won't want to buy anything heavy or have a lot of bags - not a far walk back to Aulani, but with handfuls of bags and heavy things, it would be, especially because the driveway is uphill. Also don't forget about dining options at neighboring hotels. We checked out the Marriott and they had a casual oceanfront bar & grill we wished we could have tried.

5. I can't speak to the Cabanas but for your group, you could look into the executive lanai. Some privacy, but not as convenient to the pool as a cabana would be.

 

[cgattis]

First, a caveat....we haven't been yet!!! But with the mix of your traveling party, I'd recommend checking out the Kualoa Ranch website. They've got some different activities that might give you guys a chance to spend some time doing things apart (but at the same place)--stuff the older ones can do but the younger ones can't (like ATVs) and still stuff (like horses, or yours) for the others. Unfortunately you have to be 16 for the ATVs, but we're considering horseback riding one day.

And again--never been!--but the PP suggestion about the exec lanai does sound great for your party. The cabanas are out of our price range but would be great if you can swing it.

 

[happymommy]

I agree, get a rental car! With six, you'll want a mini van. Book it as soon as you can, then watch prices.

We go every other year (the Marriott next door where we own), and wouldn't ever go without a car the whole time (this summer I'll be there a month). We also do resort days and days where we go out and about, but almost daily I use the car to run to Target, Costco, or to carry out lunch or dinner or go out to lunch, the flea market, etc...

 

[Midoria]

Yes, you will need a car. My suggestion for the prices is to wait until it's a few months before your arrival. Because you have a year and a half to go, prices and services will probably change by the time your vacation rolls around. There will probably be more options for shopping and food a well.