We stayed in a one bedroom DVC unit. hence we cooked breakfast and other meals.
House keeping was OK for us we were on DVC points, only had a trash and towels, but they forgot the towels, no biggie to us. UNit had some maint issues, again no biggie to us.
We did not eat at any of the on property restaurants, friends who live there commented the price was high and portions small, we did dine at teh Hawaiian BBQ across the street and it was a good plate lunch, moco loco, and fish sandwich. It was as good as the Rainbow Drive Inn.
Local and easy to get to grocery stores are a Safeway, Target, and it looked like they were putting the finishing touches on a
Walmart, these are about a 15 min drive from Aulani, There is the ABC store a short easy walk across the street, good selection of stuff and tourist souvenirs, prices not too bad but the other big stores are better, but still a bit more than the mainland. We went to Safeway as we have a Safeway card. There was some road construction but easy with teh GPS. They also have Wine etc there. Resort front desk was helpful with local info.
There is a Leonard's Malasada truck down the road a bit near teh Home depot, worth the stop. The trucks/trailers are red and white striped.
We did not do any of the resort excur$ion$, we tend not to even on cruises, we like exploring on our own. I really think one can save $$ by doing Pearl on their own, just get there early early early.
Sad to say we also brought our own snorkel gear and did not get out, into the lagoon but one can, there are three cuts/entrances to the lagoon, stay clear of teh middle cut as it will rip you out. the rocks on either side would be where I would go. Sorry no recommendations fro Dive Operation on Oahu, Strongly recommend Jacks Dive Locker, on the Kona Side of Hawaii. I am a PADI MSDT #161292. Hence I am not big on canned fake reef's, but good if you really want to see a lot of fish. There is a length of stay cost of $39 I think Lynn says $40, like Typhoon Lagoon, no fins, not deep, no diving. But lots of fish and hidden mickey and Menhune.
The water features at the resort are GREAT!!!!
and as I said definitely enjoy the resort activities.
Go to the North Shore, have lunch at a Shrimp truck, hike diamond head, when traveling about do not leave anything of value in your car.
Rush hour traffic can be a pain.
That's what I can think of for now, should this spark other questions just ask,
Parking is free for DVC members and your room key get you in and out of the parking lot.
If you are a DVC founding member for Aulani the tiles will not be up till January of 2013. I was kinda bummed about this.
Hope this helps.
