Aulani and Go Oahu card

[disneycrazy2004]

We are going to Aulani Mid August and I am trying to figure our if the Go Oahu card is a good deal. I would appreciate any input. Few of the attractions we would like to use are offered with the card, I was just wondering if it is worth it. We are planning on a Luau, Kualoa Ranch tour, Rearl Harbour and may be the Diamond Head hike. I have read lots of conflicting reviews but would love to hear if anyone staying in Aulani have used it. Thank you all

 

[sydneymorganmom]

We were considering as well, but from what I have read here and elsewhere, Aulani is so far and there is so much to do on property we might be wasting money to get it.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

That is exactly what I am thinking....We are renting a car and will visit few places, I am just worried I will try and book in a lot just to justify using the card

 

[cmph]

We bought the 3 day Go Oahu passes for our family of 4. Saved at least $500. I wrote a good bit about it in my post last week. Sea Life, Kualoa, Dole, Pearl Harbor, Waimea, catamaran ride. You can read about it all here, if you scroll down to my (lengthy) entry on our excursions. http://disboards.com/threads/just-b...i-think-tips-and-a-light-trip-report.3516770/

 

[disneycrazy2004]

We bought the 3 day Go Oahu passes for our family of 4. Saved at least $500. I wrote a good bit about it in my post last week. Sea Life, Kualoa, Dole, Pearl Harbor, Waimea, catamaran ride. You can read about it all here, if you scroll down to my (lengthy) entry on our excursions. http://disboards.com/threads/just-b...i-think-tips-and-a-light-trip-report.3516770/

That's great, thank you! Did you find it hard to book with the card? Could you book ahead of time or was it always on the spot?

 

[cmph]

That's great, thank you! Did you find it hard to book with the card? Could you book ahead of time or was it always on the spot?

Depends on what you're doing with it, but some things you definitely need to pre-book no matter what. Other than the USS Arizona (which isn't a Go Oahu card thing anyway), there is nothing to pre-book for Pearl Harbor in advance to worry about. Kualoa - you probably should pre-book whatever you want b/c you're going in high season. It looked like the tour we were on was full, and there were a lot of people around. Very popular with Japanese tourists and Americans b/c of the movie stuff. I did pre-book that, and also the dolphin experience at Sea Life (limited number per time slot for that, too) - that was the premium experience we chose. Obviously didn't need to pre-book just going to Sea Life, though, or Dole, Byodo-in. I pre-booked the catamaran, but again - limited space on the boat, nothing to do with using Go Oahu. Honestly, whatever you would probably want to pre-book for space/time limitations will be the same whether you pay at the door or book in advance. Some places only let you use Go Oahu at a certain time of day - like, the dolphin thing - had to be one of the afternoon slots. That may not apply to the build-your-own, not sure; we had the 3 day all inclusive card.

Some of them asked for the Go Oahu card number in advance; I think they all, if I remember correctly, asked for a credit card to hold the reservation, just to keep people from being no-shows.

There was a groupon for the 3-day, and it was available at Costco too. Price-check b/c even if you didn't really want 3 days - getting the 3 day gets the premium experience included. One of them was a luau, I think maybe the one at Sea Life park. might be cheaper than a build-your-own or barely more than a 2 day plus luau add-on. There wasn't a luau in the all-inclusive except as the 3-day or more all-inclusive premium.

 

[sgrap]

We bought the 3 day Go Oahu passes for our family of 4. Saved at least $500. I wrote a good bit about it in my post last week. Sea Life, Kualoa, Dole, Pearl Harbor, Waimea, catamaran ride. You can read about it all here, if you scroll down to my (lengthy) entry on our excursions. http://disboards.com/threads/just-b...i-think-tips-and-a-light-trip-report.3516770/

How was Waimea? We have 1day left here and 1 day on our card, debating what to do tomorrow.

We did the sealife park dolphin thing and all loved it! Also pearl Harbor and Kailua Ranch movie tour.

 

[cmph]

How was Waimea? We have 1day left here and 1 day on our card, debating what to do tomorrow.

We did the sealife park dolphin thing and all loved it! Also pearl Harbor and Kailua Ranch movie tour.

DH and I thought it was really pretty. Some interesting things off to the sides of the trail as you go up, too. But the kids whined a ton about the walk up (probably should have been a morning outing), and they thought the waterfall was less than impressive. If you have no kids - you'll love it. If you have little ones in strollers - also good. If you have elementary aged kids who aren't at the end of the day and maybe want to swim in the waterfall pool - also good. Really, as long as you aren't dragging whiners who are tired, LOL! The coastline by Waimea is gorgeous, and you literally drive past Dole to get there, so it was a good use of the card. The kids both liked the catamaran tour that was on the card better, but you'd have to book that in advance, so not sure it's possible for you now.

PCC is a great value on the card and I'll make a point of going there next time. It's the one thing on my list we never got to. That's another option that doesn't involve a reservation.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

PCC is a great value on the card and I'll make a point of going there next time. It's the one thing on my list we never got to. That's another option that doesn't involve a reservation.

Isn't this the place with the Luau - I thought I need reservation for that

 

[cmph]

Isn't this the place with the Luau - I thought I need reservation for that

There are a few different luaus on Oahu. Germaine's, Paradise Cove, PCC. Probably more than that. Yes, I would make a reservation for a luau, probably, although they are pretty big and probably don't always sell out.

PCC isn't just a luau though. If you're just going for the exhibits, etc., called the "village experience" then you wouldn't need to make a reservation. We knew we weren't going to go to the luau (dietary restrictions, too late in the evening with kids), but we were originally planning to go to the village experience in the afternoon. The "details" section of the Go Oahu page just says to look for the ticket booth with the Go Oahu sign and present your passes. No need to reserve in advance, just show up for that part. FYI - that part is only 12-6pm, not open in the mornings at all. I'm sure they're trying to encourage folks to stay for the luau!

 

[disneycrazy2004]

thank you

 

[jina]

we were at Aulani for 7 days last November (week before thanksgiving,which was what I hear low season) and bought a 4 day Go Oahu from Costco.
We did pre-book luau reservations at the PCC a few weeks before our trip. In addition to PCC we used it for:
- Wailua swim to waterfall (pretty hike on paved trail, swim to waterfall in lagoon)
- Dole Plantation (train & maze, skipped garden tour although it was also included)
- Sea Life Park (don't miss - if DD was older we would have used the premium experience for the swim w/ the dolphins instead of PCC luau)
- Wet & Wild (10 min drive from Aulani)

It was very easy to use the card (I actually printed out the cards from my computer before leaving) but if you are staying at Aulani for less than a week I'd say just play it by ear and go places day by day w/o the stress of needing to use a pass.

I do wish we had gotten to PCC earlier in the day - we did Dole & Wailua first so by the time we got to PCC we only had an hour or so to check out the villages and exhibits before the luau started. We (and DD6) were too pooped after the luau for the evening show which was also included although the luau was entertaining enough for us.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

we were at Aulani for 7 days last November (week before thanksgiving,which was what I hear low season) and bought a 4 day Go Oahu from Costco.
We did pre-book luau reservations at the PCC a few weeks before our trip. In addition to PCC we used it for:
- Wailua swim to waterfall (pretty hike on paved trail, swim to waterfall in lagoon)
- Dole Plantation (train & maze, skipped garden tour although it was also included)
- Sea Life Park (don't miss - if DD was older we would have used the premium experience for the swim w/ the dolphins instead of PCC luau)
- Wet & Wild (10 min drive from Aulani)

It was very easy to use the card (I actually printed out the cards from my computer before leaving) but if you are staying at Aulani for less than a week I'd say just play it by ear and go places day by day w/o the stress of needing to use a pass.

I do wish we had gotten to PCC earlier in the day - we did Dole & Wailua first so by the time we got to PCC we only had an hour or so to check out the villages and exhibits before the luau started. We (and DD6) were too pooped after the luau for the evening show which was also included although the luau was entertaining enough for us.

Thanks for the info - I am thinking of getting the 4 day card at Costco as well. We will be there for 9 nights. I am very happy to hear that it is easy to use. i am a bit worried about that. I was planning on using the Luau as the premier one but will have to check out the Sea Life and Park. I was thinking of booking the Luau, Kuoala Ranch, and the Catamaran, and then hope to do the rest as we go. Did you need to do advanced reservation for the rest?

 

[cmph]

Thanks for the info - I am thinking of getting the 4 day card at Costco as well. We will be there for 9 nights. I am very happy to hear that it is easy to use. i am a bit worried about that. I was planning on using the Luau as the premier one but will have to check out the Sea Life and Park. I was thinking of booking the Luau, Kuoala Ranch, and the Catamaran, and then hope to do the rest as we go. Did you need to do advanced reservation for the rest?

You don't need a reservation to go to Sea Life, just the dolphin encounter portion if you choose that as your premium.

I think PP meant Waimea? I thought Wailua was on Kauai. It sounds like they did pretty much what we did, so I won't rehash my previous post. I will add, though, that Wet n Wild was super easy to get to but had a lot of construction when we just went. I think it was the surrounding area and not the water park itself, but you probably want to check b/c it was either in the park or literally next to it. We could see the lines for the slides from the highway, so if you go - treat it like a parks visit and go when it opens! We have season passes to our local Wet N Wild and that's what do (and that's why we didn't actually go to the one in Oahu).

 

[disneycrazy2004]

Thank you - such a great info

 

[disneycrazy2004]

We bought the 3 day Go Oahu passes for our family of 4. Saved at least $500. I wrote a good bit about it in my post last week. Sea Life, Kualoa, Dole, Pearl Harbor, Waimea, catamaran ride. You can read about it all here, if you scroll down to my (lengthy) entry on our excursions. http://disboards.com/threads/just-b...i-think-tips-and-a-light-trip-report.3516770/

Sorry, one more question - What is the Swap Meet?

 

[cmph]

Sorry, one more question - What is the Swap Meet?

Not a problem! It's the big flea market/souvenir market in the Aloha Stadium a few min away from Pearl Harbor. It's not everyday. Wed and I think Sat? We planned it for Wed so I don't recall the weekend day, but pretty sure Sat. You can google aloha swap meet and easily find their web site. We bought some cheap jewelry for the kids. Better prices than elsewhere but I guess it wasn't our "thing" because I wouldn't bother again. However, this is definitely not the usual opinion, bc tons of people love it. Glad we went one time and know though, and it is super close to PH, but I would only plan it on the day you go to PH.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

Thank you so much again! You have been such great help

 

[cmph]

Thank you so much again! You have been such great help

You're welcome! I'm happy to help.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

I decided to get the card. Since we are from Canada, when I totaled everything up with the exchange rate ...seems like a great deal. So even if we come up even, I am happy with it! I like having things pre-paid as much as possible. Thanks again