Aulani excursion questions

[shortypots]

So we are going to Aulani, and I had intended on doing the PCC and the Dole plantation and the north shore while on our way there. I see there is a tour that takes us up to the PCC and it says :

Notable Sites along the Way:

Dole Pineapple Plantation & Visitors Center
The historic town of Haleiwa
Waimea Bay & beaches
North shore surfing beaches
Historic town of Laie Hukilau beach

Does this mean they will stop and see those, or is it they kind of point it out along the way? If it is stopping to see them for a few mins, then it is perfect because it is only $11 more pp for transportation from Aulani, and frankly, I would much prefer someone else driving. Appreciate the help!

 

[HeddyRuth]

I have not done this excursion but after being on other Disney excursions it usually means they will stop there for you to see. Hopefully bumping this up will also help

 

[jekjones1558]

So we are going to Aulani, and I had intended on doing the PCC and the Dole plantation and the north shore while on our way there. I see there is a tour that takes us up to the PCC and it says :

Notable Sites along the Way:

Dole Pineapple Plantation & Visitors Center
The historic town of Haleiwa
Waimea Bay & beaches
North shore surfing beaches
Historic town of Laie Hukilau beach

Does this mean they will stop and see those, or is it they kind of point it out along the way? If it is stopping to see them for a few mins, then it is perfect because it is only $11 more pp for transportation from Aulani, and frankly, I would much prefer someone else driving. Appreciate the help!

The stops must not be for very long because there just wouldn't be time. The PCC will take up the afternoon and evening. My guess is that there will be short stops at Dole and in the towns and just watching as you go for the beaches. DSis and I just did this itinerary on our own a couple of weeks ago.
BTW, had we to do it over again, we probably would have skipped PPC. I had not been there for 20 years so wanted to try it again. The evening show is good but overly long, I think. The daytime stuff is nice but in retrospect I would have enjoyed more time doing other things. We arrived at about 1:00 and the show wasn't over until 9:10 or so and then there was the drive back. I would have liked more time at Aulani or more time exploring Haleiwa rather than all that time for PCC. JMHO.

 

[shortypots]

It is my mom's first time in Hawaii and her 65th birthday, and want to do the typical touristy stuff and not skimp, but I decided to save the extra $$ and do it on our own so I can guarantee we can get the pineapple plantation and the north shore in. I decided to do it on our first day so we still have the energy! I took someone else's advice and front loaded our itinerary. Even only 2 months out, I was still able to get an 8:15 time slot at the USS AZ for May 1. And then figured we would visit the Waikiki area, punchbowl and Iolani's palace on Saturday the 3rd to avoid the traffic and get the cheaper parking. That leaves Friday Sunday and Monday completely open, minus dinner plans at luau's and whatnot.

Any other suggestions for not to be missed attractions? We debated doing the Ocean Life Park, but figured we could swim with the dolphins just about anywhere, especially in the Caribbean.

 

[Cinderpamela]

I think that you have a good plan so far, frontloading the itinerary is really the way to go in my opinion. And I totally agree with driving to the north shore yourself, that way if you like something you can stay and if it's not your thing you can move on.

Would you guys be at all interested in seeing Doris Dukes Shangri La? It's an amazing waterfront home that she built in the in 30's and now the Honolulu Museum of Art offers tours on Wednesdays thru Saturdays. So you could do that on the Friday. My DH and I really wanted to see it but could not make it work in the schedule this time. You reserve your space online and we waited to long to book so we could not get the day we needed.
Here is the link to the info:http://honolulumuseum.org/385-about_shangri_la

We also enjoyed visiting the Byodo In Temple:http: //byodo-in.com/

 

[jerseygal]

Because of the traffic, is it highly advisable to book US Arizona on a Sat or Sunday?
2nd Question...Older kids are not really early risers..
Any disadvantage of booking a time, say something like 10:00????
Then doing Waikiki for lunch and some beach time?

Thank very much!

 

[jekjones1558]

Because of the traffic, is it highly advisable to book US Arizona on a Sat or Sunday?
2nd Question...Older kids are not really early risers..
Any disadvantage of booking a time, say something like 10:00????
Then doing Waikiki for lunch and some beach time?

Thank very much!

Yes, Sat. and Sun. will definitely make navigating traffic at Pearl and Waikiki easier. The disadvantage of a 10:00 Arizona time is that parking may well be full by that time.

 

[jerseygal]

Is a 9:00 reservation for the Arizona Memorial better do you think on a Sat or Sunday for parking and for beach access and parking at Waikiki?

THANKS! CAN'T WAIT!

 

[jekjones1558]

Is a 9:00 reservation for the Arizona Memorial better do you think on a Sat or Sunday for parking and for beach access and parking at Waikiki?

THANKS! CAN'T WAIT!

Yes, 9:00 would be better. We found super cheap $5.00 until 5:00 PM parking at the Waikiki Shopping center ramp when we went on a Sunday. Also had a great $15 Sunday lunch buffet at Duke's on the Beach, in the Outrigger Waikiki hotel. We actually combined walking Diamond Head and Waikiki on a Sunday. We did Arizona and the big Swap Meet on Saturday.

 

[izzy]

So we are going to Aulani, and I had intended on doing the PCC and the Dole plantation and the north shore while on our way there. I see there is a tour that takes us up to the PCC and it says :

Notable Sites along the Way:

Dole Pineapple Plantation & Visitors Center
The historic town of Haleiwa
Waimea Bay & beaches
North shore surfing beaches
Historic town of Laie Hukilau beach

Does this mean they will stop and see those, or is it they kind of point it out along the way? If it is stopping to see them for a few mins, then it is perfect because it is only $11 more pp for transportation from Aulani, and frankly, I would much prefer someone else driving. Appreciate the help!

This sounds like the excursion that I took when I was at Aulani two years ago. We stopped off at the Dole Plantation, I think for about 30 minutes or so. Other than that we drove to the PCC with the driver pointing out those other locations. With my jet lag and going to bed earlier than normal (I never could get on "Hawaii time"), I knew that it wouldn't be a good idea for me to be driving back to Aulani after we finished at the PCC. We ran into some construction on the way home, and I seem to remember that we didn't get back to Aulani until 11:30 or so. I actually fell asleep on the way back, and that's something I rarely do in a vehicle!

It was definitely worth it to me to have someone else do the driving. I had a rental car and then went up to the North Shore on my own one day, stopping off at a few of the beaches.

 

[carissa1970]

Is a 9:00 reservation for the Arizona Memorial better do you think on a Sat or Sunday for parking and for beach access and parking at Waikiki? THANKS! CAN'T WAIT!

I guess we got totally lucky. Just got up one morning, drove down to Pearl Harbor, parked, and got tickets for 15 minutes later. Discovered the swap meet afterwards just by accident. It was a great day! It seems this doesn't happen very often...

 

[abdgeek]

So we are going to Aulani, and I had intended on doing the PCC and the Dole plantation and the north shore while on our way there. I see there is a tour that takes us up to the PCC and it says :

Notable Sites along the Way:

Dole Pineapple Plantation & Visitors Center
The historic town of Haleiwa
Waimea Bay & beaches
North shore surfing beaches
Historic town of Laie Hukilau beach

Does this mean they will stop and see those, or is it they kind of point it out along the way? If it is stopping to see them for a few mins, then it is perfect because it is only $11 more pp for transportation from Aulani, and frankly, I would much prefer someone else driving. Appreciate the help!

I did this Aulani excursion in 2012 and it was well worth the money. You only stop at Dole for about 30 minutes, so you don't have time to do anything but use the bathroom and shop. I was very underwhelmed by the site, so I'm glad I didn't do Dole on my own. Maybe it would have been different if I had done the train ride or the maze, but we were told we wouldn't have time.

Other than the Dole Plantation, you definitely just pass by these places. Our driver stopped on the side of the road at one of the beaches and gave us about 5 minutes to get out and look. Other than that, it takes about one hour to get to PCC from Aulani.

IMO PCC is so worth it! While it would have been nice to have more time there(you don't arrive until about 1 pm and the boat parade starts at 2 pm(I think)--just enough time to meet your guide, use the bathroom, see the first demonstration, and get to the parade), you do see the largest of the Polynesian island demonstrations.

When I went, we got the Prime Rib dinner but it looks as if they may be doing something different now. Some people in the group switched to the luau, but a cast member told me the food at mine was better. You do have about 1.5 hours to sightsee(see BYU and something else I don't remember) in between dinner and the Ha Breathe of Life show(some people who did the luau said they left early to sightsee). The show was phenomenal!

As an OP said, I was very willing to pay a little extra to let someone else drive. The show doesn't get out until around 9:30pm and I didn't want to have to fumble my way driving back one hour in the dark. This excursion makes for a long day, but it is worth it. If I ever decide to return to the PCC, I would see the presentations of the other islands I missed.

 

[jerseygal]

Will do a 9:00!

Thanks for the tips on Parking at Super Cheap at Waikiki Shopping Center!

Have read GREAT THINGS about Dukes! The Sunday brunch sounds DELIC!