Aulani - First time visiting Hawaii

[afoeckler]

We are in the early stages of planning a trip to Hawaii in November - my wife and I have never been there. To our surprise, 2 bedroom villas are available for most of the month of November. We are a large family - my wife and have four boys (ages 10, 9, 5, 3). We plan to stay in Hawaii about 10 days.

Here are the questions for those with Hawaii experience: Will we regret staying at Aluani the entire time? How easy (and expensive) is it explore other islands if we keep our home base at Alauni the entire time? Should we consider splitting our stay and moving to another island? If so, which island and accommodations do you recommend for a family with four boys?

Thanks for the anticipated responses.

 

[stlrod]

I've been struggling with that same dilemma except i've been to all 4 major islands and I have two girls (now young adults.). I only have 8 nights though and our visits to Oahu have been very brief so I've decided to stay on Oahu. Having said that, if I were in your shoes, I would definitely go to another island for at least part of the time. I'm not a fan of Kauai, but love Maui (especially the Road to Hana but that would be a crowded car) and the Big Island. With the boys, I would definitely go to the Big Island and visit Volcanoes National Park (amazing even for my two girls.) One of the reasons I suggest the Big Island is because it's ike visiting two separate islands (hilo side and Kona side.) If it were me, I'd spend 6 nights at Aulani, then fly into Hilo, rent a car there, stay two nights near the National Park in a rental house (there are lots of them at the entrance and you can search for them on the web--if you email me I'll try to find a link to the one I stayed at) and then drive up to Kona (taking the scenice waterfall route--a sort of mini-Road to hana trip) and spend two nights in Kona before flying back home out of Kona. I love the Mauna Lani Bay hotel (two rooms w/o view can be pretty good and snorkeling equipment, etc) is included. Hope that helps. I'm sure others will have some great advice as well.

 

[stlrod]

Here's the house we stayed in (surrounded by a tropical rain forest):

http://www.hawaiivolcanovacations.com/index.php?inc=house&id=3

Inter-island flights are typically not more than $80 pp if booked in advance and many airlines (American) can book them for only 5,000 miles if you are frequent flyer.

 

[jekjones1558]

Your decision will probably be influenced by how much activity you want and how much money you have to spend. If you have never been to Hawaii you could spend all 10 days at Aulani. You could do a day at the Polynesian Culture Center, a day on Waikiki, a day at the zoo and Diamond Head, a day doing Pearl Harbor and Punch Bowl, a day snorkeling and sightseeing at Hanauma Bay or another spot, and the rest of the time hanging out at the resort.
Big Island is our favorite but doing 2 islands adds the expense of interisland flights and you waste most of one day checking out, getting to the airport, doing the flight, getting a rental car and checking into another hotel or rental. I am not a fan of packing and unpacking, so if I were in your shoes and if I decided to do Big Island I would stay near Kona the whole time and do day trips. Hilo and the rainforests, Volcanoes, Parker Ranch area and the Kohala Coast are 4 distinct geographical areas and could be day trips. We loved the Mauna Lani Resort but it is expensive and and in a pretty remote area. I would anchor in the Kona area. You can rent a home or, if you like to be near the activity, check out this timeshare:
http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/KOAKH/main.wnt
It is a short walk to downtown Kailua-Kona. You can rent it direct or perhaps find someone on TUG or Redweek who wants to trade or rent to you.
Whatever you decide you will have an unforgettable vacation. Be prepared to get hooked. I ADORE WDW and we have lots of points because we love it so much. But if I had to pick my favorite vacation spot on earth it would be Hawaii. Good luck on your planning!

 

[wbl2745]

You asked about using Aulani as a home base while exploring other islands. Although it is probably possible to do a day trip to some of the other islands, you'll consume a lot of time just trying to get to and from airports. You wouldn't be able to get into the island to see things that aren't close to the airports.

I'd think that your boys might like to see the volcano on the Big Island, but you'd really have to stay somewhere there. There are other things to do on the Big Island so you could do a couple of days there.

 

[Massillon Dad]

Yes visiting other islands is a very adventurous & fun experience, as the each have their own different stuff to experience. However, island hopping then returning to your DVC timeshare each night would be a nightmare! sure you can stay @ dvc when on oahu , but sleep on other islands when visiting them. See, you need to add up all the airport commuting time, pre-flight check-in time also coupled with the fact that often inter-island flights are often delayed (unfortunately they are practically a monopoly so their service is the dumps). Therefore to transfer/fly to another island/rent car is likely a 4-hour chore...add a return flight = 8-hour ordeal!...which leaves you with very little sight-seeing time that day. Maui or other islands have many accomodation choices a VRBO.com as well as hotel rooms. P.S. : most people in-the-know would advise you against driving/finding parking in Honolulu/Waikiki.

 

[TravelingJen24]

Typically we try to do two islands when we travel to Hawaii. Usually it is Maui and the big Island. However, this last time our children were quite young so we stayed on one island for the entire week. At the end of the week I wished we had ventured out. I definitely would not island hop for the day though. That is just too much stress for us on vacation.

 

[stlrod]

You may also want to consider splitting your time on Oahu. Waikiki is very different from Ko Olina. 3 nights in Waikiki would probably be enough. You should check out the Outrigger Regency at Beachwalk (fairly new and shares amenities with Outrigger Reef.)

 

[bfosbenner]

Great info,
We are plaing 7 days at Aulani in Feb 2012,
and want to spend a few additional days on the Big Island also.

 

['ohanaof5]

When we took our three girls (5,6,8 at the time) we stayed in Oahu for all 10 days. We loved Oahu and enjoy that you can go the the busy beaches or hop in the car and find a quiet beach to enjoy off the beaten path. I think there are plenty of activities to entertain your family and I personally would not spend the money or use my time island hopping on my first visit. I have been to Oahu 2x and Kauai 1x. On our visit next year to Aulani we plan to stay there for 7 days and then fly to Maui for 4 days before returning home. I hope you have a lovely family vacation!

 

[maciec]

When we took our three girls (5,6,8 at the time) we stayed in Oahu for all 10 days. We loved Oahu and enjoy that you can go the the busy beaches or hop in the car and find a quiet beach to enjoy off the beaten path. I think there are plenty of activities to entertain your family and I personally would not spend the money or use my time island hopping on my first visit. I have been to Oahu 2x and Kauai 1x. On our visit next year to Aulani we plan to stay there for 7 days and then fly to Maui for 4 days before returning home. I hope you have a lovely family vacation!

How did your 5 year old do on the flight from the east coast? A lot of people recommend a layover/stayover in Cali on the way. Did you do this?

 

[wbl2745]

How did your 5 year old do on the flight from the east coast? A lot of people recommend a layover/stayover in Cali on the way. Did you do this?

When our girls (triplets!) were 5 we took them to Germany, flying non-stop from San Franciso to Frankfurt, which was about 14 hours. We were able to get them to sleep both going and coming. (I can never sleep on planes.) We also had LOTS of treats, books, and paper for drawing. If you're prepared it should work out.