Aulani for entire stay

[NC State Tigger]

We have a reservation for 9 nights at Aulani in October. We have talked about staying 2 or 3 nights at a hotel in Waikiki and do some of our "tourist" things before heading to Aulani and reducing the number of days at Aulani to 6 or 7 days.

Pros and cons from experienced Hawaii travelers, please. I'm not planning any island hopping this trip. This is our first trip to Hawaii. 5 adults and a 3 year old.

Thanks.

 

[rymahoney]

My suggestion would be to stay on the north shore for 2-3 nights to get a true Hawaii feel. Then go to The resort. I stayed at Hilton's Hawaiian village and drove up to north shore almost everyday to get out of the concrete jungle. Having been to most of the other islands I would start saving now to do an island hoping trip because the other islands are in my opinion much much better. And vacations are actually cheaper to some of the smaller islands. Kauai is my favorite.

 

[rymahoney]

Just to add. The north shore is much more laid back. Similar to the other smaller islands. Also hitting up the shrimp trucks on the side of the road for shrimp scampi and rice should be a must. I drove 50 min just to eat a couple times.

 

[Meemoo]

If you have never visited Hawaii, it is always nice to visit the very touristy Waikiki, snap some photos on Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head behind - but, if you are visiting Aulani, make sure you do it before going to Aulani! Advice from our last trip, as we booked 5 nights at Aulani and 5 in Waikiki following it. I don't want to sound spoilt but Aulani was just so beautiful that Waikiki felt like such a down grade, we only stayed 2 nights and went back to Aulani and joined DVC whilst we were there! I have been to Hawaii 4 times now, and I never had felt this way about Waikiki prior to going to Aulani, but also having said that I had never went with kids until my last visit and Aulani was much more appropriate and family friendly, Waikiki more like a mini Vegas!

 

[Meemoo]

I might also add, that whilst at Waikiki for those 2 nights we did a Grand Circle Island Tour - that covered all the highlights for the kids to see - and now on our next trip the end of October we'll hire a car and go visit the best of them

 

[Jaaron2]

My suggestion would be to stay on the north shore for 2-3 nights to get a true Hawaii feel. Then go to The resort. I stayed at Hilton's Hawaiian village and drove up to north shore almost everyday to get out of the concrete jungle. Having been to most of the other islands I would start saving now to do an island hoping trip because the other islands are in my opinion much much better. And vacations are actually cheaper to some of the smaller islands. Kauai is my favorite.

I can't agree more. We did a split stay for 2 weeks between Aulani and Hilton Hawaiian's village last summer. Next summer we are going for 2 weeks and only staying at Aulani. The island is small enough that you can drive anywhere you want in a reasonable time (if you time it right) We also spent a lot of time going to the North Shore beaches when we stayed at Waikiki Beach. If your looking to stay somewhere else I would definitely look at the North Shore.

 

[dsneygirl]

We had been to Maui twice pre-kids but Aulani was for family time. We were there 10 days and only did 1 day tour to the North Shore. Our kids our little though and we did not want to leave as the resort was so amazing. The activities and amenities are amongst the best we have ever had and had no desire to see anything else.

One night we drove to Waikiki for dinner and that was enough for me But we are not hustle/bustle people. The most excitment for us was moving from the beach to the pool and around the lazy river.