Aulani for family with college age & young professionals after the 7pm end of May

[southern reader]

Hi all,
We will be at Aulani next month toward the end of May and were wondering a few things. The pool and beach hours say they all close by 7 or 8! Is that right? It seems awfully early! We found out the lawn will be closed (after we booked our trip of course) so their luau and movie nights are out. What is there to do after the pools close? Are there any activities in the evening at the end of May? We signed up for one night of Star gazing, but beyond that all we could find was drinking at the bar and live music. Is that it?
Thanks for all of your help,
Southern Reader

 

[alohamom]

It gets quiet pretty early at Aulani. We have been in August twice and the large main pool stayed open till 10 but I think that is a seasonal thing. Aulani is really geared towards young families and the hours and activities reflect that. I think if you are looking for night life you may end up wanting to head into Waikiki area in the evenings. There are lots of great places to eat and the streets are full of people, kind of has a tropical Vegas feel.

 

[nkereina]

I agree that Aulani can lack evening activities.. Although, aside from Waikiki, I might say that about all of Hawaii. We spent time on Maui and Kauai as well and found a lack of evening activities and nightlife everywhere we went. We were on our honeymoon but were often in bed by 10-10:30 each night. The entire trip we were early to bed, early to rise which is not how we are at home.

Paradise Cove luau is walking distance from Aulani so that might be something fun to do one night. We also walked down to the Marriott and checked out that area one evening after dinner. We downloaded movies on our iPad and watched them sitting outside on the balcony. You could probably even do that sitting on the beach or in quiet area of the resort, just to enjoy it. We also got back later on the days we spent offsite, such as our North Shore day.

Also keep in mind that if you'll be getting up early, sightseeing, doing different activities during the day, etc. then you may even be tired earlier than you anticipate. We were never bored, per se, and often were fine with having a drink and listening to music before heading to bed. We also came from the east coast with a 6 hour time difference, so I don't think we ever fully acclimated to the time change which I'm sure contributed to it as well.

 

[hilarys]

We were there two weeks ago and the Lazy River was open until 8. I noticed the hot tub was open later, but did not notice the pools. Besides star gazing I noticed that they had an evening photography class one night. As the others have said Hawaii is overall not a night time activity place (except Waikiki). I only have the 3 hour time difference but usually have a tough time staying awake past 10. Try to have dinner at 7 or 7:30 and go for a stroll. Just my style, but on my visits to Aulani I have never been disappointed by the lack of evening activities (however on the cruises and at WDW we are usually out really late).

 

[happymommy]

It is quiet later on in the evening. If they are looking for serious nightlife, they would probably want to go to Waikiki. But, if they are even having a drink or two, look for a taxi or Uber back.

Waikiki traffic can be quite congested to say the least. Also, the weekend nights in particular, are the reason I steer clear of there, other than years ago our usual Sunday afternoon tradition (when we lived in Kailua) was to go for brunch or sunset cocktails and pupus. Sundays were nice! Friday and Saturday nights there are really "festive".

We now live on the East Coast, so with a 6 hour time change, even though my kids are now older, we aren't about night life. We're tired! If they go out and are active all day, they may find it fine to have a quiet resort.

Aulani is definitely geared towards families with young children, though. We own at the Marriott next door, and it's kind of similar, as you see many families with 3 generations, young families, and older couples too. I think the 20 somethings are drawn to other destinations, like all inclusives in the Caribbean?

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

Just a guess, but I believe most people who visit aulani are families with young kids from PST/CST/EST with 3-6 hour time differences. Disney is smart in recognizing that and save money on staff by closing early as everyone starts getting tired. On the other end, I believe they could open pools earlier than 8 AM, which is not the case.

 

[GraceD4]

I found you definitely have to venture outside the resort for nightlife--- If you want something nearby, Monkeypod is a short walk with great food and drinks and a fun atmosphere!

 

[ozliz]

The lazy river and some of the pools do close early but I usually found the infinity pool and the hot tubs open later. Monkey pod across the street has a good happy hour that I think starts about 9pm so that is another option.

 

[nkereina]

Another option is the spa, which is open until 8pm. I'm not sure what time they take their last appointment, but I'm sure they're open well after 8pm for people finishing up services. You could book the last appointment for something to do one evening.

 

[Elima2015]

The Paradise Cove luau next door runs into the evening, not super late though, but maybe like 9:00ish? We were at Monkeypod until 9 one evening and there was still plenty of activity in that shopping area at that time.

In general, I agree - pretty quiet in HI in the evenings. It worked fine for us, with the time change we were earlier to bed, earlier to rise.

 

[oakleycat]

We just got back and there is not anything to do after 8:00 except the bars with live music. It wasn't a huge problem for us as with the time difference (3 hours for us) we were ready for bed by 10 anyway, but it was a pain that the kids club closes at 9:00 and we were running back from Monkeypod on our last night to pick up the kids! We also got kicked out of the adult hot tub at 8:00 on the dot a couple times, they are serious about their closing times! It would be great if they would keep one of the pools/hot tubs/something open later for the adults, like we are used to on the cruises.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

With that age group definitely so a night n Waikiki and do Breakout Waikiki puzzle room. It's right off the strip and so much fun with young adults.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We have beento aulani four times and going back on Monday. We love it, but there is little t do at night, usually only Hawaiian music which is nice for a while. The Monkeypod across the street has live music every night. The four seasons next door is open and I've heard they have live music. Roys down the street had a great singer last year but he stopped at 8 pm. There is no clubbing so you need to make your own fun!