Aulani in October?

[bamagirl@hrt]

My family is beginning to plan our first trip to Hawaii for next October. It will be my daughter's senior year, and we have fall break Sept. 30- Oct. 13. We will be able to vacation 9/30-10/11.

I had thought this would be a perfect time to go, as I had read this is a low tourist season. Just last night, though, I read a TripAdvisor review that said all of Hawaii schools have fall break during this same time. The reviewer stated that the crowds doubled at the resort that week.

I'm looking for an DISer experiences with Aulani during this timeframe. Is it as crazy busy as summer? If so, I may rethink my plans. Thanks so much!

Christy

 

[rlrose313]

I was just at Aulani this past week. It was pretty full and hard to find chairs during the afternoon hours 2-6pm. The beach however always had plenty of chairs so we went there when the pools were full. Aulani has a good policy to ensure chairs aren't being held all day long for no reason. That was helpful in finding good spots. We were able to get Ama Ama and other reservations without a problem. Had a great time and really never complained about it being crowded. Hope that helps!

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

Thanks so much! That really does help. I'd read stories from the summer months about the lagoon being too crowded to have room to paddle board or swim. My kids will be 17 and 14 at the time of the trip. They'll be more into the beach activities, I think, than the pool. We plan to alternate between days sightseeing away from the resort and days staying and playing at the resort.

Thanks for your input!

 

[wdrl]

We just returned from Aulani after being there from October 5-12. Not only did many Hawaiian schools have a Fall break last week, we encountered several families from California, Washington, and Arizona that said their kids also were on a Fall break. Keep in mind that if your kids have a Fall break, then chances are there are other school systems around the country that are also having Fall breaks.

On three separate occasions different Cast Members told us that Aulani was about 80% occupied last week with about 3,000 guests. Crowds were a little heavier on Saturday and Sunday because many locals take staycations at Aulani. We ran into one local family that said they take advantage of a special group rate offer that lowers the cost of the rooms. They get friends, neighbors, and coworkers to sign up for a minimum of 10 rooms and they get a significantly reduced rate.

ETA: If you can choose your days to be at Aulani or to spend time on O'ahu away from the resort, I recommend you spend your Saturday and Sunday sightseeing and your weekdays at Aulani. There is an uptick in occupancy at Aulani on the weekends, so its will be relatively more crowded at the resort on the weekends.

 

[keepmoving4ward]

We just got home last night from Aulani. We arrived on 10/9 and it was busy busy! Saturday night there was not one parking spot available in the self park garage after we came back from sightseeing. People parked there to attend the Luau down the street! We complained to a CM that there was not any available parking for us and she didn't believe us so she sent another CM in to verify. They radioed back that they will have to close the garage and offer valet parking to all guests trying to park. They said they've only ever had to do that a few times!
But Sunday was less crowded, Monday even less, and the morning we left (Tuesday) just before 10am, the place was dead! Empty chairs everywhere and not one person lined up for the slides.
I know that doesn't line up well with your break, and I'm not sure how crowded the week before we arrived was, but next time we will definitely wait until the week after Hawaii's fall break. What a difference it made!

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

Thanks for your reports! I'm still torn. At least if we decide to go, we'll be mentally prepared for the crowd. We won't go in expecting the place to be empty.

 

[ncgator]

We're also planning to be at Aulani next October, likely the 11th through 15th. I was also expecting low season crowd levels, so good to know this so I can set the right expectations. Sounds like if it's similar to this year, things should be good starting Tuesday.

 

[keepmoving4ward]

Thanks for your reports! I'm still torn. At least if we decide to go, we'll be mentally prepared for the crowd. We won't go in expecting the place to be empty.

Very true! I didn't realize that Hawaii was on Fall Break that week until 2 days before we left, so we hadn't prepared for that. Since it's considered adventure season for points, we thought it'd be empty
I think it would have helped if we had done a little more research. I mean we always research a WDW trip down to the second so that we avoid the crowds. Never thought we may have to do that at Aulani too. We'll know to plan better at least for next time!

 

[keepmoving4ward]

We're also planning to be at Aulani next October, likely the 11th through 15th. I was also expecting low season crowd levels, so good to know this so I can set the right expectations. Sounds like if it's similar to this year, things should be good starting Tuesday.

Hawaii Fall Break this year was 10/6-10/10. So if their fall break in 2015 is the same week as this year, it would be 10/5-10/9. If you go 10/11-10/15, you will pick the week I wish we had picked. You will miss the local fall breaker crowds from the moment you check in until check out. The difference from being there on a Thursday during fall break to a Monday (even a holiday Monday) not during fall break was extremely evident.