Aulani information and planning help

[Gothemi]

Let me start by saying I have never been to Aulani, this will be the first time for my family and I. Haven't been to Hawaii since I was a child and barely remember everything (it was much smaller back then, lol).

We rented points for a stay in October. I have been lurking on these boards for a long time and have used the search feature, but there isn't as much Aulani info as there is WDW, DL or DCL. I see the Views and Rooms post stuck to the top of this forum. It's very helpful, but are there any other resources or places to seek information? When we did our first DCL cruise last year, I bought the Unofficial Guide and got info. from the DIS as well. Anyplace else I can search for Aulani info?

Just trying to avoid several posts on this forum while trying to educated myself and prepare.

To that end. I'm planning to reveal the trip to my wife and 7 yo daughter as a Christmas gift. I already bought my wife an Aulani spirit jersey thanks to a nice lady who is there now buying things for folks. What else can I do to make this special? Any suggestions? I don't see an option to have Mickey call like WDW or DCL.

Also, when can I start reserving dinners, experiences and such? I have a reservation number already. Can I start now?

Thank you!

 

[Fred M]

When we did our first DCL cruise last year, I bought the Unofficial Guide and got info. from the DIS as well. Anyplace else I can search for Aulani info?

Aulani is best thought of as any other resort hotel but with a Disney flourish! Your dining options are pretty limited at the resort. It's easy to get around. You've found the room thread on here.

The biggest things to know are (1) Aunty's Beach House for your daughter and (2) the Pau Hana room. Aunty's is like a small version of a Disney Cruise kids club--they have arts and crafts, movies, computers, and activities within Aunty's. In other words, they won't do beach activities with your kids. And the Pau Hana room is where you can rent DVDs, sign up for arts and crafts (both for adults and kids), and it will be the meeting place for a tour of the resort.

To that end. I'm planning to reveal the trip to my wife and 7 yo daughter as a Christmas gift. I already bought my wife an Aulani spirit jersey thanks to a nice lady who is there now buying things for folks. What else can I do to make this special? Any suggestions? I don't see an option to have Mickey call like WDW or DCL.

Olu the Turtle is the current kids mascot for Aulani. For your daughter, you can get her a stuffed Olu from shopDisney. There's not much else you can get in advance without someone getting it from Aulani for you. But you can always add on Disney beach towels from your local Disney Store (or online), and getting them swim themed presents would be nice too!

Also, when can I start reserving dinners, experiences and such? I have a reservation number already. Can I start now?

Dinner reservations are up to 6 months out. For experiences, all of them are basically on the Aulani Web site.

 

[jodybird511]

I have found that there are no better resources to get info about Aulani that this forum. I've been to Aulani twice now and have a trip planned for this summer, but some of the most useful info I found prior to my trip was by reading trip reports of others. That's really the best info for starters!

 

[nkereina]

Aulani is essentially just a resort hotel. There's not much to plan for at the resort itself, save for dining reservations but that doesn't carry the same urgency as WDW dining reservations. I would spend my time researching Oahu so you know what things you want to do and where they are generally located. A lot of that information can be found here on the Aulani forum, but I also like to reference the Cruise Critic forum - there are several cruises that visit Hawaii, so many posters there are asking questions about the various Hawaiian ports of call which includes Oahu. It would give you a good idea for different excursions available and the top attractions people are visiting.

 

[Sakura1017]

Let me start by saying I have never been to Aulani, this will be the first time for my family and I. Haven't been to Hawaii since I was a child and barely remember everything (it was much smaller back then, lol).

We rented points for a stay in October. I have been lurking on these boards for a long time and have used the search feature, but there isn't as much Aulani info as there is WDW, DL or DCL. I see the Views and Rooms post stuck to the top of this forum. It's very helpful, but are there any other resources or places to seek information? When we did our first DCL cruise last year, I bought the Unofficial Guide and got info. from the DIS as well. Anyplace else I can search for Aulani info?

Just trying to avoid several posts on this forum while trying to educated myself and prepare.

To that end. I'm planning to reveal the trip to my wife and 7 yo daughter as a Christmas gift. I already bought my wife an Aulani spirit jersey thanks to a nice lady who is there now buying things for folks. What else can I do to make this special? Any suggestions? I don't see an option to have Mickey call like WDW or DCL.

Also, when can I start reserving dinners, experiences and such? I have a reservation number already. Can I start now?

Thank you!

If you go online to their main website it will show you if you can start booking for dining.

 

[Magnum44]

The Facebook groups are pretty useful as well!

 

[Noodlez]

We were in Aulani this October. I think I over-planned! As others have mentioned, work out when you hope to eat in the resorts main restaurants and book those. Anything else, just ask here!

I didn’t find any good resources myself. It was our second trip and I’m still trying to find sites about some things. Thankfully we have some very knowledgeable members!

 

[corgi_monster]

On Christmas morning you could play "Mele Kalikimaka" and burn a tropical smelling candle during the big reveal. Tropical vibes!

 

[JohnnyG]

Let me start by saying I have never been to Aulani, this will be the first time for my family and I. Haven't been to Hawaii since I was a child and barely remember everything (it was much smaller back then, lol).

We rented points for a stay in October. I have been lurking on these boards for a long time and have used the search feature, but there isn't as much Aulani info as there is WDW, DL or DCL. I see the Views and Rooms post stuck to the top of this forum. It's very helpful, but are there any other resources or places to seek information? When we did our first DCL cruise last year, I bought the Unofficial Guide and got info. from the DIS as well. Anyplace else I can search for Aulani info?

Just trying to avoid several posts on this forum while trying to educated myself and prepare.

To that end. I'm planning to reveal the trip to my wife and 7 yo daughter as a Christmas gift. I already bought my wife an Aulani spirit jersey thanks to a nice lady who is there now buying things for folks. What else can I do to make this special? Any suggestions? I don't see an option to have Mickey call like WDW or DCL.

Also, when can I start reserving dinners, experiences and such? I have a reservation number already. Can I start now?

Thank you!

John, Kevin and Tracy have 3 or 4 videos on you tube under the dreams unlimited channel. They are very extensive and even cover exploring outside the resort. Highly recommended

 

[heaven2dc]

Some people may say Aulani has limited dining options but it really doesn't if you compare it to a hotel at Disneyland or Disney World. It has a table service restaurant, buffet restaurant, quick service, lounges, poolside and room service dining. It can't be compared to hotels at the parks in my opinion because those places have multiple parks plus multiple hotels. You can book dining 180 days in advance

 

[plygph]

Ok we are going for our third trip to Aulani this February in fact we loved it so much our first visit it is now one of our home resorts. 1st things first you will need to rent a car as it is a short drive from the airport. Now we were not happy with dining options at the resort except for the required character breakfast or QS area we ate away from the resort. The meals we did have were good just overpriced.
Several local and chain places to eat within a couple of miles of resort across the street is the ABC store and several resturants Hawaiian BBQ and Mexican place were good casual places to eat Some people rave about monkey pod sorry not to offend anyone here but it is simply to hip for our tastes. Anyplace that makes their own soft drinks no Coke or Pepsi products available are to hip for us.
Seriously some of our favorite meals came from local places Mike's Huli Huli Chicken, Rainbow Inn, Giovanni's Shrimp truck, Leonard's bakery malasadas (trust me on this one in a parking lot from a truck near the resort un-real treat), Matsumotos Shave Ice, Uncle woody BBQ Corn, some ramen house in the shopping center near Target.
Do you belong to Costco? Yes great because there is one very near the resort you can load up on your snacks and other items you will need for the week. This is our 1st stop after check in. Plenty of places catch a good meal near this place.
Ok now the resort your DD is gonna love the pool area here (and so will the adults) lazy river, water slides, and hot tubs. Each day you have to get a new resort wrist band at the towel shack.
Get out and explore the island we have our most fun on the north shore we have zip lined here and its a blast. you drive this whole island in 2 hours.
Aloha Swap Meet doesn't sound too exciting does it? But we found this event on our last trip and it is a must do. We had a lady who worked for Delta who suggested it and she was right. This is the place to pick up all of your souvenirs for the trip at reasonable prices. It is at Aloha Stadium on Sat-Sun and Wed.
Luau - We have done the Polynesian Cultural Center and the one at the resort. For us we enjoyed the Polynesian Cultural center much better that resort even without alcohol there is a lot more to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Now on both prior trips each night we watched people stream out of the resort walking over to the Paradise Cove Luau which is located one resort over from Aulani we have not done that one maybe this time.
Aunty's Beach house our 6 year old DGS loved it so much we went to get one day to go to lunch with us he demanded to stay. In fact when we talk about this trip that all he wants to do go to that lady's house.
Hawaiian Government has a great visitor site check into it.

Enjoy please feel free to pm me if you like for more info.

My 2 cents

 

[Gothemi]

Thank you so much for the replies. Thank you Plygph! That answered a lot of other questions we had. Specifically the car rental and the luau's. We arrived on a Saturday, and I imagine we won't get our room until proper check in time so my plan was do hit up Costco and perhaps the Dole Plantation for lunch. I would think Saturday is the busiest day for the pools at Aulani so I don't want to worry about finding a spot and not having a room to return to on day 1.

Is there an advantage to having the DVC wristband vs a regular wristband at the pools? Also, we are considering a Casabella rental. Do they allow a party of 3 to rent those as there are only 2 seats?

I have been watching Youtube videos from Dreams Unlimited as mentioned before, also great info there. I think we are getting the hang of it a bit better now.

For the surprise, I was able to have someone send some swag from Aulani, I put that in a box with Lei's and a fake travel ticket and surprised them both. It worked out pretty well. Just can't wait for it to come now!

 

[ksromack]

Seriously some of our favorite meals came from local places Mike's Huli Huli Chicken, Rainbow Inn, Giovanni's Shrimp truck, Leonard's bakery malasadas (trust me on this one in a parking lot from a truck near the resort un-real treat), Matsumotos Shave Ice, Uncle woody BBQ Corn, some ramen house in the shopping center near Target.
Do you belong to Costco? Yes great because there is one very near the resort you can load up on your snacks and other items you will need for the week. This is our 1st stop after check in. Plenty of places catch a good meal near this place.

Aloha Swap Meet doesn't sound too exciting does it? But we found this event on our last trip and it is a must do. We had a lady who worked for Delta who suggested it and she was right. This is the place to pick up all of your souvenirs for the trip at reasonable prices. It is at Aloha Stadium on Sat-Sun and Wed.

I appreciate the restaurant suggestions even though this wasn't my question! I am changing our days around a little bit too. Originally I planned for us to do Pearl Harbor on Tuesday, the day after our arrival but now am changing it to Wednesday....followed by the Aloha Swap Meet and the luau that night. That is my birthday so dh won't be able to complain if I drag him around the Swap Meet, lol! We were going to Costco on our way home from the airport but now I'm thinking we should wait. We land in the a.m. and I'm doubtful we will get into our room right away. I don't want to need to refrigerate items and have no where to put them!

 

[dachsie]

I appreciate the restaurant suggestions even though this wasn't my question! I am changing our days around a little bit too. Originally I planned for us to do Pearl Harbor on Tuesday, the day after our arrival but now am changing it to Wednesday....followed by the Aloha Swap Meet and the luau that night. That is my birthday so dh won't be able to complain if I drag him around the Swap Meet, lol! We were going to Costco on our way home from the airport but now I'm thinking we should wait. We land in the a.m. and I'm doubtful we will get into our room right away. I don't want to need to refrigerate items and have no where to put them!

From what I have been told about the swap meet, they start packing up early, like 11ish so you may need to adjust your timing on that day

 

[Penellllllope]

Let me start by saying I have never been to Aulani, this will be the first time for my family and I. Haven't been to Hawaii since I was a child and barely remember everything (it was much smaller back then, lol).

We rented points for a stay in October. I have been lurking on these boards for a long time and have used the search feature, but there isn't as much Aulani info as there is WDW, DL or DCL. I see the Views and Rooms post stuck to the top of this forum. It's very helpful, but are there any other resources or places to seek information? When we did our first DCL cruise last year, I bought the Unofficial Guide and got info. from the DIS as well. Anyplace else I can search for Aulani info?

Just trying to avoid several posts on this forum while trying to educated myself and prepare.

To that end. I'm planning to reveal the trip to my wife and 7 yo daughter as a Christmas gift. I already bought my wife an Aulani spirit jersey thanks to a nice lady who is there now buying things for folks. What else can I do to make this special? Any suggestions? I don't see an option to have Mickey call like WDW or DCL.

Also, when can I start reserving dinners, experiences and such? I have a reservation number already. Can I start now?

Thank you!

Hi! I went to Aulani last year, and LET ME TELL YOU that it is the absolute trip of a lifetime! There are so many things for both you and your wife, and daughter to do. I definitely recommend you try and plan out some things to do everyday, because you want to get as much done as possible. Personally, I didn't try the spa there, but I've heard it is an amazing experience. I've seen lots of positive reviews on the different packages, so I would certainly check that out. If you decide to do that, your daughter can spend some time at Auntie's Beach House, which is totally supervised and has so many activities that kids love. Another thing I certainly recommend is trying out the snorkeling pool. It is filled with so many gorgeous fish, and getting to swim up close to them was such a surreal experience for me, as they are such wonderful creatures. The pools and lazy river are also amazing, and I spent so much time there haha! For the lagoon area, I would recommend bringing some kind of float toy/ring, it makes it so much fun with the gentle waves. There's a Target down the highway (Comes in handy!), which sells all kinds of floats, for not too expensive of a price. Renting a paddle board was also such a fun experience, and is definitely worth trying. If you get the chance to try the scavenger hunts, you really should! There's two of them, you go to the activity room and they give you a touchscreen tablet that gives you directions and has Auntie talking to you. It is an enjoyable, interactive experience that was so much fun to do, and it sort of takes you on a little tour of the resort.

 

[Amw1064]

We went to Aulani back in 2015 for our "once in a lifetime" trip from Florida. We have annual Disney passes and cruise all the time and after a day there we knew we found a new love. My daughter was 12 at the time and we added on DVC points from Aulani to our membership and returned 3 years in a row. We are changing it up this year and going in March for our 5th trip. We absolutely love it. We float around and around that river, go on the slides, down to the beach a bit. We have always been in the summer so hoping we can see some of the big waves and whales up in the North Shore. I definitely suggest a rental car. We go all over now. Our favorite beach is Lanikai beach on the east side of the island but we also love walking over to Paradise Cove lagoon. We have always been fortunate to see some turtles. Sometimes coming right up to you and sometimes swimming farther away. We also do the swap meet. My daughter picks up all her souvenirs from there. Definitely get there early as it is HOT! We like to take a day trip to Waikiki. I personally wouldn't want to stay there but I think it is very pretty and a fun day. We usually do a catamaran ride from there or the outrigger canoe ride. Of course lunch at Dukes. My daughter made a video of our last trip but this was coming from a 16 year old so she chose what went into video. Food, well we do breakfast in our room and sometimes I make sandwiches and chips to bring down to the pool and other times we eat from the little stand. My daughter gets a mickey shaved ice every day. We love the character dinner and always go across the street a few nights. Monkey pod happy hour is a good deal. I personally do not find it all that great so wouldn't pay the price but the happy hour food is pretty good. This last trip we went to the Korean BBQ and Pizza Corner. Both were fine. Had great hamburgers at some place called 7 Brothers or something like that after they went zip lining. Any questions just ask.

 

[heaven2dc]

Thank you so much for the replies. Thank you Plygph! That answered a lot of other questions we had. Specifically the car rental and the luau's. We arrived on a Saturday, and I imagine we won't get our room until proper check in time so my plan was do hit up Costco and perhaps the Dole Plantation for lunch. I would think Saturday is the busiest day for the pools at Aulani so I don't want to worry about finding a spot and not having a room to return to on day 1.

Is there an advantage to having the DVC wristband vs a regular wristband at the pools? Also, we are considering a Casabella rental. Do they allow a party of 3 to rent those as there are only 2 seats?

I have been watching Youtube videos from Dreams Unlimited as mentioned before, also great info there. I think we are getting the hang of it a bit better now.

For the surprise, I was able to have someone send some swag from Aulani, I put that in a box with Lei's and a fake travel ticket and surprised them both. It worked out pretty well. Just can't wait for it to come now!

Hope you enjoy your stay!

If you arrive prior to your check in time, the front desk will store your bags with bell services and give you a temporary room key card to enjoy the amenities. If you plan on shopping for groceries before your arrival, remember to not purchase perishable items as the hotel does not have a place to keep them refrigerated. But they can store non-perishable items.

I've never heard of a "DVC" wristband so I must be missing something. Everyone in your party must be present at the towel station each day to get a different colored wrist band as each guest must present their room key card to get one. Maybe someone who is a DVC member can answer your question about a different wrist band for DVC members.

As far as a 2 seat casabella, that's what it is for - 2 guests. If you want one for a party of 3, then book the 3 seat one.

 

[kyton]

DVC wristbands are only available for people staying on (their own?) DVC points - they are the same daily colour however are sparkly! I think it just means CMS can easily distinguish as to who is on points (and therefore have different bonuses) versus cash.

 

[cgattis]

You did t say how many days you are staying, but I personally recommend seeing Oahu and not just Aulani. We spent 7 days on Oahu, 5 of them at Aulani, and really only had two full resort-only days plus two halves. We easily did everything at the resort multiple times and felt like we had lots of time to soak it up. I mean, it was awesome and beautiful, but so are so many other places on the island. We enjoyed snorkeling at Hanauma Bay and Sharks Cove so much that my kid’s wouldn’t even do the Aulani lagoon. Obviously Pearl Harbor is a must, and we enjoyed the swap meet and a little tour of the stadium (but as another poster noted, they start closing up well before the closing time); we also enjoyed Dixie BBQ nearby, but we were in Hawaii 14 days total, so I needed my sweet tea fix LOL. We did Diamond Head even if it’s “touristy.” We didn’t get to Lanikai Beach but just ran out of days! Anyway I just say you should see the natural beauty too—not just the (very beautifully) man-made.

 

[jkips]

DVC wristbands are only available for people staying on (their own?) DVC points - they are the same daily colour however are sparkly! I think it just means CMS can easily distinguish as to who is on points (and therefore have different bonuses) versus cash.

I’ve never fully understood why they do different wristbands for the DVC members staying on points. They look a bit nicer - my kids definitely like them more - but you still need to show your DVC card in the shops to get the discounts for being a DVC member.