AULANI - lots of questions re. the nitty gritty

[Amw1064]

Mommy2Corrine, you posted the awesome info and pictures in my thread about the turtles. I hope we can figure out where to go to see them. Did you do any outside excursions while at Aulani? My daughter is 12. Anything you think she would really like? She wants to do family hula lessons, get her hair braided in the spa. Thanks for any info.

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

Mommy2Corrine, you posted the awesome info and pictures in my thread about the turtles. I hope we can figure out where to go to see them. Did you do any outside excursions while at Aulani? My daughter is 12. Anything you think she would really like? She wants to do family hula lessons, get her hair braided in the spa. Thanks for any info.

We rented a car, so we headed off property for a few days of the trip. My oldest daughter is 11, and she is a sulky tweenager with bad attitude much of the time. I haven't seen so many smiles and laughs out of her in ages. <3 <3 <3 This trip was amazing for her. Hang on a second, and I will post a few pics of the things she liked.

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

Mommy2Corrine, you posted the awesome info and pictures in my thread about the turtles. I hope we can figure out where to go to see them. Did you do any outside excursions while at Aulani? My daughter is 12. Anything you think she would really like? She wants to do family hula lessons, get her hair braided in the spa. Thanks for any info.

Ok...sorry for the delay. I asked my 11 year old what the highlights of the trip were for her, and she said everything, lol. But then we went through pics and she picked out the following:

1) Pearl Harbor - I was surprised at how much she got out of this experience. We drove over and had an early morning tour of the USS Arizona (with the headphones). She wanted to listen to every single station, and she got teared up on the Arizona. <3 She stood at this railing for over 10 minutes and just pondered it all.

2) Another day we drove to the Dole Pineapple Plantation (she liked the train tour and said she learned a lot about pineapple farming and agriculture...plus, she loved the Dole Whip, lol), then we stopped at a few beaches and Shark Cove (she loooooved this...we didn't go snorkeling because of the little ones, but she loved
exploring the tide pools to the left of the main cove), before finally making it over to the Polynesian Cultural Center (which she said was "totally awesome").

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

3) Another day we hiked Diamond Head (she rocked this hike and was waaay ahead of us lugging the little ones the whole way), stopped at the Spitting Caves of Portlock (stunningly beautiful or "sooooo cool" according to her) and the Halona Blowhole (crowded but gorgeous), hiked up the Makapu'u Lighthouse Road (her little sis struggled with this one, so she carried her partway up <3 but the view from the top was worth it according to her), stopped to play at Kailua Beach and had lunch at Buzz's (awesome ceasar salad according to my hungry tweenager), and finally finished off the day with a stop at the Pail Lookout. She said this was one of her favorite days.

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

 

[tksbaskets]

Was it easy to rent a car? We'll be going in September. We'll be at Aulani for two nights and one full day after our cruise. DH and I were thinking of doing the Circle Tour and Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We heard the PCC is quite a cab ride away.

 

[Amw1064]

We rented a car, so we headed off property for a few days of the trip. My oldest daughter is 11, and she is a sulky tweenager with bad attitude much of the time. I haven't seen so many smiles and laughs out of her in ages. <3 <3 <3 This trip was amazing for her. Hang on a second, and I will post a few pics of the things she liked.

Thanks so much for the awesome pictures. I will show them to my daughter when she gets home. So far, we have not had the sulky "tweenager" attitude but I know it is coming. Little signs here and there. She picked the same pineapple shirt for our Dole Plantation day. We leave 2 weeks from today.

 

[gonzalj1]

We are 19 days away from our first visit to Aulani (but not to Hawaii.)

(1) Aunty's Beach House: I've read on these boards that there are times that Aunty's gets booked up. Does this mean for the organized activities -or- that they won't be able to take in any kids when they're fully booked?

(2) If you go to Aunty's on a drop-in basis, do the kids just end up playing on their own the whole time?

(3) Where do you get the wristbands for the pool? Is it only one location? Do they open on time or on "island time?"
Is it the same location for pool towels?
To rent sand toys?
To rent snorkels for the reef?

(4) Which pool can accommodate lap swimming?

(5) If we decide to bring back take out food and don't want to eat in our studio, where can we dine around the grounds?

Thanks in advance.

1 - Can't help sorry. My kids were not very interested in Aunty's. They went once then really weren't all that excited about going back. They preferred to hang with us and enjoy the pool

2 - Yeah - when there aren't any planned activities it's kind of a play on your own kind of thing. The kids met a couple of kids they liked. And a few they weren't that crazy about.

2 - The hut by the kids water area is where you get towels and wrist bands. Sand toys on the beach and the snorkels are over by the reef.

4 - Can't answer this as there was only one pool open when we were there in 2013. But I'd doubt that any poool would really accomodate lap swimming. I'd think you'd bump into folks all the time.

5 - Just about anywhere except in the pool. There are tables and chairs just about everywhere you look.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Was it easy to rent a car? We'll be going in September. We'll be at Aulani for two nights and one full day after our cruise. DH and I were thinking of doing the Circle Tour and Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We heard the PCC is quite a cab ride away.

I am thinking of doing the circle tour which includes the villages and evening
They confirmed today they pick people up from aulani on Wednesdays

 

[Bucketfoot]

I was going to start a new thread, but figured I'd start here first.

We are a week away from our Oahu trip (first 3 nights at Waikiki Beach using points, then 5 nights at Aulani). My biggest question right now is what is the best strategy for getting pool seating. I assume get out early, but can you leave things to mark your territory, do you have to stick around, etc.

 

[Amw1064]

I was going to start a new thread, but figured I'd start here first.

We are a week away from our Oahu trip (first 3 nights at Waikiki Beach using points, then 5 nights at Aulani). My biggest question right now is what is the best strategy for getting pool seating. I assume get out early, but can you leave things to mark your territory, do you have to stick around, etc.

By what I have read, you can get your chairs and check on them hourly. Once the cast member folds your towel you have an hour to come and move things around before they remove your items. We are 2 weeks out today for our Aulani trip.

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

I was going to start a new thread, but figured I'd start here first.

We are a week away from our Oahu trip (first 3 nights at Waikiki Beach using points, then 5 nights at Aulani). My biggest question right now is what is the best strategy for getting pool seating. I assume get out early, but can you leave things to mark your territory, do you have to stick around, etc.

You can leave things on a chair, but the CMs do check to make sure people are actually using them. If they haven't been in use for a while, a CM will one and fold your towel neatly over the back of the headrest. Once that happens, you have an hour to get back over there and sit down (or mess it up again). If you don't, they will take all of your stuff and you will have to retrieve it later.

I noticed that they were especially vigilant about this early in the morning.

I would sign the kids up at Aunty's (I got in line at about 7:10 and finished at about 8:00) and then head over to the pool to drop our stuff off. A few times when we came back down at 8:30 or 8:45, the towels were folded, but we never actually lost our place. Just make sure someone checks in every so often.

 

[AZMermaid]

There is a one hour rule for leaving your things. Reviews on enforcement seem to be inconsistent. Everything I've read implies the best seats are gone before 8 and seats are hard to come by after 9, but hopefully someone who's been lately can confirm. That's just from reading way too many Aulsni posts!

Mommy2corrine- love love the pics! Thanks for posting them. My kids are 3 and 4.5, so close to yours. We have 2 more days!

 

[tksbaskets]

I am thinking of doing the circle tour which includes the villages and evening
They confirmed today they pick people up from aulani on Wednesdays

Sounds great if we were going to be there on a Wednesday. Our free day is Friday. Let me know how you like the tour.

 

[AZMermaid]

We are here now and they are giving out the tickets for the free programs at Auntys at 7:30. They recommended we be in line by 7:00. I was there at 7 today and was probably about 15th in line. I got both programs I wanted and all were available by the time she got to me. I was back in the room at 7:55.

They were out of sand toys at 10:00 when we got to the beach. We had our own, so it didn't affect us, but just FYI. You might bring a shovel or something if you have diggers!

 

[swooshbear]

Was it easy to rent a car? We'll be going in September. We'll be at Aulani for two nights and one full day after our cruise. DH and I were thinking of doing the Circle Tour and Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We heard the PCC is quite a cab ride away.

Renting a car is super easy and the absolute best way to see the rest of the island. We will be in Oahu for 8 nights and our total for our car rental was $286 via Costco.

The Polynesian Cultural Center is quite a drive from the Aulani so I can't imagine what a cab ride would be. On the way to the PCC, you can stop by the Dole Plantation for Dole Whip with fresh pineapple on top, I wish they would do this at DLR or WDW.

 

[tksbaskets]

Renting a car is super easy and the absolute best way to see the rest of the island. We will be in Oahu for 8 nights and our total for our car rental was $286 via Costco.

The Polynesian Cultural Center is quite a drive from the Aulani so I can't imagine what a cab ride would be. On the way to the PCC, you can stop by the Dole Plantation for Dole Whip with fresh pineapple on top, I wish they would do this at DLR or WDW.

Thanks for the info!

 

[heybets30]

Mommy2Corinne or Amw264- did either of you mention where you got the pineapple tee-shirts???? My 8-year old has been scanning all the posts with pictures of Oahu to get involved in the planning, and she wants that tee (Yep, and I'm a mom who wants to get it for her, it's awesome)!! How perfect would that be for the Dole Plantation? From Amn264's response, it sounds like maybe you did not get it at the Dole Plantation. But, if you would share, I would appreciate it!!!!
THANKS!

 

[Amw1064]

Mommy2Corinne or Amw264- did either of you mention where you got the pineapple tee-shirts???? My 8-year old has been scanning all the posts with pictures of Oahu to get involved in the planning, and she wants that tee (Yep, and I'm a mom who wants to get it for her, it's awesome)!! How perfect would that be for the Dole Plantation? From Amn264's response, it sounds like maybe you did not get it at the Dole Plantation. But, if you would share, I would appreciate it!!!!
THANKS!

The pineapple top comes from Justice. We got it back in March or April. My daughter is wearing hers to the Dole Plantation.

 

[heybets30]

Ahhhh .... Justice ... should've guessed it ;-) THANKS!!!!! My 8-yr old would take 1 of everything at Justice if I let her!