Aulani.... need a car?

[psimon]

When you stayed at Aulani, did you find that you needed a car? I am looking to do the "touristy" things like Waikiki, Polynesian Cultural Center, island tour and Pearl Harbor.

How did you get to Aulani from the airport without a car?

All thoughts appreciated!

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[honeylove]

Hi, I live out in Hawaii and Aulani is our home resort. It would be a lot easier to travel around the island with a car. Aulani is far out West and it is quite a distance to get to Pearl Harbor, PCC, and let alone, Waikiki. There is a shuttle that does take you to Ala Moana a couple days a week...

 

[Mickey Mantle]

I'm on my 9th day at Aulani right now. We rented a car, but I'm sure you could get by without one if you didn't want to spend the money. If you can afford it, I would get it. Its nice to have the luxury to go where ever you want whenever you want. However, there are plenty of restaurants within walking distance and the ABC store has everything you could need grocery wise (at convenience store prices). Aulani does have tours to most, if not all, the places you mentioned. Its up to you, I paid around $700 and have only used a half tank of gas over the last nine days.

 

[rsimon]

We were just there this January and rented a car for the 12 days we were there. I wouldn't stay there without a car, there are so many things you can go do on the island that wouldn't be possible without a car. We put over 600 miles on the car in the 12 days and got to see most of the island. Also as far as shopping goes, there are much better options for groceries a short distance away and if you are adventurous, you can go to Whole Foods where they have a good selection of local high quality groceries as well as prepared foods.

 

[Cruise04]

I have to say - I wasn't going to rent a car. I went back and forth and back and forth. I looked into other companies to do some of the tourist stuff with and compared prices to the Aulani excursions. Looked at the price of a car and what the money I'd save from the other tour companies plus the cost of the taxi from and to the airport. It was financially saving me money if I rented a car and I'm now glad I did. I don't know when I'll get back here and I have gotten to go explore and so glad I did. I'm seeing some incredible parts of the island because of it.

I think you could get away without having a car, Aulani has excursions to some of those places. There is a taxi company that Aulani has contracted with and a one-way trip to or from the airport is $55 (I called and asked when I was trying to decide on car or no car).

 

[raftislander]

My DD18 and a friend spent a week there without a car, because they were too young to rent one. They paid a flat rate to get to and from airport that was certainly more than the cost of a rental for the day. I think that you will want to do some island touring- dont miss Pearl Harbor- and there are some great food spot to drive to that are less exspensive than restaurants at the resort. There is a rental car facility that you can walk to so you could rent a car for a part of your stay but not the entire time.

 

[dsneygirl]

We rented a car for 10 days last spring. It wasn't expensive (about $200) and well worth it for the freedom. Some days we never used it.

 

[psimon]

We rented a car for 10 days last spring. It wasn't expensive (about $200) and well worth it for the freedom. Some days we never used it.

I believe you can rent a car that cheap... but I bet it was a small one. We are a family of 5 (3 adults, 2 teens). With luggage, I suspect I will need a minivan... not likely to be $200 for 10 days... more likely 2!

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[Dean]

I believe you can rent a car that cheap... but I bet it was a small one. We are a family of 5 (3 adults, 2 teens). With luggage, I suspect I will need a minivan... not likely to be $200 for 10 days... more likely 2!

---Paul in Southern NJ

Not necessarily. I rented a full size on Maui and Oahu this past summer and a Standard on Kauai (Chevy Impala X2 & Ford Fusion) all just over $200 for the week inclusive. I did see a Luxury for even less at one point but it was too small.

 

[Iceman93]

My family spent five nights at Aulani without a car and never felt trapped or bored. We didn't want to do the touristy things on the island, but it seemed you could easily do those as Disney-booked excursions.

For getting to and from the airport, I booked one-way rentals with Alamo. The price was very reasonable (less than $100 all-in for a mini-van) and the Aulani drop-off/pick-up couldn't have been easier.

 

[Mickey Mantle]

$200 for ten days, thats impressive! Who was it through? Cause I got a bill for just over $700 when I dropped off at Avis at the airpost last night.

 

[Dean]

$200 for ten days, thats impressive! Who was it through? Cause I got a bill for just over $700 when I dropped off at Avis at the airpost last night.

I've found hawaiidiscount.com and costco travel to be among the best options for HI.

 

[jekjones1558]

I believe you can rent a car that cheap... but I bet it was a small one. We are a family of 5 (3 adults, 2 teens). With luggage, I suspect I will need a minivan... not likely to be $200 for 10 days... more likely 2!

---Paul in Southern NJ

Minivans are pretty pricey but we always rent them when we travel for DH's scooter. I use Budget and this BCD code: X474200. I get what I consider a good rate. You can also enter a coupon code (don't know when you are going so can't suggest one). The coupon savings won't be reflected on your confirmation but will be reflected in the final bill after you drop off the car.

 

[Cottager]

As non-DVC owners, it looks like we'll have to pay the $35/day parking fee for the 10 days we're there which adds another $350 to the cost of renting a car!

 

[mjankow1]

Does anyone know if you rent DVC points if you will get the free parking like the DVC owners do?

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Does anyone know if you rent DVC points if you will get the free parking like the DVC owners do?

It's a perk reserved for DVC members staying there on points.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[dsneygirl]

I believe you can rent a car that cheap... but I bet it was a small one. We are a family of 5 (3 adults, 2 teens). With luggage, I suspect I will need a minivan... not likely to be $200 for 10 days... more likely 2!

---Paul in Southern NJ

It was an SUV. A Santa Fe I believe (the Hyundai one) DH played around with a million codes until he got a great price. We had an infant so we needed room for a stroller and car seat. It was Alamo.

 

[dsneygirl]

$200 for ten days, thats impressive! Who was it through? Cause I got a bill for just over $700 when I dropped off at Avis at the airpost last night.

Alamo. I can't remember the code. But the price wasn't much more than our 4 days in San Diego prior to going to Aulani.

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

Does anyone know if you rent DVC points if you will get the free parking like the DVC owners do?

I thought as long as the reservation was booked on points (whether you are the member or are renting from a member) that parking was free.

If you book the villas with cash on the Aulani site then parking is $35 a day.

Maybe i'm wrong though, but that's how I understood it.

 

[MissMet]

http://discounthawaiicarrental.com/rates.shtml are great. They quote a minivan rental as low as $279/week with a free additional driver. We're using them on all 4 islands. We have a convertible rental for 8 days on Oahu in May for $375. I never found anything even close offered from another site.