Aulani Planning, Area, Tips and Tricks for Budget

[divirgiliok]

Hi Everyone

My family and I are planning a trip to Aulani in July 2014. I am having a hard time finding Aulani Poats so I have decided to create my own.
We have booked a 2 bedroom DVC Villa Island View.

This is my 3rd time to Oahu but first time to the Ko Olina area and first time with pre teens. Any insight or information of budget friendly ideas and the area would be great!

 

[IandGsmom]

Youre going to love it. We will be there for our 3rd Aulani trip in June with our 2 teenagers. Our family always stocks up at Costco which is about one stop on the freeway over. There is also Walmart, lots of restaurants and fast food. Right across the street from Aulani there are some restaurants and an ABC store which has decent food options also.

 

[soxyes]

Greetings,

We went to Aulani last summer (DH, DS13 then, DD 9 then). It was wonderful! Anyway, you might want to pick up an Entertainment book for Hawaii. We used them for every excursion that we did.

I'm sure you'll have a great time!
Aloha!

 

[Tink523]

We are planning on going to in 2016 not sure when is the best time. Best weather and be able to use my 7 month weekend to book?

 

[lovetotraveltx]

We are going this August 4. I was on the computer at exactly 8am Eastern at my 7mos window and was able to get exactly what I wanted We got a dedicated 2 bedroom garden view.

Can't wait.

We don't do Costco. Was thinking of stopping at Target??

 

[msabol01]

Didn't even think about Target while we were there. Did Costco for major items and shopped at the Safeway nearby. Be sure to get a member discount card, it certainly helped with savings.

I'm a fan of the GO OAHU cards by smart destinations. If you are a Costco member you can order the 3-day card online for a significant savings. The card offers free admissions and activities all across the Island. You basically get three days worth of activities. So you will want to plan your activities to maximize the number of activities each of the days you use. I posted about these on other threads.

 

[poohj80]

Didn't even think about Target while we were there. Did Costco for major items and shopped at the Safeway nearby. Be sure to get a member discount card, it certainly helped with savings.

I'm a fan of the GO OAHU cards by smart destinations. If you are a Costco member you can order the 3-day card online for a significant savings. The card offers free admissions and activities all across the Island. You basically get three days worth of activities. So you will want to plan your activities to maximize the number of activities each of the days you use. I posted about these on other threads.

Could you point me to those other threads? We're going to Aulani for first time over spring break and starting to plan.

 

[cielo]

We are planning a trip to Aulani in June and I've also noticed that there is not the wealth of information on Aulani as there is for other Disney vacation spots. I'm so happy to be able to connect with other future Aulani vacationers here!

I will check back here and keep trolling other sites for any info that will help us all in our planning! So far I found what looks like a discount on an Oahu Go Card at Travel Zoo. Not sure how much of a discount it really is and I'm unable to post the link here because I'm too much of a newbie. But if you go to the Travel Zoo website, type in Oahu in the search, you should find it there. Here are the prices that they are listing:

•1-day pass ... $49.99 adult; $44.99 child
•2-day pass ... $94.99 adult; $79.99 child
•3-day pass ... $175.49 adult; $148.49 child
•5-day pass ... $212.49 adult; $182.74 child
•7-day pass ... $254.99 adult; $216.74 child

Happy Planning!

 

[funhouse8]

We are planning a trip to Aulani in June and I've also noticed that there is not the wealth of information on Aulani as there is for other Disney vacation spots. I'm so happy to be able to connect with other future Aulani vacationers here!

I will check back here and keep trolling other sites for any info that will help us all in our planning! So far I found what looks like a discount on an Oahu Go Card at Travel Zoo. Not sure how much of a discount it really is and I'm unable to post the link here because I'm too much of a newbie. But if you go to the Travel Zoo website, type in Oahu in the search, you should find it there. Here are the prices that they are listing:

•1-day pass ... $49.99 adult; $44.99 child
•2-day pass ... $94.99 adult; $79.99 child
•3-day pass ... $175.49 adult; $148.49 child
•5-day pass ... $212.49 adult; $182.74 child
•7-day pass ... $254.99 adult; $216.74 child

Happy Planning!

Costco has the card at $139.99.
http://www.costco.com/Go-Oahu-Card"-3-Day-E-Voucher.product.100011331.html

 

[Cinderpamela]

Most of the posts here on the DIS with tips and tricks for Aulani are over on the DVC "Resorts" Board. Just go to the Resorts Board and do a search for Aulani.
You will also find a lot of great tips and tricks in the Trip Reports board by searching for and reading the Aulani TR's people have posted.


With regards to the Go Oahu Card.... also check your DVC portable perks for Aulani.... we found that with the DVC discounts at places like the Bishop Museum and such it was not necessary for us to purchase a Go Oahu Card.
Obviously it does depend on what type of touring spots you are planning to do but it’s worth looking into.

 

[Disney Dreams]

Hi Everyone

My family and I are planning a trip to Aulani in July 2014. I am having a hard time finding Aulani Poats so I have decided to create my own.
We have booked a 2 bedroom DVC Villa Island View.

This is my 3rd time to Oahu but first time to the Ko Olina area and first time with pre teens. Any insight or information of budget friendly ideas and the area would be great!

You will want to look on the DVC Resorts board. There are several good Aulani threads.

Here is one that helps with room location.
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2907389

Here is one I started prior to our trip that has acquired some great tips and pieces of info regarding Aulani and the surrounding area
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3180904

 

[islandtimect]

Most of the posts here on the DIS with tips and tricks for Aulani are over on the DVC "Resorts" Board. Just go to the Resorts Board and do a search for Aulani.
You will also find a lot of great tips and tricks in the Trip Reports board by searching for and reading the Aulani TR's people have posted.


With regards to the Go Oahu Card.... also check your DVC portable perks for Aulani.... we found that with the DVC discounts at places like the Bishop Museum and such it was not necessary for us to purchase a Go Oahu Card.
Obviously it does depend on what type of touring spots you are planning to do but it’s worth looking into.

What is a Go Oahu card? I've never heard of it. thanks for the info

 

[Cinderpamela]

What is a Go Oahu card? I've never heard of it. thanks for the info

Its basically a card that you pre-pay for that gives you entry to many attractions throughout the island. Here is a link to the Go Oahu cards for sale through Costco.

Costco has the card at $139.99.
http://www.costco.com/Go-Oahu-Card"-3-Day-E-Voucher.product.100011331.html

If you search Go Oahu Card you can find their site and it has a list of all the attractions that are included.

 

[Bronzalyn]

For anyone that has used the GO OAHU cards.......can you make reservations for tours when using them or do you just show up to each location and hope for the best when using them?? I have been looking into purchasing them for our upcoming trip as they seem like they would save us a lot of money. Thanks for any input on the usage of these cards.

 

[Anal Annie]

Costco has the card at $139.99.
http://www.costco.com/Go-Oahu-Card"-3-Day-E-Voucher.product.100011331.html

Just make sure you do your research on all of the stuff this card covers before buying it. For example we are not interested in 99% of the things it covers so it might be a waste for some folks….especially if you have been to Hawaii before.

FWIW I think there are a LOT of really good useful threads about Aulani on the DVC resorts board…that is definitely the place to find all the scoop!

 

[carissa1970]

For anyone that has used the GO OAHU cards.......can you make reservations for tours when using them or do you just show up to each location and hope for the best when using them?? I have been looking into purchasing them for our upcoming trip as they seem like they would save us a lot of money. Thanks for any input on the usage of these cards.

We used the Go New York card. It was awesome. We were not able to make reservations, but a lot of the places ahad special lines for people with the card. I would imagine the Go Oahu works the same.

 

[gonzalj1]

This thread had some good tips, tricks and advice.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3154472

 

[iluvthsgam]

check out http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/ for car rentals. I used them last time going to Aulani and it was way cheaper than any other option. I paid $120 total for pickup/return from HNL airport for 4 days.

 

[divirgiliok]

We had an amazing time at Aulani and found many of these posts helpful!!
We did get a Safeway card and saved a ton!
I made 3 posts on my blog.
See my posts here many pics!!!
mommy-dreaming.blogspot.com/2014/01/vacations

 

[Lcaemom]

We had an amazing time at Aulani and found many of these posts helpful!!
We did get a Safeway card and saved a ton!
I made 3 posts on my blog.
See my posts here many pics!!!
mommy-dreaming.blogspot.com/2014/01/vacations

When were you there? I followed your link but, it said it was moved...I'd love to hear about your trip. We are thinking about a 2BR Villa for NYE of 2016...leaving around 12/27/16 and coming home at some point the first week in January. We are flying from Boston and I am SHOCKED at the prices of airfare! We are thinking about possible doing a nonstop flight from here to LAX and staying in LA for a day or two and then flying on to Hawaii. Any tips, tricks, info, advice, etc would be much appreciated. TIA