Aulani Trip Review 3/10/12-3/19/12

[fsufan53]

Thank you for the trip report! I love your idea about one expensive meal and one inexpensive meal per a day. I think we also do that naturally but have never thought of it that way!

I think I subconsciencely (sp?) got the from the basic dining plan at DW. It also helps me budget as a I am a huge planner so I am not sweating at every meal wondering how much we are going to spend and if I am spending too much on vacay.

Thank you so much for sharing your Aulani experience with us.

What made it even more special is that my DW and I leave Rochester, NY one week from today to live that dream for ourselves. We have a Pool View Studio booked for seven nights and we will use your report to help guide us along.

I've already done a pre-trip report on another site (Mouse-aid) and we are getting so excited.

We plan on doing a lot of the things you mentioned but we might add a few to our trip after reading this trip report.

Have a great time. We have really tried to think about anything we would do different, and we can find very little. Let me know if I can help anymore.

 

[mdsd8700]

You will be very happy with the workout facility here, as there are probably 5-6 treads. Also, you will hear about a bootcamp class that my wife and I did on the beach which was intense but awesome. They also have Yoga classes and other fitness classes for people to do. I really loved this about Aulani.

Monday March 12th

Tuesday March 13th

This is Pearl Harbor day! I am a WW2 buff as my granddad was in the war and I picked it up from him. This was the day I was most looking forward to.

We decided to rent a car and go ourselves due to the time allotment of the Aulani excursions. Since we are history nerds we knew we would be there all day. The car rental kiosk opens at Aulani at 7 AM. You can go to Alamo.com and reserve your car and I hear that it is cheaper than doing it all at the desk. We decided to splurge and get the convertible, which was awesome. With insurance, I think we paid $153 for the car for a day.

We left the hotel around 7:30 and got there a little after 8:00. This was apparantly a miracle due to how bad traffic is going into Honolulu in the morning. Not sure what happened, but we were pleased because we booked the 8:00 tour. To be safe, I would reccomend the 9:00 tour. Anyhow, they have just added the ability to pre-book your tours online, just go to Recreation.gov. There are several ticket options. We went with the pass port to Pearl Harbor. This included the USS Arizona Memorial with audio guide (you want this), all the Pearl Harbor museums there onsite that come with the Arizona tour, admission to the USS Bowfin Submarine, admission to the USS Missouri, and admission to the Pacific Aviation Museum. All this for $55, which is a break on all of them combined.

That morning we did the Arizona tour and the museums. You most definitely want the audio component with these. Being at that memorial was so surreal for me, as I have been studying, reading, and watching it for so many years. We literally spent 2 hours in the museums and walking around.

For lunch, we decided to drive over to Anna Millers (Thanks Kevin). It was a little hard to get to, however it was good food. I got the b'fast that included the spam, eggs, and pancackes with coconut syrup. (Yum!) Wifey got the Loco Moco, which is a dish that she fell in love with at Makahiki. Overall all it was a very good place to eat.

There is a shuttle there at the main Pearl Harbor site that takes you over to Ford Island, where we spent the afternoon touring the USS Missouri and the Pacific Aviation Mueum. The "Mighty Mo' is the ship the Japanese surrendered on and is an awe inspiring experience as well. The Pacific Aviation museum is a newer facility is a video and two hangars full of historic planes, helicopters, etc. One of the hangars still has bullet holes where it was shot up by the Japanese, talk about eerie.

So we jump on the shuttle and make it back over to the main site just in time to get a souvenir and leave. We didnt make it on the Bowfin this time but will next. With the passport they allow you to pay $10 to come back the next day, which we easily could have done.

On the way back to Aulani, we decided to stop by and see the Queen Anne's Revenge from Pirates 4, which is docked their in Oahu. Im not sure how we got there, but they can give you instructions at the front desk. We also stopped by the local Target (Thanks Kevin) which was neat as we bought some local chocolate.

I haven't been on in a few days, thanks so much for all this GREAT information. I am glad the work out facilities are good. Often this isn't the case, although the Disney ones are fairly good for the most part.

I don't think I can handle the bootcamp but would like DS18 to give it a try. He is a swimmer and plays water polo and considers himself in good condition but I think this would give him a run for his money. I just want to watch

In regards to Pearl Harbor we have a 9:15 am tour time that I did on line. We are all very excited about this but again DS18 is anticipating it the most. He is a complete WWII buff and actually took a class on it this year it school. We plan on spending a lot of time here taking it all in, touring everything. However I was concerned about when and where to eat. We will have our own car. It appears you left and came back. Would you recommend that? I didn't even know that would be an option. If it makes sense I wouldn't mind doing it but not sure if time would allow for this since we want to see it all in one day and not come back, even for only $10.

The Queen Anne sounds great too, didn't know about that. Will definately ask for directions while at Aulani.

Thanks again, your TR is really helping me plan!!

 

[fsufan53]

I haven't been on in a few days, thanks so much for all this GREAT information. I am glad the work out facilities are good. Often this isn't the case, although the Disney ones are fairly good for the most part.

I don't think I can handle the bootcamp but would like DS18 to give it a try. He is a swimmer and plays water polo and considers himself in good condition but I think this would give him a run for his money. I just want to watch

In regards to Pearl Harbor we have a 9:15 am tour time that I did on line. We are all very excited about this but again DS18 is anticipating it the most. He is a complete WWII buff and actually took a class on it this year it school. We plan on spending a lot of time here taking it all in, touring everything. However I was concerned about when and where to eat. We will have our own car. It appears you left and came back. Would you recommend that? I didn't even know that would be an option. If it makes sense I wouldn't mind doing it but not sure if time would allow for this since we want to see it all in one day and not come back, even for only $10.

The Queen Anne sounds great too, didn't know about that. Will definately ask for directions while at Aulani.

Thanks again, your TR is really helping me plan!!

No problem, I am so glad people are getting something out of this. I feel like I owe it to the boards for as many times as I have taken things from here. Wow that sounds corny.

Bootcamp is tough but its go at your own pace. You can do some and take a rest if you need it. The instructors are great.

Since you have a 915 tour, I am assuming you did the passport? As much as we enjoyed Anna Millers and appreciate Kevins recomendation, I would advise you to stay at Pearl Harbor to maximize your visit. As I said, they have a quick service, hot dog place there at Pearl Harbor and a cool diner that is themed like a mess hall at the Aviation Museum. IF we could go back we would eat at one of these to get more time at PH. Anna Millers, while it was great, was probably comparable to a Hawaiian IHOP/Cracker Barrell, so its something you can get here at home.

Also, even though you have a 9:15 tour, still try and get there at 8:00, or whenever it opens ( I think its at 8) so you can start your tour of the museums. The audio tour actually starts with these also, so you can probably knock them out before you get on the boat to see the memorial and get the most out of your day.

Most of all, have fun!

 

[ays114]

We will be visiting Aulani on June and of course we plann on going to Pearl Harbor. We will have two 7 year old children with us and I am not sure how it would be for them. In your opinion which tours would keep their interest and how long should we plan on being there?

 

[saintstickets]

Could you please tell me more about the Manoa Valley hike? Did you book this through Aulani or a private vendor? If it was a private vendor, they picked you up at Aulani? Thanks for the help! I am really enjoying your report!

Ditto...we are looking at booking an excursion but not sure whether to do it through Disney or directly with someone else. I read somewhere that Disney will cancel their excursions last minute if they don't get enough to sign up and then it is too late to book elsewhere.

 

[mdsd8700]

No problem, I am so glad people are getting something out of this. I feel like I owe it to the boards for as many times as I have taken things from here. Wow that sounds corny.

Bootcamp is tough but its go at your own pace. You can do some and take a rest if you need it. The instructors are great.

Since you have a 915 tour, I am assuming you did the passport? As much as we enjoyed Anna Millers and appreciate Kevins recomendation, I would advise you to stay at Pearl Harbor to maximize your visit. As I said, they have a quick service, hot dog place there at Pearl Harbor and a cool diner that is themed like a mess hall at the Aviation Museum. IF we could go back we would eat at one of these to get more time at PH. Anna Millers, while it was great, was probably comparable to a Hawaiian IHOP/Cracker Barrell, so its something you can get here at home.

Also, even though you have a 9:15 tour, still try and get there at 8:00, or whenever it opens ( I think its at 8) so you can start your tour of the museums. The audio tour actually starts with these also, so you can probably knock them out before you get on the boat to see the memorial and get the most out of your day.

Most of all, have fun!

Thanks again for your personalized travel service here, it is appreciated! I think the bootcamp is a better fit for my 18 year old son but might give it a try since the instructors will take it easy on me if necessary

Yes did the passport so we are going to see everything in our visit. The diner that is themed to a mess hall sounds like something that would work for fine for lunch. Great idea about trying to do the mueums first, I had given that a minor thought and then let it pass, but now it seems like an excellent idea.

You post/advice really helps for our Pearl Harbor day. I am sure to maximize our time now

Thanks!!

 

[dsneygirl]

Great report. Thanks for sharing. Did you notice at the ABC if they sold liquor (rum, vodka etc) or just beer and wine?

 

[fsufan53]

We will be visiting Aulani on June and of course we plann on going to Pearl Harbor. We will have two 7 year old children with us and I am not sure how it would be for them. In your opinion which tours would keep their interest and how long should we plan on being there?

We dont have kids, but I would think at the bare minimum going out to see the ship would interest them. I think also the Pacific Aviation Museum would be great for kids since you get to see so many large planes.

Ditto...we are looking at booking an excursion but not sure whether to do it through Disney or directly with someone else. I read somewhere that Disney will cancel their excursions last minute if they don't get enough to sign up and then it is too late to book elsewhere.

I am unsure about this, however I would call the Holoholo desk at Aulani and ask about cancellation. We had around 20 people on our tour.

Thanks again for your personalized travel service here, it is appreciated! I think the bootcamp is a better fit for my 18 year old son but might give it a try since the instructors will take it easy on me if necessary

Yes did the passport so we are going to see everything in our visit. The diner that is themed to a mess hall sounds like something that would work for fine for lunch. Great idea about trying to do the mueums first, I had given that a minor thought and then let it pass, but now it seems like an excellent idea.

You post/advice really helps for our Pearl Harbor day. I am sure to maximize our time now

Thanks!!

No problem! Please let me know how that restaurant at the Pacific Aviation Museum is. Have fun!

Great report. Thanks for sharing. Did you notice at the ABC if they sold liquor (rum, vodka etc) or just beer and wine?

They sell it all, about 1/4 of the store is dedicated to liquor. They are good prices also, I highly recommend stocking up over there.

 

[vpalmer]

Thank you so very much for your wonderful review. We are headed to Aulani May 24th for eight nights and are doing many of the same things as you did, many of which I have not seen reviewed yet. We have the tickets for Pearl Harbor booked, we have booked the same package for the Polynesian Cultural Center and we are renting a car from the Alamo desk. I haven't seen many people mention those specific items yet. Also, based on your recommendation and some others I have found online, I gave Mark a call and we are going to use him for a one way transfer to Aulani. We have a later flight so we'll do a one way rental from Aulani to the airport so we can squeeze in a hike up Diamond Head before flying home!

May I ask, did you have any trouble getting your Pearl Harbor tickets showing up at 8, with an 8:00 reservation? I booked our tickets for 9 am and panicked when I checked out and saw the instructions were to arrive one hour early to pick up the tickets. I had originally assumed I could print the tickets. Did you have to wait to pick them up? I actually called and changed our tickets to 9:30 because I wasn't sure if we could make it by 8, with the Aulani car rental desk opening at 7 and the traffic on a Saturday morning on a holiday weekend.

 

[fsufan53]

Thank you so very much for your wonderful review. We are headed to Aulani May 24th for eight nights and are doing many of the same things as you did, many of which I have not seen reviewed yet. We have the tickets for Pearl Harbor booked, we have booked the same package for the Polynesian Cultural Center and we are renting a car from the Alamo desk. I haven't seen many people mention those specific items yet. Also, based on your recommendation and some others I have found online, I gave Mark a call and we are going to use him for a one way transfer to Aulani. We have a later flight so we'll do a one way rental from Aulani to the airport so we can squeeze in a hike up Diamond Head before flying home!

May I ask, did you have any trouble getting your Pearl Harbor tickets showing up at 8, with an 8:00 reservation? I booked our tickets for 9 am and panicked when I checked out and saw the instructions were to arrive one hour early to pick up the tickets. I had originally assumed I could print the tickets. Did you have to wait to pick them up? I actually called and changed our tickets to 9:30 because I wasn't sure if we could make it by 8, with the Aulani car rental desk opening at 7 and the traffic on a Saturday morning on a holiday weekend.

No problem, I am so glad you have been able to get something out of it and you are doing some of the activities I have written about. I dont think you will be dissapointed.

As for Pearl Harbor, we got there around 8:10 so we were a bit late for our 8:00, however picking up the tickets was a breeze. They had a separate line for reservations that was significantly shorter than the walk up line. I would recommend you getting there at 8 if you can so you can start your day and start the audio tour. The 9:30 time is only the time you watch the film and go out to see the memorial. However with traffic 9:30 should be an ok time.