Aulani vs other resorts on Oahu

[newdeal]

We are considering a trip to Hawaii. We live on the east coast and are frequent visitors to Disney World. We've been to Disneyland once. My husband has been to Hawaii once when he was a teen but the rest of us have never been. Would you recommend Aulani for first time visitors to Hawaii? We have a family of 5 so I believe we would need at least a 1 bedroom due to occupancy which substantially increases the cost. Should we look someone else for a family our size? We are just in the very early stages of considering this trip so any and all advice is welcome. Next summer our kids will be 18 (oldest DS will just have graduated high school), 16 (DD with special needs), and 13 DS.

With kids of that age even a 1 bedroom might be too small. I would look in to the other hotels or condos in Ko Olina the experience will be similar and possibly cheaper

 

[TheLyinKing]

We do split stays when we go to Oahu between Aulani and a resort in Waikiki (depending on what travel credit I need to use). Love Aulani, but only worth it if renting DVC points or own DVC points. Not worth $800 a night or whatever Disney charges nowadays for cash rate. Aulani is also located in a quieter area on the southwest side of Oahu, where there honestly isn't much to do other than resort activities.

 

[BlueGreen5]

I really think it depends on what you want your trip to be. Are you going for a resort vacation or to see the sites? Full disclosure- we are Marriott VC members, so we stay at the Marriott. We spend very little time at the resort because we want to experience the island, not the resort. If we were to stay at Aulani, we would still be on Oahu to experience the island and not the resort.

On our last trip we had a very interesting conversation with a few locals who were doing staycations. They said they book Aulani for one night so their children can play in the lazy river for check-in day and the next day. However, they then move over to the Marriott because it's cheaper for the remainder of their week. This gives them more money to spend on activities and other things.

Hi! We've never visited Hawaii. We are debating between the Marriott Ko Olina and Aulani. We would be traveling with another family (who would get their own, separate lodging) in the summer months and several kids (grade school through teenager). We would rent a car and have no "must-do" agenda. It sounds like you have experience at both properties. Which would you recommend and why?

 

[bakofarmgirl]

Hi! We've never visited Hawaii. We are debating between the Marriott Ko Olina and Aulani. We would be traveling with another family (who would get their own, separate lodging) in the summer months and several kids (grade school through teenager). We would rent a car and have no "must-do" agenda. It sounds like you have experience at both properties. Which would you recommend and why?

we love aulani! but when our flight got messed up and aulani was sold out we stayed at the marriott 2 nights but felt like with our kid aulani is the better option, not sure what ages your group of kids will be but ours was 2 at the time and there was so much to do just at the resort for us between the beach, lazy river, and pools