Aulani: What's the One Thing You Wish You Knew?

[Ervin Family]

I have a question regarding transportation to Costco. We are traveling as a family and have 18 people so we are not renting a car. Any suggestions for transportation to Costco to shop for groceries? Can't wait to leave the frozen tundra of Michigan. Thanks

 

[LisaT91403]

I have a question regarding transportation to Costco. We are traveling as a family and have 18 people so we are not renting a car. Any suggestions for transportation to Costco to shop for groceries? Can't wait to leave the frozen tundra of Michigan. Thanks

You can take a taxi from the resort. Charley's Taxi always has cabs waiting at the resort, and they charge a flat rate to go into Kapolei. I believe it was $10, but I'm not positive about that. When you are done shopping, you can call them for a ride back...flat rate again. Note that it takes them 10-15 minutes to send a cab to you in Kapolei, so maybe call when you are in the Costco check out line.

 

[aboveH20]

Here's the one thing I wish I knew. If you go to Matsamoto's for shave ice, and are wondering what beans with your shave ice will be like, and then decide to order your shave ice with beans thinking you'll be more authentic. DON'T.



Yuck. What's with putting beans on perfectly good shave ice. Not a mistake I'll repeat!!

Now the sweetened condensed milk at the Aulani stand, that's another story. Yum.

 

[Cinderpamela]

Here's the one thing I wish I knew. If you go to Matsamoto's for shave ice, and are wondering what beans with your shave ice will be like, and then decide to order your shave ice with beans thinking you'll be more authentic. DON'T.



Yuck. What's with putting beans on perfectly good shave ice. Not a mistake I'll repeat!!

Now the sweetened condensed milk at the Aulani stand, that's another story. Yum.

I have never been brave enough to do the beans!! Always wondered though... Now thanks to you I know!

 

[aboveH20]

I enjoy the beans and ice cream in my shave ice but my wife does not- they are worth trying to find out if you are at all interested!

I agree. I'm glad I tried it so I know what it was like -- and think how much money I'll save never doing it again!

 

[OrcaPotter]

I've been studying this area of the DIS to help plan my family's Aulani trip next year and unlike cruising or theme parks, doing a big destination trip is a lot more daunting! My parents are older (60's and 70's) and my father cannot do a lot of walking or physically tasking activities. My plan so far is to rent a car and stay at the resort at least 5 nights by renting DVC points (we are not members). Things we definitely plan to do are:
1. Pearl Harbor
2. The market across from Pearl Harbor at the stadium (?)

As for what else, I'm not so sure. My brother and his wife went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, but it sounds like it's a day-long extravaganza that some people do not care for and that may be a bit much for us. The North Shore sounds awesome, but I'd be interested if there are other things other than the beaches and food trucks around that may interest my parents. So far, I've researched the Valley of the Temples, which sounds like a wonderful place to spend a couple hours. Also, while I know Aulani has the Starlit Hui, I wonder if we would also enjoy a more full-fledged luau and Chief's Luau pops up as the "most recommended." Are there any whale watching tours in the summer?

Also, how did everyone get to Hawaii? It looks almost cheaper to do a few days in San Diego first than direct from Florida. I'd love to include Disneyland but I'm trying to do this on a teacher budget! Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

[amym2]

I've been studying this area of the DIS to help plan my family's Aulani trip next year and unlike cruising or theme parks, doing a big destination trip is a lot more daunting! My parents are older (60's and 70's) and my father cannot do a lot of walking or physically tasking activities. My plan so far is to rent a car and stay at the resort at least 5 nights by renting DVC points (we are not members). Things we definitely plan to do are:
1. Pearl Harbor
2. The market across from Pearl Harbor at the stadium (?)

As for what else, I'm not so sure. My brother and his wife went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, but it sounds like it's a day-long extravaganza that some people do not care for and that may be a bit much for us. The North Shore sounds awesome, but I'd be interested if there are other things other than the beaches and food trucks around that may interest my parents. So far, I've researched the Valley of the Temples, which sounds like a wonderful place to spend a couple hours. Also, while I know Aulani has the Starlit Hui, I wonder if we would also enjoy a more full-fledged luau and Chief's Luau pops up as the "most recommended." Are there any whale watching tours in the summer?

Also, how did everyone get to Hawaii? It looks almost cheaper to do a few days in San Diego first than direct from Florida. I'd love to include Disneyland but I'm trying to do this on a teacher budget! Thanks in advance for any tips!

Your parents might enjoy a visit to the Punchbowl (National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific), which is a beautiful cemetery with great views.

Haleiwa Town on the North Shore has some shops and restaurants, and of course Matsumoto's shave ice. Our favorite North Shore stop is Turtle Beach (can't remember the official name, this is different than Turtle Bay) but it involves parking across the street and crossing traffic then getting down to the beach, which might be too much for your parents.

I would definitely do a luau. We thought the Paradise Cove luau was decent and it's an easy walk from Aulani. We enjoyed the Starlit Hui and agreed that our kids probably would have been impatient at a longer luau, but it's definitely worth doing once.

The Byodo-In Temple is a nice stop on the east side of the island. We spent about 3 hours at the Polynesian Cultural Center and enjoyed it (it was us, kids 11 and 9, and my FIL mid-60's). It did require some walking, but it wasn't horrible. We didn't stay for the evening entertainment or food, so it doesn't have to be an all-day excursion.

No, the whales are only in Hawaii in the winter (October-March, I believe).

 

[sumlee]

Subscribing! This thread has some fantastic info! Thanks a bunch! Can't wait till October!!!

 

[poohj80]

Having just competed first trip...wish I knew Photopass photographers would not be at character greetings. Was told this is a recent change but I think it stinks because no character photos on CD and can't add borders.

 

[SGDisneyFam]

Having just competed first trip...wish I knew Photopass photographers would not be at character greetings. Was told this is a recent change but I think it stinks because no character photos on CD and can't add borders.

There were photo pass photographers at the characters here after the pool party 2 days ago? We haven't went to any of the scheduled character times though.

 

[amypetecar]

Sorry if this was already posted.... Im loving the 15 pages!

When i visit the beach, i love big waves.

The North Shore was heaven, but not every north shore beach had big waves as many of the swimming areas were actually lagoons that buffered the surf from pounding the beach.

Specifically Sunset Point Beach was the perfect mix of nice sand, huge waves, lifeguards on duty, and overall Hawaiian beach vibe.
It took us until our last day to find it and hang out, but it was one of the most fun days ive ever had in my life.

I can still see the 8 foot waves crashing over my head!

 

[bdrex95]

Thanks for all the great tips! We are going in early June for 8 nights and can't wait! Only 65 more days!!!

 

[Pooh2]

There were photo pass photographers at the characters here after the pool party 2 days ago? We haven't went to any of the scheduled character times though.

How much is the photopass? Can you buy a cd with all your photos of the whole week like you can at the parks?

 

[carissa1970]

How much is the photopass? Can you buy a cd with all your photos of the whole week like you can at the parks?

I think we paid $99? And they put a bunch of stock professional photos of the property on there for us as well.

 

[poohj80]

How much is the photopass? Can you buy a cd with all your photos of the whole week like you can at the parks?

Yes but you cannot add borders and get them on the CD at Aulani. If you want any borders, you must do online.

There were photo pass photographers at the characters here after the pool party 2 days ago? We haven't went to any of the scheduled character times though.

We learned this is considered an "Event" and "Events" do have photographers, but the scheduled characters meeting do not have photographers and not all characters participate in "Events".

 

[Pooh2]

Yes but you cannot add borders and get them on the CD at Aulani. If you want any borders, you must do online.



We learned this is considered an "Event" and "Events" do have photographers, but the scheduled characters meeting do not have photographers and not all characters participate in "Events".

Is there a discount for a prebuy on photopass at Aulani?

 

[poohj80]

Is there a discount for a prebuy on photopass at Aulani?

Not that we found. It seemed odd that they were really pushing to purchase the CD at Aulani but didn't have a way to include borders or most character photos.

 

[SGDisneyFam]

Not that we found. It seemed odd that they were really pushing to purchase the CD at Aulani but didn't have a way to include borders or most character photos.

there are a few things that I do find 'odd' as well, comparing it to the way things are run at the parks. Especially since PP+ at DL is only 99 and that includes attraction photos.

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

A few thoughts about our Trip 3/18-3/29.

Pearl Harbor- must do- very interesting and emotional.

Ala Moana mall- very high end shopping we went after Pearl Harbor

Paradise Cove Luau- loved the village stuff bought souvies- meal and show-meh, the luau at the Poly is better.

Ama Ama-Loved our dinner and yes it's pricey. We were happy after lots of neg. reviews.

Monkey Pod- Loved our dinner and waiter and atmosphere. Enjoyed the little outdoor mall area. Picked up a few things at the ABC market too.

Dole plantation- enjoyed that but not very organized.

North Shore- I wish we had known a little more about this area before we went. It's very quaint with little shops and lots of places to eat and snack. I could have spent at least a half day here but probably a full day.

PCC- very informative like a really scaled back Epcot of the South Pacific Islands. We were there from 1:30 until after the show and it was too long for us. the food was ok and we had the Prime Rib Luau I thought the show was good, DD14 and DH didn't like it except for the fire dancers.

Roy's- Our favorite meal. Our waiter was excellent and made lots of suggestions and had us try different things to go with what we ordered and our dinner was amazing.

Oleo room- Apps (for Dinner) were excellent I wish we had tried them sooner as we would have gone back. The Macaroon hamburger for dessert is not only great tasting but one of the most clever presentations I have ever seen.

Family dinner in Room- This was very good. We had the pasta with meat sauce for 4 and it could have fed 6. So nice to have home cooking without doing it.

Did our grocery shopping at Safeway. If you have a Von's or Albertson's card you can use it there. We did plead our case and they let us sign up for a safeway card at the check out and be able to use it the first time. It saved us $60.

I brought 9 bottles of suntan lotion for 3 of us and we still had to buy 2 more. We did spend a tremendous amount of time at the pool and we do lotion every time we come out of the pool but the sun is super intense.

Had a great trip and I hope my thoughts can help someone.

 

[poohj80]

Let me ditto the above!

Also, we saw more fish snorkeling in Rainbow Reef than we did on the more expensive Aulani exclusive Catamaran excursion. However, we did chase a pod of whales up the coast which was cool. Never saw sea turtles while snorkeling but did find them on the north shore.

Giovanni's Shrimp Truck was closed when we got there but there were two others parked at the same place so we gave them a try. Pretty good but I would NOT recommend the shrimp tacos. There is also a McDs right across the street for kids who don't like seafood (and clean bathrooms).