Can Aulani Be Done Without Going Broke?

[Stitches37]

Hi, everyone!

So I have a question for those of you have traveled to Aulani. I know that the prices of airfare and hotel are what they are, and there's not much we can do to reduce those (except perhaps renting points), but I am looking for info about whether Aulani can be done in a somewhat "affordable" way once you are there. I know that term is relative.

Let's say we stayed for 7 nights-- does anyone have an estimate for the amount per person food would cost? What about entertainment? We definitely like to be active on vacation (not the sit on the beach all day type of family). Are activities going to cost a fortune? We'd love to do some hiking, sightseeing, or water-sport activities.

If anyone has any insight, it would be much appreciated!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Years ago when I would visit hawaii with some family we would shop at the grocery story and prepare rooms at our condo. Lots of spaghetti! lol Then it's budgeting for activities. There are lots of hikes and touring to parks that can be done for nothing more than the cost to drive there or next to nothing Then if you have enough you could budget for some paid activity. So yes, there are ways to reduce your expenses while there. Aulani has the Starlit Hui which can give you an abbreviated Luau show experience for free. Pearl Harbor is free to visit if you wait to get tickets there or a very small convenience fee to pre-order tickets to go over to the Arizona Memorial. There are paid options to do but the museum for the memorial is free. You can find places to snorkel for free and can either bring, buy or rent off-site inexpensive snorkel equipment. Hiking Diamond Head or visiting Waikiki or any beach will be free just to name a few.

 

[Stitches37]

Years ago when I would visit hawaii with some family we would shop at the grocery story and prepare rooms at our condo. Lots of spaghetti! lol Then it's budgeting for activities. There are lots of hikes and touring to parks that can be done for nothing more than the cost to drive there or next to nothing Then if you have enough you could budget for some paid activity. So yes, there are ways to reduce your expenses while there. Aulani has the Starlit Hui which can give you an abbreviated Luau show experience for free. Pearl Harbor is free to visit if you wait to get tickets there or a very small convenience fee to pre-order tickets to go over to the Arizona Memorial. There are paid options to do but the museum for the memorial is free. You can find places to snorkel for free and can either bring, buy or rent off-site inexpensive snorkel equipment. Hiking Diamond Head or visiting Waikiki or any beach will be free just to name a few.

All great ideas! Thank you so much!!

 

[dreaming4disney]

We went to Aulani last year. First time for our family of 5 going to Hawaii. We budgeted for everything pretty well except for food. We spent much more on food then I thought we would. There are lots of hiking trails, snorkeling and sightseeing. These activities are relatively inexpensive. We had surf lessons and that was pricey but happy we did it. If I could do it again, I would have planned more meals to make in the room and only eat out at a decent restaurant. The grocery store and Costco are very close and that would be the best way to save some money. For example, we spent $75-100 to eat fast food at the airport. Also, I have two teenage boys that ate their way around the resort everyday. I could have purchased some heat and serve food at Costco along with ice cream and more snacks to have in the room.

I like to have some nice meals out on vacation, but I wasn't happy with how much we spent on fast food or average meals out. I will also add that a lot of activities are half day trips and it makes it easier to make a lunch or dinner once you get back to the room.

 

[Stitches37]

We went to Aulani last year. First time for our family of 5 going to Hawaii. We budgeted for everything pretty well except for food. We spent much more on food then I thought we would. There are lots of hiking trails, snorkeling and sightseeing. These activities are relatively inexpensive. We had surf lessons and that was pricey but happy we did it. If I could do it again, I would have planned more meals to make in the room and only eat out at a decent restaurant. The grocery store and Costco are very close and that would be the best way to save some money. For example, we spent $75-100 to eat fast food at the airport. Also, I have two teenage boys that ate their way around the resort everyday. I could have purchased some heat and serve food at Costco along with ice cream and more snacks to have in the room.

I like to have some nice meals out on vacation, but I wasn't happy with how much we spent on fast food or average meals out. I will also add that a lot of activities are half day trips and it makes it easier to make a lunch or dinner once you get back to the room.

I was worried about the food costs, for sure-- that's great to know there is a Costco nearby! Thanks so much for your response!

 

[DenLo]

Hawaii is expensive, but by eating in the room and shopping for your food you will save money. And like others have stated, do excursions on your own. However keep in mind the driver of your rental car will not be seeing the beautiful views. DH usually drives and he always regrets that he is missing things and only sees them in the photos I take. But then he prefers to drive, but he could let me drive instead.

 

[Stitches37]

Hawaii is expensive, but by eating in the room and shopping for your food you will save money. And like others have stated, do excursions on your own. However keep in mind the driver of your rental car will not be seeing the beautiful views. DH usually drives and he always regrets that he is missing things and only sees them in the photos I take. But then he prefers to drive, but he could let me drive instead.

Great point! Something to remember.. thank you!

 

[rwcmath]

Want DH to see some sights...I suppose I will have to share the driving!

 

[dmetcalfrn]

We shopped at Costco, fixed most meals and did our own excursions with a rental car.

 

[nkereina]

PPs have it covered. Definitely rent a car, and look for deals when renting the car - you can usually find good rates. The immediate area around Aulani doesn't have a whole lot but if you drive a few minutes out, you'll find some fast food and chain style restaurants with more reasonable pricing. Also the Target, Costco, and Safeway where you can pick up groceries. Don't be afraid to drive out a ways to find activities and tours to do as well.

 

[Anal Annie]

We like to eat out on vacation and our budgeting process was pretty much to eat breakfast in along with a couple of lunches. As such, we spent a lot on meals. But I also picked up some gift cards to bring to help foot the bill too (Hard Rock Cafe / Roy's [which are also Outback cards] and plenty of Disney gift cards. If you are planning WAY ahead you have time to do the same. Most of our meals onsite were at the CS places. We didn't do Ama Ama but did do Makahiki (sp) once. We went to the North Shore one day for surf lessons and ate lunch at Giovanni's shrimp truck (reasonable at $12-14 pp). Surf lessons - we did a semi-private deal where it was just the 3 of us - I think it was around $100 pp for a 2 hour lesson. We also went to Maui for a few nights and did a zip line over there - again, like about $125 pp or so. If you look into some of the things you're interested in doing NOW and price them out & budget for them you won't be so shell shocked once you get there. We had nearly a 2 week vacation (stopped at DL for 3 days on the way) which really ran our total up. I think we probably spent around $3,500 for the 3 of us for the 2 weeks for meals & excursions. Although it wasn't our first trip to Hawaii we don't get to go all that often so we didn't want to scrimp to the point of regretting not doing something. The zip line wasn't a pre-planned thing for us - we booked it spur of the moment because our 17 yo DS was getting tired of just sitting around doing the beach & pool thing. Other than that tho we pretty much spent what I thought we'd spend...

 

[Amw1064]

We just went to Aulani for the first time this summer. We stayed 10 nights/11 days. We rented a car and did our own excursions. I got enough info from threads on here to feel comfortable in doing so. We saw sea turtles and a seal on the beach, swam in a waterfall, went to Pearl Harbor, took a surf lesson, went to Dole plantation and to the Paradise Cove luau. At Aulani we took turns on the paddleboards and rented them for an hour every few days. ($30 an hour) We walked over twice to the little cove by the luau. That is one of the places we saw sea turtles and the seal.

As for food. We went to Target which is near the Costco. We bought all breakfast food for everyday minus the one day we did the character breakfast at Makahiki (sp) We very easily could have brought sandwiches out by the pool but usually just got the quick service. (hot dogs, coconut shrimp, sandwiches, etc) My husband got the refillable mug but my daughter & I either drank water or brought drinks from the room. For dinner we ate appetizers at the Olelo lounge a few times and also a few nights at Ulu cafe. We also went across the street a few nights to Monkeypods and did the appetizers or pizza specials. Did the Mexican restaurant another night and pizza another.

I started saving up Disney gift cards to use for food and snacks out by the pool as well as paddleboards.

 

[Stitches37]

Thanks for the really great ideas, everyone!

 

[alohamom]

I have used Travelzoo and Groupon vouchers a few times for Hawaii. Sign up for Groupons that are specific for Hawaii and although the volume of alerts to you inbox can be irritating, you can get some good deals.This is one I am looking at for the future
https://www.groupon.com/deals/maita-i-catamaran-1

I really like the Travelzoo vouchers, I bought a segway tour last year for the Big Island that cost about 40% less than booking on site.

 

[sandkpendt]

We usually rent a car when we go over there. We are going to Aulani in November, and have a reservation for a rental car through Costco. They were by far the best rates I found. You can also make reservations a the Arizona memorial up to two months in advance. That is a must see.

 

[deerh]

We just got back from Aulani in May of 2015. We rented a car through AAA (a Chrysler mini van) for $166 for one week. I had Delta Skymiles
for 1 free ticket, and wife was $1100.. We spent maybe $800-900 on food, and went to Costco and bought some things.. Beer, milk, etc...
We drove around the island for free. And went to Weimea Falls for $50... Also booked our Pearl Harbor tickets before we left at $60/person. We
did the WHOLE tour.. the Might Mo, and Bowfish and the Memorial. So... not too bad... We stayed one week..

 

[disBOBney]

When we were there, we rented a car for the stay, (if you are staying DVC you park for free others pay $35/day). I down loaded the "gypsy" app to my iPad that does the loop tour, and connected it to the car stereo to play the tour. Most tour companies try do do the loop in a single day we took 2 and a half days and spent longer at several of the stops, and yet did not really go hiking, there are a number of places you can do that, Diamond head has a reasonable parking fee. We had hoped to go out on a tour boat whale watching but the surf was too high on the days we could go, but we did manage to see a monk seal, and some sea turtles lounging on beaches and a mother and calf humpback swimming off shore. If you are interested in surfing go to Wikiki and rent a board, I suspect you can do that a the north shore as well. While the restaurants on property are more expensive you can find reasonable priced choices particularly at the the quick service. But within walking distance there is a plaza that has the "Monkey Pod" a nice place to eat or drink. There were a couple other restaurants there as well and an ABC store where you could buy some lite groceries to enjoy in your room. I had an Island view room in EWA that overlooked the Starlit Hui venue so I was able to sit on my balcony, enjoy a bottle of wine, that I got at the ABC store, and watch the show and got great photos of the performance with my point and shoot nikon. At Aulani in the lagoon I rented a stand-up paddle board to use in the lagoon, I think it was only $10. The point being Hawaii can be expensive but it really doesn't have to be. Go and enjoy.

 

[BlazerFan]

Is there a better day of the week to try to go to Pearl Harbor? I'm thinking traffic vs leaving the resort on a day that is more crowded.

 

[wanderlust7]

Is there a better day of the week to try to go to Pearl Harbor? I'm thinking traffic vs leaving the resort on a day that is more crowded.

The resort is more crowded on weekends, traffic is also lighter on weekends, so that's when I would go.

 

[Anal Annie]

Is there a better day of the week to try to go to Pearl Harbor? I'm thinking traffic vs leaving the resort on a day that is more crowded.

Personally we wanted to go to Pearl Harbor EARLY to avoid the heat as much as possible but not necessarily so early that we'd have to get up at 5:00 am. So we went on a Sunday to avoid the traffic. Was perfect - 30 minutes or so to get there. I think we booked like 8:45 or something like that so that we wouldn't have to be there before 7:45 to comply with the 1-hour rule.