Can Aulani Be Done Without Going Broke?

[BlazerFan]

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

That's what I was thinking. thanks

 

[BlazerFan]

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.

I will have to check out the ticket website, I'm guessing you need to be there an hour before your scheduled time then? I'm planning for our whole group so I want to be sure I get all the info I need. thank you

 

[amypetecar]

I felt like our week in Hawaii was much cheaper than a week at disney.
you have to rent a car, but there's no theme park tickets, and the best activities are free or reasonably priced (beach, swimming, dole plantation, pearl harbor, shopping in Honolulu)
Food at the resort was insanely high priced, but a very short drive down H1 to Kapolei had dozens of chains at normal prices (target, panda express, mcdonalds, etc, etc)

 

[SuperRob]

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!

I just booked a trip to Aulani in April. We needed $195 in one-time use points, but we were able to use our Disney Rewards Dollars to cover that. We then booked two coach tickets from Bellingham (90 min. North of Seattle) to Honolulu for $183 per person, per leg. But one of the fares was my annual Companion Fare (from my Alaska Airlines Signature card), so the second fare was only $99 per leg. Round trip total was less than $710 after taxes and fees. I then upgraded us to First Class for 60,000 miles.

So yes, you can do it cheap, if you have reward credit cards that you use judiciously (and responsibly). Rental cars can be found cheap, Costco Travel offered us one for less than $150 for the week. Saving money on food is tough, but there is a Costco and a Target in Kapolei, which is on the way to the resort.

Edit: I should add that all of the beaches in Hawaii are public, by law, so there's always free fun to be found around the island. Lots of sea life to admire.

 

[dclpluto]

Diamond head cost 1 dollar a person to get in or 5 dollar a car. Very great price. Now food at aulani will be very expensive rent a car and go to Walmart Costo etc. milk at Walmart for a gallon is 5.50. At aulani is 4.95 for a quart or 6.95 for a half gallon. We have breakfast every morning in the room.