First time 2018

[kathy040690]

Hello !! my family is very familiar with Disneyland and somewhat Disney World.. However this time we want to try something new and go to AULANI !!!

We are looking at going May 2018 (when will prices be coming out?)

Travelling with myself hubby and 5 kids (9,7,5,2,1).

a few questions (i am a newbie so please bear with me !)

1. We are debating between a 2 bedroom Villa or 2 standard rooms. which would you do ? I really like the idea of having a full kitchen and being able to make food for the kids so we arent constantly buying.

2. Aunties beach house.. I know my older ones can go on their own there. However the 2 and almost 1 year old can not. Is there a time during the day we can bring them there to just check it out and stay with them of course?

3. Is the weather good in May ? coming from northern Canada !

4. Are we crazy for wanting to take 5 children to aulani ? Is there lots for them to do ?

5. We really want to go to the Dole plantation. Will the kids be entertained there or will we have to listen to them complain ?

6. Grocery stores.. If we are not renting a car is there a grocery store near by we can pick some essentials up at?

7. what kind of budget should i plan ? how much a day ? usually for disneyland we do 300 a day for food.. is that about the same for here?


We will want to spend most of our time at the Resort to "relax" and hang out as a family with proabbly
only 1 day trip to the Dole Plantation!

any tips or comments are greatly appreciated !!

 

[b2k1121]

Hello !! my family is very familiar with Disneyland and somewhat Disney World.. However this time we want to try something new and go to AULANI !!!

We are looking at going May 2018 (when will prices be coming out?)

Travelling with myself hubby and 5 kids (9,7,5,2,1).

a few questions (i am a newbie so please bear with me !)

1. We are debating between a 2 bedroom Villa or 2 standard rooms. which would you do ? I really like the idea of having a full kitchen and being able to make food for the kids so we arent constantly buying.

2. Aunties beach house.. I know my older ones can go on their own there. However the 2 and almost 1 year old can not. Is there a time during the day we can bring them there to just check it out and stay with them of course?

3. Is the weather good in May ? coming from northern Canada !

4. Are we crazy for wanting to take 5 children to aulani ? Is there lots for them to do ?

5. We really want to go to the Dole plantation. Will the kids be entertained there or will we have to listen to them complain ?

6. Grocery stores.. If we are not renting a car is there a grocery store near by we can pick some essentials up at?

7. what kind of budget should i plan ? how much a day ? usually for disneyland we do 300 a day for food.. is that about the same for here?


We will want to spend most of our time at the Resort to "relax" and hang out as a family with proabbly
only 1 day trip to the Dole Plantation!

any tips or comments are greatly appreciated !!

I can help with a couple of these, did not travel with kids so can't help too much there.

1. If you can swing the 2 bedroom, I'd go for it. As you said, cooking in the room can save a ton of money. There is a Target and Costco under 10 minutes away where you can pick up food for the week to at least make breakfast and some lunches and dinners in the room. There are not a ton of options at the resort at dinner time and a couple options across the street. During lunch most of the snack stands are open by the pool and at the beach or you can pick up small items at Ulu Cafe but you probably don't want to do that everyday. We found a lot of days we spent so much time either exploring the island or at the beach/pool that everything closed up pretty early and the only option left was Ulu Cafe, which is the small quick service option. They have 1 rotating hot plate plus things like pizza/flatbreads, and premade sandwiches. So having the option to make some meals in the room would be preferable.

3. We were there in January, but Hawaii weather is pretty much the same year round - great!

4. Sounds pretty crazy to me, at least the traveling part of the trip, but they will have a great time with so many pools, a couple big slides, nice lazy river and the beach/lagoon plus changing daily and nightly activities. You can rent movies from the clubhouse. I'm sure there is a ton we missed because we weren't looking for kids activities.

5. I wouldn't plan a ton of time around Dole Plantation, there is a train ride they might like plus a maze, that's about it. The shop is fun to look around for a couple minutes. Dole is on the way to the North Shore which has a lot to do and see but maybe not for the little ones.

6. Costco/Target close by, there is a convenience store walking distance across the street, good for things you might forget to pack or snacks.

7. It really depends on the room choice. If you get the villa, you will save a ton on food. Without it, the cheapest option is Ulu Cafe and that's about $10 per kid per meal, $15 per adult per meal. We found the refillable mug to be a good deal, especially if you drink a lot of coffee. The character breakfast is good, but very expensive in my opinion, about $40 per adult, I think $20 for kids. They also have a buffet for dinner which is about $10 more.

 

[kathy040690]

Thank you for the info !!

2 more questions i have thought of

1. are you able to charge things to your room or will i have to carry cash alll the time ?

2. For the lazy river are our little ones able to sit in our lap to go on it as well ? the older ones will be fine but the 2 and almost 1 year old !!

 

[b2k1121]

Thank you for the info !!

2 more questions i have thought of

1. are you able to charge things to your room or will i have to carry cash alll the time ?

2. For the lazy river are our little ones able to sit in our lap to go on it as well ? the older ones will be fine but the 2 and almost 1 year old !!

Though we never used it, you can use your room key to charge to your credit card on file, it should say 'valid for charging' on the card. I don't know about the 2nd question, but I am fairly positive that will be fine, many people didn't even have tubes and there are multiple enter/exit spots with seemingly no one paying attention, there are just a couple life guards pacing along the river so it doesn't seem like there were too many rules.

 

[buffettgirl]

Dole Plantation is really a tourist trap sort of place. They'll enjoy the train ride, and the maze, (these all cost money) but there certainly isn't a whole day of activity there. A few hours at MOST.

Weather in May is pretty much the best weather on the planet.

Aulani is just a resort hotel. It's not WDW or Disneyland. It's just a hotel, with a nice pool and a lagoon.

 

[kathy040690]

Dole Plantation is really a tourist trap sort of place. They'll enjoy the train ride, and the maze, (these all cost money) but there certainly isn't a whole day of activity there. A few hours at MOST.

Weather in May is pretty much the best weather on the planet.

Aulani is just a resort hotel. It's not WDW or Disneyland. It's just a hotel, with a nice pool and a lagoon.

thats really what we are hoping for.. want a break from the rides and GO GO GO of disneyland !

We are so excited to try something new

 

[jodybird511]

I agree with doing the 2 bdrm villa if you can. Food is VERY expensive and, I thought, just average quality, so being able to cook in the room--especially with kids--is a major perk. In fact, I think it's SUCH a perk, that it might financially outweigh the cost of the more pricey room.

 

[KBinCO]

1. We are debating between a 2 bedroom Villa or 2 standard rooms. which would you do ? I really like the idea of having a full kitchen and being able to make food for the kids so we arent constantly buying.

If they are both options, I think a kitchen is the way to go with so many kids and so many different ages.

2. Aunties beach house.. I know my older ones can go on their own there. However the 2 and almost 1 year old can not. Is there a time during the day we can bring them there to just check it out and stay with them of course?

From 8:00-9:30 every morning is open house for anyone.

3. Is the weather good in May ? coming from northern Canada !

I believe it's nice year round

4. Are we crazy for wanting to take 5 children to aulani ? Is there lots for them to do ?

We just returned with only 2 kids- ages 6 and 8 and they LOVED it. So much to do. We only went for 6 nights and wish we'd had a few more nights. There's so much to do for the Aunty's aged crowd.

5. We really want to go to the Dole plantation. Will the kids be entertained there or will we have to listen to them complain ?

we skipped it. We just stopped by for Dole whips on the way to the north shore, after hiking and hitting the swap meet. It may be something you just stop by and visit for an hour but not something you plan to spend a day at.

6. Grocery stores.. If we are not renting a car is there a grocery store near by we can pick some essentials up at?

You can uber to close by stores, but the ABC store across the street will have most essentials. We packed bread, bagels, PB, Jelly, protein bars, popcorn, and booze in our suitcases, and just picked up yogurt, milk, juice, fruit, and muffins.

Also we didn't plan on renting a car, but when we called to book, they included shuttles to and from the airport and a rental car for one day for free with our reservation. There is a car rental desk at Aulani and you can just rent by the day if you want. So we used our car rental day to explore and shop.

7. what kind of budget should i plan ? how much a day ? usually for disneyland we do 300 a day for food.. is that about the same for here?

That just totally depends on how you do things. Cooking vs. going out is going to change things a lot. There aren't really many cheap options though as far as restaurants.

2 more questions i have thought of

1. are you able to charge things to your room or will i have to carry cash alll the time ?

charge with room key

2. For the lazy river are our little ones able to sit in our lap to go on it as well ? the older ones will be fine but the 2 and almost 1 year old !!

There really aren't rules for the lazy river. You don't even need to be in a tube. You can swim through. The towel stations provide life vests for free so your littles can sit on your lap or just float through with a vest.

 

[buffettgirl]

thats really what we are hoping for.. want a break from the rides and GO GO GO of disneyland !

We are so excited to try something new

I think with the kids the ages of yours, you'll have a great relaxing time there.

 

[OKW Lover]

I'll address the first question - definitely a 2BR villa instead of 2 separate rooms. With a 2BR you get the full kitchen, a nice living/dining room and a washer dryer. All the comforts of home and you'll all be in one place.

 

[kathy040690]

I'll address the first question - definitely a 2BR villa instead of 2 separate rooms. With a 2BR you get the full kitchen, a nice living/dining room and a washer dryer. All the comforts of home and you'll all be in one place.

so it looks like grandma and grandpa are going to come along as well.. so they will book whatever room they want with 2 of the kids and we are going to book a 1 bedroom villa to save some money !!!!!


Does anyone know when prices for 2018 should be coming out?