Help planning for May Trip

[Gaprofitt]

Hi All,

I need some help with planning some stuff. Will be traveling to Aulani in May. We come in Tue, May 23rd and depart Friday, June 2nd. I currently have booked the following, the first five nights in an Oceanview Studio, the remaining 5 nights in a 1 br garden view.

It will be me, 40 years old, my 5 year old son, his grandmother and grandfather both in there early 70's. Myself and my son are pretty active, enjoy adventure and I enjoy Golf, debating on taking the clubs or not. My parents have somewhat limited mobility, but not horrible, they are just slower and can't walk miles or anything strenous.

Looking for some help on planning our trip, things to do, not to be missed, hotel tips.. We will have a rental car the entire time, have heard about costco and Target for items. We want to visit I know the pineaaple plantation, Kouloa Ranch (may have botched the name), pearl harbor and anything else fun.

I love to take photography, would love to do some hiking with just my son but something safe and scenic. I'm a little concerned about my son getting bored, as much as he loves the pool he likes to stay busy.

Here are some questions for the pros:

How large are the hotel grounds? Might be a better experience if my parents rented a Scooter to help with mobility. Is this affordable or crazy expensive?

Any tips on room requests for both the studio oceanview and gardens view?

Are there refillable cups you can buy for soda, coffee, tea?

Is there a Luau which features the dancers with the fire sticks? My son absolutely loves that.

What should be booked ahead of time? We are not huge foodies..

What else should we drive and see on the Island? I could see myself doing this a good bit.

Is there a photopass thing? Is it free for DVC and or Annual pass holders like it is in the parks?

Overall I feel like I don't know what to expect when I get there, would love some tips..

Thanks..

Greg

 

[Elima2015]

You will have a great time!

* The resort is decent sized, but I don't think it is huge. The pool area is in the center, so that helps. My personal opinion is if they get around ok, then I would skip the scooters. The resort is nothing like the parks in terms of walking and size. Plus it would be hard to fit two scooters in a studio
* I would just request a room on a high floor for both views
* Yes, there are refillable mugs. They are $18.99 and good for the length of your stay. I know you can buy them at Ulu Cafe.
* The Aulani luau has a fire dance as does the luau next door at Paradise Cove. I've heard great things about the one at the Polynesian Cultural Center if you will be up there
* I would put The North Shore on your list. We loved watching the surfers at Bonzai pipeline and poking around Haleiwa (though I don't know how much surfing activity will be going on in May - still it is worth a visit)
* Consider the Swap Meet - held Sat, Sun, and Wed at the Aloha Stadium
* Yes, there is a photopass - I don't believe it is free for anyone, but I could be wrong - I didn't really look into it when we were there
* The resort has a lazy river and a couple water slides that are great for active kids. Also playing in the sand/beach.
* Sign up for Aunty's in advance (up to 90 days) and request the free activities. My kids loved Stitch's Space Goo and the Aloha party. They didn't play in Aunty's outside of that, but found the activities very fun.
* If you want to visit the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, get tickets online in advance (I think that is 60 days, and the website is recreation.gov or something like that - it is free except for a very small convenience fee, like $1.50 per ticket)
* If you want to do the character breakfast, make reservations in advance
* You can borrow movies for free from the Pau Hauna room
* Your son is a great age for the Menehune Adventure Trail - they can be done in like 20-40 min segments and are totally worth at least doing a couple of them
* For your rental car, find the lowest level exit from the garage (floor 1) as then you can make a left turn at a light on to the main Ko Olina road that leads to the freeway - the other exit requires you to drive a ways and find a place to turn around.