How Many Nights at Aulani If We Never Leave the Resort?

[Road_Dog]

DVC Points Context: 150 point contract at Polynesian. Have 474 total points to use (including banked/borrowed--we banked Oct UY 2024, and plan on borrowing Oct UY 2026, plus the expected purchase of 24 OTU points).

Our Group: Family of 4 (kids will be 2.5 & 4) + my in-laws (kid's grandparents in their early 70s). The grandparents are only coming along for the trip in May.

Current Plan:​

• 4 nights at Poly (March 2026) - Studio (100 points)
• 6 nights at Aulani (May 2026) - 2BR Pool/Garden View (374 points) - We assume a Standard view won't be available

Main Questions:​

1. How many nights would you recommend at Aulani if we plan to stay at the resort the entire time? (Except for one Pearl Harbor day for just me and FIL). We are not the type to explore the island.
2. Is there enough to do at Aulani to keep us entertained for that amount of time? My wife strongly prefers resort relaxation vacations over exploring the local area. If it's not walkable from the resort, we probably aren't interested in doing it with our young kids and in-laws in tow.

Alternative Plan I'm Considering:​

Let's say we agree that 6 nights at Aulani might be too much for a resort-only stay. I've come up with an alternative plan that includes Disneyland on the front end while also giving us an extra night at Poly in March:

• 5 nights at Poly (March 2026) - Studio (125 points)
• 3 nights at Disneyland Hotel (May 2026) - 2 connecting studios (96 points)
• 4 nights at Aulani (May 2026) - 2BR Pool/Garden View (248 points)
  • This would use 469 points and give us an extra night at Poly!

Which option would you choose? We're concerned 4 nights at Aulani might be "too short" after the long flight to Hawaii, but who knows, maybe it's just right for us since we really just want to enjoy the resort and everything it has to offer. Not to mention, if we're flying to Hawaii from California (and not Chicago like we originally planned) then that does considerably cut down on the flight time. And starting with Disneyland before Hawaii might make it feel like a more complete vacation where we are fine just relaxing at Aulani after two hectic park days.

Thank you for your advice!

 

[abdgeek]

DVC Points Context: 150 point contract at Polynesian. Have 474 total points to use (including banked/borrowed--we banked Oct UY 2024, and plan on borrowing Oct UY 2026, plus the expected purchase of 24 OTU points).

Our Group: Family of 4 (kids will be 2.5 & 4) + my in-laws (kid's grandparents in their early 70s). The grandparents are only coming along for the trip in May.

Current Plan:​

• 4 nights at Poly (March 2026) - Studio (100 points)
• 6 nights at Aulani (May 2026) - 2BR Pool/Garden View (374 points) - We assume a Standard view won't be available

Main Questions:​

1. How many nights would you recommend at Aulani if we plan to stay at the resort the entire time? (Except for one Pearl Harbor day for just me and FIL). We are not the type to explore the island.
2. Is there enough to do at Aulani to keep us entertained for that amount of time? My wife strongly prefers resort relaxation vacations over exploring the local area. If it's not walkable from the resort, we probably aren't interested in doing it with our young kids and in-laws in tow.

Alternative Plan I'm Considering:​

Let's say we agree that 6 nights at Aulani might be too much for a resort-only stay. I've come up with an alternative plan that includes Disneyland on the front end while also giving us an extra night at Poly in March:

• 5 nights at Poly (March 2026) - Studio (125 points)
• 3 nights at Disneyland Hotel (May 2026) - 2 connecting studios (96 points)
• 4 nights at Aulani (May 2026) - 2BR Pool/Garden View (248 points)
  • This would use 469 points and give us an extra night at Poly!

Which option would you choose? We're concerned 4 nights at Aulani might be "too short" after the long flight to Hawaii, but who knows, maybe it's just right for us since we really just want to enjoy the resort and everything it has to offer. Not to mention, if we're flying to Hawaii from California (and not Chicago like we originally planned) then that does considerably cut down on the flight time. And starting with Disneyland before Hawaii might make it feel like a more complete vacation where we are fine just relaxing at Aulani after two hectic park days.

Thank you for your advice!

EDIT: I get there is a lot of discourse around "why fly all the way here just to sit at the resort pool? You can do that for much cheaper in closer locations". Before those comments roll in,

• This trip is for our 5th anniversary. We honeymooned in Maui and we did so much around the islands. We're aware of what there is to do around the islands but this won't be one of those trips. Maybe another time when the kids are older.
• This is a combination of us wanting to go back to relive our honeymoon, while also including our kids and their grandparents.
• We understand the kids and grandparents won't be able to "keep up" with mom and dad and want to keep things as simple and low-speed as possible.
• Could we do all this at a beach property in Florida? Yeah, sure, but it won't be DVC (I have little interest in Vero Beach). This is kind of a situation of "we have the DVC points + we want to go back to Hawaii = let's go to Aulani". We are not deadset on staying at Aulani (in the sense that, if we don't do it now, we never will) but this is probably the only time my in-laws will come with before they decide to swear off all travel whatsoever, especially one with as lengthy of travel conditions. My in-laws tried to plan their 40th wedding anniversary in Hawaii and felt discouraged due to how confusing the flight and hotel situation was--even with my help, they kept saying how nice it would be if I came with and was their personal guide haha. This is kind of our "treat" to give them that vacation they always wanted, and knock off a bucket list item for my father in law (Pearl Harbor). However, I suppose I could in the right situation be convinced to forego the Aulani trip if there was just some too good to avoid trip I could squeeze out with my points instead, but again, I've looked into Vero Beach and just overall feel "meh".

Either plan looks fine; however, if you think you’ll have vacation remorse if you don’t spend 6 days at Aulani, go with your gut. If you haven’t already, look at the times the airline you plan to fly gets into HNL on Day 1 and leaves on Day 6. That will let you know whether those days will mainly be travel days. When I travel to Hawaii, I never count the day I arrive or leave as a day I can do anything. That means you may only have 4 out of 6 days or 2 out of 4 days to really relax. Aulani has a spa and a luau or you can walk next door to the Paradise Cove Luau. Here’s a link to the Daily ‘Iwa and activities so that you can get an idea of what there is to do. There’s definitely enough to do for the amount of time you plan to spend at the resort, it just depends on how active your family wants to be while they’re relaxing.

 

[maxbuffmelvin]

I vote for four nights at Poly and six nights at Aulani. Four nights is too short for a long flight with multiple time zones. I did off-site activities, but I still spent most of the time at Aulani.

 

[kiddoc88]

I would vote for 6 nights at Aulani plan. We've been to Aulani twice with young kids (age 2-5) for 5 or 6 nights each time. There was plenty to keep them occupied the whole time. There are several different pool areas, lazy river, slides, and the beach to explore.

 

[Brett Wyman]

6 is the perfect number, aligns with 5 days of PTO, and flying on weekends pretty well.

 

[Road_Dog]

6 is the perfect number, aligns with 5 days of PTO, and flying on weekends pretty well.

Our plan was to always leave on a Saturday and come back on a Friday. We figure the travel days (especially the Friday trip home moving forward timezones) would be basically shot depending on our flight times, and then we have a whole weekend at home to recover before work on Monday.

 

[WinterSolider]

How many nights would you recommend at Aulani if we plan to stay at the resort the entire time? (Except for one Pearl Harbor day for just me and FIL). We are not the type to explore the island.
Is there enough to do at Aulani to keep us entertained for that amount of time? My wife strongly prefers resort relaxation vacations over exploring the local area. If it's not walkable from the resort, we probably aren't interested in doing it with our young kids and in-laws in tow.

I would recommend strongly that you just skip Hawaii. There's no point in traveling that distance and spending that money (or points) if all you want is a nice resort to sit by the pool. You can get a nice resort and a nice pool for way less cost and hassle 3,000 miles closer to home.

That is not in any way meant to be a criticism, I genuinely think you'll consider the trip a waste of time and money and that would be unfortunate.

Going to Hawaii and staying at the resort is like going to Disney World and staying in your room playing Mario Kart the whole time. If that's what your family needs to feel relaxed on vacation, fantastic, no judgment. But then it's not worth the fuss of the trip.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I am a stay at the resort person mostly. We did 5 nights and could've easily done more, so much so that I actually typed 4 nights thinking that is all we stayed until I pulled my trip report, but nope 5! The days we left to explore my son who was 9 couldn't wait to get back to the Aulani. There are excursions you can do that are at Aulani and very near to Aulani. At Aulani you can get the Sailing Canoe right at the Lagoon, we loved it. You can also catch many excursions at the Ko Olina Marina, we did a glass bottom boat ride from there, it's less than a 5 min drive from Aulani.

Here is my trip review from our trip last August. We are so excited to go again this August. I go into heavily about leaving the resort and how we felt about it.

Thread '1st DVC Member Trip - Aulani'

Aug 27, 2024

We spent 5 nights at Aulani this August. Spoiler alert the lows were not at Aulani, Aulani was amazing.

I had originally planned on 4 nights, but last minute found a studio to add a night to the beginning of our trip since we recently became DVC blue card holders, we wanted to take advantage of some happenings on Monday/Tues morning.

My best advice I can give from our trip is, don’t prebook and plan too much. It’s hard to get everything in. We cancelled many things that were able to cancel because we just didn’t have enough time. I saw so many people say book excursions, go see the...

• VGCgroupie
• Replies: 31
• Forum: DVC Trip Reports

• 
• 

 

[cruisehopeful]

If you enjoy resort stays, you can probably have a good time for the 6 days. I always think I am going to enjoy a resort stay and then I get bored after a few hours and need to go do something else. I have done several 5 night visits to Hawaii, but I have been extremely busy the whole time. For resort only, maybe I would be okay with 4 nights. I honestly don't enjoy flying so I plan on having longer stays in the future.

If you look at the activities offered, you'll see that they do offer a lot. There's also a nice spa that has really good reviews. One thing I'll mention (that happens to me when I go from California to Hawaii), due to the time change, I'm often up and ready to do something at 3am. I can assure you, there is absolutely nothing to do at that time or even a couple hours later. It might help to break up the time difference for you by visiting Disneyland on the way.

 

[WinterSolider]

If you enjoy resort stays, you can probably have a good time for the 6 days. I always think I am going to enjoy a resort stay and then I get bored after a few hours and need to go do something else. I have done several 5 night visits to Hawaii, but I have been extremely busy the whole time. For resort only, maybe I would be okay with 4 nights. I honestly don't enjoy flying so I plan on having longer stays in the future.

I'm very much both. I can do a very active go-go-go trip and a plop-myself-by-the-pool-for-a-week trip, I just don't think the latter is worth that long of a flight, all the cost, etc.

 

[Road_Dog]

I would recommend strongly that you just skip Hawaii. There's no point in traveling that distance and spending that money (or points) if all you want is a nice resort to sit by the pool. You can get a nice resort and a nice pool for way less cost and hassle 3,000 miles closer to home.

That is not in any way meant to be a criticism, I genuinely think you'll consider the trip a waste of time and money and that would be unfortunate.

Going to Hawaii and staying at the resort is like going to Disney World and staying in your room playing Mario Kart the whole time. If that's what your family needs to feel relaxed on vacation, fantastic, no judgment. But then it's not worth the fuss of the trip.

Thanks, I originally had this in my post but removed it, but I'll share again.

My wife and I have done Hawaii before. We honeymooned in Maui. We loved it, and did a lot of off resort stuff like hiking, Road to Hana, checking our secret black sand beaches, dinner cruises, snorkeling, etc.

We just feel since our kids are on the young side (4 and 2.5 at time of travel) and because her parents are in their 70s, that we'll likely want to keep the trip low-speed. I just don't fathom the toddlers or the older adults will be up for big hikes or ATV rides.

This trip is for our 5 year anniversary, and we wanted to go back to Hawaii to recapture the magic of our honeymoon (albeit on a different island). Us owning at DVC just helps make the trip planning easier. It's also a bucket list kind of thing for my in-laws because they have never been and probably will not have a chance to go to Hawaii the rest of their lives (they attempted to plan an anniversary trip just the two of them but got discouraged with how complex it was matching up hotels with flights and itinerary planning plus a rental car).

It wouldn't be the end of the world if we didn't go--I understand 100% the sentiment behind "why put so much effort traveling to a place just to sit by the pool?". We originally wanted to go just the two of us, but at the same time want to try and include the kids if it's a Disney resort, and bringing the grandparents means we can get some alone time if needed.

Perhaps the conversation of not going needs to be revisited, or at least perhaps we wait until the kids are slightly older (maybe 5 and 7) and grandpa and grandma can decide if they want to come with and just sit at the resort the whole time while we go off and do things here and there.

If you enjoy resort stays, you can probably have a good time for the 6 days. I always think I am going to enjoy a resort stay and then I get bored after a few hours and need to go do something else. I have done several 5 night visits to Hawaii, but I have been extremely busy the whole time. For resort only, maybe I would be okay with 4 nights. I honestly don't enjoy flying so I plan on having longer stays in the future.

If you look at the activities offered, you'll see that they do offer a lot. There's also a nice spa that has really good reviews. One thing I'll mention (that happens to me when I go from California to Hawaii), due to the time change, I'm often up and ready to do something at 3am. I can assure you, there is absolutely nothing to do at that time or even a couple hours later. It might help to break up the time difference for you by visiting Disneyland on the way.

When we did Maui for 7-nights for our honeymoon, we did a split stay. 3 nights at Hyatt Regency Maui, 1 night at Hyatt Hana, and 3 nights at Andaz Maui. The first 3 nights were great, we sprinkled in snorkeling on day 2 and a dinner cruise on night 3. Night 4 was the first "boredom" we had, only because Hana itself is a pretty boring town. Day 5 was a lot of fun being back at a resort, but day 6 was definitely when my wife got bored and said "are we really gonna just sit around again all day?" We did a few black sand beach hikes that day but it wasn't really her thing. Day 7 for sure we were very bored almost all day--it felt like we ran out of things we wanted to do and sat around waiting for our Luau dinner to start at 5pm. We were ready to go home after that!

This is why I originally felt 6-nights would be good, but is also why I think 4-5 nights could work (as we'd never really be bored). I think my wife would be more open to "doing nothing" (just swimming and enjoying the views/beach) after a Disneyland trip. Something to think about I guess.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Thanks, I originally had this in my post but removed it, but I'll share again.

My wife and I have done Hawaii before. We honeymooned in Maui. We loved it, and did a lot of off resort stuff like hiking, Road to Hana, checking our secret black sand beaches, dinner cruises, snorkeling, etc.

We just feel since our kids are on the young side (4 and 2.5 at time of travel) and because her parents are in their 70s, that we'll likely want to keep the trip low-speed. I just don't fathom the toddlers or the older adults will be up for big hikes or ATV rides.

This trip is for our 5 year anniversary, and we wanted to go back to Hawaii to recapture the magic of our honeymoon (albeit on a different island). Us owning at DVC just helps make the trip planning easier. It's also a bucket list kind of thing for my in-laws because they have never been and probably will not have a chance to go to Hawaii the rest of their lives (they attempted to plan an anniversary trip just the two of them but got discouraged with how complex it was matching up hotels with flights and itinerary planning plus a rental car).

It wouldn't be the end of the world if we didn't go--I understand 100% the sentiment behind "why put so much effort traveling to a place just to sit by the pool?". We originally wanted to go just the two of us, but at the same time want to try and include the kids if it's a Disney resort, and bringing the grandparents means we can get some alone time if needed.

Perhaps the conversation of not going needs to be revisited, or at least perhaps we wait until the kids are slightly older (maybe 5 and 7) and grandpa and grandma can decide if they want to come with and just sit at the resort the whole time while we go off and do things here and there.



When we did Maui for 7-nights for our honeymoon, we did a split stay. 3 nights at Hyatt Regency Maui, 1 night at Hyatt Hana, and 3 nights at Andaz Maui. The first 3 nights were great, we sprinkled in snorkeling on day 2 and a dinner cruise on night 3. Night 4 was the first "boredom" we had, only because Hana itself is a pretty boring town. Day 5 was a lot of fun being back at a resort, but day 6 was definitely when my wife got bored and said "are we really gonna just sit around again all day?" We did a few black sand beach hikes that day but it wasn't really her thing. Day 7 for sure we were very bored almost all day--it felt like we ran out of things we wanted to do and sat around waiting for our Luau dinner to start at 5pm. We were ready to go home after that!

This is why I originally felt 6-nights would be good, but is also why I think 4-5 nights could work (as we'd never really be bored). I think my wife would be more open to "doing nothing" (just swimming and enjoying the views/beach) after a Disneyland trip. Something to think about I guess.

I dont think it's a waste at all. Our flight time is 6-7 hours and our next trip will be only 4 nights, still think it is worth it. I think Aulani Lagoon is great for older folks and younger kids because the waves are not aggressive.

My only warning is educate yourself about pool chair situation, consider a cabana rental or casabella and have a great time!

 

[Steelers0854]

I would recommend strongly that you just skip Hawaii. There's no point in traveling that distance and spending that money (or points) if all you want is a nice resort to sit by the pool. You can get a nice resort and a nice pool for way less cost and hassle 3,000 miles closer to home.

That is not in any way meant to be a criticism, I genuinely think you'll consider the trip a waste of time and money and that would be unfortunate.

Going to Hawaii and staying at the resort is like going to Disney World and staying in your room playing Mario Kart the whole time. If that's what your family needs to feel relaxed on vacation, fantastic, no judgment. But then it's not worth the fuss of the trip.

Hard disagree with this. While I have not been to Aulani yet, I have been to Hawaii a number of times and the majority of which we never left the resort we stayed at. To me, there is nothing like Hawaii: not Mexico, not the Caribbean, Florida etc. Hawaii is its own magical place and I would take a resort day in Hawaii over any other resort or beach experience I have done.