Is 1 bedroom at Aulani worth it?

[Girlstar30]

Ok guys so if i do get the one bedroom on this trip I really want to cook at least breakfast or im going to be in the poor house after 11 days

I love the idea of going to Costco, however, my wife and I love to shop and I am scared that a trip here will result in a lot of cute and rare finds and us spending $800 which defeats the purpose

So any supermarket recommendations that perhaps have some Hawaii stuff? (id love to buy the chocolate covered macadamia nuts and some good coffee) but not a place that has a tendency to make us go overboard like Costco

Also I dont want to be doing dishes every single day. Ive never used the kitchen. Is it just one pan they provide for cooking or can you request more? Im assuming we can bring our own too but we are also over packers so im wondering how many pans cans we expect and plates for a family of 5 from DVC? Maybe I bring paper plates? Also ive never stayed long enough at one hotel for a full cleaning, is this on day 8 and should I do the dishes before they come? Obviously im going to do them a few times before but I mean do they expect dishes to be washed before them doing our full clean? Any advice appreciated!

 

[VGCgroupie]

Ok guys so if i do get the one bedroom on this trip I really want to cook at least breakfast or im going to be in the poor house after 11 days

I love the idea of going to Costco, however, my wife and I love to shop and I am scared that a trip here will result in a lot of cute and rare finds and us spending $800 which defeats the purpose

So any supermarket recommendations that perhaps have some Hawaii stuff? (id love to buy the chocolate covered macadamia nuts and some good coffee) but not a place that has a tendency to make us go overboard like Costco

Also I dont want to be doing dishes every single day. Ive never used the kitchen. Is it just one pan they provide for cooking or can you request more? Im assuming we can bring our own too but we are also over packers so im wondering how many pans cans we expect and plates for a family of 5 from DVC? Maybe I bring paper plates? Also ive never stayed long enough at one hotel for a full cleaning, is this on day 8 and should I do the dishes before they come? Obviously im going to do them a few times before but I mean do they expect dishes to be washed before them doing our full clean? Any advice appreciated!

There is lots of cookware and a rice cooker too! Just rinse right away load the dishwasher with each item, makes it much easier to handle. No requirement to wash before checking out, unsure how they handle full cleans since I dont ever get them, I do not like people touching my stuff.

I see so many people giving away free groceries because they went to Costco and over bought. So dont go to Costco and also look at the groups on FB etc that post when they have free groceries to save money. There is a Target nearby and also a small natural grocery store I love called Down to Earth. https://www.downtoearth.org/

 

[VGCgroupie]

Also if you want souvenirs there is a swap meet people love, I have never been. The commercial stores carry mostly generic junk.

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

My advice would be to just go and grab things at the ABC store across the street if all you're wanting to do is breakfast and easy stuff. You can get basics like milk, bread, and eggs, plus some premade meals. It's a good way to dip your toe into cooking in the room. Our first time in a villa with a kitchen we waaaay overbought and gave away a lot.

Don't worry about bringing pans unless you're very particular. It's a fully stocked kitchen and should be more than plenty for what you're wanting, definitely more than one pan. Maybe bring along salt, pepper, and other spices you might want.

About the dishes, I think if you could load some in the dishwasher before leaving the villa that day, it would be a decent gesture and help them get through with your clean faster, but it's not required. Actually, that's good advice before checking out too. Help another DVC member out by getting them into their villa faster!

 

[Girlstar30]

There is lots of cookware and a rice cooker too! Just rinse right away load the dishwasher with each item, makes it much easier to handle. No requirement to wash before checking out, unsure how they handle full cleans since I dont ever get them, I do not like people touching my stuff.

I see so many people giving away free groceries because they went to Costco and over bought. So dont go to Costco and also look at the groups on FB etc that post when they have free groceries to save money. There is a Target nearby and also a small natural grocery store I love called Down to Earth. https://www.downtoearth.org/

At home I only put the plates and cups in the dishwasher, I think here ill put everything, cuz im on vacation

I think target is a safe bet and I'll check out the other one! Ugh I think this trip is going to force me to go on fb again I am not too proud to get free (unopened) food

 

[VGCgroupie]

At home I only put the plates and cups in the dishwasher, I think here ill put everything, cuz im on vacation

Same. But there's no way I am hand washing pots and pans on vacation.

I think target is a safe bet and I'll check out the other one! Ugh I think this trip is going to force me to go on fb again I am not too proud to get free (unopened) food

Yes it's well worth it. I gave away some pretty good stuff and whole tub of unopened guac, cant believe we didnt make time to eat it!

 

[VGCgroupie]

I actually gave away a dress rather than bring it back home. It looked terrible on me, well it looked good in my bathroom but not while on the beach. But someone was so happy to get it for photos.

 

[Girlstar30]

My advice would be to just go and grab things at the ABC store across the street if all you're wanting to do is breakfast and easy stuff. You can get basics like milk, bread, and eggs, plus some premade meals. It's a good way to dip your toe into cooking in the room. Our first time in a villa with a kitchen we waaaay overbought and gave away a lot.

Don't worry about bringing pans unless you're very particular. It's a fully stocked kitchen and should be more than plenty for what you're wanting, definitely more than one pan. Maybe bring along salt, pepper, and other spices you might want.

About the dishes, I think if you could load some in the dishwasher before leaving the villa that day, it would be a decent gesture and help them get through with your clean faster, but it's not required. Actually, that's good advice before checking out too. Help another DVC member out by getting them into their villa faster!

Good call on the spices I dont want food to be bland! ABC store is convenient and we will also have a car so we dont mind driving somewhere good either

 

[Girlstar30]

I actually gave away a dress rather than bring it back home. It looked terrible on me, well it looked good in my bathroom but not while on the beach. But someone was so happy to get it for photos.

I need an outfit for this MMB 8x10

 

[VGCgroupie]

I need an outfit for this MMB 8x10

Im already on the lookout for mine for August! My dress I had a professional photographer. The following trip I just used Photopass and got photos I actually liked better, I shared zero photos from the professional photographer with anyone, my photopass photo is on my FB account and I sent it to family.

 

[Girlstar30]

Im already on the lookout for mine for August! My dress I had a professional photographer. The following trip I just used Photopass and got photos I actually liked better, I shared zero photos from the professional photographer with anyone, my photopass photo is on my FB account and I sent it to family.

Thats right they have photo pass there, do you just purchase when you get there?

 

[VGCgroupie]

Thats right they have photo pass there, do you just purchase when you get there?

Yes just like DL. That is also how you get your 8x10 photo.

 

[MsChristy12]

About the dishes, I think if you could load some in the dishwasher before leaving the villa that day, it would be a decent gesture and help them get through with your clean faster, but it's not required. Actually, that's good advice before checking out too. Help another DVC member out by getting them into their villa faster!

I always do this too! Usually, our one week stay isn't even a full load. I'll run the dishwasher right before we check out, so when the mousekeeper comes in they can see the cycle has already started, saves them some time so they can flip the villa faster. We never do actual cooking except when we stayed at the CCV cabin w/ our friends. That was fun though!

 

[MsChristy12]

Good call on the spices I dont want food to be bland! ABC store is convenient and we will also have a car so we dont mind driving somewhere good either

The Island Country Market across the street from Aulani is also an ABC store. They have hot and cold deli, and that's pretty much where everyone goes to get ready-to-eat food and groceries. Lunch/dinner time is crazy in there. If you want more local especially for poke, there's a Foodland (my go-to for poke) at Kapolei and you can probably find more local snacks that's different than ABC stores as souvenirs.

 

[Girlstar30]

The Island Country Market across the street from Aulani is also an ABC store. They have hot and cold deli, and that's pretty much where everyone goes to get ready-to-eat food and groceries. Lunch/dinner time is crazy in there. If you want more local especially for poke, there's a Foodland (my go-to for poke) at Kapolei and you can probably find more local snacks that's different than ABC stores as souvenirs.

Thank you, very helpful!

 

[MsChristy12]

You can also try going to Don Quijte at Pearl City. It's a old one but that's where we went last time because it's been a couple years since our trip and the new Donki at Kapolei now didn't exist. Not sure how the products compare between the two stores, but for sure the one in Pearly City will be local pricing because things were cheap! I loaded up local Hawaii cookies from there

There's another one in Honolulu near Ala Moana, that one is very busy and if you have a backpack or any bag that's big enough they will make you check it in at the counter. My husband had s small backpack with him and the security person told us he had to check it, we were like...nope absolutely not, no thank you. So we left.