Is this too Much Aulani?

[Rob_b]

This will be our 1st time going to Hawaii and Aulani. It will be two adults, my daughter and her friend (both 16). Our plans so far! I am the big planner type. Is below too much Resort time? Is there enough to do in and around the resort, or should we do more on the island? I kind of think Aulani = day at Castaway Cay. I think I am good with 3 days at Castaway Cay. (We just got off the Treasure!) Thanks in advance, any feedback is welcome.

Day 1 - Saturday - Arrive from LAX, Rent Car, Target Stop, Resort by 1:00 PM. Relax at the Aulani | Diner at Monkey Pod
Day 2 - Sunday - Drive to Pearl Harbor. Getting a Passport. Spend full day, Lunch at Restarant 604. Return to Aulani for rest of day
Day 3 - Monday - Resort Day 1 | Aulani Spa for adults | Stars Above Hawaii show.
Day 4 - Tuesday - Visit North Shore | Still figuring out the details. Thinking - learn to surf, Waimea Valley and explore.
Day 5 - Wednesday - Morning 6:00 AM Hike Diamond Head, Byodo In Temple, Kualoa Ranch (Private UTV Ride Along Tour)
Day 6 - Thursday - Resort Day 2 | Evening Sunset Cruise from Ko Olina.
Day 7 - Friday - Resort Day 3 | Ka Wa'a Luau
Day 8 - Saturday - Last Day, Partial Resort Day, or could explore. Fly out back to the East Coast at 9:00 PM

 

[AstroBlasters]

This will be our 1st time going to Hawaii and Aulani. It will be two adults, my daughter and her friend (both 16). Our plans so far! I am the big planner type. Is below too much Resort time? Is there enough to do in and around the resort, or should we do more on the island? I kind of think Aulani = day at Castaway Cay. I think I am good with 3 days at Castaway Cay. (We just got off the Treasure!) Thanks in advance, any feedback is welcome.

Day 1 - Saturday - Arrive from LAX, Rent Car, Target Stop, Resort by 1:00 PM. Relax at the Aulani | Diner at Monkey Pod
Day 2 - Sunday - Drive to Pearl Harbor. Getting a Passport. Spend full day, Lunch at Restarant 604. Return to Aulani for rest of day
Day 3 - Monday - Resort Day 1 | Aulani Spa for adults | Stars Above Hawaii show.
Day 4 - Tuesday - Visit North Shore | Still figuring out the details. Thinking - learn to surf, Waimea Valley and explore.
Day 5 - Wednesday - Morning 6:00 AM Hike Diamond Head, Byodo In Temple, Kualoa Ranch (Private UTV Ride Along Tour)
Day 6 - Thursday - Resort Day 2 | Evening Sunset Cruise from Ko Olina.
Day 7 - Friday - Resort Day 3 | Ka Wa'a Luau
Day 8 - Saturday - Last Day, Partial Resort Day, or could explore. Fly out back to the East Coast at 9:00 PM

I think you’ve packed in too many things on your non-resort days.

 

[Rob_b]

I think you’ve packed in too many things on your non-resort days.

Thank you - That was also another concern. North Shore, I might just treat it as spontaneous. No plan and see what happens. Surf lessons at a minimum. On the Dimond Head Day I may remove Byodo Temple. I already purchased the UTV ride for 12:30. Thinking Diamond Head 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM, then 12:30 Kualoa Ranch.

 

[mmouse50]

We did everything that you are doing with except of the evenkng cruise and adult spa treatments. Booked a cabana one of our 3 resort days. We went at the end of July and North Shore was flat as can be. Sort of disappointing to see it flat. (Kids were using skim boards off the beach) Basically parked and walked to the beach looked around and left. Did stop for hamburgers on the way back to Aulani. The ATV tour is really neat but very dusty (they give you a gator to wear - definitely use it.)
Have a great time.

 

[WinterSolider]

I think you're pre-booking WAY too much. The spa, the surf lessons, Kualoa Ranch, sunset cruise, lu'au. Those are all fine things to do but you're spending a fortune on pre-scheduled activities that lock your schedule down.

Byodo-In Temple doesn't need to be more than a 30 minute visit but you want to get there BEFORE the tour buses arrive from Waikiki, meaning it should be the first thing you do that day. I would move Byodo-In to your "rope drop" activity on Kualoa Ranch day and make Diamond Head your early morning activity on one of your resort days. You do Diamond Head and you're back at Aulani by 10am at the latest.

That's my main recommendation. You don't need more than one or maybe two dedicated resort days. I think Aulani is better when you do an activity in the morning and then resort in the afternoon or vice-versa. Do more resort half-days rather than a smaller number of resort full-days.

You also aren't really doing anything to experience Hawaiian culture and history, which to me is the whole point of traveling that far. I think you should add some combination of the Bishop Museum, Polynesian Cultural Center, or Waimea Valley. If you spend a day at the Bishop Museum before seeing the lu'au, for example, you're going to understand a lot more of the symbolism and storytelling.

And I may get hate for this but in my opinion the sunset cruise is such a waste of time and money. You can do something like that any place, why fly 5,000 miles just to experience something you can do in Cape Cod or Hilton Head? I think you need more HAWAII stuff and less "thing-to-do-on-generic-warm-weather-vacation" stuff.

 

[J-Dog]

3 resort days in 8 total days is what we tend to do as well. I think that your plans are just fine, except for Wednesday. No way would I do Diamond Head and Kualoa ranch in the same day, and then you've even crammed Byodo-In temple in there on top of all that. I would do Diamond Head on a different day and skip the temple altogether (not that it's not worth it, but IMO it's the least "necessary" of all the things you're doing). And also ditch the sunset cruise - not worth it unless you are REALLY into sunset cruises.

You could also make Thursday a day in Waikiki - do Diamond Head in the morning, then eat/shop/whatever, then do a sunset cruise out of Waikiki. With all the evenings at Aulani, that should still be plenty of resort time.

 

[Amyunder]

So I've only done the learn to surf in Waikiki from The Beach Boys and they are great. There are usually slow rollers there but north shore can be crazy in the winter (when there is a swell) or flat in the summer. If it were me, I'd do Diamond head and a morning of breakfast and then surfing in Waikiki. Kualoa ranch a different day with maybe Kailua beach kayaking? Another beach that is awesome is Makaha. We like to do our resort days when we have an evening activity like a luau/movie on the green/etc and try to explore somewhere on most days (probably because I'm not a fan of the lagoon beach at aulani but that's just me). Very few of our exploration days are all day so we always have time to pool/waterslide.

 

[abdgeek]

This will be our 1st time going to Hawaii and Aulani. It will be two adults, my daughter and her friend (both 16). Our plans so far! I am the big planner type. Is below too much Resort time? Is there enough to do in and around the resort, or should we do more on the island? I kind of think Aulani = day at Castaway Cay. I think I am good with 3 days at Castaway Cay. (We just got off the Treasure!) Thanks in advance, any feedback is welcome.

Day 1 - Saturday - Arrive from LAX, Rent Car, Target Stop, Resort by 1:00 PM. Relax at the Aulani | Diner at Monkey Pod
Day 2 - Sunday - Drive to Pearl Harbor. Getting a Passport. Spend full day, Lunch at Restarant 604. Return to Aulani for rest of day
Day 3 - Monday - Resort Day 1 | Aulani Spa for adults | Stars Above Hawaii show.
Day 4 - Tuesday - Visit North Shore | Still figuring out the details. Thinking - learn to surf, Waimea Valley and explore.
Day 5 - Wednesday - Morning 6:00 AM Hike Diamond Head, Byodo In Temple, Kualoa Ranch (Private UTV Ride Along Tour)
Day 6 - Thursday - Resort Day 2 | Evening Sunset Cruise from Ko Olina.
Day 7 - Friday - Resort Day 3 | Ka Wa'a Luau
Day 8 - Saturday - Last Day, Partial Resort Day, or could explore. Fly out back to the East Coast at 9:00 PM

Only you know whether the number of days you have planned is too much resort time for how you like to vacation. My recommendation is to do what works best for your family. When I did the North Shore, I visited Waimea Valley first then went to the Bonzai Pipeline to view the surfers. I did surf lessons at Waikiki Beach, but you can also do them in Kapolei and on the North Shore. Definitely stop in Hale‘iwa and eat at one of the food trucks while you're in that area. When you’re coming from Waikiki, you pass by Byodo In Temple on the way to Kualoa Ranch. It’s a quick 30 minute stop. Given its distance from Aulani, I wouldn’t make a special trip just to see that so stopping on your way to or from Kualoa Ranch makes sense. Good luck with the rest of your plans.

 

[rlk]

We stayed in Waikiki for the first night when we took our boys to Hawaii. That first morning, we did an early hike up Diamond Head. We then had private surf lessons, followed by an outrigger canoe ride with Big Wave Dave at Waikiki Beach. After lunch in Waikiki, we drove to Aulani for our stay.

 

[gsdweller]

Skip the Monkey Pod. If you have a car, drive into town, or go get something at the deli at the ABC store. The Monkey Pod is way overrated.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Day 5, I think one thing might need to be removed from this day. That is a lot especially when accounting for drive times.

 

[WinterSolider]

Skip the Monkey Pod. If you have a car, drive into town, or go get something at the deli at the ABC store. The Monkey Pod is way overrated.

"Monkeypod," not "The Monkey Pod". People have a weird thing where they call it "The Aulani" too and it drives me insane.

I don't love their entrees for the price but their happy hour specials on appetizers and pizzas are great. Pizzas have saved us on Fridays during Lent when we couldn't have meat multiple times.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I find you will always get negative feedback when you vacation different than other people. When I had posted my plan for last year on a FB group - I got called crazy as it was too much (we did a day trip to the Big Island, the horror!)

I find your plan reasonable enough. I don't think you have too much planned as its a nice balance of stuff versus relaxation.

 

[WinterSolider]

I find you will always get negative feedback when you vacation different than other people. When I had posted my plan for last year on a FB group - I got called crazy as it was too much (we did a day trip to the Big Island, the horror!)

I find your plan reasonable enough. I don't think you have too much planned as its a nice balance of stuff versus relaxation.

Why would you ask for feedback on something and then get upset when people give it?

If I post "I think I might buy these shoes" and someone says "I had those shoes and they gave me awful blisters," I would appreciate their input, I wouldn't get mad at them for being negative. I'd actually be pissed if they DIDN'T say anything because I'd rather know the potential pitfalls with a plan so I can make an informed decision.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Pizzas have saved us on Fridays during Lent when we couldn't have meat multiple times.

So you could have meat only once... not multiple times?

Is this called Hawaiian Lent? or Vacation Lent? or Pizza Lent?

 

[WinterSolider]

So you could have meat only once... not multiple times?

Is this called Hawaiian Lent? or Vacation Lent? or Pizza Lent?

I'm not sure if you're being serious.

We have been in Hawaii during Lent multiple times and we have gotten meatless pizza during those times.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I'm not sure if you're being serious.

We have been in Hawaii during Lent multiple times and we have gotten meatless pizza during those times.

Was digging at your grammar after you said "The Monkey Pod" and "The Aulani" quote "drives you insane".

Proper sentence right after you said that - Pizzas have saved us multiple times on Fridays during Lent when we couldn't have meat.

Just light hearted fun. Monday grammar lesson, or else I'll go insane.

 

[J-Dog]

Skip the Monkey Pod. If you have a car, drive into town, or go get something at the deli at the ABC store. The Monkey Pod is way overrated.

I disagree. Sure, it's not Hy's or La Mer, but it's pretty good, it's a fun atmoshpere, the Mai Tai's are excellent, and it's right next door. We go most times we're at Aulani. Definitely worth the OP trying for themselves if they want to.

 

[AstroBlasters]

"Monkeypod," not "The Monkey Pod". People have a weird thing where they call it "The Aulani" too and it drives me insane.

I don't love their entrees for the price but their happy hour specials on appetizers and pizzas are great. Pizzas have saved us on Fridays during Lent when we couldn't have meat multiple times.

Hot Take: we like Off the Hook.

 

[MartyParty]

This will be our 1st time going to Hawaii and Aulani. It will be two adults, my daughter and her friend (both 16). Our plans so far! I am the big planner type. Is below too much Resort time? Is there enough to do in and around the resort, or should we do more on the island? I kind of think Aulani = day at Castaway Cay. I think I am good with 3 days at Castaway Cay. (We just got off the Treasure!) Thanks in advance, any feedback is welcome.

Day 1 - Saturday - Arrive from LAX, Rent Car, Target Stop, Resort by 1:00 PM. Relax at the Aulani | Diner at Monkey Pod
Day 2 - Sunday - Drive to Pearl Harbor. Getting a Passport. Spend full day, Lunch at Restarant 604. Return to Aulani for rest of day
Day 3 - Monday - Resort Day 1 | Aulani Spa for adults | Stars Above Hawaii show.
Day 4 - Tuesday - Visit North Shore | Still figuring out the details. Thinking - learn to surf, Waimea Valley and explore.
Day 5 - Wednesday - Morning 6:00 AM Hike Diamond Head, Byodo In Temple, Kualoa Ranch (Private UTV Ride Along Tour)
Day 6 - Thursday - Resort Day 2 | Evening Sunset Cruise from Ko Olina.
Day 7 - Friday - Resort Day 3 | Ka Wa'a Luau
Day 8 - Saturday - Last Day, Partial Resort Day, or could explore. Fly out back to the East Coast at 9:00 PM

Sharing our family trip (four of us) January this year and itinerary. Hope it helps. It was a wonderful time. Too much to see and do in one week. Some of our thinking post trip:

• First few days, due to time change flying from the mainland US, you will wake up early. This makes it possible to book early times for activities in the first few days of the trip.
• We flew in on a Sunday and out on a Saturday. Really could have used another couple of days overall.
• Family made it known that for the next trip they'd like more resort time. Pool, lazy river, character meet and greets, restaurants, snow cones, etc. It's such a lovely resort.

This was our itinerary. Sharing for awareness and comparison. Not saying ours it better or worse, simply what we did. It worked out great, but we would have liked to have had one or two more days relaxing in the resort.

Day 1 – Sunday – Arrived, rented a car, drove to Aulani and hanged out at the resort. Meal at Off the Hook. Unexpectedly turned out being one of our resort favorites.
Day 2 – Monday – 6am Diamond Head, brunch at Duke’s Waikiki, and shopping around Waikiki.
Day 3 – Tuesday – 8am surf lessons Waimea Bay area, Haleiwa shopping and lunch, and Dole Plantation.
Day 4 – Wednesday – 10am Pearl Harbor followed by Swap Meet at Aloha Bowl. Afternoon at the resort.
Day 5 – Thursday – Aulani resort. Walk to Monkeypod for lunch. Really liked it. Would go back.
Day 6 – Friday – Aulani resort and walk to Paradise Cove for Luau
Day 7 – Saturday – Aulani resort with evening flight out