Jan 1 to 10. A few thoughts

[markar92]

Here now and leaving shortly so thought share a few thoughts. Family is me, dh and daughters 11 & 14.

Stayed in 2 bedroom ocean view and loved the room, worked great for us. Resort is beautiful and service has been great.
We rented a car at airport with drop off at Aulani to make it easy. Kept it for 3 days.
Grabbed some groceries at Costco and Target. Ate all but 1 breakfast in room and had 2 dinners in room. Lunch and breakfast at AMA AMA were my favourite meals here.

Resort was crazy busy Jan 1 to 7 then each day it was less and less. Today was great, not crowded at all.

Pool area chairs gone by 8am but with older kids we headed to beach area and never had a problem getting seats there and we got to watch endless parade of Japanese weddings everyday.

11 yr old did Stitches Space Goo at Aunty's and some tween game nights and had lots of fun. She also loved Rainbow Reef which was really reasonable at $15 for whole day access.

We did a road trip to Kailua Beach Park and toured around for a day, did surf lessons for the girls with OahuaSUP and Pearl Harbour another day. Wished we had gone to North Shore for a day.

Ate at Monkey Pod and Pizza Corner and both were very good and so easy being across street. Tried Assagios in Kapolei and it was ok but not great.

Only downside has been flight issues getting here and now we are delayed again going home

 

[alldiz]

Thanks for review. Looking forward to my 1st Aulani trip. Was it much more expensive to rent car at airport and then drop off at Aulani.
Also....how much extra time would you say it took to rent a car at airport instead of getting a taxi.
Thanks
Kerri

 

[nkereina]

how much extra time would you say it took to rent a car at airport instead of getting a taxi.

Not the OP, but to rent a car at the airport, you need to exit through baggage claim and catch a shuttle which is right across a walkway. I assume in the same area where the taxi stand would be. I believe all car rental companies require a shuttle from the airport. We used Alamo and the shuttle came quickly with one other stop along the way. The office was close, and there was only one other ahead of us in line. I'd say the whole process added 45 minutes from the time we got our bags until the time we were driving off the rental car lot. We arrived around 2pm on a Saturday. I will say that having a car for the duration of our stay was very worth it - got groceries, visited the North Shore, visited Kailua and Kualoa Ranch. Went offsite for meals at times. Self-parking at Aulani is very close and easy. We did stay on DVC points so parking was free.

Also keep in mind that I believe Alamo is the only rental car company that will allow you to return it at Aulani, but I think Enterprise might be at the Marriott which is just up the road. Walking distance.

 

[OKW Lover]

I believe all car rental companies require a shuttle from the airport.

Actually some do have their cars right there. Alamo however does require a shuttle to an off-airport lot.

 

[OKW Lover]

Here is a picture from May 2016. You may want to check if there have been any changes.

 

[nkereina]

Actually some do have their cars right there. Alamo however does require a shuttle to an off-airport lot.

But are the cars onsite that you can walk to after you go to their desk? I was under the impression that you could check-in for the car at the airport for the "onsite" rental companies, but you had to be shuttled offsite to get the car.