Just back from Aulani - thanks!

[SnowWitch]

• Hawaii Shark Encounters Cage Diving
• Manoa Rainforest Bamboo Hike
• Pearl Harbor Tour
• Hiked Diamondhead

Very curious about activities. Did you arrange these through Disney?

If you did not not, did you have a rental car or was there some type of shuttle?

How long did each activity take?

Cost for each activity?

Our group is starting to plan a trip for June 2018!!![/QUOTE]

 

[Minnie824]

I also have a bamboo hike question. What did you carry along with you? small bag/purse? Phones? Also, what shoes would you recommend? Trying to determine if I should wear sandals or gym shoes or if you're walking through water what would be better. Thanks!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I also have a bamboo hike question. What did you carry along with you? small bag/purse? Phones? Also, what shoes would you recommend? Trying to determine if I should wear sandals or gym shoes or if you're walking through water what would be better. Thanks!

I believe we were told close-toed shoes for this one -- we all wore our sneakers and it was fine. My daughter and I carried a small purse, and we did each have our phones with us.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

• Hawaii Shark Encounters Cage Diving
• Manoa Rainforest Bamboo Hike
• Pearl Harbor Tour
• Hiked Diamondhead

Very curious about activities. Did you arrange these through Disney?

If you did not not, did you have a rental car or was there some type of shuttle?

How long did each activity take?

Cost for each activity?

Our group is starting to plan a trip for June 2018!!!

[/QUOTE]

We did have a rental car...

• Hawaii Shark Encounters Cage Diving:
  • booked this online directly through them: http://hawaiisharkencounters.com
  • about 2hrs total for the tour; 40min driving to get there
  • cost: $115 for each adult and $82 for kids -- and we got a 10% discount off of this on their site
• Manoa Rainforest Bamboo Hike:
  • booked this online through Disney
  • About 3hrs all together, I think -- pickup at Aulani
  • $115 for adults, $99 for kids
• Pearl Harbor Tour:
  • Booked this at the tour desk in Aulani lobby
  • About 4.5 hrs all together -- pickup at Aulani
  • Can't recall cost -- DH booked this one!
• Hiked Diamondhead: Just did this on our own -- don't really need a tour for this
  • 40min drive to get there; hike can range from 45min to 2hrs total depending on your pace
  • cost was just a few dollars to drive the car into the park

 

[SnowWitch]

Thank you so much for the info!!!!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Thank you so much for the info!!!!

My pleasure!!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Hi!


Hi!

Great info, thanks!

I'm curious about the Shark Encounter Cage diving??
My family is considering this for Nov. My kids will be 10, and 8.
What company did you use? I was looking at one but the name has lost me at the moment..

Also, was it far from Aulani?

I do suffer from motion sickness pretty bad so I'm a bit scared to go on the boat lol...any tips!?

Any other info you may have would be great, thank you

Just saw this post! I think I just answered these in my last post... let me know if you still have questions!

Re: motion sickness: DH and DD10 get motion sick. They dosed up the day before and morning of (bonine). Biggest tip: TAKE THE FIRST TOUR OF THE MORNING!!! Water is not as rough.

 

[SnowWitch]

Thanks MickeyMinnieMo for the bovine tip, both of my sons get a touch motion sick on the water!!! So grateful you mentioned that.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Thanks MickeyMinnieMo for the bovine tip, both of my sons get a touch motion sick on the water!!! So grateful you mentioned that.

You're welcome!!

Bonine did wonders for DH and DD!! There's also Dramamine formulated for kids - little chewables.

 

[SnowWitch]

Awesome, the girlies and I are boat and water lovers!!! The big boys struggle.

 

[flinkerfrosch]

Just saw this post! I think I just answered these in my last post... let me know if you still have questions!

Re: motion sickness: DH and DD10 get motion sick. They dosed up the day before and morning of (bonine). Biggest tip: TAKE THE FIRST TOUR OF THE MORNING!!! Water is not as rough.

Thank you!!!

 

[CT15]

HI- thanks for your info.
We are planning to go in Sept. and stay in a Studio, do you know what the locations for the DVC studio rooms are?
Any suggestions as to location?
So sad to hear the pool chairs are still an issue.....
are there chairs on the beach ? are those easier to come by?
I assume that towels are provided by Disney- yes?

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

HI- thanks for your info.
We are planning to go in Sept. and stay in a Studio, do you know what the locations for the DVC studio rooms are?
Any suggestions as to location?
So sad to hear the pool chairs are still an issue.....
are there chairs on the beach ? are those easier to come by?
I assume that towels are provided by Disney- yes?

You're so welcome!!

Studio locations: I'll take a look when I get home and post some thoughts on this.

Chairs: Those toward the beach were easier to come by. I would still say that by mid-morning most were "claimed". And you can just wander around and eventually get lucky with a spot when someone leaves -- not as easily during peak times, though. Since we're not really into laying out in the sun for too long, it really wasn't much of an issue for us. We would swim or hang out in the lazy river, towel off and walk around some to dry off a bit, then head up to the room and hang out on the balcony.

Towels: Yes - provided near the pool. Needed to show a room card to get a wristband that gave access to the pool area for the day.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

HI- thanks for your info.
We are planning to go in Sept. and stay in a Studio, do you know what the locations for the DVC studio rooms are?
Any suggestions as to location?

I got the photos attached below from another thread here on DIS (https://www.disboards.com/threads/aulani-villas-views-updated-02-07-2017.3570961/). You can see which ones are studios. The view we had was OCEAN VIEW in the EWA "SHORT BUILDING", facing pool/lagoon/ocean.

We LOVED our view! If you'd like something similar, I'd say something like room XX54 or XX56, high floor -- "Untitled3" pic below.

Let me know if that makes sense!

 

[catzle]

What time did you do the shark encounter? How rough was it? Pictures? Thanks

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

What time did you do the shark encounter? How rough was it? Pictures? Thanks

We took the tour at 6:30am -- their first available. It wasn't that rough. DH and DD10 get seasick, and with Bonine taken the night before and that morning, they were ok. Started getting the tiniest bit queasy on the boat ride back, but nothing that stuck around.

They do have an option to rent cameras from them or use their own, but since we were all so new to snorkeling at all, first shark dive, we decided not to mess with it. I took a couple of videos from on the boat, watching the sharks swim close to the boat and cage. If you check out their website, they do have lots of pics.

 

[CT15]

I got the photos attached below from another thread here on DIS (https://www.disboards.com/threads/aulani-villas-views-updated-02-07-2017.3570961/). You can see which ones are studios. The view we had was OCEAN VIEW in the EWA "SHORT BUILDING", facing pool/lagoon/ocean.

We LOVED our view! If you'd like something similar, I'd say something like room XX54 or XX56, high floor -- "Untitled3" pic below.

Let me know if that makes sense!

Thanks so much for the info!! I really appreciate it.
Did you happen to do any excursions whirl there? Through Disney or by other vendor pros cons?
Thanks again

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Thanks so much for the info!! I really appreciate it.
Did you happen to do any excursions whirl there? Through Disney or by other vendor pros cons?
Thanks again

My pleasure! We did the following... and would repeat them all...

• Hawaii Shark Encounters Cage Diving:
  • booked this online directly through them: http://hawaiisharkencounters.com
  • about 2hrs total for the tour; 40min driving to get there
  • cost: $115 for each adult and $82 for kids -- and we got a 10% discount off of this on their site
• Manoa Rainforest Bamboo Hike:
  • booked this online through Disney
  • About 3hrs all together, I think -- pickup at Aulani
  • $115 for adults, $99 for kids
• Pearl Harbor Tour:
  • Booked this at the tour desk in Aulani lobby
  • About 4.5 hrs all together -- pickup at Aulani
  • Can't recall cost -- DH booked this one!
• Hiked Diamondhead: Just did this on our own -- don't really need a tour for this
  • 40min drive to get there; hike can range from 45min to 2hrs total depending on your pace
  • cost was just a few dollars to drive the car into the park