Just wondering...

[msaseifert]

Lots of ??? Family of 4, Me, DH, DS 21 and DD ALMOST 18, we will have a car....
1)We will be at Aulani the last week of July which I suppose will be very busy. We arrive on Fri afternoon and will be staying in Waikiki the first night, checking into Aulani Sat afternoon. What is a good place for dinner that first night knowing that we will be tired and cranky coming from the east coast. We are staying at the Marriott and would like to keep it casual.
2) We have decided that Pearl Harbour is very important to us so we plan to do that on Sunday morning and then hit the swap meet afterwards...we thought in case things get closed down because of wind we will have all week to figure out another time to go. We want to do the full experience and do not want to be rushed....what is your experience booking from home 60 days prior?
3) While at Aulani....I understand the chair situation, mostly we will be on the beach (which I have read is not as much of an issue) not at the pools. With that being said there may be times we would rather hang at the pool....specifically the adult pool. My ?? here is that my son will be 21 and my daughter ALMOST 18....do you think anyone would call the 4 of us out for hanging at the adult pool rather than the family area? Technically my daughter will not be 18 and I don't want to offend anyone by hangin there....I promise she wont be loud and obnoxious
4) We also plan to do Diamondhead and the Dole Plantation during our time on the island...is there anything else that we MUST do as a family of "Adults"?? We are thinking we may do the DVC cruise one afternoon but we are nixing any luau's since I have not read any reviews that are fantastic for the amount of money it costs.
5)Lastly...we are checking out of Aulani on Sat and checking into a Mariott on the North Shore. Where should be eat dinner here? Our flight leaves at 10pm on Sunday night.....
6) Anything else you think we need to know???

 

[twodogs]

We will be going to Aulani for the first time at the end of May, so take this information with that in mind. Pearl Harbor is also very important to us, as my father is a retired military pilot and this is a bucket list item for him and my mother (and this will be their only lifetime trip to Hawaii). We are leaving the kids with a sitter at Aulani that day so we are not rushed.

I have looked at a lot of options for Pearl Harbor, and have decided on the Passport to Pearl Harbor. This is pass that allows you to visit all 4 sites (USS Arizona, USS Missouri, Bowfin, and Aviation Museum). Only the ticket to the USS Arizona is timed; the others are at your leisure that day and for (I think) 5 consective days after if you want to return again to the other 3. It is $65/pp and you purchase from recreation.gov, just like the free USS Arizona tickets. This is not organized by a tour company, just on your own. We will have a car, so not an issue for us. And I don't want to have to follow a tour group's schedule on how much time to spend in each location/museum. http://www.recreation.gov/showPage....&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72369&page=passport

I have been looking at getting the tickets every day for a few days this week, in practice. My day to really buy our tickets won't be until this Friday 4/1 at noon CST (that is because that is 60 days exactly from 6/1, the day we want to go). When I have tried a sham booking (without completing the transaction) for other days this week, the morning slots for USS Arizona can be gone in the first 5 minutes. Since you will need 4 tickets like we do, I would suggest being on at straight up noon CST at 60 days. You will need to create an account first, so do this a few days ahead of time. I would do a sham booking just to get a feel for how it will work. It will show 25 tickets available in each hourly slot all day on the day of your 60 day mark, but if you actually try to book before noon CST, it will say it is too early. If you miss out this way, you can get them online at 7AM the day before or do walk-up that day, but for me that would be too stressful that the tickets wouldn't be available or something. I will book mine Friday at noon and report back with (hopefully) successful results! Have a great trip!

 

[twodogs]

Again, not having been to Aulani yet but just my opinion from other resorts that have Adult's Only pools, I think your nearly 18 year old would be fine there as long as they are well behaved and not rowdy. Some 45 year olds would be more disturbing to Adult time than a well-behaved almost-18 year old! I don't think anyone will question it unless she looks really young or is acting out.

 

[JoeA]

A few thoughts...

I've stayed at the Marriott a few times - if you're tired just hang out at the pool and eat at the pool bar. That's what I've always done the first day/night. Nothing beats a swim after a long flight.

Also, the Hilton down the beach has Aloha fire works on Friday night which you should be able to see from the beach across the street (I've watched them from my room, too).

Pearl Harbor is must see. We always do it early in the trip because we are still waking up early (like the morning tour before it gets hot). Do Big Mo, too

Same goes with diamond head. Get there early. If you think you're leaving early, it's still not early enough! Parking will vary from brutal to non-existing in busy periods. I'd try and do DH your first morning since it's an easy drive from the Marriott.

The Shark swim is fun (North Shore). Look at kayaking in Kaneohe Bay (sp?). You can rent them there and kayak over to a large sand bar.

I'd recommend getting Ohau Revealed. It's a pretty good book.

Oh yeah, if you like snorkeling there are some good tours out of Ko Olina just down the road from Aulani (walking distance but there is a bus).

 

[SevenWonkas]

When you're on the North Shore, do the food trucks! There are so many up there. When we went, I just used the yelp app and searched for food trucks on the North Shore. We picked the ones that looked the best, and just drove along snacking our away around North Shore.

 

[Texas Disney Fan]

Kualoa Ranch has some really neat tours. It is beautiful grounds. Here is there website:

www.kualoa.com

 

[alohamom]

I would think about eating on the way to the Marriott North Shore (Laie, right?) as I am pretty sure there are not too many option up that way. What time were you thinking of heading there? One plan would be to go across the island via H1 and H3 which takes you through the mountain tunnel, so much fun and an exquisite drive, so lush and scenic. Then take Highway 83W to Laie. That way you could stop in Kailua town to eat on the Saturday and the same goes for the Sunday on the way to the airport.

 

[vikequeen]

FYI, we just did the pearl harbor tour last week. Depending on your stamina and since it is a bucket list item, you might want to break it up over two days. We booked tickets online once in Hawaii 1 -2 days before we wanted to go and got an 8am ticket. There was a lot of availability. That worked well as parking was readily available, so agree with going early. It was my husband and I (both near 50) and kids 8 and 11. Once there, we decided to add Bowfin and Missouri (no problem to do, we could have added the museum as well). That took nearly 6 hours (including some time just sitting and taking a break for snack etc) and we were exhausted at the end. The Missouri in particular is huge with a lot of walking, and can be extremely hot. Would have liked to see the aviation museum, but no way we personally could have done it all and enjoyed it in one day.

On the northshore, we loved the bombers at Kono's in Haleiawa

Are you up for ziplining? We went at Keana Farms/Climbworks the past two years. LOVE it and highly recommend that. Amazing northshore views. Staff there is fantastic. but you must book ahead and be prepared to go rain or shine (and to get muddy!)

 

[buffettgirl]

Also worth noting, most of the public schools go back in session August 1st, so it might not be terribly busy that last week of July since people will be getting ready to head back to school.

 

[twodogs]

FYI, we just did the pearl harbor tour last week. Depending on your stamina and since it is a bucket list item, you might want to break it up over two days. We booked tickets online once in Hawaii 1 -2 days before we wanted to go and got an 8am ticket. There was a lot of availability. That worked well as parking was readily available, so agree with going early. It was my husband and I (both near 50) and kids 8 and 11. Once there, we decided to add Bowfin and Missouri (no problem to do, we could have added the museum as well). That took nearly 6 hours (including some time just sitting and taking a break for snack etc) and we were exhausted at the end. The Missouri in particular is huge with a lot of walking, and can be extremely hot. Would have liked to see the aviation museum, but no way we personally could have done it all and enjoyed it in one day.

On the northshore, we loved the bombers at Kono's in Haleiawa

Are you up for ziplining? We went at Keana Farms/Climbworks the past two years. LOVE it and highly recommend that. Amazing northshore views. Staff there is fantastic. but you must book ahead and be prepared to go rain or shine (and to get muddy!)

SO glad to hear you loved Climbworks! We are going for the first time on this upcoming trip, and our girls will be 8.5 and 11. My parents, who are very fit and take spin classes etc many times per week, will be going to. The guides on the phone said that they should be fine to do it. Your thoughts? Kids are super excited about it too!

 

[vikequeen]

SO glad to hear you loved Climbworks! We are going for the first time on this upcoming trip, and our girls will be 8.5 and 11. My parents, who are very fit and take spin classes etc many times per week, will be going to. The guides on the phone said that they should be fine to do it. Your thoughts? Kids are super excited about it too!

I think you will be fine. We went last year and this year. I suggest you keep a change of clothes in the car, including shoes, and a plastic bag. wear shoes you are prepared to get very dirty. It had rained a lot before we got there. And rained on us while we were out (both times ) We were all somewhat muddy when we left, but our shoes in particular were trashed this time. much worse than last year. we were prepared with clothes in the car, but the muddy shoes were a bit of an issue for the rest of our trip. Have fun. I'll be looking for your trip report after you try it!

 

[twodogs]

Thank you so much for the advice. I would not have thought to bring extra clothes or shoes. I think we will wear a closed-toe Keen type sandal that can be washed back at the hotel, and bring a change of clothes and shoes for any later activities that we do before heading back to Aulani. Do you usually do another part of the island after the zip line or are you toast from the activity?? I wondered if we would drive along the North Shore that afternoon (zip line starts for us at 9AM I think), but was not sure that was feasible (or wise?)??

 

[vikequeen]

The keens should work -- I can't recall exactly what their requirements are other than shoes must be closed toe and not something that can fall off (i.e., a sandal). you might want to check with them. If you start at 9, you should be done by noon. They usually are pretty timely. Runs start every 20 mins and take about 3 hours. We haven't felt like doing much more than going back to the hotel and getting lunch and a swim after our runs. But we have had bad weather luck. Having been rained on both times (the first time, we got absolutely hammered!), we were cold and just wanted to get dry and warm. If we had nice weather, we would have been more energized. Maybe plan on being flexible to see how you all feel after you are done?

 

[twodogs]

Thank you for such sound advice! Will just leave it open and pray for good weather!!

 

[msaseifert]

You all are awesome! I was happy to read that school starts there August 1! So for now my plan it to arrive fri afternoon, rest at the Marriott pool in Waikiki. Get up early, check out and hit Diamond Head. Hit the grocery stores and head to Aulani on Sat afternoon. Sunday we are doing Pearl Harbour which we will spend the entire day doing. That leaves us to enjoy Aulani for the week....which I am so looking forward to. We will check out the Dole Plantation at some point during the week as well as taking a few driving trips just to see what we can find. I am so happy we have this board to ask questions! Thanks everyone!

 

[alohamom]

One quick suggestion for Waikiki on the Friday, if you have time. My family just LOVES Honolulu Cookie Company and they have a store that has free samples in the Hyatt Regency, about a block or two from the Marriott Waikiki so it is very easy to walk to. They have pretty good shortbread cookies shaped liked pineapple and made in lots of varieties including mac nut, kona coffee, and chocolate dipped as well. The reason I suggest doing it while you are in Waikiki is that (as of my last visit) they dont have a store in the Ko Olina area. They do sell them at the airport, at the Ala Moana Mall and on other islands but not in Ko Olina. It is a fun little place that I thought I would mention...
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attracti...att_Regency_Waikiki-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html