Length of stay at Aulani

[travelbug]

Those who have been to Aulani, how long did you stay? Was Aulani your only destination on the Islands, or just one stop?

For those who only visited Oahu and who only stayed at Aulani while there, how long did you stay?

I'm contemplating a trip to Aulani with my brother and SIL next year. They've never been to Hawaii before and are very excited at the thought of going to Oahu. I've been to Oahu before and toured it fairly extensively, so I'm pretty familiar with what's there. They're more into sightseeing and experiences than doing a lot of pool/beach lounging, though I'm sure they'll want to do some of that too. They'd like to see and experience as much of Oahu as possible during our stay.

Oahu would be the only island we'd visit, and Aulani would be our only accommodations.

I'm trying to decide whether to reserve 7, 8, or 9 nights. We'd be using my DVC points, and I'd have enough for 9 nights (1 BR any view, based on availability). My brother was thinking that 7 nights might be enough, but warmed to the idea of 9 nights when I talked about it a little more. (He's not used to being away from work for longer than a week, whereas I would gladly stay 2-3 weeks if vacation time and DVC points would allow. ) They've never flown across this many time zones before either, so the concept of jet lag possibly impacting our first day or so is unfamiliar to them.

Anyway, I'm curious what other people have experienced in this same scenario. Or if you were in this scenario, would you reserve 7, 8, or 9 nights? Thanks!

 

[monkeyknuckler]

We were there 2 weeks ago. Stayed 9 days. I would have been happy staying at the resort all the time. Jet lag can be a problem, for sure. We did 6 hours to Disneyland first, then flew to Hawaii after 2 days. That helps with the jet lag. But on the way back, 12 hrs in the air was hard. I would recommend staying as long as you can, otherwise, the time adjustment could mess you up. There's a lot of poor neighborhoods in the areas away from Aulani. Reminds me of the outskirts of Disneyland. Not pretty. The area around Aulani is safe and very well kept.

 

[taaren]

I've been to Aulani, and stayed there a few times and that was the only island we "went" to, but since I'm hopping from another island our two-night stay is not the kind of feedback you're looking for ...

However, I attended Grand Valley State and I have family in East Lansing and Dearborn, so I've made the Michigan-Hawaii trek enough to offer an opinion ... and here's mine.

If you have enough points for 9 nights in a DVC room, I'd do 7 nights at Aulani, then plan a stop-over at LAX on the way over or back, and do 2 nights at the Grand Californian on points. Even without going into the parks, its a fabulous resort, and its a great way to break up the long long flights. Because you're losing hours on the HI-MI leg, I'd do it then because when you're gaining hours in the time zone change on the MI-HI portion, it feels shorter. (Unless there's a direct HNL-MSP or HNL-DTW red-eye for a reasonable price, then do it all at once.) I think 7 days is sufficient at Aulani. More is always lovely, but breaking up that long haul for someone who's not accustomed to that much flying would be a priority for me.

 

[hjgaus]

We stayed 9 nights/10 days so it was plenty of time to do things but is it the 3 of you in the 1 bedroom or 4? I ask because the way all of the doors in the room are built (slats in between) does not leave to much for privacy if needed and 9 nights IS a long time. We did the 1 bed with our teenage boys but next time will definitely be a 2 bed. The drive into the city is only 20 minutes tops no traffic so should not be an issue. I think you all will have a wonderful time!

 

[1EvilQueenfan]

We stayed at Aulani for 16 days. That was my second trip to Oahu. Our first trip we did 8 nights on Oahu and 6 nights on Maui. I think the 9 nights would be a good amount of time to get a lot of sightseeing in.

 

[izzy]

I did 11 nights, and on one of those days I took a day trip to the Big Island. In the 10 days that I had on Oahu, I did almost everything I wanted to do. I missed hiking up Diamond Head (it was closed the first week I was there and I never made it back to that side of the island), going to Waikiki and walking around, and going to the swap meet at Aloha Stadium. Some of the things I did:

snorkeled at Hanauma Bay and drove around the island (1 day)
went to the Dole Plantation and the Polynesian Culture Center (1 day)
went to Punchbowl and the Ala Moana Mall (about 1/2 day)
went to the Big Island (1 day)
spa treatment at Aulani (made it into a 1/2 day experience - LOL!)
snorkeling with dolphins and turtles (1/2 day experience)
Pearl Harbor (1/2 day)
entire days at the pool/beach (2 or 3 days - I can't remember!)

I had been to Oahu, but it was about 25 years ago, so I did redo some of the things that I had done before.

I don't regret booking 11 days. I really had a problem with jet lag this time, so having some "down" days where all I did was hang out by the pool were quite welcome.

 

[abdgeek]

I stayed at Aulani 8 nights and it was not enough time! It was my first time in Hawaii and I spent the first 4 full days doing my own day trips to see the sights on Oahu. It took me about 2 days to get over the jet lag( waking up at 4 am). Keep in mind that your flight will probably get to Oahu in the afternoon, so you really can't do much the first day. Aulani is about a 30-45 minute drive from the airport depending on the traffic. There is so much to do at Aulani that you will have trouble doing everything your first trip.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

We stayed 7 nights at Aulani. Did not travel to the other islands (we are going to save that for the nex triip).

There is plenty to do to occupy your time there - and there was tons of stuff we didn't do.

We prefaced the trip with 2 days at Disneyland and then 2 days at Disneyland on the way home. Framed the trip quite nicely.

 

[travelbug]

Thanks so much for your replies, everyone! You've all given me lots to think about. I think I'll go ahead and aim for 9 nights. Now I just have to wait until the 7 month window opens up.

We stayed 9 nights/10 days so it was plenty of time to do things but is it the 3 of you in the 1 bedroom or 4? I ask because the way all of the doors in the room are built (slats in between) does not leave to much for privacy if needed and 9 nights IS a long time. We did the 1 bed with our teenage boys but next time will definitely be a 2 bed.

It will be 3 of us. They'll have the bedroom, and I'll have the sofa bed. I'm a little confused about what the doors are like. You mean that they're like a "vented" door with horizontal slats and not a solid door? Do they at least give visual privacy, if not complete audible privacy? I was just assuming the rooms would be configured basically like those on WDW property, which haven't presented a privacy issue in the past. I tried to pull up some pictures online that would show the door to the bedroom, but haven't found a good one yet.

 

[dsneygirl]

We did 8 nights (but had a red eye coming home so 9 full days) and we could have used more. We only left the resort 1 full day to tour the north shore. But we also have young children and there were so many activities for them.

We also split up our trip Buffalo-San Diego (did 3 days) San Diego-Honolulu-LAX (Disneyland 5 days) made the time change easier on all of us.

 

[hjgaus]

You mean that they're like a "vented" door with horizontal slats and not a solid door? Do they at least give visual privacy, if not complete audible privacy?

YES that is what I meant about the doors. They are not solid just your front door to the villa is solid. You can hear everything & sometimes bathroom included. Visual privacy is there but I suppose if you purposely try looking through the slats you could see. Please don't let that stop you from reserving the room you need and enjoying yourselves but just be aware when needed. Go and have a GREAT time! Aulani is a very unique resort so relax & make the most of it!!

 

[CastlesandDreams]

Glad to hear you are going to try for 9 nights. Hawai'i is awesome and so is Aulani. You will wish you had more points. LOL.

Enjoy!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I haven't been to Aulani yet (going in February), but I can tell you I would NEVER book a trip to Hawaii from where we live in Minnesota for less than 2 weeks minimum. The flight is just too long and the time change too much to make it feasible to stay in the islands less time. I also would not spend the whole time on Oahu. We much prefer the other islands, so I'd advise you to choose time on one of those in addition. We have found some wonderful rentals through VRBO that are both nice and reasonably priced. In February we will be spending a week on Hawaii Island at Kona in addition to our 9 days on Oahu.

 

[anahola]

In regards to "poor neighborhoods"....the aulani is situated in a somewhat gated community called kapolei. there are security guards patrolling the entire kapolei resort community 24/7 beachside and roadside. There is also gated residential areas within the kapolei resort community ....these are high end residences.

Immediately outside of the gate there a couple of residential developments. These are older neighborhoods that were perched long before the resort vision. Although older, these are not "poor" neighborhoods. Believe it or not this would be Hawaii's middle class. In Hawaii the cost of living is very high and the islanders work very hard to maintain their daily lives. If you compare the resort lavish lifestyle and community with our island style living, then yes, I guess you could identify us as "poor". These homes belong to the people that service your needs at the Aulani. Knowing that and the grace in which they perform their duties....would you still call them poor? I find them to be rich in aloha which is far more important than status. Their spirit is what maintains the ambiance of the DVC Aulani vision.

 

[PhillyCPA]

If you compare the resort lavish lifestyle and community with our island style living, then yes, I guess you could identify us as "poor". These homes belong to the people that service your needs at the Aulani. Knowing that and the grace in which they perform their duties....would you still call them poor? I find them to be rich in aloha which is far more important than status. Their spirit is what maintains the ambiance of the DVC Aulani vision.

I could not agree more. Sometimes I wish people could be a little more careful in their choice of words. It seems like silver spoon syndrome takes over sometimes and people forget about the people who live in and around where we visit. Hawaii is a beautiful place with beautiful people and I have never felt anything less than safe anywhere I have ever gone. To the same tune, insulting the area around Disneyland just because it isn't similar to someone's own home makes them sound a bit pretentious.

 

[taaren]

In regards to "poor neighborhoods"....the aulani is situated in a somewhat gated community called kapolei. there are security guards patrolling the entire kapolei resort community 24/7 beachside and roadside. There is also gated residential areas within the kapolei resort community ....these are high end residences.

Immediately outside of the gate there a couple of residential developments. These are older neighborhoods that were perched long before the resort vision. Although older, these are not "poor" neighborhoods. Believe it or not this would be Hawaii's middle class. In Hawaii the cost of living is very high and the islanders work very hard to maintain their daily lives. If you compare the resort lavish lifestyle and community with our island style living, then yes, I guess you could identify us as "poor". These homes belong to the people that service your needs at the Aulani. Knowing that and the grace in which they perform their duties....would you still call them poor? I find them to be rich in aloha which is far more important than status. Their spirit is what maintains the ambiance of the DVC Aulani vision.

I don't know if I agree with this, being a born and raised islander, the grandchild of plantation workers. I am a local, 9hapa) but there are some areas of both Maui and Oahu that I will not venture to because they are indeed "poor" areas. It has been indicated to me by Hawaiian friends that I should not go to certain neighborhoods when not in their company, and I would classify some parts of Waianae as one of these.

Kapolei is a nice city. The gated part is just Ko'olina, and the entire resort is privately owned land except for the beaches, which is all public property in the state of Hawaii.

Most of Hawaii is middle class (definitively lower-middle due to the high cost of living), but there are enough poor neighborhoods where tourists are ill-advised to venture just like one would not recommend venturing into the socioeconomically depressed parts of any major city. The individuals may be lovely when they are at their workplaces, but racial prejudice and violence are everywhere unfortunately, even in Hawaii, and tend to manifest themselves in ugly ways when people are in groups (especially in poor areas), so definitely tourists need to keep this in mind when they are in a new place.

Sorry for the rant, I just think people should be aware that while there is a lot of aloha here, there's also crime just like anywhere else, which is a natural part of the growth that has been experienced in the islands over the last 30 years.