Lots of Last Minute Aulani Questions

[Minnie222]

A few suggestions for you.

Aunty's Beach House - you need to fill out a form in registering the kids. You can download it and fill it in now and hand them to the CM upon the first visit. This is required before you can drop your kids there.

They are open in the morning for parents to go into the Beach House. You can go in with your kids to familiarize them with the place first before dropping them off during the later hours of the day. After the early "open house hours", parents cannot go into the house with the kids. Just the kids stay inside there.

My DD (age 7) was shy and was hesitant about going to the Aunty's. But after spending an afternoon there, she loved it. She said the CMs are very nice, and she had a lot of fun. They had games, story reading, jokes reading by the kids, etc. She had a blast!

Photopass people took lots of pics there. You need to pick the photos to add to your account at the photopass counter located at the gift store. (This same arrangement goes for Starlit Hui)

Starlit Hui - arrive during the pre-show. They have craft stations that kids thoroughly enjoy. You don't want to miss it. Towards the end of the show, the Disney characters come out to dance, and there is also a short time for photos with characters.

Surfs up - we didn't do it. But I have a suggestion for you. There is an activity called "aloha fun with Disney friends" at 4pm. It is actually CM teaching some surf moves. And then Chip and Dale will join also. Photos at the end. This one is Free.

Pau Hana Room - you get to make your own beautiful lei there. Free. Also at specific time, they teach to make fern bracelet and Hula dance. Not to be missed.

 

[Minnie222]

Ok I have more to say:

Aulani postcards - for sale at the gift store. They have disney stamps for sale also. It is very cute and kids love them.

Beach - we were there during low season, so I am no help in what time to get beach chairs and umbrellas. But it's a really nice beach that we enjoyed. Photopass people at beach and in water also.

Character meeting - I suggest to go to the early afternoon ones. They tend to have much longer line-ups at the 5pm, 6pm ones. Donald only appears there, not at the Starlit Hui.

Music - enjoy the music at the resort. It is calming and very nice.

Hope you have a great trip! I would love to go there again soon!

 

[erikawolf2004]

The resort is not on the green lush side of the island so we loved driving around the island too.

One thing we did was went to a ranch on the other side of island (can't remember the name but you can google it) where they film all the TV shows and films. Aulani does a super pricey excursion there but we just called on our own and drove over. It was super cheap and fun. We just took the bus tour, not the horseback portion. Its where they filmed Jurassic park and the TV show LOST ( one of mine and DH's favorites!). Most films or TV shows filmed in Hawaii are filmed there. You will immediately recognize the mountain ridge. They are currently filming Last Resort. If you like that kind of thing it's fun and a beautiful drive.


Hope that helps. Sorry so long. Have fun!

How long did it take you to drive around the island? We would like to see the North Shore and the beaches on the East side.

The ranch is Kualoa Ranch, it is one of the only things on our list of must dos. I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! It looks amazing. We want to do the Bus ride also. How long did you stay there? We are trying to decide if we can hit the Kaulua beaches and do this on the same day or if we will need 2 days on the East side.

Thanks for the 2 thumbs up on Aunties, we have been trying to decide if we will drop our DD's there or not...we will at least have to intruduce them to the idea


Thanks, Erika

 

[erikawolf2004]

Bumping

 

[Disneychristy2012]

How long did it take you to drive around the island? We would like to see the North Shore and the beaches on the East side.

The ranch is Kualoa Ranch, it is one of the only things on our list of must dos. I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! It looks amazing. We want to do the Bus ride also. How long did you stay there? We are trying to decide if we can hit the Kaulua beaches and do this on the same day or if we will need 2 days on the East side.

Thanks for the 2 thumbs up on Aunties, we have been trying to decide if we will drop our DD's there or not...we will at least have to intruduce them to the idea

Thanks, Erika

I think it took about 40 minutes to get there but can't remember exactly. The ranch is fun if you like movies/tv. And it is gorgeous! I think we spent almost 3 hours there. We got there a little early and then after the bus tour we ate lunch there (food just okay. Cafeteria style) and then shopped at the gift shop. With the drive and the time spent, we really wanted to get back to the resort. I think if you went in the morning you could do both. Just keep driving around to the north shore. Aulani is amazing at giving great directions. They have these cards with directions on them for most destinations. Stop at the valet or front desk. They are super helpful.

I think your DD's will love aunties! They are kid specialists there. They all look like they are having a blast. We did the Surfs up with Chip and Dale and just about any special program they had for the kids, we signed him up. Because we were there for 10 days he did some of them twice.
He loved it. They give them souvineers too. When he did fish are our friends, he got a bag and some cool stuff to take with him. Don't forget to check the pictures too. The photogs go to the events and take pictures for your CD. Some of the cutest ones we have of DS are ones where we weren't even there.

Have fun!

 

[erikawolf2004]

I think it took about 40 minutes to get there but can't remember exactly. The ranch is fun if you like movies/tv. And it is gorgeous! I think we spent almost 3 hours there. We got there a little early and then after the bus tour we ate lunch there (food just okay. Cafeteria style) and then shopped at the gift shop. With the drive and the time spent, we really wanted to get back to the resort. I think if you went in the morning you could do both. Just keep driving around to the north shore. Aulani is amazing at giving great directions. They have these cards with directions on them for most destinations. Stop at the valet or front desk. They are super helpful.

I think your DD's will love aunties! They are kid specialists there. They all look like they are having a blast. We did the Surfs up with Chip and Dale and just about any special program they had for the kids, we signed him up. Because we were there for 10 days he did some of them twice.
He loved it. They give them souvineers too. When he did fish are our friends, he got a bag and some cool stuff to take with him. Don't forget to check the pictures too. The photogs go to the events and take pictures for your CD. Some of the cutest ones we have of DS are ones where we weren't even there.

Have fun!

Thank you so much for the info. We are really looking forward to it ALL!!!

Warmly, Erika

 

[Jkpark]

Thanks for all this great information. 9 days and counting...

 

[DisWitt]

Having been to Aulani a couple of times, and my family vacationing annually in Waikiki before, let me interject:

The refillable mug is a great deal if you'll drink coffee and/or soda for the week. For poolside booze, I buy "airline bottles" of rum and Jack Daniels at the local liquor store for like $1, pack those in my luggage, and just pop shots into my sodas poolside. Great tip for DCL, too.

As for groceries, my family is big fans of Target on the way from the airport to Aulani. They have a great grocery section and much smaller quantities than Costco. Unless you need a case of anything, we usually (with 2 young boys) only go through the smaller quantities that a grocery store provides. Also, let your kids pick a souvenier at Target (they have a big Aloha-cheesy section at the entrance). Also, Target sells some beach toys for like $5 if they want their own versus using the free ones at Aulani. We literally bought the same ones Aulani was giving out, but our kids liked not being forced to share because they had their own set. Upon departure, we "donated" ours to another DVC family checking in.

Driving to North Shore is only about a 30-45 minute jaunt. Just enough that the kids won't be bored. Same 30 minutes to Waikiki if you want to see it... add 15 min if you want to visit Diamond Head. With the kids, I wouldn't do a "circle tour" drive of the island. Also, if you want, a morning jaunt to Pearl Harbor is easy and educational. Make sure your boys tour the submarine next door. That's awesome.

For snorkeling, we just rented at Rainbow Reef. They'll let you take the gear to the beach and such if you want. But it's such a pain to pack and all that I'd highly recommend just using theirs unless you have an Rx mask or some awesome snorkel. My DD5 brought a special snorkel that goes up the middle of your forehead and used that with the Aulani gear. It worked great for a little guy.

Be sure to tip the "beach boys" for umbrellas. It's the nice thing to do.

Arrive at the pool by 9am for umbrellas (which won't be a problem on your first few days from time change). Then, when you want to sleep in, use those days to explore the island (Dole Plantation to see pineapples?) or go shopping in the morning and hit the pool when all of the "little ones" have bailed for afternoon naps (about 2).

While Ama Ama is fine, we think a trip without going to Roy's would be a mistake. Much better food. And good kids menu.

Do the Menehune Trail with your kids. Check out the "computer" at the Community Room.

 

[Lisacope]

Check out the Dining thread about Aulani for more food ideas.

In a nutshell - I am a major foodie and we went to Aulani in 2012 and just got back from a trip Feb of 2013.

Ama Ama has MAJORLY improved since last year in menu, food quality and service. I almost didn't make a ressie there for this trip because the experience we had there last year was so bad - but so glad I did! It was AWESOME!

Azul, although it doesn't have an ocean view has a beautiful setting. That is the only thing that is good about it. The food and service were horrible and it was terribly overpriced.

I can see not wanting to go to Roy's if you have one nearby, but I think this was one of the stellar restaurant experiences of our trip - the food was excellent with lots of great choices and I felt that the meal was a good value!

 

[Cinderpamela]

Check out the Dining thread about Aulani for more food ideas.

In a nutshell - I am a major foodie and we went to Aulani in 2012 and just got back from a trip Feb of 2013.

Ama Ama has MAJORLY improved since last year in menu, food quality and service. I almost didn't make a ressie there for this trip because the experience we had there last year was so bad - but so glad I did! It was AWESOME!

Azul, although it doesn't have an ocean view has a beautiful setting. That is the only thing that is good about it. The food and service were horrible and it was terribly overpriced.

I can see not wanting to go to Roy's if you have one nearby, but I think this was one of the stellar restaurant experiences of our trip - the food was excellent with lots of great choices and I felt that the meal was a good value!

We too are foodies and I am glad to hear that you thought Ama Ama has improved... when we were there in August we loved it and could not figure out all the negative reviews that we had read... you have now cleared that confusion up for me. Glad to hear that the bar has been raised there from your first experience!

We did not go to Azul... read the menu and it didn't sound good, so sounds like we made the right choice!

Our best meal of our trip was at Alan Wong in Waikiki ... it was amazing!!!

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

We too are foodies and I am glad to hear that you thought Ama Ama has improved... when we were there in August we loved it and could not figure out all the negative reviews that we had read... you have now cleared that confusion up for me. Glad to hear that the bar has been raised there from your first experience!

We did not go to Azul... read the menu and it didn't sound good, so sounds like we made the right choice!

Our best meal of our trip was at Alan Wong in Waikiki ... it was amazing!!!

When we were there last year Alan Wongs was the highlight of our trip! Won't have time to fit it in this time around and we are bummed!!

 

[erikawolf2004]

We are here now and just went to Ama Ama tonight and it was very good and a nice dinner experience. We had the Pineapple Papaya Cosmo, Greens Salad and Chocolate Cake, it was all yummy and would be happy to eat any and all of it again.

It is a little windy and not super busy.

Most importantly it is just amazing!!! So beautiful and we are having a great time!!! You will LOVE it!!!

Erika