More Aulani Excursion Info

[MamaDrama]

I spoke with the excursion desk at Aulani yesterday and they have (and are booking) all excursions although the info is not yet on the website. There are three tiers of excursions with the highest being a three day plan led by Adventures by Disney Guides. They said that if you only wanted to do part of the 3 day excursion you can. The biggest problem for my family was that you had to be age 4 and up to participate in all of the Disney excursions! They do have in room babysitting available if you wanted to go that route.

I think we have decided to spend most of our 5 days enjoying the activities at the resort. Aunty's Beach House sounds amazing and I know my 5 year old will have a blast playing there and it's refreshing that it's included in your resort reservation! At the resort, they are booking dining, spa, and cabanas, but they are not yet booking Makai Preserve (the resort's nature preserve which requires reservations).

Bottom line, November can't come fast enough!

 

[mdsd8700]

Thanks for the update.

We are hoping to go next summer, so no actual reservations for us yet. However I am axiously awaiting all the details of the excursions and the actual hotel experience itself. Did they give you any other details like the cost of the tiers and what each tier consists of? If you can pick and choose between the tiers how does that effect the time and cost?

 

[carlbarry]

Could you be so kind as to post the phone number you called? Thanks. I'm going in January.

 

[MamaDrama]

I did not get pricing because once I found out I wasn't able to go with our youngest it was a moot point for us! The excursions included Waimea Falls, Pearl Harbor, Kulaoa ranch, sail and snorkel cruises, whale watching (if in season), city highlights, cooking classes with a renowned HI chef. Again, I did not get much more specific info regarding breaking up the three day tours etc. because I knew we weren't going to be able to participate.

The number I called was 866-814-3569. She was very knowledgeable!

 

[NC State Tigger]

The biggest problem for my family was that you had to be age 4 and up to participate in all of the Disney excursions! .


I hate to hear this. Seems that there will be many children and grandchildren 4 and under that families will not want to leave with a babysitter. I guess that will require us to find private tour companies or be "on our own". I was looking forward to Disney excursions because I would not "worry" about the quality; was sure that it would be good.

Our trip will be a first (and maybe only) to Hawaii so we will want to see many of the touristy sights for a few days as well as relaxing for part of the trip at the resort.

 

[mdsd8700]

All the pricing and descriptions for these are out on Mousesavers.com!

 

[MamaDrama]

I hate to hear this. Seems that there will be many children and grandchildren 4 and under that families will not want to leave with a babysitter. I guess that will require us to find private tour companies or be "on our own". I was looking forward to Disney excursions because I would not "worry" about the quality; was sure that it would be good.

Exactly how we felt. We have found a touring company where we can do a sail and snorkel and bring the 2 year old. We will just take turns being in the water and being on the boat with him. We also wanted to do some of the activities at Kualoa Ranch and found that we can book those that are appropriate for a 2 year old directly through the ranch. DH and I have already been to Oahu so we didn't need to visit Pearl Harbor/Waikiki/Honolulu on this trip.

 

[MamaDrama]

All the pricing and descriptions for these are out on Mousesavers.com!

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[carlbarry]

Yes, Mousesavers has a handy dandy chart with the tours and the costs:
http://www.mousesavers.com/hawaii.html

 

[emilymad]

Thanks so much for the information! I have been waiting on this for our September trip. I don't think the Adventures by Disney excursions are that bad in price. Expensive but inline with you would see on a cruise ship.

 

[MinnieVanMom]

Thanks for the link to mousesavers. I was shocked to see $35 a nite to park if you are not a DVC member. Glad to be a member if we ever go.

 

[OhioDVC]

get info, I never thought about Adventure by Disney excursion but it sounds like a get way to see the island

 

[Disneyfn420]

Thanks for this! I'm going in Sept and have been dying for info. We will probably do most stuff on our own, just rent the car but I will call to find out more info. I thought I heard they were going to have a nightime show at Aulani...any word on that?

 

[beeadude]

Could you be so kind as to post the phone number you called? Thanks. I'm going in January.

We will be going Sept 2012. Interested to know what airline you are taking. Are you leaving from LGA or JFK ? Thanks
Vicki

 

[carlbarry]

We will be going Sept 2012. Interested to know what airline you are taking. Are you leaving from LGA or JFK ? Thanks
Vicki

I'm leaving from JFK, which is a few minutes from my house in North Woodmere. I am taking Delta, due to the fact that I opened one of their credit cards, and thus got $200 off the airfare. I bought the airfare when, for some reason, all the airlines dropped the price to about half of what it was. It was about $1,100, and then it dipped down to $565! With the $200 off, my airfare was an incredible $365!
My flight there departs JFK at 7 am, has a layover in Salt Lake City, and arrives at HNL at 3:30 pm local time.
Coming home, I depart 5:30 pm, have a layover in Atlanta, and then arrive at JFK at 11:45 am.

 

[beeadude]

I'm leaving from JFK, which is a few minutes from my house in North Woodmere. I am taking Delta, due to the fact that I opened one of their credit cards, and thus got $200 off the airfare. I bought the airfare when, for some reason, all the airlines dropped the price to about half of what it was. It was about $1,100, and then it dipped down to $565! With the $200 off, my airfare was an incredible $365!
My flight there departs JFK at 7 am, has a layover in Salt Lake City, and arrives at HNL at 3:30 pm local time.
Coming home, I depart 5:30 pm, have a layover in Atlanta, and then arrive at JFK at 11:45 am.

WOW you did good!!!! Have a great time. Thanks for writing back.

 

[carlbarry]

No problem. Yes, I did great. I'm leaving-returning on Monday. The Monday I arrive is the day after the football weekend.
You have a great itme, too! And let's see a report when you get back. - Carl

 

[Disneyfn420]

Wow that is an amazing rate. I'm going in Sept and paying a bit more. But I don't care I'm going to Hawaii! I'm leaving from JFK as well.

I'm leaving from JFK, which is a few minutes from my house in North Woodmere. I am taking Delta, due to the fact that I opened one of their credit cards, and thus got $200 off the airfare. I bought the airfare when, for some reason, all the airlines dropped the price to about half of what it was. It was about $1,100, and then it dipped down to $565! With the $200 off, my airfare was an incredible $365!
My flight there departs JFK at 7 am, has a layover in Salt Lake City, and arrives at HNL at 3:30 pm local time.
Coming home, I depart 5:30 pm, have a layover in Atlanta, and then arrive at JFK at 11:45 am.

 

[carlbarry]

Wow that is an amazing rate. I'm going in Sept and paying a bit more. But I don't care I'm going to Hawaii! I'm leaving from JFK as well.

Have a great time! And please report back, so we later travelers will benefit from your experience. Thanks!

 

[Disneyfn420]

I called member services yesterday and they still don't have a handle on all the excursions. Does anyone know about booking the Rainbow Reef snorkeling excursion, the one on property. I kept getting passed along to diff depts. Also I tried to book a character breakfast and the computers were down or something so I have to call back as she doesn't think it went through. Hope they fix all the bugs before it opens!