Planning Advice - Aulani and other options

[mfbnjwb]

My family of 6 (kids aged 13, 11, 9, and 7) are planning our first trip to Hawaii in August 2017. We are DVC members and we're planning to do 5 to 7 nights at Aulani. We'd like to do another 3 to 4 nights at another resort, most likely another island. I was thinking the big Island, but I'm open to suggestions. Here are a couple of questions.

1. What other island would your recommend or would you do the same island as Aulani?
2. What other resorts would you recommend?
3. I have a bunch of RCI points converted DVC points. Any recommendation for RCI resorts in HI?

Any other advise, "must do" excursions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Steve

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

Given the ages of your kids, you might enjoy the Big Island. Volcano National Park is there, and it's just a beautiful island. Not as crowded as Oahu...slower pace. We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa. You can use RCI points there at the Kohala Suites by Hilton Grand Vacations Club. There is a shuttle that runs between the time shares and the main property, which is HUGE, and very nice.

 

[lizard1]

I was also going to recommend the Big Island. I had kids (6, 9, and 11 ) on our trip this summer and we did the Big Island for a couple of days. My kids loved visiting the black sand beach and seeing the turtles there. We also took a helicopter tour there which I would highly recommend. We didn't get to see as much as we would have liked because the it was very rainy there during our trip, but it was definitely worth the trip there!

 

[ihearthawaii]

I third the Big Island, your kids are at the right age to enjoy the volcano hikes. A lot of what you can do on Kauai and Maui, you can do on Oahu. The active volcano is unique and is only found on the Big Island.

 

[4lilrere]

We did the Big Island and loved it. Would highly recommend Kings Land Hilton grand Vacations. There are lots of slides nice big pools and no crowds. We went during Winter Break. We went over to the Hilton Waikola main resort and it was crazy!! You can go to any of the Hilton properties when you stay at one. We liked the small/no crowds pools and the large condo!!

 

[SpaceEngTM]

On our trip in June we rented a beach cottage on the North Shore. It was one of our favorite parts of the trip. We only rented it for 2 nights but will stay longer next time we go to Hawaii.
We also went to the Big Island and stayed at a Hilton timeshare, The Bay Club. It is in the same complex as the ones mentioned above. I did not think the Hilton compared well to Aulani. Yes, its very big, but they just don't do things as well as Disney. I wish we would have stayed there first because it was hard not to compare! We also stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki beach. We liked this one better, there is so much to do in the area.
So to answer your question, I would stick to Oahu but either stay on Waikiki for those nights or on the North Shore. That's what we will do next time.

 

[kdonnel]

I can't say enough good things about the Big Island. We have been to the Big Island twice. Both times we stayed in Kona at the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay. There is no beach but the views are amazing.

Unlike Oahu, everything is a long drive from everywhere else on the Big Island. You will be doing a lot of driving if you want to see the sights.

What is really amazing about the Big Island is you can visit places that make you feel like you are on another planet. You have the lava fields and the Mauna Kea observatory. You also have high deserts and rain forests.


Here I am getting as close to the lava as I dared:

For a few other pictures:
http://www.judydonnelly.com/Travel/Destinations/Hawaii1/Big-Island/

 

[85glht]

I can't say enough good things about the Big Island. We have been to the Big Island twice. Both times we stayed in Kona at the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay. There is no beach but the views are amazing.

Unlike Oahu, everything is a long drive from everywhere else on the Big Island. You will be doing a lot of driving if you want to see the sights.

What is really amazing about the Big Island is you can visit places that make you feel like you are on another planet. You have the lava fields and the Mauna Kea observatory. You also have high deserts and rain forests.


Here I am getting as close to the lava as I dared:

For a few other pictures:
http://www.judydonnelly.com/Travel/Destinations/Hawaii1/Big-Island/

Being that close, if it wasn't raining, I think your clothes would have caught on fire. Lava is some HOT stuff! Lol.

Been to the big island twice, although they were just one day each and we were on a cruise both times, we really enjoyed visiting it. Maui is beautiful and so is Kuai. Tough choice, good luck.

 

[littlebearfan]

If you want to see the Volcano - it may be best to stay on the Hilo side of the Big Island. Driving over from Kona to the volcano can take hours.

The last time we were on the Big Island, we did a boat tour out to see the lava flowing into the ocean (and we drove over and back from the Kona side on the same day - so I know it's a long drive). They get the boat pretty close to the flow. There is a steam cloud all around, so if someone has breathing issues it may not be a good idea. It was pricey - but absolutely stunning! If you do it, take some sort of cushions to sit on as the ride back was pretty rough. They go slow on the way out so you can see some of the black sand beaches, but they race back - which makes for a rough ride.

My favorite island is Maui - but we are adults who enjoy having really nice dinners, drinking, shopping, and simply watching the ocean.

 

[Vernie822]

I can only comment on Oahu and Maui since that's where we stayed.

We honeymooned and did 3 nights at the Grand Wailea in Maui and 6 nights at Aulani in a studio. We arrived late on our first night and departed early on our last day so we really had 5 full days at Aulani. Aulani is a RESORT in itself. There is SO MUCH to do. We came from Maui where it basically was just a pool (albeit a nice one) and a beach. No fun activities or anything like that so we did a lot of touristy type things (drove Haleakala, saw Black Rock Beach in Ka'anapali, etc). We stayed at the Grand Wailea. We had 3.5 days and I can say that 2.5 to 3 days with 1-1.5 more days at Aulani would've been ideal. So maybe 3 and 7, if you can swing that!

We stayed at Wailea in Maui. It was similar to Ko'Olina in that it was a few nicer resorts, with some walkable shopping and dining. Wailea was a lot less family-friendly than Aulani, but I wouldn't say that was a huge downfall. I doubt any other resort compares to Aulani!

Something we noticed that we are considering for the future. Honolulu/Waikiki is quite the drive and my husband just didn't feel like driving it more than once. So we really didn't see that area of the island outside of Pearl Harbor because we wanted to get back to Aulani! We are heading to North Shore today. I have heard a few people say they've had done/considered doing 1-2 nights in Waikiki, coming to Aulani, and then maybe doing another 2 nights on the North Shore. There is so much to see and do on the island but it's hard to pull yourself away from the resort and its activities!