Your post is very similar to what I’m going through right now. First trip to Aulani and first time to Hawaii in years, also our kids’ first trip. I’ve been looking into a lot of the same things and have found that things book up EARLY. We’re going next month and there are some things I wasn’t able to get, but I booked some and have learned for next time.
- Luau: books up early. I booked the luau back in February and by then, there was only 1 night remaining for the week we’re going, and VIP was already sold out. Other luaus seem to have more availability though. I was considering the Toa one at Waimea Valley which has a lot more availability (they also have a daytime one), but decided I wanted to do the Aulani one on our first stay.
- Dining: books starting 30 days in advance and it goes fast. I checked late morning west coast time for a few days, and Makahiki breakfast times would be all gone already, so I got up in the middle of the night to book our character breakfast when it opened (midnight Hawaii time). I think we’re skipping Ama Ama this time since our kids are little, but the times leading up to sunset booked fastest. I booked a couple of reservations off-property and those also seemed to be booking up quickly (I got Monkeypod and Mina’s for now). But you can also try to walk up and get a table. Our friends did that first thing in the morning for Makahiki.
- Cabanas: all sold out for the week we’re there, and turns out they can be booked as soon as you have a reservation number. They said you can go down each morning to get added to a waitlist in case one opens up.
- Sunset portrait session: I booked this a couple weeks ago, and there was only 1 session left at the end of our stay available. But they do have Photopass photographers on the beach for the hour before sunset every night so that’s another option that doesn’t need to be booked. They also added me to a waitlist for a sunset session earlier in our stay.
- Aunty’s: All of the free slots were booked by the time I got to it recently, since they can be booked 3 months in advance. A lot of the paid slots were booked too, but just this week they opened up morning paid sessions so I was able to book that. Similar to the cabanas, you can go down first thing in the morning (7:45 was what I was told) and try to get on a waitlist for the free sessions.
- Spa: Seems to have more availability than the other things and doesn’t need to be booked quite as far in advance if you’re flexible on timing, but if you have a specific timeframe (a lot of morning appointments were already booked), I’d get going on that asap. I booked the Luau Bound package for my older kids and the ideal time slot I would’ve preferred before the luau was already gone, but I was able to get an earlier one.
- DVC: There are some DVC member events, including a Monday member event, and some other paid experiences. You can check out the daily schedule on the app and see what’s available. I’d like to tour the grand villa while we’re there and that happens regularly on the schedule.
I hope this helps! As an Aulani newbie there’s so much information and a lot to learn, but we’re so excited for our first stay there. Hope you
