We are at Aulani now. Little tidbits of info that I didn't read before we came so I thought I'd share:
-Costco is a nightmare to get in and out of. Very busy with very slow traffic lights. I wish I had saved time and just gone to target.
-Target (the store itself) was well stocked and had all the grocery items we needed except granola bars for some odd reason. The area around it is very congested so even if you are only picking up a few things expect a 45 minute stop.
-When you hear traffic is bad, believe them. I'm from Dallas and thought it would be comparable. It's not. We haven't been out in rush hour and it just takes a lot of time to get anywhere. The traffic lights are the worst.
-The resort truly is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I don't want to sound negative but I will include a few of the kinks.
-The porters have Rubbermaid totes for putting your grocery sacks in. They made getting $160 worth of groceries to our room look like a breeze.
-This may sound silly but I was looking forward to a lei greeting. My husband and I both got the nut necklaces. I saw other women with leis later. Not sure why I got the man version. Kids get small necklaces with a little statue on them. Target sold beautiful fresh leis in a refrigerator and I wish I would have bought one there but I'm not going to fight the traffic to go back : )
-We are room 883 which is a garden view and has an excellent view of the starlight hui and movies and a pretty good view of the ocean.
-I wanted our first day to be a relaxing resort day but despite keeping our kids (10, 8, and 5) up we still all woke up at 3:45. I think if I had it to plan again I would have made this a hike Diamond Head day. We could have done that and seen the sunrise and still had a full resort day. As it was we sat in our room waiting for the sun to come up.
-I got in line Aunties Beach House at 7:47 to sign up for activities. Sign up starts at 7:45. The activities we wanted were already booked : (.
-Checking kids in and out of Aunties Beach House is a slow process. If you've ever been on a Cruise and know how easy it is to scan kids in and out, it is nothing like that. They put on and remove the bands every single time and if someone new is coming to register they stand in front of you to fill out the extensive paperwork. They don't ask them to step to the side to fill it out. Often there is only one working check in. Plan on 20 minutes to check in or out.
-Rainbow reef is totally worth it. My five year old could snorkel easily in it. It's only $5 more for a length of stay pass ($20 for adults) and totally worth it.
-Slide lines are long when they first open. We napped 1-3 and after that they are much shorter.
-It seems busy to us but chairs have not been hard to come by.
That's it for now. We are headed to the North Shore today. I'll add anything more I discover that might be helpful.
-Costco is a nightmare to get in and out of. Very busy with very slow traffic lights. I wish I had saved time and just gone to target.
-Target (the store itself) was well stocked and had all the grocery items we needed except granola bars for some odd reason. The area around it is very congested so even if you are only picking up a few things expect a 45 minute stop.
-When you hear traffic is bad, believe them. I'm from Dallas and thought it would be comparable. It's not. We haven't been out in rush hour and it just takes a lot of time to get anywhere. The traffic lights are the worst.
-The resort truly is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I don't want to sound negative but I will include a few of the kinks.
-The porters have Rubbermaid totes for putting your grocery sacks in. They made getting $160 worth of groceries to our room look like a breeze.
-This may sound silly but I was looking forward to a lei greeting. My husband and I both got the nut necklaces. I saw other women with leis later. Not sure why I got the man version. Kids get small necklaces with a little statue on them. Target sold beautiful fresh leis in a refrigerator and I wish I would have bought one there but I'm not going to fight the traffic to go back : )
-We are room 883 which is a garden view and has an excellent view of the starlight hui and movies and a pretty good view of the ocean.
-I wanted our first day to be a relaxing resort day but despite keeping our kids (10, 8, and 5) up we still all woke up at 3:45. I think if I had it to plan again I would have made this a hike Diamond Head day. We could have done that and seen the sunrise and still had a full resort day. As it was we sat in our room waiting for the sun to come up.
-I got in line Aunties Beach House at 7:47 to sign up for activities. Sign up starts at 7:45. The activities we wanted were already booked : (.
-Checking kids in and out of Aunties Beach House is a slow process. If you've ever been on a Cruise and know how easy it is to scan kids in and out, it is nothing like that. They put on and remove the bands every single time and if someone new is coming to register they stand in front of you to fill out the extensive paperwork. They don't ask them to step to the side to fill it out. Often there is only one working check in. Plan on 20 minutes to check in or out.
-Rainbow reef is totally worth it. My five year old could snorkel easily in it. It's only $5 more for a length of stay pass ($20 for adults) and totally worth it.
-Slide lines are long when they first open. We napped 1-3 and after that they are much shorter.
-It seems busy to us but chairs have not been hard to come by.
That's it for now. We are headed to the North Shore today. I'll add anything more I discover that might be helpful.