Aulani at beginning or end of the trip?

[zeferjen]

Hi All - we are planning a trip to Hawaii Aug 21-Sept 2. I want to split our time between Aulani and the Big Island (most likely Hilton Waikoloa Village). How would you structure the trip? We are flying from Philly and arrive at HNL at 6pm on the 21st and depart HNL at 8pm on Sept 2.

We have two kids, who will be 5 and almost 7 at the time so beach and pool time are important, seeing volcano is also a must. I don't think we will be doing Pearl Harbor this time but other sight seeing would be nice.

I have a few weeks before my 7 month window opens up at Aulani, so I want to get this part figured out. Any advice or opinions are appreciated. Thanks!!!

 

[zeferjen]

p.s. Yay! I just reached 900 posts!

 

[rpcvpanama]

I would do Aulani last. We did just the opposite, Aulani then Maui. I wished we had reversed it after the trip was over. We didn't leave Aulani to tour the island (we have on previous visits) but instead spent the entire time at the resort; loved, loved, loved it. Your kids will absolutely love the pool and may find other resorts and resort pools disappointing after being at Aulani.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

I've done both of these resorts (but not in the same trip!). I would start your trip relaxing at Aulani, and then have a more adventurous part on the Big Island second- especially given your long travel time. You won't want to take an island hopper flight that night to Kona, then drive up to Waikoloa. For beach and pool time, Aulani is your place for sure. The pools and slide are nice at Wailkoloa, but don't compare to Aulani. There's a lot more to do at Aulani to keep you and the kids busy each day. On the Big Island, there is a good luau to go to (ugh can't recall it at the moment) and of course Volcanoes National Park. We really liked the black sand beach and I bet your kids will like it as well. If you can do it, do the dolphin swim at the Hilton. Amazing! We had a lagoon tower room and could see the dolphins from our balcony. Our kids loved watching them. What a fun trip you have planned- you'll love both places, but they're very different.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Hi All - we are planning a trip to Hawaii Aug 21-Sept 2. I want to split our time between Aulani and the Big Island (most likely Hilton Waikoloa Village). How would you structure the trip? We are flying from Philly and arrive at HNL at 6pm on the 21st and depart HNL at 8pm on Sept 2.

We have two kids, who will be 5 and almost 7 at the time so beach and pool time are important, seeing volcano is also a must. I don't think we will be doing Pearl Harbor this time but other sight seeing would be nice.

I have a few weeks before my 7 month window opens up at Aulani, so I want to get this part figured out. Any advice or opinions are appreciated. Thanks!!!

I am not sure it really matters which island you do first. If it helps, your longest day of sightseeing is likely to be the day you visit the volcano as you will come to understand why the island is referred to as the Big Island.

If you have not yet booked airfare, I would suggest flying into one island and out of the other. If your airfare is already booked, I would suggest you visit Aulani first, rather than trying to catch an inter-island flight after your 6 pm flight from the mainland.

Enjoy -- Suzanne

 

[dianeschlicht]

We are doing Aulani first and then the Big Island. We did NOT want to have to fly back to HNL and waste time doing a second interisland flight, so we are flying into HNL first. After our week at Aulani, we are flying to Kona and we can fly directly from Kona back to the mainland.

 

[amym2]

We're going to Aulani and Kauai in October and I've been trying to figure out the same thing. For us, I think the timing will work better to do Aulani first. We have to fly from IN to Chicago to Honolulu, so tacking on a 3rd flight would be a challenge. Tacking it on to the end of the trip seems like it will work better since our outbound flight isn't until 7:30pm and we'd have a large gap to fill after checking out of our resort.

Also, remember that you (and especially your kids) will have a time change to deal with. When DH and I went to Hawaii without the kids, it took me a couple of days to adjust. I'm trying to keep that in mind when planning our first couple of days. I think we'll be better off relaxing at Aulani than trying to sightsee. The Big Island requires more driving as everything is more spread out, so I'd do that later in your trip rather than earlier.

 

[disneybirds]

We are headed to Hawaii for 10 nights this summer. Right now, we have 4 nights booked at Hilton Waikoloa Village, 1 night booked at Volcano, either another night at Volcano or move to Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki and 4 nights at Aulani. We will fly into HNL, then to KOA the first day. We plan to fly out of Hilo to head back to HNL. It is supposedly 2 to 2 1/2 hours to Volcano from the Hilton and we wanted to see the lava at night.

I would wait until you get Aulani booked before you book the other nights. We ended up having to move our dates to get several nights at Aulani together. At one point, we had 3 nights at Aulani and 1 night waitlisted. The waitlisted night came through. You need to read up on booking online to get the nights you want.

 

[Anal Annie]

We're also going to Aulani this summer. Having been to Hawaii 4 times before (also coming from the East coast) I agree with Silly Little Pixie - if you have already booked flights and don't get to HNL until 6:00 PM on your first day you should just start out at Aulani. You are going to be BEYOND wiped out. While the inter-island flights are not long in duration it's still going to take you another 2 or 3 hours to GET to the Big Island by the time you figure in some lay-over time in-between flights and picking up a rental car and then driving to your resort...easily probably another 3 hours on top of what has already been a long day. Inter-island flights on Hawaiian Airline run about $65 each way so you can add those in once you get your dates at Aulani squared away.

It is important for you to get your body clocks adjusted the first night so you can enjoy your first full day the next day...so you need to stay up until at least like 9:00 and then go to bed at a relatively early time. Remember that at that time of year there is a 6 hour time difference between Philly and Hawaii. So at 9:00 PM you will feel like it's 3:00 AM. You'll probably do best to go to Aulani, get checked in, grab some dinner and then go to bed so you can wake up on island time the next morning. My advice is to don't push it past 9 or 9:30 the first night.

While I agree with Diane about it being easier to fly in and out of separate islands when leaving sometimes it's a lot cheaper to fly in / out of HNL and just book your inter-island flights independently. We HAD hoped to spend 5 nights on Oahu and 5 nights on Maui but it's not looking like we're going to have enough points to cash in on that many nights on Maui - so now we'll probably book 7 nights at Aulani and only 3 nights on Maui and while I'd prefer to leave directly from Maui the flights between Hawaii and the mainland are much cheaper to go back through HNL (for us the diff. is $454 vs $678 on Delta and vs $589 on Hawaiian Air). When you times that difference by several people you have to figure that would help cover a rental car for a week, right?

Booking Aulani on Monday!!

 

[Iceman93]

My advice is to save Aulani for last. Any other Hawaii experience is going to be a let-down after the magical place Disney has created. Instead, enjoy a "good to great" experience on the big island, thinking that's as good as Hawaii can be, and then go to Aulani at the end of your trip. I promise you won't be disappointed.

 

[eva]

DH and I are going in May. We have a direct flight from Chicago to Honolulu that arrives at 2pm. We then have a 2 hour layover for a flight to Kona on the Big Island. We are staying 4 nights at the Fairmont Orchid on the Big Island. Then we head back to Oahu and 8 nights at Aulani. I know we will probably be exhausted the first day. It will probably be after 6pm by the time we check in. But we wanted to finish with Aulani.

 

[dizneekrazee]

Hi All - we are planning a trip to Hawaii Aug 21-Sept 2. I want to split our time between Aulani and the Big Island (most likely Hilton Waikoloa Village). How would you structure the trip? We are flying from Philly and arrive at HNL at 6pm on the 21st and depart HNL at 8pm on Sept 2.

We have two kids, who will be 5 and almost 7 at the time so beach and pool time are important, seeing volcano is also a must. I don't think we will be doing Pearl Harbor this time but other sight seeing would be nice.

I have a few weeks before my 7 month window opens up at Aulani, so I want to get this part figured out. Any advice or opinions are appreciated. Thanks!!!

This is EXACTLY what I plan on doing in a year or so. Big Island at HWV, 1-2 nights at Volcano, ending with a stay at Aulani.

 

[shancan911]

DH and I are planning our Hawaiian vacation for this June. Arriving in paradise on 6/19, and coming home on 6/29. I am a planner, and a "do everything-er". DH couldn't like that any less. So, I am running him ragged through the Big Island, Kauai, and Maui at the beginning, and then we'll relax and enjoy our last 4 nights at Aulani. OP, have you decided what you're doing yet?

 

[eva]

DH and I are planning our Hawaiian vacation for this June. Arriving in paradise on 6/19, and coming home on 6/29. I am a planner, and a "do everything-er". DH couldn't like that any less. So, I am running him ragged through the Big Island, Kauai, and Maui at the beginning, and then we'll relax and enjoy our last 4 nights at Aulani. OP, have you decided what you're doing yet?

Wow! All 4 islands in 10 days!?! That is a lot of running. Not sure I would want to spend so much time at airports and on flights. Good luck!

 

[Anal Annie]

Wow! All 4 islands in 10 days!?! That is a lot of running. Not sure I would want to spend so much time at airports and on flights. Good luck!

Agree. That's a lot. We have done 3 islands in 9 nights before and it is a lot of time at the airports. Worst thing about it tho is having to repack so often along with the fact that you never have time to unpack & settle in at any one stop. You must pack very organized. I use packing cubes and packing folders to stay organized. Very helpful when you're changing locations a lot. You can basically repack before you leave each spot and put what you'll need for the NEXT spot into your carry-ons. That way you'll know exactly what is where & what you'll need and which bag it's in. Also good if a bag gets lost or delayed you'll still have what you need for that island and a carry-on can easily hold 4 days worth of clothing plus a spare pair of shoes.

Have fun! Each island is unique and has its own personality!!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Agree. That's a lot. We have done 3 islands in 9 nights before and it is a lot of time at the airports. Worst thing about it tho is having to repack so often along with the fact that you never have time to unpack & settle in at any one stop. You must pack very organized. I use packing cubes and packing folders to stay organized. Very helpful when you're changing locations a lot. You can basically repack before you leave each spot and put what you'll need for the NEXT spot into your carry-ons. That way you'll know exactly what is where & what you'll need and which bag it's in. Also good if a bag gets lost or delayed you'll still have what you need for that island and a carry-on can easily hold 4 days worth of clothing plus a spare pair of shoes.

Have fun! Each island is unique and has its own personality!!

I agree. I HATE the Hawaiian airports. They are small and not very efficient.

To the OP....I was glad we went to Aulani the first week before heading to the Big Island. We were on the go all the time on the Big Island, and at least by doing Aulani first, we were used to the big time change before we hit the Big Island and all the driving we had to do. Also....If you are staying at Wikoloa, you will do a LOT of driving. We got so tired of traveling over the saddle road.