Aulani at Xmas

[markmcalear]

How busy is Aulani during Xmas? I am there from Dec 21st to 28th with wife and 5 kids

 

[Cinderpamela]

We were there this past Christmas season (Dec 23-29) and the resort was running at pretty much full capacity.

It was great, and we had a ton of fun, but be prepared for it to be busy and bustling. We did several days poolside and would have to go down around 9 am and have someone from our group stay with our beach chairs.

A few days when we did not make it down to the pool early enough we were able to find chairs on the beach... or since our kids are older , over at the quiet pool there were always chairs.

Since this past year, 2013, was the first Christmas season where the resort was fully booked and all rooms/wings of the resort are now open, I would suspect that 2014 will be smoother as they now have one season under their belts and know what to expect as far as staffing, ect.

 

[markmcalear]

Thanks.

Did you do any excursions? And if so how busy were they?

We are thinking maybe going to Wet N Wild on Xmas Eve

 

[Cinderpamela]

Our kids (13 & 16) went to Wet and Wild (the waterslide park in the area), and would not recommend it. They did not staff it enough so they handled that by only having certain slides open for an hour and then the next hour the staff would close the slides they were at and head over and open the other slides for an hour or so. My husband had dropped them off and they called for him to pick them up only an hour later, right as he was setting up his poolside lounge and getting out his book (meanwhile I was at the spa).

If you are a DVC member and you decide to go anyways be sure and use your DVC discount there because it is definitely not worth full price.

We did the usual trips to Pearl Harbor and we hiked Diamond Head and loved it.

We also drove up to the northshore and went to Turtle beach, on the way there we stopped at the Dole Plantation for a Dole Whip

One of the highlights of the trip for us was our surf lessons with Hawaii Fire. Highly recommend this! We booked directly through them (it was less expensive than booking through Aulani) by calling the number on their website. They picked us up in front at Aulani.


We did the surf lessons the day after Christmas. It had been a gift "from Santa" to the boys that was given on Christmas day as a printed out certificate... that way I didn't have to worry about packing gifts, or trying to shop last minute for something onsite.

 

[markmcalear]

What is Turtle Beach?

My kids are young, daughter is 9, sons are 7,6,2 and 1.

Wife wants to do the catamaran excursion to see dolphins, she will do that with our daughter.

What other things can you recommend? We probably wouldnt want to go on any big "hike" type things

 

[Cinderpamela]

Turtle beach is actually another name for Laniakea Beach.... its just south of the North Shore town of Haleiwa down the King Kamehameha Highway.
Here is a website with details:
http://www.portaloha.com/SecretsOfHawaii/Laniakea.htm

You might also take a look at the other things on that website I posted above for ideas on what might appeal to your family as far as touring.

Last year when I was researching for our trip, I actually put together a thread for folks that were going to Aulani in December. On the first post of that thread, I linked to lots of good websites that I had found about Oahu at Christmas time.
You might find that first page of the thread & its links helpful, here is the link to that:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3117807

Also, if you do Pearl Harbor they have a really cool activity book for the kids to fill out as you all go through the tour, I believe you get them in the giftshop for free, but I think their may be more details on the govt's reservation website. Its geared towards the younger set, so we didnt use it, but I saw many younger kids filling theirs out and really enjoying the process of what otherwise might be lost on them.

Here is the link to the pearl harbor online reservation site:
http://www.recreation.gov/tourParkDetail.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72369

Here is the link to the Pearl Harbor info for kids:
http://www.nps.gov/valr/forkids/index.htm


I would also check out this website on Things to do on Oahu:
http://www.aloha-hawaii.com/oahu/things-to-do/

There is really a lot to do on Oahu and its just a process of elimination as you cant possibly do it all.

I think the kids would really enjoy Turtle Beach (especially if you get there when the turtles are laying out on the beach)... and the Northshore, be sure to get a shave Ice at Matsumotos up there in Haleiwa as well as trying out the yummy shrimp trucks in the area such as Mackys or Giovanni's.

Though with a 1 year old in tow you may decide to divide and conquer on some things that the older kids may enjoy... or just relax at the resort.