Aulani...little bits of info

[jaimeadk]

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.

 

[rsimon]

Thanks for the information!

We are going again this February and can't wait. When we were there last year, we drove all over the place and although the traffic was really slow, I learned the times of days I could get around pretty easy. I didn't think it was as bad as Dallas. We have been in Dallas since '89 and it has gotten to the point now that I hate to go anywhere during rush hour. Of course, who wants to deal with it on vacation so I know what you mean, it is pretty bad there too.

I agree Costco was a pain to get to. Once there though, it was worth it for picking up some things.

We ended up going to this new Safeway that is off the beaten path and was really large and easy to get to for most of our groceries. Never tried the Target.

Hope you enjoy the North Shore. I will be interested in hearing your thoughts on it. It was kind of rainy the day we went so we didn't do much up there.

 

[AKVFamily]

Wonderful information! We will be there this month. A few questions from your post:

- Based on the traffic intel you've shard, how bad is a 3:30 trip from the airport to Aulani?
- What time do you need to show up to Auntie's House for a reasonable choice of activities?
- Would like to know how bad the traffic is to the North Shore when you go, and what your younger kids enjoyed up there.

Please keep updating your thread with your experience!

 

[Anal Annie]

Thanks!! We arrive 2 months FROM TOMORROW!! As a family of only 3 staying in a studio I'd pretty much already decided we could skip Costco and just hit Target and / or Safeway. What time did you arrive? Seems like I've read they seem to run out of the fresh flower leis by late afternoon. You would think they'd be better prepared - they should have a way to know how many guests they're expecting to check-in every day so they could plan for enough for everyone.

We live in the DC area which has horrible traffic all around so I am figuring on similar traffic then if it's better YAY! Rush hour here starts at like 6:00 am and runs thru about 10:00 am a lot of days then it starts up again around 3:00 and runs until nearly 7:00 pm. Then in-between and after you have roadwork closures. I booked Pearl Harbor for a Sunday to hopefully avoid some of this. We are also planning a day for the north shore so I am interested in the traffic / commute time. I want to book surf lessons up there (early - like 9:00ish) then we'll stay for lunch at the shrimp trucks.

Keep the tips coming!!

 

[jillt2ph]

If you attend the member Mahalo Monday morning you will get a flower lei. Also you can make one yourself in the community hall room. Back only a few weeks and I already forgot the name.

We had no problem with traffic to and from Target . Went on a Saturday around 3 immediately after check in. Getting back from Waikiki on Thursday afternoon was a different story. Took 2 hrs!

 

[abthomas]

Thanks for info! We will be there in 11 days.

 

[SingingMom]

Ok, call me crazy, but we booked Aulani for this August because our ABD choices were all full this year and I don't really know much about the resort. Does everyone bring in groceries from Costco, target etc? I'm looking at this as vacation and wasn't planning on cooking, ;-). Also, all the talk of traffic - does anyone just stay at the resort for their entire visit or just use the excursions with transportation included? Thanks!

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[jaimeadk]

We arrived at 1:30. Being our first time in Oahu, it was a 10-15 minute walk to baggage claim. I think there was a shuttle but we missed how to catch it. We flew Hawaiian and it was about another 20 min wait for our bags. Everything happens on "island time".
So we probably left the airport a little after 2:30 and without the grocery store stops I think we would have been here in 45 minutes. The highway moves pretty good. It's the side streets that bog down.

-if you are a DVC member the daily activities aren't delivered to your room. You must get them from the front desk.
-To be assured of getting into a particular youth activity 7:30 seems to be the time of arrival.
-I've read others say they have had problems with lots of non wrist banded people using the pools and I haven't seen that at all.

Today we drove to the north shore. We left about 7:45 AM. I wondered if there would be a lot of Saturday traffic. It wasn't bad at all. We were there in no time. We played and snorkeled at Waimea Bay. Very pretty. Not much to see snorkeling. Then we drove to shark cove and snorkeled. Saw a sea turtle which was awesome. Went in search of Giovanni's shrimp truck. The line had about 30 people in it and our kids were melting fast so we are from a hot dog truck instead. I'll add any more tips I figure out as we go.

 

[luv2sleep]

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.

Great info!

If the kids don't get the activities they want at the kids club is there anything else for them to do if you just drop them off at a random time?

 

[dwight16]

So what is the deal with doing a luau? I did not see much on the website is that something you need to do off property? I am going early August thanks for any info.

 

[Girimama33]

Ok, call me crazy, but we booked Aulani for this August because our ABD choices were all full this year and I don't really know much about the resort. Does everyone bring in groceries from Costco, target etc? I'm looking at this as vacation and wasn't planning on cooking, ;-). Also, all the talk of traffic - does anyone just stay at the resort for their entire visit or just use the excursions with transportation included? Thanks!

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Some people opt to save some money by purchasing groceries...especially if they have a villa with a full kitchen. You don't have to buy them.
When we go to Aulani, there is one morning and one full day we plan on touring other sites...the rest of our time will be spent at the resort.

So what is the deal with doing a luau? I did not see much on the website is that something you need to do off property? I am going early August thanks for any info.

There is a luau type show at Aulani called Starlit Hui. No food is served though. Most guests that wank to experience a luau go wo Paradise Cove (walking distance), Germaine's Luau or the one at PCC.

 

[Anal Annie]

Ok, call me crazy, but we booked Aulani for this August because our ABD choices were all full this year and I don't really know much about the resort. Does everyone bring in groceries from Costco, target etc? I'm looking at this as vacation and wasn't planning on cooking, ;-). Also, all the talk of traffic - does anyone just stay at the resort for their entire visit or just use the excursions with transportation included? Thanks!

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I also look at vacations as our time to "eat out" and don't want to cook but meals in Hawaii are generally pretty pricey so I think a lot of people with 1 bedroom+ units attempt to eat a few meals in their villas to save some money but you certainly don't have to. We are only staying in a studio so "cooking" for us would be left to the microwave, toaster, rice cooker or on the grills. I think if I can find a decent price on some mahi mahi at the grocery store I MIGHT plan 1 evening to cook on the grills but so far I haven't seen anybody else posting about buying any fresh fish at the store so I am not sure what's available. It would be fairly simple tho to grill some baked potatoes, mahi and some asparagus or something. The problem with this plan is that the studios don't provide real silverware so I'd have to either pack some from home or buy an 'el cheapo set at Target for $10 that I just leave behind. I am probably going to buy a loaf of bread, mayo and some tuna or lunchmeat & cheese to make sandwiches for a couple of our lunches. I figure we will want to splurge on lunch by the pool at least a couple of times and the rest of the days we'll probably be off-site doing something at lunchtime and will eat elsewhere so I'm not planning to over-shop for food. I'm guessing we will also probably eat breakfasts "in" 5 of our 7 days. I will get some bagels, frozen waffles, fruit & doughnuts or something for breakfasts. I can probably feed us those 5 breakfasts for the total of what it would cost to eat just one (maybe 2) out.

This will be our 5th trip to Hawaii and have done a lot of the touristy stuff before but are still planning to do some of it again (like Pearl Harbor & the USS Missouri). We will likely go into Waikiki after PH and will go to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch so our DS can get a t-shirt (he collects their t-shirts). One day we plan to drive to the North Shore for surf lessons and lunch at the shrimp trucks. If there is a line so be it. That's my plan. This will be our first time going to the north shore (we've never rented a car before on Oahu because we've always stayed in Waikiki where you don't necessarily need one). We are also planning on eating at Monkey Pod Kitchen at least 1, maybe 2 nights and at Roy's 1 night. We have not planned on a luau this trip as we have done them before (the better ones are on other islands). I also think we may order one of the family style meals one night that they offer for room service to the DVC villas. I hear it's a lot of food and it would probably be cheaper than trying to eat out somewhere. We are planning to play a lot by ear on this trip. A little windfall of some sort before we go would be nice.

Right now I am figuring on at least 2-3 "resort only" days (our first and last days at a minimum). We may book something at the Kualoa Ranch - not sure yet if we want to spend any more money or not (stopping at DL for 3 n on our way to Hawaii so I need to buy DL park tix then we are going to Maui for 3 n after Aulani and will be in a reg. hotel room there so will probably eat more out there). This trip was supposed to have been LAST summer for us but we had to cancel it 8 days out due to a last minute medical emergency with our DS so our pockets just aren't that deep this year. Everything is costing more to re-plan since we planned everything last year so we'll definitely plan everything we do on a budget. I am "collecting" Disney gift cards and plan to bring at least $100 worth for every night we are staying at a Disney property + some Roy's and Hard Rock gift cards to help pay for a couple of meals.

 

[E2ME2]

Thanks for all the great info.
We just got our 1st ressie at Aulani; we'll be there January of 2015.
We usually tend to eat breakfast, some lunches, and snacks in our rooms when in Disney, and save eating-out for dinner.
It will be our 1st Disney Stay without a theme park to roam around in, but I'm looking forward to sight-seeing on Oahu.
We've been to Pearl Harbor & Waikiki, but will definitely revisit both.
We may re-visit Diamond Head, also.
We hope to get to North Shore, and Hanauma bay on this trip.
I would like to do some snorkeling, and hope to see some sea turtles.

ET

 

[jaimeadk]

Today's info:

-The starlit hui opens at 7:30 with "stations" for kids to do small activities. Every family gets a mat to sit on. Very comfortable. The actual show starts at 8:00. The first 30 minutes is traditional Polynesian show. Similar to a luau but no flame jugglers or anything like that. At 8:30 Mickey and friends come out for about 10 minutes. The last 20 minutes is just kind of a group dance party.

-It was our 15th anniversary and we had dinner reservations and had planned on dropping the kids off for free play at Aunty's Beach House since there were no scheduled programs at the time. When we went to drop them off it was "at capacity" and they couldn't take any more kids. I asked if I could just hang out and wait for three kids to come out and she said no it didn't work like that. If you think Aunty's works similar to the oceaneer club/lab it just doesn't. We were disappointed to miss our anniversary dinner but tried to just roll with it with a good attitude.

-At Ulu Ulu Cafe you can get a large (very yummy) cheese pizza for $18. It takes about 20 minutes to cook. This became our anniversary dinner : )

 

[luv2sleep]

Today's info: -The starlit hui opens at 7:30 with "stations" for kids to do small activities. Every family gets a mat to sit on. Very comfortable. The actual show starts at 8:00. The first 30 minutes is traditional Polynesian show. Similar to a luau but no flame jugglers or anything like that. At 8:30 Mickey and friends come out for about 10 minutes. The last 20 minutes is just kind of a group dance party. -It was our 15th anniversary and we had dinner reservations and had planned on dropping the kids off for free play at Aunty's Beach House since there were no scheduled programs at the time. When we went to drop them off it was "at capacity" and they couldn't take any more kids. I asked if I could just hang out and wait for three kids to come out and she said no it didn't work like that. If you think Aunty's works similar to the oceaneer club/lab it just doesn't. We were disappointed to miss our anniversary dinner but tried to just roll with it with a good attitude. -At Ulu Ulu Cafe you can get a large (very yummy) cheese pizza for $18. It takes about 20 minutes to cook. This became our anniversary dinner : )

Wow that's disappointing.

 

[nzdisneymom]

This may have been shared multiple times, but it's a handy tip if you are an early riser... Go by the towel stand before they close the night before and pick up towels for the next day... Then when your body wakes up on eastern time, you can be out on the beach at sunrise and have your towels for an early morning dip in the ocean.

If you borrow DVDs from community hall, the return time is by 10 but they don't open until 8 and there is not a drop box. But if you miss 10, the CMs told me as long as you return it before they close the next day, there is not a charge. Good to know (but verify in case their policy changes) in case you are early at the beach and miss the ten o'clock return time.

DVC members, be sure to take your photo ID with you to the shops to be able to get your 10% discount.

Make time to do the art and the nature walks they offer each week. Excellent information.

 

[lovetotraveltx]

Singing mom and dwight16, when in August are you going? We will be there the 4th to the 9th

 

[SingingMom]

Singing mom and dwight16, when in August are you going? We will be there the 4th to the 9th

Later in the month. . Celebrating DD 21st birthday!!

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[cedricandsophie]

Ok, call me crazy, but we booked Aulani for this August because our ABD choices were all full this year and I don't really know much about the resort. Does everyone bring in groceries from Costco, target etc? I'm looking at this as vacation and wasn't planning on cooking, ;-). Also, all the talk of traffic - does anyone just stay at the resort for their entire visit or just use the excursions with transportation included? Thanks! "SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

We never leave the resort except for last day while we are waiting for plane. Go to Safeway on the way to get breakfast and lunch foods. I mad a couple of simple dinners. We do play tennis at marriott next door got 23 an hour. And mainly hang at pool. Our fav place in the world. Been there 3 times and will go again next year v

 

[jaimeadk]

I hadn't read about this before and it's something small but my kids loved it. At the infinity pool, when you are underwater you hear intermittent whale and dolphin sounds.

The breakfast platter served at Ulu Ulu is delicious. It was $10 but we truly weren't hungry again until 5:00.

Pools chemicals are checked frequently (as they should be) but more times than not one pool or slide or the splash playground are frequently closed. If you want to do something and it's open, don't put it off.

My kids are 10, 8, and 5 and the oldest two haven't napped in years. They napped every single day. They even asked to nap. Not sure if it was the time change or we just wore them out but that was something I hadn't planned for.

Despite some previous reviews we have read, we thought the AMA AMA lunch was really good as well as the buffet at the other restaurant.

We are kind of used to a 24 hour world and we had an early flight out. Car rental companies don't open in Hawaii until around 5:30. Made us quite nervous about our 7:30 flight knowing that everything from checking in to security would happen on "island time" but our plane would leave as scheduled.