One thing which surprised us when we stopped at the Kapolei Target prior to checking-in at Aulani in April is that the store does not provide bags for your purchases. Obviously the locals know to bring their own bags (or you can buy reusable bags) but for tourists coming from the airport this can create a challenge if you intend to lug lots of groceries to your destination.
what would be the best target to pick things up at on the way to Aulani from the airport? Thanks!
ersonally, we did most of our shopping at Costco for large quantity items and then supplemented with items from Safeway which has more variety. I haven't particularly liked the selection at Target in Hawaii. Costco also has the best price on gas.
Another thing to keep in mind especially those who are used to WDW, Aulani will not store your groceries in a cooler if you arrive before your room is ready.
Really??? I know of NO timeshare of any size that won't store your cold stuff. I must call Aulani re: this as I'm planning our 4th Aulani trip for next year. WDW DVC resorts as well as Vero Beach always store our cold stuff. We just need to let them know we have cold items. Thanks for posting that, Hilarys.
If you arrive at Aulani around 2 or 3 pm with check in at 4 pm, you should be fine. Keep in mind that bell services has a limited amount of refrigerated space to store items for guests and since we usually arrive around 11 am at HNL, we go directly to the resort first, drop off luggage, relax around the pool and then go out grocery shopping since we have a large family and stay for a week. Have fun!
Please report back - I would love to know if they have changed the policy. It really took me by surprise as It is never an issue at WDW and I thought I had done it before at Aulani. I guess I could see it becoming an issue for them because so many flights to Hawaii arrive early (from the west coast we usually land at 11:30) and maybe they had space issues?? It ended up working out fine for us as our villa ended up being ready before 4 so the groceries did not sit too long (and they were at least in an air-conditioned bell storage room).
then I just searched past threads and read this, so it is a possibility that it does exist but is limited. This was posted back in 2016 though
We have always brought the cooler resuable bags when traveling to Hawaii, just because of the general heat and the paper bags that Safeway uses. They don't weight much and are easy to pack in a suitcase. Use them.
Okay. Well, I just called Aulani and spoke with Ulu. I am shocked and surprised to find out that it IS true that Aulani does NOT have adequate cold storage to offer keeping our refrigerated items until our rooms are ready like virtually every other TS I know of. Since Aulani is such a new resort, it is REALLY hard to believe that no planning was made for walk in cooler storage for TS guests, since TS owners tend to stay for longer than average stays. Very disappointing.
What Ulu DID say was that they WILL store your cold items if you are doing a ROOM CHANGE while staying at Aulani. But not for check in........