What to book ahead at Aulani, etc.

[lovetotraveltx]

Now, that we are officially going, I have a few questions?

How do I put in my room requests? E-mail, phone?

Don't have young kids but anything I need to book before I get there, food...

When and where do you get your stuff for Rainbow Reef and how does it work if you want length of stay?

How is the buffet restaurant, (sorry don't remember name), for dinner at Aulani?

Where's your favorite spot for lunch at the resort?

If you wanted to grab a quick pastry for breakfast where would you go? Any egg sandwiches or anything grab and go for breakfast.

We will have a car the whole time.

Where was your cheapest car rental?

Anyone find a great local type plate lunch and/or sushi place close to Aulani.

What drives, ie, north shore are not to miss from Aulani. Doing Waikiki for 2 nights first.

Good surf school for a 21-year old or should I wait for Maui?

Is monkey pod happy hour every day and what's your favorite?

Sorry--I'm sure there will be more!

Thank you!

 

[amym2]

Now, that we are officially going, I have a few questions?

How do I put in my room requests? E-mail, phone?

Don't have young kids but anything I need to book before I get there, food...

When and where do you get your stuff for Rainbow Reef and how does it work if you want length of stay?

How is the buffet restaurant, (sorry don't remember name), for dinner at Aulani?

Where's your favorite spot for lunch at the resort?

If you wanted to grab a quick pastry for breakfast where would you go? Any egg sandwiches or anything grab and go for breakfast.

We will have a car the whole time.

Where was your cheapest car rental?

Anyone find a great local type plate lunch and/or sushi place close to Aulani.

What drives, ie, north shore are not to miss from Aulani. Doing Waikiki for 2 nights first.

Good surf school for a 21-year old or should I wait for Maui?

Is monkey pod happy hour every day and what's your favorite?

Sorry--I'm sure there will be more!

Thank you!

I called Member Services a few months before our trip to put in our room request.

I also booked lunch at Ama Ama and the breakfast buffet at Makahiki before our trip, but since we were there in a slow season (Oct) I don't think we really needed ADRs. If you want to have any spa services, you can book those ahead also. I got a same-day reservation for pedis for DD and I.
We really enjoyed the Ulu Cafe, which is a counter service restaurant at Aulani. Their pastries are yummy (loved the muffins) and they are open something like 6am-8pm. They have yummy flatbreads and various other lunch and dinner foods.

For off-property dining, we ate at Monkeypod (yes, I think they have the half-price apps daily, kids liked the half-price pizza), Pizza Corner (good pizza across from Aulani), and Koa Pancake House (maybe 10 min away in Kapolei, cheap local eats).

We ended up renting through Enterprise using an Entertainment Book discount and paid $160 (including taxes and fees) for a full-size car for 5 nights. Others have recommended Costco, but we don't have a membership. The deal I got was just as good. Initially I'd reserved through Discount Hawaii Car Rental, but the rates through Enterprise ended up being better. I booked the car initially at about 9 mos out and then changed the reservation 5 or 6 times before hitting the best rate 3 weeks out.

DD9 did surf lessons through Hawaiian Fire and they were awesome! We did the pick-up from Aulani (although I booked through Hawaiian Fire because it was cheaper than booking through Disney). Instructors were fantastic and safety was their top priority. The beach they use is a local beach and was practically empty.

We drove to the North Shore with stops at the Dole Plantation (touristy, but we have kids who wanted to do the maze), Turtle Beach (tons of turtles, although on our first visit their 4 years ago there were none), Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, and the Polynesian Cultural Center. We stopped at Ted's Bakery in Sunset Beach on the way back for pie (thought it was just ok). We skipped Haleiwa Town this time because we'd been there before and knew the kids would be bored, but Matsumoto's Shave Ice is great there. The shave ice at Aulani was delicious also (get the snow cap).

 

[abthomas]

Thanks for your questions and the answers. Just started looking into ideas for our trip in June.

 

[yolie912]

I called Member Services a few months before our trip to put in our room request. I also booked lunch at Ama Ama and the breakfast buffet at Makahiki before our trip, but since we were there in a slow season (Oct) I don't think we really needed ADRs. If you want to have any spa services, you can book those ahead also. I got a same-day reservation for pedis for DD and I. We really enjoyed the Ulu Cafe, which is a counter service restaurant at Aulani. Their pastries are yummy (loved the muffins) and they are open something like 6am-8pm. They have yummy flatbreads and various other lunch and dinner foods. For off-property dining, we ate at Monkeypod (yes, I think they have the half-price apps daily, kids liked the half-price pizza), Pizza Corner (good pizza across from Aulani), and Koa Pancake House (maybe 10 min away in Kapolei, cheap local eats). We ended up renting through Enterprise using an Entertainment Book discount and paid $160 (including taxes and fees) for a full-size car for 5 nights. Others have recommended Costco, but we don't have a membership. The deal I got was just as good. Initially I'd reserved through Discount Hawaii Car Rental, but the rates through Enterprise ended up being better. I booked the car initially at about 9 mos out and then changed the reservation 5 or 6 times before hitting the best rate 3 weeks out. DD9 did surf lessons through Hawaiian Fire and they were awesome! We did the pick-up from Aulani (although I booked through Hawaiian Fire because it was cheaper than booking through Disney). Instructors were fantastic and safety was their top priority. The beach they use is a local beach and was practically empty. We drove to the North Shore with stops at the Dole Plantation (touristy, but we have kids who wanted to do the maze), Turtle Beach (tons of turtles, although on our first visit their 4 years ago there were none), Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, and the Polynesian Cultural Center. We stopped at Ted's Bakery in Sunset Beach on the way back for pie (thought it was just ok). We skipped Haleiwa Town this time because we'd been there before and knew the kids would be bored, but Matsumoto's Shave Ice is great there. The shave ice at Aulani was delicious also (get the snow cap).

Hi.. How much was the Hawaiian fire excursion. Interested in that one.. I liked the idea of pick up at Aulani...

Thanks!!

 

[DisSarahK]

Hi.. How much was the Hawaiian fire excursion. Interested in that one.. I liked the idea of pick up at Aulani...

Thanks!!

Here is the info for Hawaiian Fire:
http://www.hawaiianfire.com/Irons/info-prices/info-prices

I just called and booked them yesterday. They are highly recommended and highly reviewed everywhere. We are looking forward to our excursion with them. I booked directly with them, but Aulani does also book with them as well as with one other surfing company.

 

[CailinFig]

How is the buffet restaurant, (sorry don't remember name), for dinner at Aulani?

Where's your favorite spot for lunch at the resort?

If you wanted to grab a quick pastry for breakfast where would you go? Any egg sandwiches or anything grab and go for breakfast.

We will have a car the whole time.

Where was your cheapest car rental?

Is monkey pod happy hour every day and what's your favorite?

!

We ate at Makahiki for both breakfast and dinner. I personally really liked their breakfast...my only other character breakfast to compare it to is Goofy's Kitchen at DLR and Makahiki blows it out of the water. The loco mocos are really tasty. We also ate there for my bday dinner. The kids and I ate a la carte but DH ate at the buffet. He said the buffet was good and priced appropriately for resort food.

We ate at Monkeypod twice and both for happy hour. I think they pretty much have it daily except for holidays. We both enjoyed their pizzas and truffle fries.

There's an ABC type like place across the street, about a 10 minute walk. It's called Island Country markets. They serve breakfast masubis and little breakfast plates (kind of like the Zippy Packs?)

Our car rental was through Costco. I checked rates about two months prior to our trip and prices went down so I rebooked. Wherever you rent you might want to recheck prices a month or two before you head out.

 

[lovetotraveltx]

Thank you!