Sarangel
<font color=red><font color=navy>Rumor has it ...<
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2000
I'm so EXCITED!! We booked as last minute trip at then end of October because of a killer airfare from San Jose to Oahu ($300 RT), and there was availability at Aulani for the 8 days in an Oceanview Studio. Since it's only the 3 of us: Me, DH, and DD(9), it's perfect!
Since I didn't know anything about Aulani before now (except that it existed) I went directly into trip planning overdrive. I discovered that:
* Aulani is about 1/2 an hour away from Honolulu (unless traffic sux, which it purports to do during rush hour)
* that there's a Costco about 5 miles away (key, since we're travelling on a pretty tight budget)
* that DVC members get parking and laundry for free (also critical - Parking is otherwise $35/day and being able to do laundry - just ask at the front desk for tokens - even though we're in a studio without a washer/dryer saves us having to check bags)
* the Starlight Hui and Family Movie night are must see for us (and, again, free... Are you sensing a theme here?)
* the Menehune Adventure game looks like a great way to kill an afternoon (unless I miss my guess, it looks like an adptation of the Kim Possilbe game that they had at Epcot)
* the pool looks and feels like a water park
* there will be construction going on while we're there (and that others have received point credits for that fact, but nobody's said anything to us about such a credit)
* the snorkling off the beach at Aulani is *meh* so we'll probably be happier going elsewhere for our fish fix.
* that Auntie's House looks a lot like the Kids Club on the Cruise Line, something DD's ecstatic about
* that there's a room (bar?) full of Hawaiian words and their translations (something DD & I will spend some time on since she's on independent study for the week)
* that there are craft lessons, hula lessons, and storytelling about native Hawaiians
* Length of Stay resort mugs are $18.99 (I'm assuming not including tax) each, which works out to be $2.71/day. Not too bad for hot drinks, soda, and ??
*Whew*
That's like a weeks worth of stuff to do without ever leaving the resort.
Is there anything I've missed about Aulani itself that I'll could need to know?
We've decided to eat as much as possible in the room, and will be packing in food - bagels, poptarts, fruit, cereal for breakfasts... bread, PB & J, lunchmeats etc for lunches and pasta sauce, calzones, and mac & cheese for dinners. Any suggestions for easy (studio possible) meals?
More updates as we go through this week
Sara
Since I didn't know anything about Aulani before now (except that it existed) I went directly into trip planning overdrive. I discovered that:
* Aulani is about 1/2 an hour away from Honolulu (unless traffic sux, which it purports to do during rush hour)
* that there's a Costco about 5 miles away (key, since we're travelling on a pretty tight budget)
* that DVC members get parking and laundry for free (also critical - Parking is otherwise $35/day and being able to do laundry - just ask at the front desk for tokens - even though we're in a studio without a washer/dryer saves us having to check bags)
* the Starlight Hui and Family Movie night are must see for us (and, again, free... Are you sensing a theme here?)
* the Menehune Adventure game looks like a great way to kill an afternoon (unless I miss my guess, it looks like an adptation of the Kim Possilbe game that they had at Epcot)
* the pool looks and feels like a water park
* there will be construction going on while we're there (and that others have received point credits for that fact, but nobody's said anything to us about such a credit)
* the snorkling off the beach at Aulani is *meh* so we'll probably be happier going elsewhere for our fish fix.
* that Auntie's House looks a lot like the Kids Club on the Cruise Line, something DD's ecstatic about
* that there's a room (bar?) full of Hawaiian words and their translations (something DD & I will spend some time on since she's on independent study for the week)
* that there are craft lessons, hula lessons, and storytelling about native Hawaiians
* Length of Stay resort mugs are $18.99 (I'm assuming not including tax) each, which works out to be $2.71/day. Not too bad for hot drinks, soda, and ??
*Whew*
That's like a weeks worth of stuff to do without ever leaving the resort.
Is there anything I've missed about Aulani itself that I'll could need to know?
We've decided to eat as much as possible in the room, and will be packing in food - bagels, poptarts, fruit, cereal for breakfasts... bread, PB & J, lunchmeats etc for lunches and pasta sauce, calzones, and mac & cheese for dinners. Any suggestions for easy (studio possible) meals?
More updates as we go through this week
Sara