I have made it through 51 pages of comments, wow. Lots of great information here. Hoping people that have been more recently post more information here because this thread began several years ago and I am sure lots has changed since then. Wonder what new restaurants have been found etc. Thanks and hoping for more.
We did the same prior to our trip last May! Actually a lot of the information posted here is still good info. Our trip was absolutely amazing - there's no place like Aulani and I am dying to go back. Actually I'd probably check out more islands but wish I could get to Aulani quickly for a short trip like I can Walt Disney World!
Our highlights were:
- Diamond Head (leave very early in the morning for this, it's busy and hot as the day goes on) the views are absolutely incredible. We did this our first full day there so that we used jet lag to our advantage in helping us get out the door early
- brunch at the Haiku location of Haleiwa Joe's... sooooo so good! They have a smallish variety of items but every single thing we tasted was fantastic quality. And all you can eat of their famous prime rib! Worth the drive (beautifully scenic), worth the wait on a table, worth every penny of the reasonable price! $26.95 adult buffet, $4.50 passion fruit mimosas, $9 cocktails (trust me that this is a pretty good deal for Hawaii food prices)
- We drove to the Kona brew pub location out at the Koko Marina one night at my partner's request, he was feeling a little cabin fever after being at the resort all day. We're beer people so it was worth it for us - they had some unique beer options I haven't seen on the mainland and the food was pretty good. Worth it if you're over that way or if you like beer a lot! You can get flights of everything they have - the harder to find/more unique options are on a chalkboard, so ask if you can't see anything but the standard menu options
- People had us so worried about pool chairs and chair hogs but we didn't even use pool chairs very much, couldn't resist the siren song of the GORGEOUS lagoon and always vacant chairs there. There are even small chairs you can bring close to the surf. When we couldn't find pool chairs we just put our towels on top of our shoes and when we were done at the pool went back to the beach
- sunset at the resort is not to be missed! I know "magical" is overused but it truly is spectacular and the air just comes alive with the buzz of all the guests enjoying the beauty
- Photopass was so different from what I'd expected based on the parks photographers. There were at least three photopass photographers on the beach each evening prior to sunset and we could have gone back to each one an unlimited number of times every night. I learned after the first day which photographers I liked better than the others and to say no to some of the more unflattering poses but we got hundreds of photos, quite a lot of very nice shots to choose from. We got engaged during our Aulani stay and I'd contemplated setting up a private photo session (fiancé is not good at keeping secrets so i knew it was coming) and am glad I didn't spend the extra on a private shoot, as we had plenty of nice photos just from photo pass. The only other times we saw photographers besides sunset, we were in bathing suits, so I said no. I know others have seen them during the day but we were either at the beach or out exploring the island I guess.
- just driving around and "getting lost" was fun and entertaining in itself. We drove to the north shore, got Matsumoto's shave ice (yes, worth it), found some totally unpopulated beaches, and had lunch at the Beach House. Holy cow this meal was amazing! Stop by if you get a chance, we loved it! Pork grilled cheese is everything I dreamt of.
- I found the resort enchanting and had a hard time balancing my desire to explore the island with my desire to simply stay put and soak in the sights and sun. Aulani is a great home base for this - we did the "every other day" method like a lot of folks do and we had enough time at the resort to do Ama Ama, Pizza Corner, and Monkey Pod twice. We found ourselves wanting to be at/near the resort at night... it seems the early to bed/early to rise routine rubbed off on us so we didn't venture out to a lot of places that we'd put on our wish list. That said, it was worth it to me to sacrifice some of my desired dinner locations to enjoy the resort at sunset. Monkey pod is what I would call "pretty good" but it was expensive - pizza corner also good and more budget friendly. Ama Ama, while a budget buster, was some of the best food I've ever had paired with great wine and service. The termite bugs were only a problem for 5 minutes. Yes, gross, but not all that bad. We got treated to a fireworks show that night! The wedding happening that evening at the resort next door (I'm blanking, is it a Four Seasons?) had arranged for a fireworks show so we got a front row seat from Ama Ama during dessert and it was so special - felt like it was just for us!
Enjoy your trip. I can't wait to go back to Hawaii!!!
