jerseygal
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2008
THANKS to all for the wonderful trip tips that made this trip even more special and easier!
Trip included my husband, 1 adult son, 27 and younger son, 18 who had just graduated from high school days earlier!
Eldest son lives out of the house now so I feel SO BLESSED that we could experience this incredible vacation together! 
Very HAPPY with our 2 BR lo, Long Wing Ewa Tower, Island View, 10th Floor, Rooms 1077 and 1079! Although an Island View Category, awesome view of the ocean, overlooked Starlit Hui, beautiful wedding chapel to the right. So impressed with the CM's who were always so pleasant and friendly! Resort was immaculate!
Didn't have any problem getting an umbrella on the beautiful beach with chairs!
LOVED the adult hot tub and the adult pool where it was so quiet. Lounge chairs at the adult pool were so comfy. So cool to look out over the ocean while in the 2 level hot tub!
Highlights of the trip were Kualoa Ranch and Pearl Harbor Arizona Memorial which we did on weekend days to avoid traffic. We signed up in advance on the Kualoa Ranch website(got 10% off) for the Full Day Adventure with ATV which consisted of 1 Hr ATV, Ocean Voyage Tour, Movie Tour, and Jungle Expedition. Each activity was 1 hr long. We all LOVED the ATV which we were first time riders. The views of the mountains and ocean were INCREDIBLE as was the views from the Ocean Voyage Tour which was on a Catamaran! A good barbecue was included midday which consisted of delicious ribs and chicken, rice, salad, cold drinks, chili, sweet pineapple, pineapple cake,. ATV was our 3rd activity and prepare to HAVE FUN and get DIRTY! After Pearl Harbor, we had a lunch reservation at Dukes in Waikiki, at the Outrigger Waikiki which was SO GOOD! Lovely tableside view of the ocean! It was a fun change to experience more waves than the protected lagoon at Aulani. A lot of high end shopping in Waikiki. Next trip we will stay 2 nights possibly in Wailiki before Aulani to experience the many choices of restaurants and the hotel "strip" scence.... Very busy as it was a Sunday!
Food in Hawaii is EXPENSIVE, but I was prepared for that thanks to the tips!
Nachos were SO GOOD at Dukes. We parked at the Ohana East Hotel for the afternoon, about a block and a half away from Dukes. Dukes validates parking for up to 3 hours and we paid the difference of about $6 which was very reasonable. Had a GREAT meal at Dukes!
While at Aulani, for dinners, ate twice at Monkeypod, once on property at Ama Ama( beautiful table and incredible view of the sunset), twice at Chucks Steak House(at Marriot Ko Alina Vacation Villas), FABULOUS FRESH SALAD BAR, once at Roys(portions SMALL)at Ko Alina Golf Club, once at LeNonne Italian in Kapolei. All were GREAT except for LeNonne(don't bother...husband and older son had a fettachine with chicken which were good, but younger son and I had chicken parm and a ziti type of dish with red sauce which tasted like ragu from a jar)!
Did poolside dining for lunches at Aulani, chicken strips and delicious coconut shrimp at Mamas Snack Stop which were all good, and Pizza Corner across the street by Monkeypods which was very good NY type pizza! Food on property for lunch in my opinion was not that outrageous. All dinners were on expensive side, but I was prepared for that. First night for groceries for the morning, went to ABC store across street because we were so exhausted from traveling..., bought juice, milk, bagels, eggs, cereal, and bananas, very expensive. Prices were much better at Walmart or Safeway, which we did for the remainder of the week. Ate one breakfast out at Koa Pancake House in Kapolei right by Safeway which was EXCELLENT! Excellent blueberry and macadamia nut pancakes, but portions were HUGE! Could have split with my husband!
At AmaAma two of us had the ny sirloin which was EXCELLENT and two had the Catch of the Day which was also very good! For celebrating my sons graduation, they served him with a gratis dessert and the three of us shared a Crème Catalana which was very good! Portions good size at Ama Ama and waiter very good!
Husband and older son golfed at Ko Alina Golf Club...They are good golfers and said the course was great and the views were beautiful! EXPENSIVE though...I got one round discounted through e mail at $139, second round was $179 for Aulani guests, club rentals $55 each...With tax $448 day, which is high, but they said the course was AWESOME!
Both sons shared a paddleboard at Aulani beach, did half hour each.. Had fun doing that.. DVC discount, 10% off the rate of $30 for the hour.
Purchased a lovely coral color Aulani sweatshirt at the gift shop and my husband purchased a long sleeve navy Aulani warmup type of jacket in the other clothing shop on the lobby level, 10% DVC discount which was nice. Have picture license for ID with you while using DVC card...
Sons purchased souveneirs and t shirts at the ABC Store in Waikiki...lots of t shirt type stores there...ABC store probably has the same merchandise across the street from Aulani.
We all used the fitness center which we enjoyed! Very NICE!
Husband and I did a lot of walking on the beautiful path along the ocean toward Ko Alina Marriott Villas. Don't miss the AWESOME VIEW of the mountains alongside the JW Marriott Hotel path to the right of Aulani...Go down a slight drop path and the view is INCREDIBLE!!! WOW! There was a family having pictures taken there with the beautiful views on the rocks!
So nice seeing all the beautiful brides and couples getting married on the beach all day also!
Loved having the rental car with a lot of room for our tall boys. .Rented a mini van from Budget at the airport for the week.
Had a red eye from airport at 8:10PM so we enjoyed our last day of paradise at the beach and pools! Evidentally, procedure must have changed in the day/locker room as you are given a ONE TIME entry card by Concierge to use which allows you to go in, use showers(only 3 I believe in ladies room) and change for flight. They told us lockers are for a 1/2 hour designed to "use while showering". They told us that maintenance staff empties lockers after a half hour so that everyone has access to lockers. We went into day room at 4:00PM and it was starting to get busy! In my opinion, they should have more than 3 showers considering the size of Aulani.
Met SO MANY nice people while at the resort, many were DVC members! Enjoyed speaking and sharing the beauty of Aulani! Shout out to the nice family from Red Bank, NJ! What a coincidence!
CAN'T WAIT TO RETURN, hopefully for our 40th Anniversary in 9 years! Next time, it will be my husband and I and we will do 2 nights in Waikiki and maybe 6 at beautiful Aulani! Might consider Maui too!
Glad we did the NONSTOP on United from Newark instead of a layover. We all agreed we would rather "gut out the long flight" at one time, rather a layover. Time passed watching movies and television, reading, and trying to rest. A few people suggested pricing Hawaiian Air from JFK next time!
Hope that when we return for our 40th that there are a few more restaurant choices that are either on property or nearby!
Only downside was third day, I had an allergic reaction in my eye to "something". By end of third day, was VERY RED! Aulani CM's recommended Kunia Urgent Care Center in Waipahu which we were VERY PLEASED with. Wait was minimal, very professional, and the doctor was great and board certified! Gave me antibiotic ointment with steroid to reduce inflammation and my eye was clear the next day! My trip insurance came in handy as the trip insurance will reimburse our deductible from our Cigna primary health insurance and any other unreimbursed medical costs. Visit would not have been cheap as Kunia Urgent Care charged $255 for the office visit. Obviously, would have had no choice, but having the trip insurance to reimburse anyway made it nice.
Very PLEASED whenever I dialed the front desk from the room, the CM's picked up practically on the 2nd ring! Very efficient!
We had a GREAT TIME at Aulani! Loved the fact that it was sunny everyday and NO HUMIDITY AT ALL! Perfect weather, only rained for 2 hours midday one of the days!
I hope that anyone going in the future has an awesome vaca at Aulani!Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!
Trip included my husband, 1 adult son, 27 and younger son, 18 who had just graduated from high school days earlier!
Eldest son lives out of the house now so I feel SO BLESSED that we could experience this incredible vacation together! Very HAPPY with our 2 BR lo, Long Wing Ewa Tower, Island View, 10th Floor, Rooms 1077 and 1079! Although an Island View Category, awesome view of the ocean, overlooked Starlit Hui, beautiful wedding chapel to the right. So impressed with the CM's who were always so pleasant and friendly! Resort was immaculate!
Didn't have any problem getting an umbrella on the beautiful beach with chairs!
LOVED the adult hot tub and the adult pool where it was so quiet. Lounge chairs at the adult pool were so comfy. So cool to look out over the ocean while in the 2 level hot tub!Highlights of the trip were Kualoa Ranch and Pearl Harbor Arizona Memorial which we did on weekend days to avoid traffic. We signed up in advance on the Kualoa Ranch website(got 10% off) for the Full Day Adventure with ATV which consisted of 1 Hr ATV, Ocean Voyage Tour, Movie Tour, and Jungle Expedition. Each activity was 1 hr long. We all LOVED the ATV which we were first time riders. The views of the mountains and ocean were INCREDIBLE as was the views from the Ocean Voyage Tour which was on a Catamaran! A good barbecue was included midday which consisted of delicious ribs and chicken, rice, salad, cold drinks, chili, sweet pineapple, pineapple cake,. ATV was our 3rd activity and prepare to HAVE FUN and get DIRTY! After Pearl Harbor, we had a lunch reservation at Dukes in Waikiki, at the Outrigger Waikiki which was SO GOOD! Lovely tableside view of the ocean! It was a fun change to experience more waves than the protected lagoon at Aulani. A lot of high end shopping in Waikiki. Next trip we will stay 2 nights possibly in Wailiki before Aulani to experience the many choices of restaurants and the hotel "strip" scence.... Very busy as it was a Sunday!
Food in Hawaii is EXPENSIVE, but I was prepared for that thanks to the tips!
Nachos were SO GOOD at Dukes. We parked at the Ohana East Hotel for the afternoon, about a block and a half away from Dukes. Dukes validates parking for up to 3 hours and we paid the difference of about $6 which was very reasonable. Had a GREAT meal at Dukes!
While at Aulani, for dinners, ate twice at Monkeypod, once on property at Ama Ama( beautiful table and incredible view of the sunset), twice at Chucks Steak House(at Marriot Ko Alina Vacation Villas), FABULOUS FRESH SALAD BAR, once at Roys(portions SMALL)at Ko Alina Golf Club, once at LeNonne Italian in Kapolei. All were GREAT except for LeNonne(don't bother...husband and older son had a fettachine with chicken which were good, but younger son and I had chicken parm and a ziti type of dish with red sauce which tasted like ragu from a jar)!
Did poolside dining for lunches at Aulani, chicken strips and delicious coconut shrimp at Mamas Snack Stop which were all good, and Pizza Corner across the street by Monkeypods which was very good NY type pizza! Food on property for lunch in my opinion was not that outrageous. All dinners were on expensive side, but I was prepared for that. First night for groceries for the morning, went to ABC store across street because we were so exhausted from traveling..., bought juice, milk, bagels, eggs, cereal, and bananas, very expensive. Prices were much better at Walmart or Safeway, which we did for the remainder of the week. Ate one breakfast out at Koa Pancake House in Kapolei right by Safeway which was EXCELLENT! Excellent blueberry and macadamia nut pancakes, but portions were HUGE! Could have split with my husband!
At AmaAma two of us had the ny sirloin which was EXCELLENT and two had the Catch of the Day which was also very good! For celebrating my sons graduation, they served him with a gratis dessert and the three of us shared a Crème Catalana which was very good! Portions good size at Ama Ama and waiter very good!
Husband and older son golfed at Ko Alina Golf Club...They are good golfers and said the course was great and the views were beautiful! EXPENSIVE though...I got one round discounted through e mail at $139, second round was $179 for Aulani guests, club rentals $55 each...With tax $448 day, which is high, but they said the course was AWESOME!
Both sons shared a paddleboard at Aulani beach, did half hour each.. Had fun doing that.. DVC discount, 10% off the rate of $30 for the hour.
Purchased a lovely coral color Aulani sweatshirt at the gift shop and my husband purchased a long sleeve navy Aulani warmup type of jacket in the other clothing shop on the lobby level, 10% DVC discount which was nice. Have picture license for ID with you while using DVC card...
Sons purchased souveneirs and t shirts at the ABC Store in Waikiki...lots of t shirt type stores there...ABC store probably has the same merchandise across the street from Aulani.
We all used the fitness center which we enjoyed!
Very NICE!Husband and I did a lot of walking on the beautiful path along the ocean toward Ko Alina Marriott Villas. Don't miss the AWESOME VIEW of the mountains alongside the JW Marriott Hotel path to the right of Aulani...Go down a slight drop path and the view is INCREDIBLE!!! WOW! There was a family having pictures taken there with the beautiful views on the rocks!
So nice seeing all the beautiful brides and couples getting married on the beach all day also!
Loved having the rental car with a lot of room for our tall boys. .Rented a mini van from Budget at the airport for the week.
Had a red eye from airport at 8:10PM so we enjoyed our last day of paradise at the beach and pools!
Evidentally, procedure must have changed in the day/locker room as you are given a ONE TIME entry card by Concierge to use which allows you to go in, use showers(only 3 I believe in ladies room) and change for flight. They told us lockers are for a 1/2 hour designed to "use while showering". They told us that maintenance staff empties lockers after a half hour so that everyone has access to lockers. We went into day room at 4:00PM and it was starting to get busy! In my opinion, they should have more than 3 showers considering the size of Aulani.Met SO MANY nice people while at the resort, many were DVC members! Enjoyed speaking and sharing the beauty of Aulani! Shout out to the nice family from Red Bank, NJ! What a coincidence!
CAN'T WAIT TO RETURN, hopefully for our 40th Anniversary in 9 years! Next time, it will be my husband and I and we will do 2 nights in Waikiki and maybe 6 at beautiful Aulani! Might consider Maui too!
Glad we did the NONSTOP on United from Newark instead of a layover. We all agreed we would rather "gut out the long flight" at one time, rather a layover. Time passed watching movies and television, reading, and trying to rest. A few people suggested pricing Hawaiian Air from JFK next time!
Hope that when we return for our 40th that there are a few more restaurant choices that are either on property or nearby!
Only downside was third day, I had an allergic reaction in my eye to "something". By end of third day, was VERY RED! Aulani CM's recommended Kunia Urgent Care Center in Waipahu which we were VERY PLEASED with. Wait was minimal, very professional, and the doctor was great and board certified! Gave me antibiotic ointment with steroid to reduce inflammation and my eye was clear the next day! My trip insurance came in handy as the trip insurance will reimburse our deductible from our Cigna primary health insurance and any other unreimbursed medical costs. Visit would not have been cheap as Kunia Urgent Care charged $255 for the office visit. Obviously, would have had no choice, but having the trip insurance to reimburse anyway made it nice.
Very PLEASED whenever I dialed the front desk from the room, the CM's picked up practically on the 2nd ring! Very efficient!
We had a GREAT TIME at Aulani!
Loved the fact that it was sunny everyday and NO HUMIDITY AT ALL! Perfect weather, only rained for 2 hours midday one of the days!I hope that anyone going in the future has an awesome vaca at Aulani!Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!
Did you go to the North Shore at all?? I think we are going to plan to do surf lessons up there one morning then hit the shrimp trucks for lunch. I am considering adding the Kualoa Ranch thing in although I'd think I'd rather find a zip line excursion somewhere either on Oahu or Maui. Did you like the Ranch tour enough that you'd say you'd do it again?!
I am SURE that you will LOVE IT! 
