Something I wish I had brought is...?

[happymommy]

We own at the Marriott, but it's right next door so here goes.

Small collapsible cooler. Bought a cute one at Walmart in Kapolei, and it goes with us now. We bring beer & snacks down to the pool. Every time.

Laundry pods -even though housekeeping has soap, we do a ton of laundry (we pack light so do it daily). Dryer sheets!

Shopping bags - now that Target will not provide them. They are banned if they're a certain thickness in Hawaii.

We always bring rafts or ring floats (check clearance at Target end of summer). There are two places to fill them at the Marriott, by each towel station. I just leave them in the bins for passing along to others when we leave.

We used to bring snorkels, but ours are old so need replacement. I'll buy them at Costco next trip (that's where we've bought them here at home, and Costco always has them). My kids have been using them since they were about 7 or so, but they outgrew the children's ones years ago. We used to bring 4 sets, but realized after a few trips that we only need 2. All four of us are never in the water at the same time! DD has a prescription mask (need to get the lenses replaced soon though).

We cook in Hawaii way more than we do on any other vacation (we go for at least 2 weeks, next year I'll be there with DD for 4 weeks, DH and DS will join us after the first couple). I always bring spices, small condiments, marinade mixes, pancake mix packets, anything that we'll only need a small amount of. That way I can just buy the larger items there. Also I bring my own tongs (a couple pair) for grilling (I like mine), aluminum foil, Rubbermaid storage containers for leftovers, baggies, etc.... Yes, I've been known to have one suitcase dedicated to this stuff. I buy nonstick cooking spray, oil, etc... at Target. We grill a lot!

Next trip since DD and I will be in a studio for 2 weeks, I plan on bringing a small electric skillet. We can make all sorts of things with it, like grilled cheese, breakfast (all sorts of things), plus I can make pasta in it. We usually eat out for lunch when we go out and about, and in the evening she's too tired to go out. Of course I can grill too.

 

[twodogs]

This is not brought from home, but I wished we bought boogie boards for our kids on day one and just passed them on when we checked out. They loved the free ones be that Aulani has, but they were tough to come by and we ended up stalking the rental shack many days to get 2 for our two kids at some point in the day. I did see families checking out 6 or more at a time?? Maybe they had a lot of kids...

 

[alohamom]

Also I bring my own tongs (a couple pair) for grilling (I like mine),

This is a great idea, thank you, going to add to my list as we are at the Marriott for 5 nights before our week at Aulani and I know from our last stay that the Marriott grills are open all day

 

[happymommy]

I've been known to bring my own very small nonstick skillet too! The ones in timeshares are often not that good, and I make eggs all the time. My $3 ones from Ikea are better than what they have! There are tongs in the condo, but I use often two in one meal, and I like mine!

 

[sgrap]

Your Costco Membership - bring it, and use it. You won't regret it.

Yes!!! Saved us a ton of $ and is great for a quick lunch or dinner on your way to or from something. More than half our meals were from Costco food. Worked out great for our family. You can also get gift cards and use them if you don't have a membership.

 

[sgrap]

Make sure to bring your own beach towels if you are going to other beaches, and I brought a beach-friendly type blanket, which was great. I brought Tide pods which were awesome. Did a ton of laundry for our family of 6. I was glad we each had 2 swimsuits because they were in continual rotation. We all had water shoes which we wore quite a bit. We had to buy Solarcaine when our son got sun burned (he is an adult and doesn't think he needs as much sunscreen as I think!) and I wished we had brought that instead of buying it at the gift shop. I did bring aloe gel but not the pain relieving stuff. I brought 2 soft sided coolers, which worked great. When we were going on a long trip, we put sandwiches in the smaller one with a small ice pack, and then put that inside the bigger ones with ice packs and frozen water bottles in between. Kept everything very cold despite the hot car. They folded up easily in out luggage.

 

[cgattis]

We own at the Marriott, but it's right next door so here goes.

Small collapsible cooler. Bought a cute one at Walmart in Kapolei, and it goes with us now. We bring beer & snacks down to the pool. Every time.

Laundry pods -even though housekeeping has soap, we do a ton of laundry (we pack light so do it daily). Dryer sheets!

Shopping bags - now that Target will not provide them. They are banned if they're a certain thickness in Hawaii.

We always bring rafts or ring floats (check clearance at Target end of summer). There are two places to fill them at the Marriott, by each towel station. I just leave them in the bins for passing along to others when we leave.

We used to bring snorkels, but ours are old so need replacement. I'll buy them at Costco next trip (that's where we've bought them here at home, and Costco always has them). My kids have been using them since they were about 7 or so, but they outgrew the children's ones years ago. We used to bring 4 sets, but realized after a few trips that we only need 2. All four of us are never in the water at the same time! DD has a prescription mask (need to get the lenses replaced soon though).

We cook in Hawaii way more than we do on any other vacation (we go for at least 2 weeks, next year I'll be there with DD for 4 weeks, DH and DS will join us after the first couple). I always bring spices, small condiments, marinade mixes, pancake mix packets, anything that we'll only need a small amount of. That way I can just buy the larger items there. Also I bring my own tongs (a couple pair) for grilling (I like mine), aluminum foil, Rubbermaid storage containers for leftovers, baggies, etc.... Yes, I've been known to have one suitcase dedicated to this stuff. I buy nonstick cooking spray, oil, etc... at Target. We grill a lot!

Next trip since DD and I will be in a studio for 2 weeks, I plan on bringing a small electric skillet. We can make all sorts of things with it, like grilled cheese, breakfast (all sorts of things), plus I can make pasta in it. We usually eat out for lunch when we go out and about, and in the evening she's too tired to go out. Of course I can grill too.

I love my electric skillets.....can you tell me how you make pasta in yours?? Sounds like a great idea!

 

[cgattis]

Yes they provide in a cash reservation. At other resorts like AKL, BLT in WDW which we also did cash reservations, I've noticed they sometimes didn't look to see that all laundry detergent had been used and forgot to leave more. So I just leave a nice note with our daily tip for the mousekeepers and ask them to leave whatever we need.

So if I'm not DVC but do a cash reservation of a villa, do I still get housekeeping and/or towels every day? Understand I still pay for parking :/ Hoping I don't have to pack towels!

 

[BobNed]

So if I'm not DVC but do a cash reservation of a villa, do I still get housekeeping and/or towels every day? Understand I still pay for parking :/ Hoping I don't have to pack towels!

Yes, you will get daily housekeeping, including towels. You do not need to bring towels with you. If you need more, ask housekeeping. You can get as many pool towels as you need (or want) too. No additional charge.

And yes, you do have to pay for parking at $37.00 a day. Only those staying on a points reservation get parking included.

 

[happymommy]

I love my electric skillets.....can you tell me how you make pasta in yours?? Sounds like a great idea!

I think macaroni could work fine - just not make too much at once. Boil it in an inch of water?

Haven't tried but may do so! DD likes mac & cheese.

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

What size coffee filters do the coffee makers at Aulani use? We are staying in a studio, I am not sure if the makers are different for the different room types

We stayed in a studio last trip since there were only two of us. The machine is what you would typically find in a hotel room with the pods. I don't know if you could use a filter in it or not. I would say you don't need to bring these. There is a well stocked ABC store across the street and a Target 10 minutes away. If you want them they would be easy to find and buy.

 

[Drusilla99]

Curious, doesn't Aulani provide laundry detergent? We are not renting points, but paying cash and I swear I read that Aulani provides laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent daily...am I wrong? Thanks!

I used the 2 provided detergents the first day, and day 2 they left extra...not an issue getting what you need.

I would've brought bug spray...bug & flys were bad where we sat by the pool.

 

[blessed2BaMama]

Bumping this up as I'm getting ready to start packing!

 

[ms tom morrow]

Multiple tiny bottles of hand sanitizer! We spent a lot of time down at the pool/lazy river/beach and didn't always want to find a restroom to wash our hands before having a snack or meal. We left our one bottle on a pool chair one day and it mysteriously disappeared. Not the biggest deal in the world, but I was kicking myself for not bringing more!

I also wore way more swimsuits and dresses/coverups than I anticipated because we would go into/out of the water several times throughout the day and I didn't want to put on a wet bathing suit. Definitely take that into consideration. I also wish I had brought more than one hat!

 

[nkereina]

Something I brought and didn't need - bug spray. We didn't really do any jungle excursions, so we didn't need it. We did hike Diamond Head, but bugs were never an issue.

Also, a rain jacket. Not sure if rain is sparse on the coasts of Hawaii or if we just got lucky, never needed the rain coat. Also never needed the jeans/long pants I brought. Next trip, I'll bring more shorts and leggings and fewer jeans for dinners/nights. Also didn't need a hoodie ever.

Something I wish I had brought - maybe an extra carry on bag. I underestimated how much room we'd need to bring back souvenirs, and we didn't have an opportunity to go to the post office. I did buy a larger reusable shopping bag that had a zipper and put many of our souvenirs in that to carry on, but would have felt better about it if they were in their own designated bag.

Something we were glad we had - we bought goggles, floats, and an air pump to inflate the floats at Target in Kapolei. Great for the lagoon. You do need the air pump, though, because Aulani will not inflate them for you and many of the floats require a pump of some kind (you can't do it with your mouth).