Talk to me about Aulani

[BeachMouse1]

So my wife and I are canceling a transatlantic cruise in May. Thinking of doing a week in Aulani have never been. It’s just me and my wife no children
1. Is a week enough?
2. Is there enough to do there?
3. Are there enough dining options or is a lot of going off property
4. If have to go off property a lot is a different hotel/resort a better option?
5. Would be flying from Florida so I know that’s a day each way
6. Am DVC am I better off in a DVC studio or hotel room we don’t cook in the room
any input appreciated

 

[OKW Lover]

Lots of questions and you'll get lots of different answers. Here are mine:
1 Yes, just bearly
2 There is plenty to do on the Island. You're not just going to Aulani, you're going to Oahu which has much to see and do
3 There are dining options. But many more just next door or across the street. Even more a short distance down the road.
4 No, you're fine at Aulani. But having a car is important to seeing the whole island.
5 We live in Fl and fly to Aulani every couple of years. Yes, you'll be worn out by the time you get there and jet lagged. It will take you a couple of days to adjust
6 Go with the studio for sure.

 

[Van@Disney]

I highly recommend looking at a few utube videos. Just make sure they have been posted 2022-23.

 

[BeachMouse1]

Lots of questions and you'll get lots of different answers. Here are mine:
1 Yes, just bearly
2 There is plenty to do on the Island. You're not just going to Aulani, you're going to Oahu which has much to see and do
3 There are dining options. But many more just next door or across the street. Even more a short distance down the road.
4 No, you're fine at Aulani. But having a car is important to seeing the whole island.
5 We live in Fl and fly to Aulani every couple of years. Yes, you'll be worn out by the time you get there and jet lagged. It will take you a couple of days to adjust
6 Go with the studio for sure.

Just curious why do the say the studio for sure?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Just curious why do the say the studio for sure?

If you don't own at Aulani you won't be able to book the Hotel Room on points. There are only 8 such units and they are never available for more than 1-2 nights, tops, at 7 months.

 

[BeachMouse1]

If you don't own at Aulani you won't be able to book the Hotel Room on points. There are only 8 such units and they are never available for more than 1-2 nights, tops, at 7 months.

Im looking at cash stay and the offer you the option of hotel room or studio

 

[AstroBlasters]

Lots of questions and you'll get lots of different answers. Here are mine:
1 Yes, just bearly
2 There is plenty to do on the Island. You're not just going to Aulani, you're going to Oahu which has much to see and do
3 There are dining options. But many more just next door or across the street. Even more a short distance down the road.
4 No, you're fine at Aulani. But having a car is important to seeing the whole island.
5 We live in Fl and fly to Aulani every couple of years. Yes, you'll be worn out by the time you get there and jet lagged. It will take you a couple of days to adjust
6 Go with the studio for sure.

I would agree with everything here except that my wife likes really likes that the 1BD villas have laundry and a full kitchen if you have the points.

Food can be expensive on the island and having a place to put some groceries (Foodland and Target about 10-15m drive from Aulani) for breakfast or a pre-made lunch can help to keep the cost of some meals down if staying for a week.

Laundry…. day clothes in tropical humidity , beach/pool clothes, night clothes, lots of showers…. laundry is very nice to have in unit.

 

[DisneyDad0315]

So my wife and I are canceling a transatlantic cruise in May. Thinking of doing a week in Aulani have never been. It’s just me and my wife no children
1. Is a week enough?
2. Is there enough to do there?
3. Are there enough dining options or is a lot of going off property
4. If have to go off property a lot is a different hotel/resort a better option?
5. Would be flying from Florida so I know that’s a day each way
6. Am DVC am I better off in a DVC studio or hotel room we don’t cook in the room
any input appreciated

1. Yes, a week is enough.
2. My family and I love to hang out at the lazy river and the beach. My kid thinks Aulani has a water park attached to it. Super fun. Character meet and greets are fun.
3. We do the character breakfast ($49 per adult, $29 per child) one time during out stay. We try to stay on property and will eat across the street. There is Monkey Pod restaurant and an Island Market that sells all kinds of hot food in there. We enjoy it.
4. We always get a rental car since we have small kids in car seats. It allows us to explore the island if we want to. We split up our stays in Oahu. We will stay at Aulani for 3-4 nights and at a Marriot in Waikiki for 3-4 nights.
5. We fly out of the West Coast so the flight is under 6 hours.
6. I enjoy the studio because it comes with a microwave. The hotel room (at least the DVC hotel room) does not have a microwave. Also the hotel room has 2 queen beds and the DVC studio has a queen bed and pull out couch.

We love Aulani and will be there this December and next June

 

[Noodlez]

Im looking at cash stay and the offer you the option of hotel room or studio

You mentioned in your post that you were DVC so I believe the assumption was that you intended to book with points. If you're planning a cash stay then that comes from a completely different inventory so you may prefer a hotel room. I've never stayed in one as I've only booked with my points, but I have tried a studio, a 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom. A studio works well as there are only two of us and we like to have use of the fridge and toaster, even if we're not doing any real cooking.

 

[pjacobi]

The standard travel rule is that it takes 1 day to recover from jetlag for every time-zone crossed during travel. Hawaii is 6 time zones aways from the US East coast, so you need 6 days to fully recover. Most of the jetlag can be recovered in a couple days, but you need the full number of days to fully recover from all effects from jetlag.

Flying west to Hawaii is much easier to recover. Much harder is flying East. Make sure you have a recovery day planned for your East Coast return.

I always plan a 14 day minimum for either Hawaii or Europe. That guarantees one weak without jetlag fog.


-Paul