First Trip - Transportation/Restaurant Questions

Mousemom

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 20, 2005
Let me apologize if this post seems to be long winded, I feel a bit overwhelmed the more I read and make plans for our first Hawaii Trip. Our vacation is 2 1/2 weeks away and I have a few questions. We'll be staying at Aulani for 7 nights. My husband, myself, and adult son. We have another family we are traveling with, all adults. Hopefully those of you who have been to Aulani can give me advise on how to get around the island and the restaurants close to the resort. We are planning a couple day trips. We'll be doing an excursion to Pearl Harbor but will pay to do the excursion from the hotel, which takes you there on a bus. We also want to go to Haleiwa, Waimea Bay, the Pineapple Plantation, and spend time looking around the North Shore. One night we want to go to Waikiki to shop and eat. We will also want to get a few groceries to keep in the room. Our thought is to rent a car for 2 days. The rest of the time we are thinking of using Uber if we need to go somewhere. Can someone let me know if there is Uber available. I read that there is a Target close to the resort. How far from the resort is it? I also read that there is a resort bus that will take you to Waikiki, is that true? Thanks for any and all information - I really appreciate any additional thoughts or advise.
 
I don't think that there is uber on oahu. There is no free shuttle from aulani to Waikiki. If you want to minimize car rental time then i would just use the alamo at Aulani to rent a car two separate times. There are restaurants within walking distance to Aulani that you can enjoy. If it were me i would rent a car on day two. I would do pearl harbour on my own first thing in the morning and then continue on to Waikiki for shopping and eating. On the way home stop and get groceries. Then on another day rent a car again and do the plantation, haleiwa, waimea and the rest of the north shore. It will be a long day but very doable. We always do a day similar to this and it is always a highlight. Budget about $100 a day for car rental. You can return the car after the rental place closes and let the valet know it is a rental. They will park it for you so you won't incur any parking fees. However, if you are staying DVC which doesn't have parking fees, then i would just rent a car from the airport for the duration of your stay.
 
There are several restaurants across the street from Aulani that are an easy walk if you decide not to eat on property. We normally hit the grocery store and enjoy most of our meals in the room but enjoy the splurge at Monkey Pod and Pizza Corner. During our last trip, we spent our first couple of nights on Waikiki beach before heading over to Aulani. If you are on Waikiki beach on Friday nights, head down toward the Hilton Hawaiian Village and catch the free fireworks show from the beach.

We found that the rental car costs where less expensive if you do not pick-up your car at the airport. We are a family of four so we only needed one car and opted to keep it the entire time we were there. This allowed us to head over to the grocery store one exit up from Aulani to hit the local grocery stores. The Target is near this store as well. Takes about 10 minutes to get to either in your own car. There is also a Costco on the route to Aulani if you are looking for other grocery items. Any of these options will have better prices than the ABC Store across the street or the C-Store at the hotel. When we went last year, a gallon of milk was about $6 at the Safeway store while it was $6 for 1/2 gallon at the C-Store.

Enjoy your trip. It will be magical.
 


Ko Olina, where Aulani is located, is a somewhat secluded area. It's a planned development ("tourist trap") so there's not much in the immediate vicinity aside from the restaurants and shops PP mentions. Uber is on Oahu, but can be few and far between in Ko Olina. We were there last September so it might have improved since then, but there were times when a car was not in the vicinity (greater than 20 minutes) or a car was not available at all. So based on my own experience at the time, I wouldn't call Uber reliable.

We had a rental car from Alamo for a week and it was around $300, which I didn't think was terrible. We stayed on points though and had free parking, so that makes a big difference. I do think renting a car is crucial or else you will spend a fortune on taxi fare or excursion costs and you won't have any flexibility.

As mentioned, Target is about a 10 minute drive. One exit up on the freeway. Quick cab ride.
 

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