1 night only?

mfleeting

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
We are planning to make a stop in Hawaii on our way back from Australia next year. Our plan was to go to the Outrigger Waikiki hotel and stay there for 3-4 nights. But now the youngest (she will be 15 when we go) is asking for Aulani. We’ve been before a few years ago but had like 5 nights there and the kids were younger.

Would 1 night really be worth it for a 15 and 17 year old or should I spring for 2 nights and cut our Waikiki stay short?
 
Personally I wouldn't cut Waikiki short - your teens will have more things to do and see in Waikiki then at Aulani. Aulani would be fine - maybe go there for the first night then back to Waikiki. If you are flying in from Australia, you will arrive early morning so even if your room is not ready, you can access the lazy river, pools, slides etc. Then the checkout day you could stay until late afternoon before moving onto Waikiki.
 
I agree with PP that teens that age will likely be more interested in the livelier atmosphere of Waikiki and Waikiki Beach. We spent 3 nights in Waikiki after arriving from NY, so we were up early our first few days due to the time change. There were many more places open and thins to do early in the morning because so many others are up early from the time change as well. Aulani is so isolated in Ko Olina, that we found it pretty dead in the mornings and evening.

I think one night at Aulani is enough if you're able to arrive early on Day 1 and leave late on Day 2. This will give enough time to enjoy the pools and lagoon, as well as a couple of meals at Aulani.
 
Yeah me and my husband really enjoyed Waikiki last time - our kids not so much just because they liked the pools at Aulani. I think I’m going to just do the 1 night and promise her surfing lessons in exhange for the 2nd night. We are wanting an easy relaxing few days in Hawaii after traveling for a month so that’s why me and my husband want Waikiki.
 


you could also consider doing 1 night waikiki, then 1 night aulani, then 1-2 nights waikiki again (assuming your trip is 3-4 days total in hawaii)

with aulani in the middle you'd be free to pack up and check out early morning from waikiki to head to aulani and basically have a full day there on checkin, then could spend the next day there as well, giving you 2 days there and by the time you get back to waikiki you're room should be ready.

its a lot more hassle than putting aulani at the beginning or end, but it gives you an option for 2 days at aulani but paying for only 1 night. the plus side to this would be that aulani doesn't have much to do at night, while waikiki does, and you only spend 1 night away from waikiki by putting waikiki in the middle (also technically gives you the option to bail on aulani early on that 2nd day if waikiki has more appeal)
 
It really depends on your teenagers' interests. For me, I hated Waikiki as a teenager because there were too many people, too loud, too crowded, too many stores, etc. I came from a small town and the big city was too overwhelming. The only good thing was that we got to visit relatives that lived in Honolulu. I wanted to be on the North Shore, on a quiet beach, or exploring nature, not in the city.

The big question here is: Why does your child want to go to Aulani? What is it that they want to do or see there? Is it something exclusive to Aulani, or something they can do elsewhere but don't know that yet?

A one-night reservation at Aulani can get you two full days to enjoy the quieter beach (on a weekday, at least; it's busy at the weekend), character experiences, pools, etc. Will both of them enjoy that, or will you have one complaining the whole time? If the latter, perhaps going to Aulani as a day trip would be a better option: grab a character meal at Makahiki (if characters are the draw), wander around, enjoy the beach, enjoy Mickey shave ice, and then head on to something else, like a late afternoon adventure at Kualoa Ranch or whatever else you choose. It could be a nice way to reach out and see more of the island that day.
 
We are wanting to go to Hawaii just to relax. We will be coming off of 4 weeks of traveling around New Zealand and Australia and this will give us some nice relaxing beach time before we head back to the Texas heat. So no exploring the island for us. At this point I don’t care if my kids don’t want Waikiki beach because it’s what me and my husband want so we’re staying there for a few days period.

I have one kid that no matter what we do he will complain (unless he is allowed to stay in his room and go nowhere). My youngest wants Aulani because she enjoys the pools and does not have to have her brother or one of us at her side the whole time in pools. She will equally enjoy the beach at Waikiki she just feels like she is watched more even though she really is not she just does not see us checking up on her at the pools as much. I may add Aulani on for 1 night on either our first night or last night in Hawaii just so she gets her pool time. I feel like it will be a huge waste just spending 1 night there but I did forget if we get there early and stay late it’s really 2 days.
 


Here’s hoping you get some beach time here in Australia too! Our beaches are as stunning as Oahu.
 

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