Aulani twice in one year?

justme0729

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 11, 2014
I also asked this on the DCL board but knowing that my answers would favor towards DCL, I wanted to ask here too. Is going to Aulani twice in one year (7-8 nights each) too much? We have never been but we could do Aulani spring break and then again in december with friends 9 months later. Or, we could do a 7 night eastern carribean cruise on DCL for the same price and then go to Aulani once in December with friends. What would you pick?
 
I have done both Aulani and a DCL cruise (Western Caribbean) somewhat recently. I much preferred Aulani over the cruise personally however if I was doing two trips 9 months apart I would not do Aulani twice. There isn't that much to do at Aulani, most of the fun stuff is in other parts of the island and while I am sure you wouldn't see everything there is to see on Oahu in one trip you would see enough that I think going back so soon would feel like too much.
 
I agree, Aulani is great but there’s not enough to fill two trips. If you were to visit Hawaii twice in one year, I’d spend one trip on Oahu/Aulani and the second trip island hopping.
 
Agreeing with PPs. I would do the cruise over Spring Break and Aulani in December. I also agree that there's not that much to do with that many nights at Aulani, especially with its secluded location. But if you were spending a few nights at Aulani and island hopping the rest of the time, that may change my answer.

In addition, a cruise over Spring Break is good because you won't have to worry as much about crowds. The cruise may be sold out, but your limited to the capacity of the ship. At Aulani, when they are at capacity, you still can have day visitors and crowds elsewhere on the island due to the influx of people there for Spring Break.

My last point is that the eastern Caribbean will have perfect weather over Spring Break, and you'll still get good weather at Aulani in December too.
 


My family and I have been to Aulani four times and we have sailed on DCL three times. Our first two visits to Aulani were 7 months apart. We first visited in November 2011 and then our second visit was on June 2012. We felt that the trip was fun on both visits because we went with two different groups of friends/family.

There are many things to do on the island of Oahu. As I stated before, my family has been there four times and we have not hiked every trail, seen every tourist site or visited all the great eateries. We usually rent a car to explore the island. Whatever decision you make, you can't go wrong with either choosing to go to Aulani twice or choosing an Aulani and DCL trip.
 
My family and I have been to Aulani four times and we have sailed on DCL three times. Our first two visits to Aulani were 7 months apart. We first visited in November 2011 and then our second visit was on June 2012. We felt that the trip was fun on both visits because we went with two different groups of friends/family.

There are many things to do on the island of Oahu. As I stated before, my family has been there four times and we have not hiked every trail, seen every tourist site or visited all the great eateries. We usually rent a car to explore the island. Whatever decision you make, you can't go wrong with either choosing to go to Aulani twice or choosing an Aulani and DCL trip.

Having been to Aulani 4 times, including twice in one year, I agree! :cutie:
 
Since 2011, our family has visited Oahu normally twice a year. My husband and I have been over 20 times since 1992 - we still have not seen and done everything!

In saying that I would always jump at the opportunity to visit a new place - my husband is the reason we visit Oahu so often and it is extremely hard to get him to agree to a new place.

I don’t think you can go wrong either way.
 


if you absolutely need to see aulani without christmas decorations...then the 2nd trip in the spring would be a must.

the decorations aren’t very extensive...and are almost completely restricted to the lobby, the front desk/dvc sales area, and near the gift shops (theres also christmas themed aulani merch). its not really that hard to ignore them or pretend that they aren’t there either.

it can also be colder than what you might envision hawaii being like in december (not really cold...but not the upper 80s to 90s some might expect/want).

north shore in the winter can have much bigger waves...so if swimming at one of those beaches was a must, spring is a much better time to do so...but there are plenty of other beaches that typically have much smaller waves when the big ones hit the north shore. and over 7-8 days theres should be at least 1 or 2 days where there aren’t giant waves (could also be no big waves at all)

theres really not a lot that would be only be possible to do in the spring vs december...and probably the biggest thing would be aulani with vs without the christmas decorations (the few of them they put up)
 
We stay next door at the Marriott, and our normal trip is at least 2 weeks. Coming from the East Coast, a week isn't long enough (and we always did summer vacation as spring break would be too difficult to adjust back to school after only one week).

Last summer I was there a month. A lot of Marriott owners go for 2-4 weeks there.

I'd rather do 2 weeks in a row than a week twice in a year, but for us in the summer it's a 6 hour time change.

We find plenty to do, and also relax as it's our vacation home.

It's your vacation time, so I'd say if you love it go for it. If it were me, I'd try to pick one longer trip there, though.
 
Our third trip to Aulani will be in September, and our trips have been 18 months apart. The Hawaiian Experience in each case has been two weeks or more. We have paired Aulani with a cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii, with stops on 3 other islands, or with a week on Maui.

The best thing about Hawaii in the winter is there are whales!! However, the second best thing in MO is being in the water. SO, even though I love cruising, I would go to Aulani twice if I were you.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top