catmegs
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2013
Just returned back from our second trip to Aulani with our kids (ages 8,7, and 2) and my husband’s father. We stayed 10 days total (all at Aulani) and of course had a magical time. Just thought I’d jot down a few tips I picked up along the way to share.
- There is no slow season anymore! Three years ago we picked the beginning of November at Aulani based on crowd calendars for the other Disney resorts. That trip it was well under 50% capacity and felt nearly deserted during the week. The exact same week this trip- WOAH. During the week they were running at 80% capacity and nearly sold out on the weekend. The cast members echoed this- there is no longer a quiet season. The resort now feels well and truely like a disney park now, rather than a laid back hideaway (also a lot more conferences and large weddings- kind of cheapens the feel a little).
- We paid cash for the reservation rather than points, so to avoid the parking fee we did 3 x 1 day car rentals from Alamo. It was super easy to rent from the desk downstairs, and the car didn’t have to be returned till midnight to valet. I highly recommend going around the island, even with small children. My kids were so overtired and overstimulated from the resort that driving around really did them a world of good. We didn’t even really have an itinerary… just drive for an hour or so, stop at a random beach for a swim, and keep driving. It was some of my best memories of the trip.
- Don’t expect to see characters, unless you pay for a character buffet. Last trip the meet and greets were plentiful with no lines. I’d say there were maybe a third of the meet and greets now, with massively long lines (a lot of Japanese honeymooners will wait for- no joke- up to an hour before a meet is scheduled). I am so glad I didn’t get my kids excited for characters because we never got a single photo. No more spontaneous character sighting either (e.g. Goofy by the pool).
- The cast members at Aunties said that they usually reach capacity at the kid’s club just before 5pm (for all those parents heading out to dinner). I would check my older two in for drop-in play by 4:30pm to get them a spot.
- Go to the public beach at Paradise Cove!! (detailed instructions here on Disboards). In the mornings we would see sea turtles, and the snorkelling was super easy for the kids with lots of fish. And as a bonus, go in the evenings (I think around 5 or 6) and you can watch some of the Paradise Cove Luau. They bring the guests down to the beach for a couple fishing demonstrations and some hula dancing.
- We had a room in the Ewa Tower and watched Aulani’s Luau from the room balcony twice. It is so long- no way my kids would have sat thru it if we paid for it!
- Best thing I ever packed- this waterproof ID card holder www.amazon.com/WITZ-Safe-Waterproof-Badge-Holder/dp/B00DKNB6UC . I also bought a waterproof phone case, but found it really clunky to wear around. The ID holder was perfect, clipped it to my bathing suit and then always had my room key handy. So good when you have to buy food or go to beach rentals and can’t be bothered walking back to your chair for your card.
- On hindsight I wish we waited a little longer to bring our youngest (age 2). Traveling was way harder than we anticipated, and everything was a little overwhelming for her. She was so tired and so cranky. At least there were plenty of other toddlers around having tantrums too!
- Food on the island- we ended up shopping at Target and also two different supermarkets. I found the packaged food to be a little more expensive than mainland. Milk was a lot more expensive. And fruit and vegetables outrageously more expensive. Hardly any selection of fruit and veg either. We ate pretty poorly over those 10 days (coupled with the serious lack of healthy variety at Aulani).
