CaptainAmerica
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2018
In terms of a short stay, the hiccup in your itinerary isn't where you're choosing to stay, it's the attractions you're trying to visit. Those three destinations are about as far as imaginable from one another. The idea of a "home base" that's centralized to Pearl Harbor, the North Shore, and the PCC doesn't really work no matter where you're staying. Waikiki isn't really going to put you any closer to those things than Aulani would.Your post gets to the heart and confusion of where to make a home base on Oahu for a short stay. In reality, Aulani is probably not the smartest move. Our stay on Oahu will be a blur — Pearl Harbor, North Shore, Cultural Center are the goals of the group. I'm a Diamond Hilton Honors and your mention of Embassy Suites and the Hampton Inn -makes a lot of sense.
Polynesian Cultural Center - 1:12 from Aulani, 1:04 from Hilton Hawaiian Village
North Shore (using Giovanni's Shrimp Truck as a proxy) - 0:41 from Aulani, 0:51 from Hilton Hawaiian Village
Pearl Harbor Visitors Center - 0:32 from Aulani, 0:27 from Hilton Hawaiian Village
This meme that "Aulani is far from everything" and "Waikiki is close to everything" is nonsense unless you plan to spend your entire time in and around Honolulu.
If your focus is getting a lot done in a short amount of time, I'd consider replacing the Polynesian Cultural Center with the Bishop Museum, and replacing the North Shore with Diamond Head. With that itinerary, staying on Waikiki would save you a ton of driving. But if you're dead set on PCC and the North Shore, Aulani isn't any further than staying on Waikiki.