Aulani Honeymoon?

ReginaMBK

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 24, 2019
Hello fellow Dis-ers! My fiance and I are heading to Oahu on our honeymoon in November and are planning to spend at least a couple nights at Aulani. We are huge Disney fans, and APHs so we are hoping to take advantage of the current resort discount. A few questions as we need to book soon... What's it like in early November? Will we feel out of place as a couple w/o kids? How many days do you recommend (or, how many days is too many)? What kind of excursions did you love? How's the bar situation?

For background, we're in our late 20's. We worship the Mouse. This is my first time in Hawaii, his 2nd. We are not island hopping, but plan to stay at 2 different places on Oahu, or 2 different areas of the island. We are active and adventurous. We're not big on character dining.

Thanks for all your wisdom in advance!
 
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! DH and I spent a portion of our Hawaiian honeymoon at Aulani - trip report is in my signature.

Will we feel out of place as a couple w/o kids?
We certainly didn't. Much like WDW, all shapes, sizes, and family dynamics were there. You do have to be ok with having kids around and all that comes with it (i.e. noise), but if that's not a concern, you won't feel out of place at all.

How many days do you recommend (or, how many days is too many)?
We spent 6 days at Aulani, with 3 full resort days. This was perfect for us as we felt like we got to experience everything we wanted to at the resort, while still doing the most important sightseeing we wanted to do. We had also spent 3 nights in Waikiki at the start of our trip, so some of our sightseeing was done during that portion. I think if you just want to stay at Aulani without leaving, 3-4 days is plenty. Aulani is in Ko Olina which is an isolated part of the island, with very little in walking distance. You're essentially in a tourist bubble there.

What kind of excursions did you love?
I highly recommend a rental car which will allow you the freedom to do what you want. Aulani only offers a handful of organized excursions, so you lose any flexibility and are stuck with their times and offerings. They are also pricey, and some do not include transportation at all.

With that said, on our sightseeing days away from Aulani, we visited the North Shore/Dole Plantation/Waimea Valley on one day and Kualoa Ranch/Byodo In Temple/Kailua Beach on another day. We visited Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head through organized tours from our Waikiki hotel. Waikiki has many more offerings in terms of organized tours/excursions, and most of those offer transportation. We chose to do Pearl Harbor as an organized tour because they facilitated getting the tickets for us, and we chose Diamond Head as a tour because the bus drops you off at the start of the trail. Parking can be far and limited otherwise.

How's the bar situation?
Aulani has two bars - Off the Hook and Olelo Room. We had drinks at both, but Olelo Room was more of the evening hang out with live music (Ben & Maila were amazing!). I will say that nightlife was non-existant at Aulani. Really, in all of Hawaii in general. There was nothing going on in Ko Olina after 8pm, and the resort was very quiet. We were usually back in the room by 9-10pm each night. It did allow us to have early mornings though, which was fine.

There is also Monkeypod across the street from Aulani which has two bars and a great happy hour! We ate there twice - loved the food!

We are not island hopping, but plan to stay at 2 different places on Oahu, or 2 different areas of the island. We are active and adventurous.
We loved staying in Waikiki because it has a very different vibe than any place else we visited in Hawaii. Two very different ends of the spectrum when compared to Aulani, so you'd get to experience both. Everything in Waikiki is walkable, and as I mentioned, tons of bus tours available to places that are not walkable. We opted not to have a rental car during this portion of our stay because of this, which saved us money because parking can be expensive and difficult in Waikiki. We stayed at the Waikiki Beach Marriott which we liked for its central location, making everything convenient. A lot of people love Hilton Hawaiian Village because of its resort-like amenities, but we knew we were getting that at Aulani so we decided against it. Plus, Hilton Hawaiian Village is at the far end of the Waikiki strip making for long walks. Next time, I'd stay the Moana Surfrider - beautiful, unique, and centrally located. The bar around the Banyan tree on the waterfront was awesome! If you decide not to stay in Waikiki, I still think its worth visiting at least once!

There is also Turtle Bay Resort in the North Shore which is beautiful. You may recognize it from movies. The North Shore was our favorite area we visited and would be good for hikes and other activities, but it would have a similar resort style feel as Aulani.

Since you're adventurous, that's another good reason to rent a car. Many excursions are designed for all types, so may be tamer than what you might want.

We're not big on character dining.
Same. We ate at the character breakfast at Makahiki and it was a mad house. Loud and chaotic. Reminded us of Chef Mickey's at WDW. We really enjoyed the non-character dinner buffet at Makahiki. Breakfast at AMA AMA was one of our favorite meals of the trip!
 
Hello There! New to the Boards. My husband and I will be staying Alulani for two nights post Disney Cruise coming up in May. Any suggestions for activities / restaurants to dine at would be great that are highly recommended? Thanks in advance.
 
Will we feel out of place as a couple w/o kids? How many days do you recommend (or, how many days is too many)? What kind of excursions did you love?

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I travel solo all the time and have never felt out of place at Aulani. You can even hang out by the adult pool to minimize contact with kids if that is a concern. IMO, one can never have too many days at Aulani. I normally spend a week there when I visit because I own there. However, the minimum amount of time I’ve spent was four nights when I was island hopping. There is a beach and lagoon at the resort, as well as a pool and lazy river. Unfortunately, you will have to determine whether you want the resort to be the vacation or just a hotel room.

Aulani offers a limited number of excursions. If you plan to stay in Waikiki, all tours leave from there so there’s really no need to do one from Aulani. I’ve done the catamaran one, Polynesian Cultural Center, and Circle Island tours through Aulani. Since Aulani is on the western side of the island, consider visiting the North Shore and Waimea Valley while you’re there. It’s a shorter drive than from Waikiki. I also did shark diving(no cage), a helicopter tour, and paddle board lessons/outrigger canoe rides on my own during my recent visit. All were great! Have fun planning your trip.
 


Hello There! New to the Boards. My husband and I will be staying Alulani for two nights post Disney Cruise coming up in May. Any suggestions for activities / restaurants to dine at would be great that are highly recommended? Thanks in advance.

Aulani is at the Ko Olina marina and there are several restaurants there and at the surrounding accommodations: Four Seasons, Marriott, and Beach Villas at Ko Olina. AMA AMA(Aulani), Mina’s Fish House (4 Season’s), and Roy’s are some of the high end restaurants in the area, but you can also find more moderately priced places to eat across the street (Monkeypod Kitchen, Eggs n Things, Just Tacos, etc—Ko Olina Center).

If you would like to share the type of activities you’re interested in, people can point you in the right direction. Since you will only be there for two nights, you’ll have to decide if you want to do the Aulani activities ( see their website for a sample list in the Daily Iwa) or something off site.
 
Aloha!! We leave Feb 5th on our Honeymoon! We are spending 5 days in DLR then heading off to Aulani for 8 days! I have scheduled us for two tour days, one for the North Shore and one for Pearl Harbor. The rest of the time is going to be resort/relax time for us. With reservations at AMA AMA during the sunset for dinner, and we are going to the Luau on Valentine's day. We have never been to Hawaii or Disneyland. We go to WDW every other year. This is not only a honeymoon for us but also a once in a lifetime vacation. I've been watching vlogs on youtube and reading the forums, and I think that Aulani is a great place to honeymoon if you are a fan of the Mouse. It is STILL Hawaii after all and from I've seen and read, it's only slightly Disney. I wish you the best!! It's so exciting!!!
 
I’m jealous of you honeymooners being allowed to use the over-18 pool, which looked wonderfully uncrowded, quiet and relaxing to us, even over the Christmas week. Off-limits to us as we had a 14-year old but enjoy it!
 


I’m jealous of you honeymooners being allowed to use the over-18 pool, which looked wonderfully uncrowded, quiet and relaxing to us, even over the Christmas week. Off-limits to us as we had a 14-year old but enjoy it!
So I saw in another post about American Idol, while that is set to be done before we get there, it also said something about the Adult only pool being refurbished. I haven't received any emails regarding this, so I hoping that it will also be done by Feb10th.
 
Aulani is at the Ko Olina marina and there are several restaurants there and at the surrounding accommodations: Four Seasons, Marriott, and Beach Villas at Ko Olina. AMA AMA(Aulani), Mina’s Fish House (4 Season’s), and Roy’s are some of the high end restaurants in the area, but you can also find more moderately priced places to eat across the street (Monkeypod Kitchen, Eggs n Things, Just Tacos, etc—Ko Olina Center).

If you would like to share the type of activities you’re interested in, people can point you in the right direction. Since you will only be there for two nights, you’ll have to decide if you want to do the Aulani activities ( see their website for a sample list in the Daily Iwa) or something off site.

Thank you for the restaurant recommendations! I was thinking something either at Kualoa Ranch or Sea Life Park, but is true that some transport might not be available at the hotel itself? We were thinking of getting an Uber or Lyft ride from the hotel if that is the case.

I figure pretty much we're going to relax post cruise. Maybe head to Laniwai spa as well.
 
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I travel solo all the time and have never felt out of place at Aulani. You can even hang out by the adult pool to minimize contact with kids if that is a concern. IMO, one can never have too many days at Aulani. I normally spend a week there when I visit because I own there. However, the minimum amount of time I’ve spent was four nights when I was island hopping. There is a beach and lagoon at the resort, as well as a pool and lazy river. Unfortunately, you will have to determine whether you want the resort to be the vacation or just a hotel room.

Aulani offers a limited number of excursions. If you plan to stay in Waikiki, all tours leave from there so there’s really no need to do one from Aulani. I’ve done the catamaran one, Polynesian Cultural Center, and Circle Island tours through Aulani. Since Aulani is on the western side of the island, consider visiting the North Shore and Waimea Valley while you’re there. It’s a shorter drive than from Waikiki. I also did shark diving(no cage), a helicopter tour, and paddle board lessons/outrigger canoe rides on my own during my recent visit. All were great! Have fun planning your trip.

So, thanks for all this. My honeymoon was back in November. We did actually feel out of place as childless adults. Maybe it was because the adult only pool was closed, but wow. I expected kids running around but can't tell you the number of diapers changed on pool chairs next to me/in direct view. Plus, kids in the hot tubs?? That cannot be safe. Other than the pool area we really enjoyed it...
 
So, thanks for all this. My honeymoon was back in November. We did actually feel out of place as childless adults. Maybe it was because the adult only pool was closed, but wow. I expected kids running around but can't tell you the number of diapers changed on pool chairs next to me/in direct view. Plus, kids in the hot tubs?? That cannot be safe. Other than the pool area we really enjoyed it...
There’s also a very nice split-level adults only hot tub, which I did actually get to try when our daughters were otherwise occupied. And fortunately everyone was very respectful of the over-18 rule.

By the way the best dinner we had all trip was at Noe Italian at the Four Seasons next door. Eyewateringly expensive but absolutely amazing food and a beautiful setting. Highly recommended and can be reserved on Open Table.
 
There’s also a very nice split-level adults only hot tub, which I did actually get to try when our daughters were otherwise occupied. And fortunately everyone was very respectful of the over-18 rule.
We didn't have that experience 😣 oh well, I guess it just means we have to go back when all the pools are open to get the full experience and then make a judgement 😂
 
We went last January for our honeymoon and had a great time. We didn't feel out of place with no kids. We spent a lot of time in the adults only pool and hot tub. I don't think the resort was terribly crowded when we were there so that may have had something to do with it, but we didn't feel overwhelmed by kids. Definitely book a couples massage in the spa and enjoy the outdoor water garden. We were in Aulani for 12 days. We did Pearl Harbor, the Dole Plantation, Kualoa Ranch twice (VIP movie tour one day -- truly excellent! The other day we did a combination - 1 hr ATV tour, 1 hr ocean voyage, and 1 hr jungle expedition), North Shore, and some other exploring my husband organized. We also had a few resort-only days, and spent many other afternoons there in the pool. I would definitely do it again.
 
So, thanks for all this. My honeymoon was back in November. We did actually feel out of place as childless adults. Maybe it was because the adult only pool was closed, but wow. I expected kids running around but can't tell you the number of diapers changed on pool chairs next to me/in direct view. Plus, kids in the hot tubs?? That cannot be safe. Other than the pool area we really enjoyed it...
So share with us...where else did you stay on Oahu and how was it?? I intend to go back to Hawaii in 2022, and I can’t imagine doing Oahu without Aulani BUT it’s good to know other options just in case.
 
So share with us...where else did you stay on Oahu and how was it?? I intend to go back to Hawaii in 2022, and I can’t imagine doing Oahu without Aulani BUT it’s good to know other options just in case.
We ended up spending the other half of our time in Kauai. We did have one night at the Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki. To be fair, I'd pick Ko Olina over Waikiki ANY DAY and liked Aulani as a resort over the Royal Hawaiian. I'd be curious to hear people's opinions on the other resorts in the Ko Olina area.
 
We ended up spending the other half of our time in Kauai. We did have one night at the Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki. To be fair, I'd pick Ko Olina over Waikiki ANY DAY and liked Aulani as a resort over the Royal Hawaiian. I'd be curious to hear people's opinions on the other resorts in the Ko Olina area.
Oh yeah, Waikiki was one and done for me unless it’s on free nights or something. Where did you stay on Kauai? My plan is splitting between Maui and Kauai but gosh it’s hard to not go to Aulani for just a couple of nights!
 
Oh yeah, Waikiki was one and done for me unless it’s on free nights or something. Where did you stay on Kauai? My plan is splitting between Maui and Kauai but gosh it’s hard to not go to Aulani for just a couple of nights!
I agree - one and done. It was NUTS. We stayed on Poipu Beach, at Koa Kea Resort. It is probably one of my top 3 favorite hotels I've ever stayed at. There were a couple nearby too that looked nice. I'd avoid staying on the north side of the island though (Princeville). It's almost too resort-y.
 
I agree - one and done. It was NUTS. We stayed on Poipu Beach, at Koa Kea Resort. It is probably one of my top 3 favorite hotels I've ever stayed at. There were a couple nearby too that looked nice. I'd avoid staying on the north side of the island though (Princeville). It's almost too resort-y.
I’d heard good things about the Marriott or Hilton (I forget) in Poipu. We had a blast snorkeling at Poipu (and seeing several seals!); it’s definitely an area we enjoyed. Thanks for the info!
 

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