Aulani in mid-June or late August?

[CaptainAmerica]

I've only been to Aulani in the winter and while we love it then, it's always been right on the edge of too cool to swim. Our next trip will be Summer 2024 and I'm trying to decide between mid-June and late August. I'm not concerned about weather, prices, or surf conditions, I'm mainly concerned about crowds. Is there any discernable difference between the two?

 

[maxbuffmelvin]

I've never been in the winter or Mid-June, but my observations from my recent mid-Aug trip in regards to crowds:

• I didn't use the pool in the mornings, but I noticed plenty of pool chairs avaliable around 9AM. When I went to the pool in the early afternoon, I usually found a chair
• The towel stand near Menehune Bridge had long lines around 8 AM, but the towel stand near Keiki Cove rarely had a long wait.
• Plenty of beach chairs all day, but it wasn't easy to find a beach chair with an umbrella until mid-afternoon.
• Never waited more than 10 minutes for a character greet.
• Offsite: I was able to find parking at Pearl Harbor on a weekday around 10 AM

 

[corgi_monster]

Yes, there’s a difference. Schools here finish between Memorial Day and the first week of June and the locals staycation at Aulani. School starts early-mid August and there will be a noticeable difference in weekday crowds. Not just at Aulani but at many family-friendly businesses.

I don’t own at Aulani and have some trouble booking a weekend stay during late May/June, even at the 7 month mark. However, I can usually make a last-minute booking for August.

 

[DRussell83]

sigh this bums me out as we just booked June 10-18th in an Oceanview studio - its just my husband and I - but now I am wondering if we should push to August when the window opens up. ok just checked and we won't have enough points to push to August if we want to stay in an oceanview the whole time - ah well - we will make the best of it! We also like to sit away from the pool and we live in CA so its hard for me to adjust to the time so I always go down early to get a spot in front of ama ama

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Yes, there’s a difference. Schools here finish between Memorial Day and the first week of June and the locals staycation at Aulani. School starts early-mid August and there will be a noticeable difference in weekday crowds. Not just at Aulani but at many family-friendly businesses.

Thank you, this is helpful. Our schools start very late August so we'll use that 3rd or 4th week of the month to take advantage of times when other parts of the country are already back.

I don’t own at Aulani and have some trouble booking a weekend stay during late May/June, even at the 7 month mark. However, I can usually make a last-minute booking for August.

Some part of that might be crowds, but keep in mind that May and June is also very cheap on the points chart. Early August is super expensive, and late August is cheaper but not as cheap as early June.

 

[rlk]

Our one time at Aulani was a 10-night stay at the end of August/beginning of September. Labor Day weekend was the only really crowded time when many locals used the long weekend as a getaway. Pools were very crowded and lounge chairs were impossible to find

 

[DVChris]

Some part of that might be crowds, but keep in mind that May and June is also very cheap on the points chart. Early August is super expensive, and late August is cheaper but not as cheap as early June.

I found that flights from LAX were cheaper in August than June and made up for the difference in points. Perhaps this is also the case for others.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Capt no Disney cruises on the horizon? I’d do Aulani in august as most kids are gearing up for back to school. February was perfection.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Capt no Disney cruises on the horizon?

I'm probably done with cruising until the remaining COVID regime is lifted. After my wife and daughter got quarantined in Canada in July, I'm not messing with any more restricted travel.

I’d do Aulani in august as most kids are gearing up for back to school. February was perfection.

We've done January and February and it's just a tiiiiiny bit too cool for us. The lazy river stays in the shade all morning, and when it's windy it gets downright cold. We'll probably start targeting Spring Break on years when my kids have off a different week than Easter, but Easter and Spring Break are the same week for us the next few years and we don't want to deal with those crowds or prices.