Can you visit characters at Aulani if you're not staying there?

[XSeabiscuitX]

My best friend's parents live on the island, and have graciously offered me their spare room. But I need to see Duffy. So if I have to book a night, I have to book a night.

As a follow up, does anyone know if Duffy meets regularly?

 

[alohamom]

This is a good question. I know we had to have the proper wristband of the day to do meet and greets the last time we were there. My assumption is that is a security measure. Nothing is stopping you from seeing Duffy or any other character from a distance though. The other option to do a character meet as a non guest would be to do the character breakfast (cheaper than a room) but I don’t think Duffy appears at it. Does any one here know if there is a Duffy appearance at any meals?

 

[Amw1064]

This is a good question. I know we had to have the proper wristband of the day to do meet and greets the last time we were there. My assumption is that is a security measure. Nothing is stopping you from seeing Duffy or any other character from a distance though. The other option to do a character meet as a non guest would be to do the character breakfast (cheaper than a room) but I don’t think Duffy appears at it. Does any one here know if there is a Duffy appearance at any meals?

Duffy is not at the character meals. Actually our last trip we never saw him out even one time in 10 days. Other trips we have.

 

[alohamom]

Duffy is not at the character meals. Actually our last trip we never saw him out even one time in 10 days. Other trips we have.

I didnt think so but I have never done them so I was not sure, thanks for confirming

 

[heaven2dc]

Only at the character meals (breakfast every morning and dinner on Sun, Mon and Thurs). The meet and greets require that you show your room key card proving your a resort guest. The wristband mentioned previously is only for the pool/lazy river area (well actually if you have a wrist band then you already have proof you're a guest. Guess I didn't consider that lol)

 

[mathgeek]

Unfortunately, there is no consistent schedule for the characters, and no way to find out who will be doing meets until 8 am on that day. I managed to find Duffy on three different days on my trip two weeks ago, and ShellieMay was out on two different days as well. But I was told by one of the cast members that I was very lucky because they have had entire weeks go by without either of the bears coming out to visit. Also, they did check for key cards or wristbands every time I was in line to meet a character.

 

[Mommy2Logan]

You have to call from your hotel room to find out when and where the characters will be and then you either need your room key or your wrist band to meet them. You can book a character breakfast.

 

[Cinderella94]

They've always asked to see our wristbands while we were in line. I'm not sure how one would find out the character meeting schedule if you don't have an in-room phone to call from, either.

 

[linco711]

This is a good question. I know we had to have the proper wristband of the day to do meet and greets the last time we were there. My assumption is that is a security measure. Nothing is stopping you from seeing Duffy or any other character from a distance though. The other option to do a character meet as a non guest would be to do the character breakfast (cheaper than a room) but I don’t think Duffy appears at it. Does any one here know if there is a Duffy appearance at any meals?

If you do a breakfast, do you still have to pay for parking?

 

[alohamom]

If you do a breakfast, do you still have to pay for parking?

I believe Aulani will validate your parking for 2.5 hours if you spend $50 or more on the resort. That would be for visitors not staying on property but wanting to just do the breakfast, dinner, shop etc

 

[XSeabiscuitX]

Thank you all so much! This helps.

If I go all the way to Hawaii and don't see my bear, I think I'll have a meltdown, but I'll figure it out.

 

[cmwade77]

Maybe book a single night to be able to do the meet and greets?

 

[tanya0369]

We stayed at Aulani for a week and neither Duffy or Shelly made an appearance.

 

[cedricandsophie]

You can get a list of character meets at the community room every morning. We have been to aulani six times and I have never seen Duffy. Mickey, Minnie, chip and dale, goofy, Moana and occasionally stitch.

 

[kyton]

Yep we were there 12mths ago for a week and never saw Duffy once.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I really hope they don’t let anyone wander in off the street and do the meet and greets. Makes the waits longer for paying guests and takes away one of the perks of staying there.

 

[planningjollyholiday]

I have seen Duffy on every trip but he is not available every day. I'm surprised they don't have him on a constant rotation since Aulani gets lots of Japanese guests who adore him, even more so than the fab 5. After reading others experiences of not seeing him though, I would definitely not book a night just to get access to character meets. I would be pretty disappointed to shell out so much money just to see him and then find out he's not even doing any meetings while I was there. On a positive note, you can always find some Duffy merchandise there to buy.