Considering Aulani- first trip- how many days?

[DnA2010]

Hi there,

We are considering Aulani, but not sure how many days to consider- family of 3- our DD will be 7.
Couple of questions:
Do most people start off by doing a split stay on say another part of the island or just stay at Aulani?
How many days would you suggest for a first trip?
Rental car I'm guessing is necessary?

With thanks in advance!

 

[Willow1213]

Hi there,

We are considering Aulani, but not sure how many days to consider- family of 3- our DD will be 7.
Couple of questions:
Do most people start off by doing a split stay on say another part of the island or just stay at Aulani?
How many days would you suggest for a first trip?
Rental car I'm guessing is necessary?

With thanks in advance!

We went in 2022 with our then 7 year old. We booked 6 nights, but ended up only being there 5 as our connecting flight was missed thanks to a delay.... I wish I would have had 7 days. We definitely missed things we wanted to do, like hike Diamond Head. Rental car isn't necessary the entire trip, as you can rent on site for a day or 2 as needed for touring the island.

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

I would suggest 7 days. Depending on your budget, you could spend all week in Aulani or split stay with a resort at Waikiki. the cost could be up to 50% less for those nights and site seeing to some parts of the island are easier from Waikiki.

 

[maxbuffmelvin]

Hi there,

We are considering Aulani, but not sure how many days to consider- family of 3- our DD will be 7.
couple of questions:
Do most people start off by doing a split stay on say another part of the island or just stay at Aulani?
How many days would you suggest for a first trip?
Rental car I'm guessing is necessary?

With thanks in advance!

7-8 in Oahu should be sufficient and it's my typical Oahu vacation length. I use DVC points so I never do split stays and stay only at Aulani. Most of the Oahu must-visits are within reasonable driving distance from Aulani if you plan around rush hour or try to avoid North Shore on weekends. I strongly recommend a rental car.

 

[Pooh2]

We did 9 nights followed by 3 nights in Disneyland. Perfect amount of time!

 

[NorCalFanatic]

We found 7 days wasn’t enough, and have started doing 9 days. Rent a car onsite, it’s so much easier than at the airport.

 

[Squirrel29]

If you are planning to come back then do atleast 4 or 5 days on oahu. If it is a 1 and done trip my go to itinerary is
2 nights big island
4 nights Kauai
4 nights oahu
And maui can be skipped.

 

[jimmymc]

Do most people start off by doing a split stay on say another part of the island or just stay at Aulani?
I've seen a lot of people do split stays with Waikiki and a smaller number with the North Shore. I personally think Waikiki is overrated, but if you like shopping or higher end food then it's the place to be. Staying on the North Shore with a car puts you much closer to the popular excursion spots than Aulani. You can also split time with other islands.

How many days would you suggest for a first trip?
At least 8 total in Hawaii, with 4 or more nights at Aulani

Rental car I'm guessing is necessary?
At Aulani it's not, but it opens up a lot more restaurants. I would suggest a rental car for your island excursion days instead of paying for tours.

 

[DnA2010]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the advice so far, it's greatly appreciated.

A few more clarifications:
We won't be island hopping, I doubt this is a one and done trip as far as Hawaii/Aulani goes, we've been to the Big Island a couple of times pre-kids, and will probably go back there also once our daughter is a bit older

We are not in to high end shopping or food (well we like high end food but this trip won't be about that)

Just want to focus on beaches, pools, Aulani's unique activities

 

[cedricandsophie]

We always go for 10 days snd rarely leave.This October we are only going for 3 days prior to transpacific cruise to Sydney. We nay have to go back in 2024.

 

[kboo]

We split 2 nights 3 days on Waikiki first - it's a totally different vibe - and "hiked" Diamond Head early morning early in our trip when we still had jet lag. As others advised me beforehand, I would put Aulani at the end of the trip and take your time relaxing. WE did rent a car (electric!) for the whole trip and it was pretty easy to get around.

DH and I have been to Hawaii multiple times before kids and even when our kids were toddlers. Before kids, we were active explorers and I wouldn't have spent more than 2 hours in a whole day lounging on the beach. This time, we did only leave the resort one day to go to Kualoa Ranch, and we spent most of our time at Aulani AT the resort, or walking or short drives. I think we could have taken two more driving (day) trips to the north shore, etc. But inertia got the better of us.

In hindsight we could have stayed elsewhere on Oahu (NShore or Waikiki) for 3-5 nights before going to Aulani, and spending 5 nights at Aulani instead of 7.

 

[ksromack]

Do most people start off by doing a split stay on say another part of the island or just stay at Aulani?
I've seen a lot of people do split stays with Waikiki and a smaller number with the North Shore. I personally think Waikiki is overrated, but if you like shopping or higher end food then it's the place to be. Staying on the North Shore with a car puts you much closer to the popular excursion spots than Aulani. You can also split time with other islands.

How many days would you suggest for a first trip?
At least 8 total in Hawaii, with 4 or more nights at Aulani

Rental car I'm guessing is necessary?
At Aulani it's not, but it opens up a lot more restaurants. I would suggest a rental car for your island excursion days instead of paying for tours.

We spent 2 nights in Waikiki first, then time at Aulani. We only had enough points for 5 nights in an ocean view studio, otherwise I would add at least 1 more day at Aulani. There are great activities at Aulani and we managed to do many of them. We are here now and only have 1 more full day left of our trip. Aulani is definitely a place you can spend a lot of time in. We spent at least 2-3 hours at the pool daily. I would recommend making dinner reservations at places off-site but within walking distance. We had a great meal at Monkeypod and Mina's Fish House next door. Also, we stopped at Costco and bought 2 packs of the turkey sandwich croissant/Caesar salad in their ready to eat aisle. This fed the both of us for 2 days of lunches at a fraction of the cost of eating on-site. Also, getting a pool chair by 0800 is highly recommended. People are serious when they tell you to do this!

 

[cgattis]

If you are planning to come back then do atleast 4 or 5 days on oahu. If it is a 1 and done trip my go to itinerary is
2 nights big island
4 nights Kauai
4 nights oahu
And maui can be skipped.

Oh gosh…..can’t imagine why you’d say all of Maui is worth skipping. Sorry if you had a bad experience but there are sone AMAZING things to see on Maui as well.

 

[thecbco]

We found that 9 nights was a great length of time to explore the island at a leisurely pace and enjoy all of the amenities at Aulani.

 

[Silvermist999]

We are doing our first family vacation on Oahu, a split stay in Waikiki to see the sights for the first half of our trip, then 4 nights at Aulani to only enjoy the resort, and relax. DH and I had our honeymoon in Oahu and Maui.

 

[pineapplepalms]

We recently stayed at Aulani for the first time and it was our kids’ first time to Hawaii. We spent a week there and could’ve easily stayed longer and had plenty to do. We spent about half the week doing day trips to Waikiki and the North Shore, and half the week doing activities and pool time at Aulani. Our kids loved it and still keep talking about it after coming home, and are asking us when we can go back. I’d love to stay for two weeks next time. We like long stays in general though (we typically stay for a week when we go to DLR, and two weeks at WDW).

 

[Irondraco]

Hi there,

We are considering Aulani, but not sure how many days to consider- family of 3- our DD will be 7.
Couple of questions:
Do most people start off by doing a split stay on say another part of the island or just stay at Aulani?
How many days would you suggest for a first trip?
Rental car I'm guessing is necessary?

With thanks in advance!

We just got back from Aulani and booked 6 nights which was perfect for us. If you book at least 5 nights can take advantage of the 25% off if not DVC.

 

[KimMcGowan]

Oh gosh…..can’t imagine why you’d say all of Maui is worth skipping. Sorry if you had a bad experience but there are sone AMAZING things to see on Maui as well.

I agree with you 100% (although I also understand that different people like different things). We love Maui. My DH even learned to surf (at age 53) with Maui Surfer Girls (highly recommended).

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

We spent 6 nights/7 days. 2 days were short due to arriving/departing. 3 days were spent out on other parts of the island (1 day on a tour, 2 days with a rental doing our own thing). That really only left us with 2 full days at the resort, and for as great of a vacation as it was, I truly wished for at least one more day on property. If I can ever talk my husband into buying the necessary amount of points, I think 7-8 nights would be perfect.

 

[starry_solo]

We spent three nights on property in April. We could have used more time…lol