Disneyland Aulani Combo Vacation

[RRAR2007]

My wife and I want to go to Aulani for our 20th anniversary, which is 6 years from now. She threw a curveball and said we should do a Disneyland/Aulani combo trip.

Here’s some background on us: we live in the Chicago Suburbs, by then our daughter will be 9. I was thinking of going in May or September. We were thinking of doing a 10 day vacation that would include travel and stays at Disneyland then Aulani.

So my questions are: Is this realistic? How would you structure the vacation? Please include as many tips, ideas, and things we should consider.
I know it’s 6 years from now, but I’d like to start planning and saving now.

 

[kdonnel]

Our first trip to Aulani/Hawaii was a combo trip with Disneyland.

We had a travel day, 2 full days in Disneyland/LA, a travel day to HNL which was one of the 3 nights at Waikiki, 4 nights at Aulani, and two travel days home(we had red eye flights that didn't actually get us home until the next day).

A total of 12 days.

You could get that down to 10 days pretty easily without missing out on too much by picking different flights if available or just staying fewer days or a combination.

We enjoyed breaking up the trip on the front end to help with the time difference. In subsequent trips we have gone directly to Hawaii from the east coast and for the first few days you are up REAL EARLY, ready to go. In one way that is a blessing because it means you can easily be up to make it to Pearl Harbor or the Kualoa Ranch which can be long drives at rush hour. But it also means you are ready to turn in the first few days real early.

We stayed at the Villas at the Grand Californian. Our arrival day we used as an opportunity to tour as much of LA as we could, picking flights that got us in CA as early as possible.

For our two days at Disneyland Resort we did one park each day. Long park days from opening to closing making sure to hit the rides and attractions that were different from the WDW we knew and then hitting the rides that are the same but different as our second priority.

We split our stay in Hawaii between Waikiki and Ko Olina primarily because we only had enough DVC points for four days but had Starwood points we used to stay at The Royal Hawaiian the other days. We wanted to stay at the Sheraton like The Brady Bunch but by the time we started looking they did not have availability.

Waikiki and Ko Olina are two very different areas. Waikiki is more like Las Vegas. There is always something going on, people out and about, restaurants open late into the night. Ko Olina rolls up the sidewalks in the early evening. In the end it was like three distinct vacations, the one in CA, the one in Waikiki, and the one in Ko Olina.

 

[Daisy7425]

How exciting! We've never been to Disneyland, but I'll offer my advice for Aulani with a 9 year old as I did that trip last year. Nine was such a perfect age for Aulani. My son made friends there and I was able to sit on a chair and watch him play with the other kids in the pool.

I do recommend renting a car. Aulani is in a secluded area and the island has a lot to offer, so having your own transportation is valuable.

Check out Kualoa Ranch for tours of the rainforest and Jurassic Park movie sets. We aren't Jurassic Park fans, but we took a tour that was half about Hawaiian culture/history and half was a tour of movie sets.

Drive along the north shore. We pulled over when we saw surfers and watched them. I picked out a few restaurants ahead of time and we drove past one and ate lunch there. I'm used to WDW planning where I schedule every 15 minutes, but we spent two different days leisurely driving the north shore and we really enjoyed it.

 

[cgattis]

I personally don’t think 10 days is enough for both. I’d consider the travel days pretty much shot, and now you have four of them instead of two. I’d want at least three park days (one each plus return to faces on day 3). And once in Hawaii, you need some exploring days and some resort days. That doesn’t leave much time for exploring, and there’s a ton to do on Oahu. And if you go that far, you really should see some of it.

 

[jodybird511]

I personally don’t think 10 days is enough for both. I’d consider the travel days pretty much shot, and now you have four of them instead of two. I’d want at least three park days (one each plus return to faces on day 3). And once in Hawaii, you need some exploring days and some resort days. That doesn’t leave much time for exploring, and there’s a ton to do on Oahu. And if you go that far, you really should see some of it.

I agree with @cgattis. We travel to Aulani from St. Louis, so pretty much the same length trip as from Chicago. We don't spend less than 10 days in HI, whether that is on multiple islands or just on Oahu. We have a trip scheduled for June/July this year that will be similar to yours. We are traveling to Disneyland (assuming it's open by then) early morning on 6/27 and staying until 6/29. 6/29, we will fly Kauai, where we will stay 4 nights. After that, we will travel to Aulani to spend 6 nights. Including travel, we are at a total of 14 days. This feels like a reasonable length to me. You'll find that the travel from the midwest is.....long--if you have any possibility to make your trip longer than 10 days, I would.

 

[nkereina]

I agree with PPs that 10 days is not enough time. We opted to do Hawaii and Disneyland in separate vacations, and are glad we did. We came from the east coast, so it would be even easier for you to do that coming from Chicago. With our work schedules, it would not have been feasible to take off longer than 2 weeks, and we wanted to maximize every second we could in Hawaii because we knew it would be a long time before we could ever return. With Disneyland, that's the kind of trip that could be really be done over a long weekend and its a quicker, cheaper trip at that.

I wholeheartedly agree with PPs that you need to build in time for exploring Oahu. If you don't, you may be disappointed with your stay. People have visions of Aulani being the destination, but its really just a good home base for the true destination, which is Oahu. Remember that Aulani is in a planned, isolated tourist community and you'll need a rental car for most of the exploring you'd want to do. Nothing really in walking distance, and no experiencing Oahu until you leave the gates of Ko Olina.

If you do decide to combine the trip, I'd say most of the people I see do this choose to do Disneyland on the way back rather than on the way there. When you're going west, you gain time so you can enjoy some of the time on your arrival day. We also found we were excited and anxious to get to Hawaii so we didn't mind the long flight as much on the way there. IMO, its easier to break up the trip on the way home because its a long, depressing flight otherwise. Being able to fly to DL instead, and have that to look forward to, helps to ease the disappointment of leaving Hawaii. It also helps you adjust to the time difference heading back home, which ultimately will help when you get home and have to get back to reality.

 

[happymommy]

I also don’t think 10 days is nearly long enough to do both. You can fly nonstop from Chicago to HNL, so I’d opt for that and do the whole time on Oahu; I’d save a DL trip for another vacation. We never go to Oahu for less than two weeks (we come from the East Coast).

 

[hlrubin507]

All the above is really good input. On the other side, I am exactly the kind of person to try to fit in Disneyland with an Aulani trip, as long as I was headed that direction anyway I have never had the luxury of taking a 14-day vacation so I am always trying to fit in as much as possible.

Obviously, if you COULD extend this trip even by a night or two, it would help. Another day on Oahu and 3 full days at DL (so 4 nights ) would be about my ideal. 2 days at DL isn't quite enough but it can be, if that's all you have. With 3 days you can really soak up the DL vibe.

Limiting myself to 10 nights, I would do 7 nights in Hawaii and 3 nights at Disneyland. You could put DL on either side, coming or going. I like what the PP said about putting DL on the way home to break up the trip, and to have something to look forward to.

Air travel: Trying to do both, I would prioritize efficient travel above all else. No connections. Purchase air travel as a series of one-way tickets. Take the (one) nonstop from ORD to HNL. From HNL, take the ONE nonstop into Long Beach (LGB) on Hawaiian -- do that to avoid LAX if at all possible (in Long Beach you are an easy 30-minute ride share or drive from DL, plus LGB is a tiny, easy airport to deal with). To get home, do nonstop from SNA (Orange County) into Chicago on your departure day. Again, avoid LAX at all costs (which may be literal as SNA is a more expensive airport in general).

Day 1 - Travel day, nonstop to HNL (9 hour flight landing mid-afternoon)
Days 2-7 -- Visit Oahu. This gives you 6 full days (7 nights) there to relax and explore.
Day 8 - Travel day, HNL to LGB, arrive late (nonstop departs HNL 11:30am arrives 8pm, as you lose 2 hours)
Days 9-10 -- Visit DL (3 nights at DL)
Day 11 - Travel day home (you could fit in some bonus DL time in the morning if you take an afternoon flight out of SNA and are willing to arrive home late). If you stay in one of the DL Resorts, you could do the early entry to DCA and get quite a bit done in a couple of hours (assuming they have early entry by that time)

To maximize efficiency, I would try not to change hotels on Oahu -- just rent a car and plop yourself in a 1-BD villa at Aulani (rent DVC points for the best price and to save nightly parking fees). I say a 1-BD as most people seem to agree that having a kitchen is pretty important to have the flexibility of eating in. I recently booked a 1-BD using rental points and found the Island View the best bang for my buck. Check the DVC point charts for the weekly rate and plan your trip dates accordingly, as the dates have a direct impact on the cost -- one week in a 1-BD Island View currently ranges from 245-350 points depending on the season, so if you are renting at $20/point, you are talking $4,900 vs. $7,000 for one week the same room over different dates.

For DL, if it's in your budget, stay at the DL hotel (usually around $500+/night) or the Grand Californian (usually around $650+/night) for the extra touch of magic and convenience. If that is more than you want to spend, stay at the Howard Johnsons down the street -- it is freshly renovated, convenient, and everything you need at a much lower price point (typically around $200+/night depending on the season). There are other hotels close by DL on Harbor Blvd. and I would choose one of those, if not Hojo's (and FYI Mouse Savers has a discount code for Hojo's). I would not stay anywhere that was NOT under a half mile from the actual DL entrance on Harbor (easily walkable). Again, efficiency is key and for SURE You don't want to drive or even bother with a ride share if you can avoid it.

Good luck planning!

 

[Sunnywho]

We spent 7 nights on Oahu and needed one or two more. On a different trip, we spent 5 days at Disneyland and that was one too many. If it's not possible to add days, I'd stretch the time available by taking an early morning direct flight and having some park time in the evening on your arrival day, or taking a red eye home on your last day. Those can leave at 10 pm at night, which means you get that full day on the islands as well. A lot can change in 6 years but it's fun to plan and dream. Good luck.

 

[TomL]

You'll have to pull your daughter out of school if you plan for May or Sept. Memorial Day or Labor Day weekends will be crowded at DL. Most California schools go back around August 20th so I recommend traveling the last week of August.

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

You can still make the most of a 7 night stay at oahu. Plan to leave early from LA, maybe a 9 AM flight, which should get you to Oahu before noon. That way you could make the most of the remaining time on day 1. Also, on your way back home, take a late night red-eye flight gaining you another full day during your departure. Alternate with resort days and days to explore if staying out at Aulani; otherwise, plan your site seeing during your stay from Waikiki and relaxation days at the Aulani resort for a split stay.

 

[happymommy]

The only flights going back to Chicago will be a red eye. I’ve done it many times, and lived on Oahu. We typically get at most a half day on departure; I’ve done anything from 3:30 take off (my next trip will be that as it’s a nonstop to Dulles) to an 8:30pm departure where I’m seriously kind of wiped out at that point. My DH will shower in the resort’s showers by the pool (Marriott’s Ko Olina), but I’m showered at check out which is 10:00 am. So I’m hot and sweaty a bit, now opting for earlier departure and we’ll use the United lounge at HNL for some lunch (flying first class and have a lounge pass).

I do recommend if you can to book first coming home; AA has lie flat seats to Chicago (or they did the last time I flew through there; it’s been a few years since then).

 

[nkereina]

we spent 5 days at Disneyland and that was one too many.

Agree with this! We did DL on a separate trip, but we had 5 days as well - arrived early evening on a Monday and explored Downtown Disney, had park days Tues, Weds, Thurs and Fri morning, and then left Friday afternoon. The three park days would have been enough to do everything more than once at a reasonable pace. We didn't need Friday morning. We also were a little bored in the evenings when we were done with the parks for the day. If I were combining with a trip to Hawaii, I would do two park days max or even one full park day and a half day on departure day (with park hopper tickets and max pass).

The only flights going back to Chicago will be a red eye. I’ve done it many times, and lived on Oahu. We typically get at most a half day on departure; I’ve done anything from 3:30 take off (my next trip will be that as it’s a nonstop to Dulles) to an 8:30pm departure where I’m seriously kind of wiped out at that point. My DH will shower in the resort’s showers by the pool (Marriott’s Ko Olina), but I’m showered at check out which is 10:00 am. So I’m hot and sweaty a bit, now opting for earlier departure and we’ll use the United lounge at HNL for some lunch (flying first class and have a lounge pass).

I do recommend if you can to book first coming home; AA has lie flat seats to Chicago (or they did the last time I flew through there; it’s been a few years since then).

This is a good point when considering flight times. We took a red eye back from Oahu to Atlanta to Buffalo. We barely slept on the flight, making for a *long* journey home. It was next day for us by the time we got to ATL, so we were dying to get home to shower and brush our teeth! We got home to Buffalo at 11am the next morning, and although I was exhausted, I had mountains of laundry to do, we had to go grocery shopping, and we really wanted to stay up and go to bed at our normal time to help adjust to the time difference being home. So I think this would be another pro of doing DL on the back half of the trip - you can at least leave Oahu at a "normal" time to fly to Southern California, without dealing with a red eye, and the same going home to Chicago too.

 

[aymekae]

I read some great advice! So this is more or less confirmation of some of those tips combined with my own experience.

I lived in CA and went to Disneyland a lot. I've gone to Aulani once in 2012. I've flown out of LAX, LGB, and SNA, and I agree... avoid LAX if you can! As for Disneyland, I've stayed at many of the hotels along Harbor Blvd. Highly recommend (if you want to avoid the cost of the Disney hotels) to stay as close as possible to the main entrances on Harbor. We chose cheaper hotels because we only slept there at night and for a long nap. The longest trip we did there was 3 days, and it was 1 day too long, but we had gotten used to rope drop to closing (with a nap if we were staying nearby), and were able to do everything plus our favorites 2-3 times in 2 days. To save a little money and maximize efficiency, get 1-park, 1-day tickets, and MaxPass. I recommend the Touring Plans service to plan out your days. We tended to eat quick service inside the parks to save time and walking. I also thought the food was better than the walkable restaurants on Harbor and worth the cost.

For Hawaii, we stayed (child-free) for 7 full days at Aulani. Rented a car to get us around the island, which I recommend. This was in the early days and they didn't have a lot of food options, so we drove to Kapolei for food a lot. There are more options across the street (within walking distance) of Aulani now, and I think an extra quick service at Aulani, so I'm looking forward to not spending so much time driving to get food 2-3 times a day. The Hawaiian Railway Society has an open-air train ride on the weekends, and we started off our trip with that since DH LOVES trains. It's not a must-do (for me). We spent several hours at Pearl Harbor, and we will go back. Looking forward to introducing it to our son (who will be 8 when we hopefully go later this year). We snorkeled at Haunama Bay, and honestly, I would skip it in favor of more snorkeling at Aulani. It had some nice views, but we got up before sunrise to avoid Honolulu traffic (and messed up in the carpool lane and ended up in downtown Honolulu anyway), then it took a while to go through their mandatory training class, just to fight for a little beach space and crowded snorkeling to see pretty much nothing. Maybe we did it wrong? Others seemed to love it! But I would not do it again. I snorkeled every day at Aulani and it was wonderful. I loved the day we drove to North Shore. Saw some surfers and stopped to hang out with sea turtles. Wish I would have stopped to get shrimp at that famous food truck. I would like to go to the Kualoa Ranch and do a hike to a waterfall my coworker told me about. So far, this is my ideal 6-day trip for 3 with an 8-year-old boy this October:
Saturday: Flight
Sunday: Stay at Aulani (maybe a few hours for the train ride if DH insists)
Monday: North Shore (turtles/food truck shrimp/waterfall hike)
Tuesday: Stay at Aulani (massage?)
Wednesday: Pearl Harbor
Thursday: Stay at Aulani
Friday: Kualoa Ranch
Saturday: Flight home

 

[PRPrincess1081]

We did with our daughter who was 10 years old at the time. we traveled from NJ had a layover at LAX then flew to Honolulu for 7 days then flew back to LAX and did Disneyland for 5 days and then went home. It was amazing. we would definitely do it again but we will wait until we know for sure when Disneyland will open up. so instead we are doing Aulani for 10 day in August

 

[motherof5]

My wife and I want to go to Aulani for our 20th anniversary, which is 6 years from now. She threw a curveball and said we should do a Disneyland/Aulani combo trip.

Here’s some background on us: we live in the Chicago Suburbs, by then our daughter will be 9. I was thinking of going in May or September. We were thinking of doing a 10 day vacation that would include travel and stays at Disneyland then Aulani.

So my questions are: Is this realistic? How would you structure the vacation? Please include as many tips, ideas, and things we should consider.
I know it’s 6 years from now, but I’d like to start planning and saving now.

We were going to do this in June but now only doing Aulani since Disneyland is still closed. We were flying from CT to LAX then LAX to Hawaii. I think it's doable. Would break up the trip. Sad it's not in the books for us. Instead we are doing Alcatrez 1 day before Hawaii and Los Angeles on way back from Hawaii prior to coming home.

 

[hlrubin507]

We were going to do this in June but now only doing Aulani since Disneyland is still closed. We were flying from CT to LAX then LAX to Hawaii. I think it's doable. Would break up the trip. Sad it's not in the books for us. Instead we are doing Alcatrez 1 day before Hawaii and Los Angeles on way back from Hawaii prior to coming home.

This sounds so fun! I live in Cali -- please check the news regularly as currently, CA has a 10-day quarantine requirement for anyone traveling from out of state. I would HOPE that would be lifted by June, but if it is still in place, you will need to alter your plans. The quarantine does not apply if you are simply connecting a flight.

 

[gdrj]

My wife and I want to go to Aulani for our 20th anniversary, which is 6 years from now. She threw a curveball and said we should do a Disneyland/Aulani combo trip.

Here’s some background on us: we live in the Chicago Suburbs, by then our daughter will be 9. I was thinking of going in May or September. We were thinking of doing a 10 day vacation that would include travel and stays at Disneyland then Aulani.

So my questions are: Is this realistic? How would you structure the vacation? Please include as many tips, ideas, and things we should consider.
I know it’s 6 years from now, but I’d like to start planning and saving now.

1- I would plan Disneyland after Hawaii to help with Jet lag. (Jet lag is worse when you head east).
2- If you can cheat and steal an extra day or two for the trip do so.
3- We did 3 full days at Disneyland 1 day at DL 1 at CA and last day to go to either park, shop, pool etc.

As far as Hawaii
- Explore the island, and it natural beauty. While the resort is beautiful after visiting the North Shore, waterfalls, before the resort it made me appreciate teh natural rocks and Falls vs. the man made Disney rocks/pools.
-Pearl Harbor- IMO you have to go. I realize with a 9 yr old it may be more challenging but it is something you should do.
- We have stayed at Turtle Bay on the North Shore and made the mistake of staying in Waikiki (Hawaiian Hilton Resort) Hotel is massive and the Waikiki is a City atmosphere on the beach. I'm sorry but if I'm traveling 11 hours on a plane to go to a tropical paradise I dont want crowds, or to eat at Cheesecake Factory. (I have friends who like that, so to each their own).

 

[yowcruiser]

Day 1 - Travel day, nonstop to HNL (9 hour flight landing mid-afternoon)
Days 2-7 -- Visit Oahu. This gives you 6 full days (7 nights) there to relax and explore.
Day 8 - Travel day, HNL to LGB, arrive late (nonstop departs HNL 11:30am arrives 8pm, as you lose 2 hours)
Days 9-10 -- Visit DL (3 nights at DL)
Day 11 - Travel day home (you could fit in some bonus DL time in the morning if you take an afternoon flight out of SNA and are willing to arrive home late). If you stay in one of the DL Resorts, you could do the early entry to DCA and get quite a bit done in a couple of hours (assuming they have early entry by that time)

Not sure if this was an option in the past, and if this is year-long operation, but United appears to be running a daily non-stop flight between HNL and SNA - pretty much around the same time (departure from HNL is 12:45pm). This flight option popped up as I was doing some flight planning back from HNL to the US West Coast, for an onward connection...

 

[CarolynFH]

Not sure if this was an option in the past, and if this is year-long operation, but United appears to be running a daily non-stop flight between HNL and SNA - pretty much around the same time (departure from HNL is 12:45pm). This flight option popped up as I was doing some flight planning back from HNL to the US West Coast, for an onward connection...

This United flight is new, I believe, and I hope it’s an option when we next visit Hawaii. I’d really enjoy a couple nights in Anaheim, where I can sleep better than I ever do on that overnight flight home from Hawaii!