First Time Hawaii and Aulani! Short planned trip - any suggestions greatly appreciated.

dfb

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Jan 3, 2009
My wife and I just booked first trip to Hawaii / Aulani. 8 Jan - 18 Jan 2019. Lodging at Aulani entire trip. DVC. Ocean View Studio 1st night - 1 Bedroom Island garden view remainder. We are both 58 years old and in OK shape.

Just starting to plan (I know it's late but we'll have a good time plans or not) looking for thoughts or suggestions concerning:

  1. Particular room #s or locations to request at Aulani that work out well.
  2. Rental car - agencies, deal tips etc.
  3. Luau/shows - Aulani or off property Luau or both??
  4. Are there any entertainment personalities must dos for the area? The only one I have ever known of was Don Ho, God rest his soul!
  5. Particular must dos at Aulani and around the island. We are planning on:
    1. Waikiki and Waimanalo Beach
    2. Hanauma Bay
    3. North Shore but not sure exactly where to go. Understand waves should be getting big at that time. Surfers. Just watching though.
    4. Pearl Harbor and Ford Island
    5. Diamond Head / Lighthouse
    6. Iolani Palace and Polynesian Cultural center. Laie nearby Kahana
    7. Jurassic park tours ??? or any tours worth the money or just drive and wing it???
    8. Food places Aulani or elsewhere??
  6. Haven't looked at the specific events or things to do at Aulani but will want to experience the resort as much as possible balancing act with island stuff.
  7. May take a quick trip to the big island - Volcanoes national park and Kauai - helicopter tour??? Not sure how this will work out, if at all. Will not plan for sure til we get there - will see what weather and time will allow.
Plan on filling the trip doing an island day with a full itinerary of sights, tours,etc for the day offset by a day just hanging out at resort or nearby hangout.

Any suggestions on all or any of these topics or others is greatly appreciated!

Thanks
 
For your Island/Garden view I recommend trying for the "back" side of Ewa tower. This will still give you some ocean view, actually. We put in the following request for our Island/Garden View 1 bedroom:
Ewa Building, Floor 6 or higher. Rooms ending in 71 through 87
And were rewarded with this view from room 971:
IMG-3897.jpg

There is a port off to the left of the Marriott which you can see from the balcony and isn't beautiful but its pretty easy to just look out toward the ocean instead. ;) 971 is the first room to the left off the elevator which was convenient (and we did not notice extra noise or anything). Higher numbers are farther down the hall and therefore even closer to the ocean. The lawn in the foreground is where the luau is held as well as the movie nights. We were able to see/hear/enjoy these from our balcony but at the same time you couldn't really tell they were happening if you had the door closed so don't worry about noise.

We did the luau (VIP) at Aulani and really enjoyed it. While we enjoyed Hanauma, it is a bit of a drive from Aulani and can be logistically complicated. I don't think you're going at a super busy time though so you may not have to get there super early in the morning. We were there in Mid October and went on a Sunday morning and didn't not find the parking situation to be as dramatic as we were afraid of. The lot was still open when we left around 10:30am. You'll see lots of websites that warn the lot is full and closes by 8 or 9am...this was not our experience but I'm sure it can be at busy times. If its in your budget, we really loved our snorkel sailing out of nearby Ko Olina Harbor (more info in my trip report here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/aulani-trip-report-october-2018.3713619/#post-59990983) and felt it was much better snorkeling than Hanauma.
 
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For your Island/Garden view I recommend trying for the "back" side of Ewa tower. This will still give you some ocean view, actually. We put in the following request for our Island/Garden View 1 bedroom:
Ewa Building, Floor 6 or higher. Rooms ending in 71 through 87
And were rewarded with this view from room 971:
IMG-3897.jpg

There is a port off to the left of the Marriott which you can see from the balcony and isn't beautiful but its pretty easy to just look out toward the ocean instead. ;) 971 is the first room to the left off the elevator which was convenient (and we did not notice extra noise or anything). Higher numbers are farther down the hall and therefore even closer to the ocean. The lawn in the foreground is where the luau is held as well as the movie nights. We were able to see/hear/enjoy these from our balcony but at the same time you couldn't really tell they were happening if you had the door closed so don't worry about noise.

We did the luau (VIP) at Aulani and really enjoyed it. While we enjoyed Hanauma, it is a bit of a drive from Aulani and can be logistically complicated. I don't think you're going at a super busy time though so you may not have to get there super early in the morning. We were there in Mid October and went on a Sunday morning and didn't not find the parking situation to be as dramatic as we were afraid of. The lot was still open when we left around 10:30am. You'll see lots of websites that warn the lot is full and closes by 8 or 9am...this was not our experience but I'm sure it can be at busy times. If its in your budget, we really loved our snorkel sailing out of nearby Ko Olina Harbor (more info in my trip report here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/aulani-trip-report-october-2018.3713619/#post-59990983) and felt it was much better snorkeling than Hanauma.

That's a pretty view. Thanks for the info.
 
Rental car - agencies, deal tips etc.

We booked through Alamo from the airport. The shuttle was fast and frequent, the office was adequately staffed, and when they were out of midsize cars, they upgraded us for free to full size so we were able to get a convertible Camaro! Alamo also has an on-site location at Aulani so if you're weighing whether to have the car for only part of the time, they have a drop off/pick up location there as well.

Diamond Head / Lighthouse

We are in our early 30s, also in OK shape, and Diamond Head was harder than I anticipated. We did an organized bus tour from our hotel in Waikiki. The bus tour was nice because it dropped us off right at the start of the trail, and it was early before it got too hot or crowded. Parking at Diamond Head can be a challenge, so its best to go early to avoid walking a lot before you even reach the trail, and to avoid the hot weather since there is little shade. We also noticed the trail growing more and more crowded, with no places to "pull over". There were several people on our tour who couldn't finish the hike also - the stairs at the end were too much. We were quite sweaty and in workout clothes, so once we were done, I didn't want to do anything but return to the hotel and shower. I personally wouldn't consider the hike a must do and its not something we'd do again on a return trip.

Jurassic park tours ??? or any tours worth the money or just drive and wing it???

We did the VIP Movie Tour at Kualoa Ranch and thought it was awesome. It takes you to the famous Jurassic Park log, and also inside the Indominous Rex pen from Jurassic World. The tour was 2.5 hours in a 12 passenger van and hits every movie site at the Ranch, so its more personal and intensive than their standard movie tour. Its my understanding their standard movie tour just stops at the log and drives past the Indominous Rex pen. I'm not aware of any Jurassic Park specific tours anywhere else on Oahu. In Kauai, we did the Jurassic Falls helicopter tour which was cool but very expensive. The helicopter lands on the private property where the famous waterfalls from Jurassic Park are, and you're allowed 20 minutes to walk up to the falls and take photos. This is the only tour that actually lands at the falls, the rest just fly over them. We paid a lot more for this experience so the value is subjective - its borderline whether it was worth it to me, but a cool experience nonetheless.

North Shore but not sure exactly where to go. Understand waves should be getting big at that time. Surfers. Just watching though.

Haleiwa is the town there, and we just parked and walked in a few different areas. We got lunch at Kono's which was an amazing quick service place, stopped at some of the shops, and then got shave ice at Matsumoto's. We stopped for a drink at Haleiwa Beach House. We also stopped to see the sea turtles at Turtle Beach. We went to Waimea Valley also, but that's not a must do for me. I believe Bonzai Pipeline is a big surfer spot, but we didn't drive down that far. I believe that's past Waimea Valley when coming from Haleiwa.

May take a quick trip to the big island - Volcanoes national park and Kauai - helicopter tour??? Not sure how this will work out, if at all. Will not plan for sure til we get there - will see what weather and time will allow.

See my comments above on the helicopter tour for Kauai. Even if you don't do the Jurassic Falls one, seeing Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali Coast from that vantage point was stunning. We also really enjoyed the sunset dinner cruise around the Na Pali Coast. Kauai was the most lush, intimate and exotic of the 3 islands we visited. Also the hottest and most humid. We didn't do the Big Island, but my only advise there would be to confirm the status of Volcano National Park before you make any plans.
 
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nkereina. Thanks soo much! A lot of good info! I'll check out your trip report as well!
 
A few comments on only a couple of subjects:
#2 - car rentals: Be aware that some car rental agencies at HNL have their cars directly across the road from baggage claim. Others require a shuttle bus to their facility. Not usually a long ride but still a hassle with your luggage.

#5.8 - restaurants: Roy's and Monkey Pod are pretty much right across the street. Easy walk and good food. Assigao is a good Italian restaurant a short drive way. In that same are are several fast food and fast family food type restaurants. When doing some of your driving around the island, the shrimp trucks are considered a must do by many. But the real must-do is malasada from Leonards. They have a mobile truck in a permanent location along H1, and their regular store in Honolulu. Best to simply google them and see the locations.
 
We are flying out on the 20th for our first trip, so I can't comment about all of the above questions, but I did want to let you know that I used autoslash.com for my car rental and saved hundreds of dollars over what I was able to find on my own. We are there over Christmas and New Years, so the rates we were looking at were really high. Most of the quotes I had looked at for a full size car were around $1000-1200, I booked for $690 with autoslash. Have fun on your trip!
 


A few comments on only a couple of subjects:
#2 - car rentals: Be aware that some car rental agencies at HNL have their cars directly across the road from baggage claim. Others require a shuttle bus to their facility. Not usually a long ride but still a hassle with your luggage.

#5.8 - restaurants: Roy's and Monkey Pod are pretty much right across the street. Easy walk and good food. Assigao is a good Italian restaurant a short drive way. In that same are are several fast food and fast family food type restaurants. When doing some of your driving around the island, the shrimp trucks are considered a must do by many. But the real must-do is malasada from Leonards. They have a mobile truck in a permanent location along H1, and their regular store in Honolulu. Best to simply google them and see the locations.

Thanks. My daughter and SIL liked the shrimp trucks. I'm not a shrimp eater but my wife may partake!
 
We are flying out on the 20th for our first trip, so I can't comment about all of the above questions, but I did want to let you know that I used autoslash.com for my car rental and saved hundreds of dollars over what I was able to find on my own. We are there over Christmas and New Years, so the rates we were looking at were really high. Most of the quotes I had looked at for a full size car were around $1000-1200, I booked for $690 with autoslash. Have fun on your trip!
thanks. Sounds like a great trip for the Christmas season. Mele Kalikimaka to you and I hope you have a wonderful trip!!
 
We are flying out on the 20th for our first trip, so I can't comment about all of the above questions, but I did want to let you know that I used autoslash.com for my car rental and saved hundreds of dollars over what I was able to find on my own. We are there over Christmas and New Years, so the rates we were looking at were really high. Most of the quotes I had looked at for a full size car were around $1000-1200, I booked for $690 with autoslash. Have fun on your trip!
I thought I had the best rate around till I head of Auto Slash. We are island hopping and it is saving me $300 additional on top of the already awesome rates I had.
 
We are flying out on the 20th for our first trip, so I can't comment about all of the above questions, but I did want to let you know that I used autoslash.com for my car rental and saved hundreds of dollars over what I was able to find on my own. We are there over Christmas and New Years, so the rates we were looking at were really high. Most of the quotes I had looked at for a full size car were around $1000-1200, I booked for $690 with autoslash. Have fun on your trip!
I, too, just used Autoslash and saved hundreds!! I originally booked with Discount Hawaii (very good pricing) but Autoslash beat them!! We booked a full size car for 12 days in July for around $560!
 
Quick note about the luau:

Wherever you decide to book a luau (we did the one on site at Aulani, and while it is run by a third party, we very much enjoyed it), do so early in the trip. We were there for a week, and there were three luau performances. We reserved the first and the second and third both ended up being rained out.
If it rains even a little, they might cancel the show.
I hear they are good about making space available at the next luau if that happens, but in the case of our trip, if we hadn't gone to the first one, we wouldn't have been able to see one at all since the next two were both canceled.
 
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