Now is the Best Time of Year for Aulani

[cindyzig]

We are at Aulani now for 10 nights. We checked in Monday night, and it is not crowded at all. There are lots of open chairs! And, we went to check out Aunty's late yesterday afternoon but had not plans of putting my son in a class. Before you knew it, he was checked in and signed up for Musical Menehune (I think that is right), and he was staying for play and dinner before.

We thought that it might be fun to try Ama Ama while he was in class since it would be sunset. We didn't have reservations until the next night, but they still sat us right away, and we had a beautiful sunset to watch without children.

The weather is perfect right now, not too hot and not too cold. I am so happy we planned it when we did. I highly recommend this as a time to avoid crowds and enjoy beautiful weather.

 

[disBOBney]

Glad to hear your experience, I and my sister arrive on the 6th.

 

[cindyzig]

Glad to hear your experience, I and my sister arrive on the 6th.

We leave the day before you check in. I imagine it will still be a perfect time to be here then! Have fun!

 

[dsnydaddy]

We leave the day before you check in. I imagine it will still be a perfect time to be here then! Have fun!

Went last year in February. Weather was great and the resort was not crowded at all. Loved it.

 

[happymamma]

That's awesome! It's too bad there isn't some way to know in advance which weeks are best (beyond the obvious times that are crowded ie holidays, spring break, summer, weekends). We were just there Jan 12-21 and it was surprisingly crowded. Still able to get into Ama Ama a few nights around sunset time even with no reservation, but definitely a lot of people lined up most mornings for activities at Aunty's and also VERY hard to find pool chairs after 9-10am most days. There were a few random days during our stay that were less crowded and much easier to find chairs. We want to go back again at some point but the reviews are so mixed on when it is crowded or not that I'm not sure what month/week we would try for. Still an amazing place either way though! Enjoy the rest of your trip!!

 

[DixieDelights]

I'm so glad to read this as we are trying to decide between feb or april 2016. Is it warm enough to enjoy swimming? We are from the south east and find the Disney World pools too cold this time of year

 

[calif disney 1]

We are going next month.. did you have to rent a car or is there a Magical Express?... rental cars seem very expensive...

 

[DenLo]

Aulani is a single resort so there is no Magical Express.

We rented a car. But might just use SpeediShuttle or Charlie's Taxis.

Here is what Aulani says:

SHUTTLE SERVICES

Get around the island with convenient shuttle services.

SpeediShuttle
Arrange for shuttle transfers between Aulani and a variety of O‘ahu destinations, including:

Honolulu International Airport
Waikiki
Waikele Premium Outlets
Popular island attractions, available with charter requests
For details about rates and services, view the Speedishuttle brochure or visit the SpeediShuttle website. To book, call (808) 674-6798, or dial ext. 6798 while at the Resort.

 

[happymamma]

We are going next month.. did you have to rent a car or is there a Magical Express?... rental cars seem very expensive...

If you aren't DVC or staying on points, ask about any free transportation offer- earlier this month we got free shuttle to and from airport, and a free day of a rental car from the on-site Alamo. The deal wasn't listed online- just offered when I called about our reservation.

 

[cindyzig]

I'm so glad to read this as we are trying to decide between feb or april 2016. Is it warm enough to enjoy swimming? We are from the south east and find the Disney World pools too cold this time of year

The pools and lagoon water feel very nice, and I don't like cold pools. We have done a ton of swimming so far. My son keeps putting his suit on and asking to ho to the pool or lagoon.

 

[dsnydaddy]

We are going next month.. did you have to rent a car or is there a Magical Express?... rental cars seem very expensive...

I agree, but it was so worth it to have the car. I saw parts of Oahu that I never knew existed. And there are a lot of other things we didn't get to do. Unless you are planning on just staying at the resort, you really should think about the car.

 

[calif disney 1]

Great, thank you...i'm getting the car..

 

[aulanidreamer]

We arrive in 10 days and I can hardly wait. I hope the crowds are okay, but many west coast schools out so I am not counting on it. Does anyone know if the sharks and rays next store at Ihilani are still there. I heard the resort will be closing soon for remodel/ rebranding.

 

[Ljbadfan]

We got here February the 7th and leave February the 18th. It is very crowded here right now. They say at the front desk they are at full capacity right now. Rooms are hard to get. When we got here the was some convention going on. It's hard to find a chair at pool seems like they aren't keeping track of the unused chairs. This is out of our studio.. We could see the starlight haui from here. It's packedmfor Valentine's day and also Monday is Presidents' Day. Now they are doing some character meets in the grass below.

 

[keaster]

So excited, we are heading there March 11th. We've had colder than normal temps for the last week, so we are counting down every day

 

[pamelaj]

We arrive in 10 days and I can hardly wait. I hope the crowds are okay, but many west coast schools out so I am not counting on it. Does anyone know if the sharks and rays next store at Ihilani are still there. I heard the resort will be closing soon for remodel/ rebranding.

The sharks and rays were still there a few weeks ago. The staff said they should be there until the remodel, which I think begins in April?

 

[Sean1814]

Does anyone know what the very beginning of January is like? Planning our trip for next year.

 

[DenLo]

The sharks and rays were still there a few weeks ago. The staff said they should be there until the remodel, which I think begins in April?

You must be talking about the hotel next door that has been purchased by Four Seasons.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

You must be talking about the hotel next door that has been purchased by Four Seasons.

Poor rays - getting the boot from all the hotels. Perhaps the Four Seasons will end up keeping them - I know we spent some time over there - in part to watch the sharks and rays and then we went in and did a little shopping.

 

[nkereina]

Mind if I ask how the flight prices to Hawaii were this time of year? We're from the East coast. We're planning our honeymoon to Hawaii for next year, with part of our stay at Aulani, and we're debating between late Feb/early March and mid-October.