Party of 8, Feb 2024- Advise Please :)

[DnA2010]

In February my family (DH, myself, DD7) and my sister's family (DH, DS4,DS7) and our mom will be heading to Aulani to a DVC 2-bed, Island Garden's view. trip consists of 3 nights at a vrbo, and then 4 nights at Aulani.

I'm the planner, but know nothing about Aulani, so would welcome feedback in all relevant areas

Few questions off the bat:

Transportation:
We are thinking of one rental and then using rideshare when needed, as we will mainly be doing a few things the first couple of days we arrive, but don't see wanting to leave the resort much one we are at Aulani.

Room:
Any room recommendations to request?

Dining:
Thinking of the character meal- worth it?

Non-Aulani Highlights:
Any must do's for a party such as ours?

Thank you so much in advance, looking forward to getting away from the cold and snow!

 

[Quiltsndisney]

In February my family (DH, myself, DD7) and my sister's family (DH, DS4,DS7) and our mom will be heading to Aulani to a DVC 2-bed, Island Garden's view. trip consists of 3 nights at a vrbo, and then 4 nights at Aulani.

I'm the planner, but know nothing about Aulani, so would welcome feedback in all relevant areas

Few questions off the bat:

Transportation:
We are thinking of one rental and then using rideshare when needed, as we will mainly be doing a few things the first couple of days we arrive, but don't see wanting to leave the resort much one we are at Aulani.

Room:
Any room recommendations to request?

Dining:
Thinking of the character meal- worth it?

Non-Aulani Highlights:
Any must do's for a party such as ours?

Thank you so much in advance, looking forward to getting away from the cold and snow!

Just got back, went solo so not same group type. My two cents do all touristy stuff at vrbo, the. Just enjoy the resort. So much to do.

highly recommend character breakfast well worth it. The characters spend more time than in the parks and the pancakes are to die for

 

[rocketriter]

Don't plan a trip where everybody is expected to do everything together. Let individual groups of family members make excursions if they want to or eat somewhere else than the rest. Just plan 2 nights where everyone eats together--make those nights festive.

 

[DaisyNY]

Do the Luau at Aulani…great entertainment and food! We loved our recent visit!

 

[jimmymc]

For transportation, are you getting one big vehicle or two smaller ones? If two, then it might be nice to keep one if you want to grab groceries while at Aulani. Enterprise and Alamo both have locations at Aulani, so you can also drop off your car from the first part of the trip after you arrive at the resort.

For room requests, what category do you have? Some ocean view and island garden view rooms have views of the luau. Other categories can vary a lot, so let me know.

I personally haven't done the character meal, but I've heard mixed results. If you regularly go to the parks, then I don't think you need to go out of your way to see the characters.

For non-Aulani, I recommend Pearl Harbor, Makapu'u Point, Kawela Bay beach park, and visiting Haleiwa. The Dole Plantation train ride is overrated IMO. If you really want to see where tropical fruit comes from, book a tour at a local farm. Try Giovanni's shrimp truck, but there are also a lot of other trucks to stop at. I really liked Okina Cafe and Haleiwa Seafood Grill. Kono's BBQ is also a great place for reasonably priced meals. And of course Leonard's Malasadas. There is a food truck location closer to Aulani, but the original store is on Kapahulu Ave just outside of Waikiki.

If you're up for some hiking, I highly recommend going to Ka'ena Point and the Maili Pillbox. If you want a real workout, you can also do the Koko Crater stairs.

 

[DnA2010]

Don't plan a trip where everybody is expected to do everything together. Let individual groups of family members make excursions if they want to or eat somewhere else than the rest. Just plan 2 nights where everyone eats together--make those nights festive.

the other family aren't really planners, and have always been happy with the plans for previous trips together, I'm mainly working on plans now for our first couple of nights pre-Aulani, once we are at Aulani I'm sure we will split here and there, but the kids like to play together/it's meant to be a family vacation as we don't live close.

For transportation, are you getting one big vehicle or two smaller ones? If two, then it might be nice to keep one if you want to grab groceries while at Aulani. Enterprise and Alamo both have locations at Aulani, so you can also drop off your car from the first part of the trip after you arrive at the resort.

For room requests, what category do you have? Some ocean view and island garden view rooms have views of the luau. Other categories can vary a lot, so let me know.

I personally haven't done the character meal, but I've heard mixed results. If you regularly go to the parks, then I don't think you need to go out of your way to see the characters.

For non-Aulani, I recommend Pearl Harbor, Makapu'u Point, Kawela Bay beach park, and visiting Haleiwa. The Dole Plantation train ride is overrated IMO. If you really want to see where tropical fruit comes from, book a tour at a local farm. Try Giovanni's shrimp truck, but there are also a lot of other trucks to stop at. I really liked Okina Cafe and Haleiwa Seafood Grill. Kono's BBQ is also a great place for reasonably priced meals. And of course Leonard's Malasadas. There is a food truck location closer to Aulani, but the original store is on Kapahulu Ave just outside of Waikiki.

If you're up for some hiking, I highly recommend going to Ka'ena Point and the Maili Pillbox. If you want a real workout, you can also do the Koko Crater stairs.

I've actually found an 8-seater van to rent from Turo, so we are set there, our VRBO has a parking spot, and then with doing DVC we also get parking, so handy there.

We have a 2-bedroom villa- island garden view.

Re: the character meal, currently on the fence, as with the exchange/gratuity/taxes, we are looking at almost $85/adult, $49/child, so may just do characters around Aulani.

Thanks for the rec on things to do, I will look them up