Aulani, i have questions!

[Rickcat96]

Polynesian Cultural Center (especially the night show) is also a nice place.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Is this really necessary at Aulani, or can I figure it out once I'm actually at the resort? I don't plan to eat dinner there every night, but I would like to try Makahiki for the character breakfast, and 'Ama 'Ama for dinner at least once or twice.

Somewhere in between. I would make your reservations a few weeks in advance of the trip, but there's no need to be breaking down the doors right at the 60 day mark. Don't overlook the Olelo Room and Off the Hook. They're lounges more than proper restaurants but both have menus that support a full meal at dinner time.

FWIW, I loved Makahiki when it was a buffet but I think it's a very poor value for breakfast since they switched to prix fixe. It's simply not enough food.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Polynesian Cultural Center (especially the night show) is also a nice place.

Yes, I really enjoyed it. Kind of like Epcot for Polynesia.

But this trip is with a 4 and a 1 year old, who get very antsy with anything over a 1 hour car ride (God help us on our flights), so we'll save it for when they're older.

 

[MickeyCB]

Alright, next question. We're approaching our Aulani trip, and we'll be within the dining reservation window soon. Now, Disney has long since conditioned us to reserve our desired restaurants in the parks ridiculously early. Is this really necessary at Aulani, or can I figure it out once I'm actually at the resort? I don't plan to eat dinner there every night, but I would like to try Makahiki for the character breakfast, and 'Ama 'Ama for dinner at least once or twice.

I just hate booking restaurants so far in advanced.

Anyone familiar with the North Shore, is Haleiwa Joe's still worth the drive? I remember eating some of the best seafood of my life there, but this was around 18 years ago. I see that it is still open.

I agree with @CaptainAmerica above that I would book a few weeks ahead. I was watching the reservations and they seemed to fill up fairly fast. You can always cancel but you can't get one if none are available.

I disagree a little with him in that we actually got a lot of food, way more than we could eat, at the character breakfast and because we were in a villa all took leftovers to the room and ate for another breakfast or two.
I posted a few pics in my TR of the breakfast/character meet and greet.
I would definitely book 'Ama 'Ama as soon as possible. It wasn't open when we were there but I heard it is quite popular.
There's a lot of hype about the Monkey Pod across the street. Not sure what all of the hype was about, it was good but pretty busy.

If you're going to the North Shore in the next few months I think that's the season for the crazy waves? Was a very calm beach in Oct. but I seem to recall some crazy waves in Feb. many years ago.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

There's a lot of hype about the Monkey Pod across the street. Not sure what all of the hype was about, it was good but pretty busy.

The trick is to go early in the trip before you've adjusted fully to the time change and you're ready for dinner by 4pm. Their happy hour specials are really good and super well priced.

Island Vintage Coffee in that same plaza is also really good.

 

[sullyinMT]

Alright, next question. We're approaching our Aulani trip, and we'll be within the dining reservation window soon. Now, Disney has long since conditioned us to reserve our desired restaurants in the parks ridiculously early. Is this really necessary at Aulani, or can I figure it out once I'm actually at the resort? I don't plan to eat dinner there every night, but I would like to try Makahiki for the character breakfast, and 'Ama 'Ama for dinner at least once or twice.

I just hate booking restaurants so far in advanced.

Anyone familiar with the North Shore, is Haleiwa Joe's still worth the drive? I remember eating some of the best seafood of my life there, but this was around 18 years ago. I see that it is still open.

Makahiki breakfast is a must-reserve if it’s important to you. Our breakfast there was wonderful and not rushed, but it was a packed house. North Shore is definitely worth the drive. We sampled multiple trucks, and all of them were worth being “out of our way.” We had a red eye out of HNL, and it was a great use of our time between check out and flight.

Ama Ama was still closed for refurb when we were there, so I’m not too sure on that one.

 

[sullyinMT]

I agree with @CaptainAmerica above that I would book a few weeks ahead. I was watching the reservations and they seemed to fill up fairly fast. You can always cancel but you can't get one if none are available.

I disagree a little with him in that we actually got a lot of food, way more than we could eat, at the character breakfast and because we were in a villa all took leftovers to the room and ate for another breakfast or two.
I posted a few pics in my TR of the breakfast/character meet and greet.
I would definitely book 'Ama 'Ama as soon as possible. It wasn't open when we were there but I heard it is quite popular.
There's a lot of hype about the Monkey Pod across the street. Not sure what all of the hype was about, it was good but pretty busy.

If you're going to the North Shore in the next few months I think that's the season for the crazy waves? Was a very calm beach in Oct. but I seem to recall some crazy waves in Feb. many years ago.

MonkeyPod is worth it for the Mai Tai alone! The food was, I agree, good but not amazing. We had better luck getting a brunch reservation via Open Table about 3 weeks out.

 

[MickeyCB]

The trick is to go early in the trip before you've adjusted fully to the time change and you're ready for dinner by 4pm. Their happy hour specials are really good and super well priced.

Island Vintage Coffee in that same plaza is also really good.

I obviously made a newbie move. We ate there early in the trip very late, so midnight, 1 am EST per the way our bodies felt!

 

[Heppenheimer]

I agree with @CaptainAmerica above that I would book a few weeks ahead. I was watching the reservations and they seemed to fill up fairly fast. You can always cancel but you can't get one if none are available.

I disagree a little with him in that we actually got a lot of food, way more than we could eat, at the character breakfast and because we were in a villa all took leftovers to the room and ate for another breakfast or two.
I posted a few pics in my TR of the breakfast/character meet and greet.
I would definitely book 'Ama 'Ama as soon as possible. It wasn't open when we were there but I heard it is quite popular.
There's a lot of hype about the Monkey Pod across the street. Not sure what all of the hype was about, it was good but pretty busy.

If you're going to the North Shore in the next few months I think that's the season for the crazy waves? Was a very calm beach in Oct. but I seem to recall some crazy waves in Feb. many years ago.

I'm pretty sure the big waves come in during the winter months on the North Shore. It would be interesting to watch the surfers, but I just like the vibe on that part of the island better than the Honolulu area. About twenty years ago, I spent a month on the island on TDY to Tripler, and I ended up spending most of my free time around Huleiwa and Waimea.

Good to know that I should book 'Ama 'Ama in advanced. I would have though the character breakfast would have been the most popular .

 

[MickeyCB]

Good to know that I should book 'Ama 'Ama in advanced. I would have though the character breakfast would have been the most popular .

This is only my impression as when we were there, lots of people were inquiring about 'Ama "Ama but it wasn't open yet. We told them we were available for soft opening practice, but they didn't take us up on it!