Aulani Recommendations

[danheaton]

Hello. I'm not a DVC member, but I feel like this is the right forum since we booked a one-bedroom villa at Aulani for late March during my daughters' Spring Break. My girls are 9 and nearly 6, and we'll be there for a week. Any recommendations? We don't plan to do a lot of traveling around the island since we want to relax. We are going to do the luau at night and a lot of the activities. We don't plan to rent a car unless we decide at the time we want to do a day trip. I'd love to hear your suggestions!

 

[Darstarr]

Hello. I'm not a DVC member, but I feel like this is the right forum since we booked a one-bedroom villa at Aulani for late March during my daughters' Spring Break. My girls are 9 and nearly 6, and we'll be there for a week. Any recommendations? We don't plan to do a lot of traveling around the island since we want to relax. We are going to do the luau at night and a lot of the activities. We don't plan to rent a car unless we decide at the time we want to do a day trip. I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Pearl Harbor. You may think your kids are too young but do not under estimate the power of the memorial. My youngest was 8 when we went and he still remembers it. Perhaps not the details, but the feeling. It is very powerful and moving.

Costco. For groceries and souveniers! (If you are a member)

 

[Janir]

I just got back from a Hawaii trip. Didn't stay at Aulani, but we visited it, had dinner and bought a DVC membership to Copper Creek from there. Hope that counts. When we go back to Hawaii, we'll definitely stay in Aulani.
I'll second the Pearl Harbor idea. Doing the bookends of USS Arizona - USS Missouri tours is worth the trip. Not having kids I can't speak authoritatively about how kids will perceive things, but riding out the Arizona and seeing the wreckage under the water then later walking the USS Missouri and just feeling the massive size of that ship and equating that to the grave we rode over the water on earlier gives a connection and solemness that's a bit hard to describe. touring the MO makes the AZ feel very real.
The Sub tour and air power museums are worth the effort too if there is any interest in those things.
A walk around the Waikiki beach was kinda cool, watching some surfers, and the different historical hotels on the beach. Lunch on the beach at Duke's is cool but nothing have to go out of my way for if your not planning anything else.

https://www.iolanipalace.org/
The Iolani Palace is a great 1/4 day stop. Learn about the Hawaiian royalty before Hawaii became a US territory and then state.

The Dole Pineapple farms looked pretty cool but we didn't manage to get to that.

The north shore area and the Polynesian cultural center are some good day trips. You can rent a car for a day and drive though the North shore, and get some cheap but authentic and yummy eats then head to the Polynesian Cultural Center for some mini islands area for the Polynesian islands. You can make a day of that easy.

There's my 2 cents from a recent trip. As for staying at Aulani, we'll your gonna do that already. ;-) I really likes the rooms and the area there. The resort restaurants are very nice, but not really cheap. If you have a 1 or 2 bedroom, you'll have a full kitchen. Verify that but then order some Amazon Prime, or local equivalent and you can get as much in room cooking/ meals as you want to not pay money for eating out. Same trick as WDW. Dunno about those costs.