Single Day Aulani Suggestions?

[azcavalier]

We're heading to Hawaii in February, but most of our trip will be spent on the big island and Maui (National Park buffs).

However, the last 2.5 days, we'll be on Oahu, staying at Aulani. We'll get there midday on Friday, but we plan to spend Saturday touring the island and at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Sunday we plan to see Pearl Harbor and other historic sites around Honolulu.

So, Friday is our Aulani Exploration day. How are the Aulani restaurants? We will be doing the PCC luau the next day...is two luau's back-to-back too much? Other things to do at Aulani?

Thanks!

[lawgirl]

My sis lives in Hawaii, so we go once a year. We've stayed at Aulani once, but this July we didn't spend the night- just did day trips to visit. The Makahiki character breakfast is great- the food is amazing, and the best character experience we've ever had. Highly recommend it for brunch and dinner. Ama'Ama is another one of our favorite brunch spots. The food is great, and the ocean view is incredible. We also really enjoyed the pool bar- good food and drinks, and same ocean view. The lagoons at Ko'olina and the next lagoon over are my absolute favorites. The water is crystal clear and calm, and just gorgeous. The pool area is amazing. My kids absolutely love it. The lazy river is just awesome. The Ulu Room bar right next to Makahiki is a great little place- they have really good happy hour specials and live music. We ended up going there 4 times on our last trip (and we didn't even stay at the hotel). Amazing tropical nachos and sliders. The spa is amazing. Really the whole place is amazing- I just love walking around. Its immaculate, and very well designed. I can't wait to go back!

[baldburke]

It's an awesome resort! Even though they don't go heavy on Disney, it will feel like you are at a Disney resort.

Crowds in February shouldn't be too bad, but depended on your party size it may take a bit of effort to secure your beach/pool spot and activities. Aulani has lots of fun free and paid activities for the whole family but spots for those tend to fill up quick. If not then depended on your budget there are some nearby offsite activities that you can link up to on the Aulani website. We did the catamaran snorkeling experience that's only 5 minutes down the road from Aulani and had a great time.

If you are going out from Aulani then check at the concierge desk about traffic. You may have heard that traffic on Oahu can be busy and they have rush hour just like us. Aulani is somewhat remote and it can take upwards of an hour to get to the complete opposite end of the island. However you'll have more than enough choices for a 2.5 day stay. If you are doing Pearl Harbor and you want to visit the USS Arizona Memorial then know that you can only buy tickets one day ahead at 7AM HST www.recreation.gov and tickets can be tough to get.

Unless you really enjoy a good luau then two back to back may be a bit much. The food was awesome. Like Lawgirl, Makahiki breakfast buffet was our favorite too. Even the pool service was fun and you can get Mickey pretzels.

Good luck with your visit!