Aulani Noob question, 2-weeks to long?

[Gr8scott]

Sorry if already covered somewhere else, but we were lucky to book a split stay of 14-nights from June 9th-23rd 2016. We have a 4-night Island Garden View 1-bedroom to start, followed by 10-nights in a 1-bedroom Ocean View. Anyone every stay at Aulani this long? Is thare any chance this to long a stay?

We are considering dropping the first 4-nights and visit Maui first if it makes sense to do so as we have never visited Hawaii and want to maximize our trip. We're traveling from Michigan with an 11-year old and not sure how often we will return. Any thoughts or advice/tips are appreciated. Mahalo!

 

[happymommy]

We own at the Marriott right next to Aulani. We always go for two weeks!
Granted, Aulani is much more tightly packed than the Marriott is. We have no problem finding a chair by one of the pools pretty much any time of day.
We stock up at Target and Costco, and cook every day (often we go out to lunch, but most times have dinner in; after a long day or swimming it's just more relaxing!).
We've thought about going to a neighbor island, but packing up and moving to us isn't as relaxing as staying put! Four nights on Maui in a hotel prior may be nice, but you'd have the day you arrive (not time to do much) so you'd really have 3 days.
I don't think 14 days is too long at all. Matter of fact, next trip I'm considering locking off our two bedroom and having two weeks in the studio and two weeks in the one bedroom, with various folks joining me (my son will likely be too busy, and so maybe my daughter and a couple friends, and my husband so not all four of us at the same time - the studio would likely be me and one friend or me and my husband). I'd love a month there (but I know the island as I lived there for a few years).

 

[Gr8scott]

Many thanks for the great information Happymommy. We did consider the short length of the first "leg" of our stay as potentially being an issue as well, especially due to how much travel time it will take us to get there. Our 1st day we will likely be wiped out for sure.

 

[cindyzig]

That is a really good question, and I bet the answer is different for many of us. We were there for 10 nights in late January/early February of this year. We loved, loved, loved the resort. But, we felt like 7 nights would have been about right. My son really enjoyed the kids club, but he covered everything even more than once during our time. Personally, I really liked relaxing on the resort, but my husband and son are the type that like to be on the go. And, Maui is actually my family's favorite island especially during whale season. We have been there 3 times. I highly recommend visiting that island if you feel like you have time. By the way, you will be amazed at your one bedroom ocean view room at Aulani. We were lucky to have the same category, and it was breathtaking. Whatever you decide, you can't go wrong with either plan. I can't wait to get back to Aulani (and Maui) in the not too distant future. We are heading to WDW and on our first Disney cruise next week, but I have a feeling that we will immediately start planning Hawaii again when we return.

 

[Gr8scott]

Thanks for the reply Cindy. We are leaning toward leaving our existing reservation as is but for the very points you mentioned, still haven't made the final call. Our vacation style sounds very similar to that of Happymommy above, taking advantage of the kitchen for meals and usually dont like to move much but....with Maui only a 40-minute flight....grrrrr...

Lol, A nice dilema to have nonetheless...

 

[Girimama33]

I would definitely drop the first 4 nights at Aulani and go to another island.

 

[southerngirl528]

I agree that this is a very personal thing, but DH & I have stayed in Hawaii for a few weeks at a time and like HappyMommy, we LOVE it. We could stay longer for certain! Most of that time is spent on Maui though to be forthright. The longest DH & I have stayed at Aulani is 7 days and we agreed we would like to stay a few days longer before hopping over to a neighbor island for the remainder of our trip. I have personally talked to more than one member that told me they, "stayed for 2 weeks and never left the place!". While I am sure they must have left to get supplies like at Costco or the BigTarget right across from Costco, or some other groceries, they made it very clear they absolutely loved Aulani and did not want to leave. The 2 parties I clearly recall telling me this were all adult parties. I know my little ones would LOVE the pools there.

Hawaii is a very special place and a very long trip for most of us, west coasters notwithstanding. Maui in whale season has to be experienced to believe it. You can see whales off of any of the islands but the channel between Maui, Lana'i and Moloka'i is the favorite hangout of the mamas that are calving and for the whales following the "girls" around. It's crazy how many you can see there.

 

[Gr8scott]

Thanks for the reply Southerngirl, I would love to have the opportunity to see whales but sadly we will be visiting out of season I think. Good points about the length if stay though, and thanks again.

 

[nkereina]

We're going for the first time in September so I can't speak from experience. But one thing that was a factor for us when booking was the flights - it was much cheaper for us to book round trip flights to Honolulu round trip than it would have been to do one way. In other words, if we flew from our hometown to Maui and then flew home from Honolulu, those one way flights were pricey. You could fly to Honolulu first and then separately book another flight to Maui same day, but it would likely be a second connection for you.

We are flying into Honolulu and staying 3 nights in the Waikiki area to do Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, and take in the tourist stuff there. We're then flying to Maui for 5 nights, then back to Honolulu to stay at Aulani for a week.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The islands are all so different and with 2 weeks you definitely have the length of stay to check out more than 1 island. As it is your first trip I think I'd recommend that - and then if you do return some day you'll also have a better idea of where you'd like to visit that time, whether you develop a favorite between Oahu and Maui or decide you want to see the big island or Kauai. But I'd make it 5 or 6 days on Maui and the remainder at Aulani. I'm actually not saying that 2 weeks is too long at Aulani especially if you plan on touring Oahu, just that it's a long enough trip to try a couple out and since you're making the long trip why not?

 

[Gr8scott]

You all are making this tough...lol. All the feedback is much appreciated.

 

[Sepo]

You all are making this tough...lol. All the feedback is much appreciated.

We are planning an Aulani trip this June as well. 8 nights at Aulani so far (could tack on the back end still) with maybe a plan to stop in Cali on the way back to the midwest, but now this thread has got me thinking about a Maui or Kaui 2nd week instead. Sheesh.

 

[southerngirl528]

Personally I think it is impossible to get too much Hawaii……

 

[amym2]

In my opinion, to really experience Hawaii, you need to get off Oahu and visit another island. While we like Oahu and there's plenty to do there (Pearl Harbor, North Shore, Polynesian Cultural Center,etc) and we love Aulani, we definitely enjoy getting away from the touristy areas. We've visited Kauai (with kids) and the Big Island (without kids) and definitely thought the time to travel (quick flight) and expense (interisland flights are cheap) was well worth it. But then we're not the sit around on the beach for days on end types either. We enjoyed our 4 days at Aulani and felt like we did everything we wanted to. Our kids weren't interested in Aunty's, but we did some of the family experiences. We'd probably do a week there max, but I realize others prefer much longer. Really you can't go wrong either way!

 

[Gr8scott]

Thanks for the reply Amym2, in the event we were to visit Maui, do you have any hotel recommendations? We have been doing a little searching, but nothing solid so far.

 

[Tink6666]

We (6 adults) will be going in May / June this year. We chose to do a split stay with 4 days on the big island to see the volcanos and 5 days at Aulani. This will be the first time to Hawaii for most of us. I am excited for the adventure!

 

[nkereina]

Thanks for the reply Amym2, in the event we were to visit Maui, do you have any hotel recommendations? We have been doing a little searching, but nothing solid so far.

I haven't stayed yet but have done a ton of research, and we finally settled on the Westin on Ka'anapali Beach. It's adjacent to Whaler's Village which has shopping and dining options in walking distance. Also on the shuttle route to Front St Lahaina area for more shopping/dining/night life. We also thought it was among the best pools of the ones we looked at, and we found a rate that included breakfast for only a few bucks more.

 

[Gr8scott]

I'll check it out Nkereina, thanks! Interesting that you bring up the point regarding pools. Having being spoiled on the pools at the DVC resorts, the one thing that always jumps out at us when researching non-Disney accommodations is the lesser quality pool areas. Perhaps not a big issue on Maui though, as if we decide to go there we likely will spend most of our time exploring the island.

 

[quinnc19]

We are staying at the Sheraton on Ka'anapali Beach for similar reasons as the pp. BTW, their Cyber Monday sale just started and rates are low, especially for Starwood members.

 

[southerngirl528]

Gr8Scott, DH and I go to Maui as often as we can, and I agree with Quinnc19 & Nkereina about Ka'anapali Beach for a great location on Maui. We stay at the Marriott Ocean Club which is also on Ka'anapali Beach and a fabulous timeshare resort. The Westin Hotel is in a very good location for access to Whalers Village as it is immediately south of this area. The Sheraton Black Rock is a well loved hotel in this area as well and is an easy stroll to Whalers Village as well. I have a few friends that have stayed at the Westin Hotel and liked it very much. Only down side I hear sometimes is that the hotel rooms are pretty small. The grounds are very pretty and they have a nice spa. I would not recommend the restaurant at the Westin unless there have been some big changes in the last year or so.

The Sheraton Black Rock has a neat sundown ceremony with the blowing of the conch shell and a a diver jumps off of Black Rock. I hear pretty good things across the board about the Sheraton. I don't think anyone would be disappointed with either choice.

Just so you know, there is another Westin at the northern end of Ka'anapali Beach but that is the Westin Villas, their timeshare. I have stayed there and it is gorgeous.

Maui is amazing and I recommend visiting the Maui Trip Advisor forum for some really great information. (hope that's okay to recommend from here since this really isn't a source for that island….)