Looking for Aulani Excursion Reviews

[gsarmedic]

I am planning a trip to Aulani, possibly end of Sept. Four of us total, 2 adults, DS 13, DD (a "hyper" active) 4. Looking for any excursion reviews that may interest the kids.

We live 10 minutes away from WDW and go all the time, so while we are going to spend a lot of time at the resort, I was hoping to see what else there is to offer on the island for the kids.

Please feel free to post links to your Trip Reports or other reviews. I'm learning a lot from everyone's reports, but I'm looking for specifics on both Aulani excursions and outside "day excursions". We will have our own vehicle to get to places if need be.

 

[Cinderpamela]

We did not book any excursions through Disney as it was more economical to do it ourselves especially since we had our own rental car. I really find Trip Reports to be helpful when planning and there are a bunch of reports here in Aulani in the DVC section under Trip Reports, just do an Aulani Search.

This last trip (just got back a couple of weeks ago) we did:

-Pearl Harbor (book online many months in advance for sure), http://www.recreation.gov/tourSearchResult.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72369&tourId=0
Tip for the 4 year old: One thing I noticed was that there were a couple of families with younger children who had a neat passport sort of books that the kids were filling out as they saw the different sites around Pearl Harbor. Not sure if they got it at the gift shop, or if they pre ordered it, but I would look into that if I had younger kids for sure.

-hiked Diamond Head-- here is a great website to help visualize the hike:http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/hikediamondhead.html

-Bishop Museum

-went up to the Northshore twice (the waves were super high and it was fun to watch all the surfers and the turtles), included a stop in at the Dole Plantation for Dole Whips & Giovannis Shrimp truck & Matsumotos Shave Ice

-surf lessons through Hawaii Fire (a super fun experience that was a highlight of the trip for us all) http://www.hawaiianfire.com/Irons/

-Byodo In Temple http://byodo-in.com/

 

[gsarmedic]

Cinderpamela, I actually found and read your trip post while looking around the forums. But your response is much appreciated.

Tip for the 4 year old: One thing I noticed was that there were a couple of families with younger children who had a neat passport sort of books that the kids were filling out as they saw the different sites around Pearl Harbor. Not sure if they got it at the gift shop, or if they pre ordered it, but I would look into that if I had younger kids for sure.

Just for the reference of others, after reading Cinderpamela's response, I found that the National Park Service has two booklets for kids:
The Keiki Ranger Activity Book (for ages 3-6) and Junior Ranger Scavenger Hunt (for ages 7-12)

I think these are what Cinderpamela may have viewed and is reffering to. According to the website they are available at the ticket and information desk and are FREE. Look here.

 

[gsarmedic]

Haven't heard back from anyone other than Cinderpamela about excursions while at Aulani.

I was looking into doing one of the helicopter tours. Anyone have an experience they want to share?

Any other ideas or experiences of fun things to do off Aulani property?