Aulani: Rental Car, Groceries, Etc.

[Simba]

Hey all!

We will be in Aulani in November. Can't wait!! Need a little bit of expert advice:

First, We didn't plan on renting a car. Is this a good or bad idea? We had heard that the daily parking rates were expensive and we don't know how much we will actually want to leave Aulani. Any advice would be appreciated.

Secondly, if we don't rent a car is a cab the only way we could get to a grocery store to stock up on the small things such as beer, wine, breakfast foods?

Thanks in Advance!!

 

[nabi]

Members don't pay the fee for car parking at Aulani.

 

[Girimama33]

If you are staying at the resort on points, you do not have to pay the parking fee ($35/day).
We are taking a family trip (mom, dad, brother, sisters and our families) to Aulani for 7 nights. We are not planning on renting a car because we don't want to pay the parking rates, and we plan on enjoying the resort most days. Our last family vacation to Cabo had way too many excursions planned, so we made sure not to overload it this time.
We are doing the Pearl Harbor tour through Aulani one morning, renting two cars from the Alamo desk one day to do our own circle island tour and the Paradise Cove luau.
We are going to get a taxi to make a grocery stop. I have read that Charley's taxi will take you to Costco, Target or Safeway for $10. When you are finished, they will take you back for another $10. We are going to try and make a deal with our driver to see if we can offer him $100 to take us to Costco and Safeway.

I know a lot of people recommend having a car, but I don't think it is necessary if you are planning on staying at the resort most of the time.

 

[amym2]

If you think you'll leave the resort at all, I'd rent a car. The cab fare from the airport to Aulani and back isn't cheap. We got a full-size for 5 nights for under $200. If you plan to grocery shop, visit Pearl Harbor, go to the North Shore, etc it will be worth it. We were staying on points so didn't have to pay a parking fee. If you really just plan to stay at the resort and you'll have to pay the parking fee, I'd go without a car, but otherwise I'd get one. I found the best rates about 3 weeks out.

 

[BobDes]

We were there a few weeks ago and rented a car (DVC parking). We only took it out on the day before we left and regreted it. We drove to the Dole Plantation and the North Shore (which is easy to get to and INCREDIBLE!)

the cost of the rental through AAA, was just a few dollars more than the cab fare to and from the airport. A car is not needed for Paradise Cove as it is maybe 2 blocks from Aulani.

We did do the Pearl Harbour tour through Aulani. It was great.

Being a native NY'er, I felt that the driving was simple and straight forward.

 

[luv2boys]

What did you think of the dole plantation?

 

[swooshbear]

I would recommend renting a car, especially considering how far the Aulani is from the airport/Honolulu. With a car you can stop by Costco/Walmart/Target/Kmart to stock up on supplies. There is also tons of great food outside of the resort that you should check out.

Dole plantation is great, I wish they would put fresh pineapple on the Dole Whips at DLR/WDW like they do in Hawaii.

 

[Pixie_Dust]

I just reserved a Thrifty compact car for a week for $89 (was $116 yesterday - it pays to check rates more than once!) In saving cab fare, stress, wait time, etc., I know it will more than pay for itself.

 

[Ricky P]

Pixie, could we have a little bit of detail on that 89.00 thrifty week long rental. i.e. how far out, coupons, etc thanks

 

[AKVFamily]

Was the tap water at Aulani good enough to drink directly, or do you recommend buying a slew of bottled waters?

 

[Anal Annie]

I wouldn't go to Aulani w/o a car - it's just too far out of the city. I just found a great deal yesterday on a "full size" at Alamo thru Costco for August (they just dropped their August rates). $141 incl. tax for 7 n. That's only $20 / day. I WAS going to get a mid-size but was worried about luggage space. As far as Hawaii rentals goes I think that is a pretty good rate for that size car. I always book early then re-shop my rates.

 

[amym2]

Was the tap water at Aulani good enough to drink directly, or do you recommend buying a slew of bottled waters?

For water at the resort, there are water dispensers (glass) throughout the outside areas, so we didn't take bottled water with us to the pools. The tap water is perfectly fine to drink. We bought some bottled water to take on excursions.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hey all! We will be in Aulani in November. Can't wait!! Need a little bit of expert advice: First, We didn't plan on renting a car. Is this a good or bad idea? We had heard that the daily parking rates were expensive and we don't know how much we will actually want to leave Aulani. Any advice would be appreciated. Secondly, if we don't rent a car is a cab the only way we could get to a grocery store to stock up on the small things such as beer, wine, breakfast foods? Thanks in Advance!!

We are here now and rented a car... We Have gone out every day. One day to Dole Plantation. one day to Pearl Harbor. One day to meet a local friend for lunch. one day to go to Diamond Head but the parking lot was full by 8:15 so we had a spontaneous drive thru Waikiki and across the Pali highway (recommend stopping at the scenic overlook... Costs $3 to park).

You can easily walk to Paradise Cove and across to a few restaurants and market.

 

[abdgeek]

Hey all!

We will be in Aulani in November. Can't wait!! Need a little bit of expert advice:

First, We didn't plan on renting a car. Is this a good or bad idea? We had heard that the daily parking rates were expensive and we don't know how much we will actually want to leave Aulani. Any advice would be appreciated.

Secondly, if we don't rent a car is a cab the only way we could get to a grocery store to stock up on the small things such as beer, wine, breakfast foods?

Thanks in Advance!!

When I went in 2012, I only rented a car for the days I wanted to sightsee--which were 3. When I go this year, I'm not renting a car at all. I paid for a transfer from the airport to Aulani, because I still came out cheaper than renting a car for 9 days.

For food, I bought that at the store in Aulani and walked across the street to the ABC Store to pick up a few food items and souvenirs. Most days I ate breakfast in my room and both places had the usual things I needed. I bought a 24 pack of water at the ABC Store for $10 and they had soda, beer, etc. They also have souvenirs and ready made food. Before you spend money on a taxi to get food, check out what the Aulani Grocery Store and the ABC Store have. Food prices are high in Hawaii, so don't get sticker shock. Think about $3-5 higher than what you may be used to paying.

 

[MissLiz]

We rented a 4-door Jeep for the 10 days we were at Aulani. It was just over $500 through Discount Hawaii Car Rental. We had DVC parking and we went out every day. We really enjoyed being able to explore the island how we wanted. We hit pretty much every area of the island. We also spent a ton of time at the resort and could have easily spent more if we wanted without getting bored.


Edited to add: we thought the store across the street was extremely overpriced. We ended up finding a store while we were out that was a lot cheaper for most of what we wanted. We wouldn't have found it if we didn't have the car.