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If you’re planning a trip to Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii, you’re in for a good time! 

It’s a world class resort. The perfect place to relax after a good day exploring the island, but also the kind of place that makes you feel like you never want to leave. 

So if you’re trying to figure out how many days to spend at Aulani, this post is for you…

How Many Days at Aulani?

For starters, I never recommend coming to Hawaii for less than a week (unless maybe if you’re coming directly from the west coast, you travel often, and you’re mostly coming for some r&r).  

It’s just so far, you’re dealing with a major time change, and there’s soooooo much to see and do. 

A trip to Hawaii isn’t like a quick jaunt to Mexico where you never leave the resort. There is so much to explore in Hawaii, plus you want to actually have a vacation. 

Besides just coming to Hawaii in general, I rarely recommend staying on any one island for less than a week. 

A lot of people come with grand plans to see all four main islands in 10 days and honestly that’s just absolutely nuts. You could spend a solid week on each island and barely scratch the surface plus add in all of that time in airports and there are just so many better ways to spend your time. 

Sooooo…let’s assume you’re going to be on Oahu for a week. 

Honestly, if you’ve got the cash to stay at Aulani the whole time, go for it! I never regret spending the money to stay at a nice place and even if you spend several days (or part of each day) out exploring the island, it’s just so nice to come back to a place that feels like a real oasis at the end of the day. 

If you’re staying at Aulani for a full week (or longer), DEFINITELY plan to spend some days just hanging at the resort and other days out exploring the island (or half and half each day). 

Aulani is a phenomenal resort, but you don’t want to come all this way to Hawaii and not see much outside of Ko Olina. 

Okay, If a week-long stay at Aulani just isn’t in the budget, 3-4 nights is PLENTY of time to really experience the resort. I’m one of those people who can alternate between the beach and pool at a resort cranking through a book a day for weeks on end and never get bored so I could definitely justify a longer trip, but 4 nights is a really good chunk of time to spend at Aulani and get to play and have fun and still relax.

But that does NOT include time spent exploring the rest of the island. That’s pretty much arriving at Aulani, turning in the rental car, not leaving Ko Olina, and just living resort life. 

And really, if the budget is extra tight (or prices are just obscene), I think it’s even worth it to stay just two nights at Aulani. But I probably wouldn’t do just one. 

If you’re only going to do a few days at Aulani, I still stand by my one week rule of thumb, so I would plan to stay the first part of the trip somewhere near Waikiki (muuuuuch more affordable) and do the bulk of your sightseeing and exploring while there before moving to Aulani to spend the last bit of your trip just relaxing and enjoying the resort. 

 

Alternatively, if you’ve done the research and you’re actually a lot more interested in visiting another island like Maui or Kauai but you still really want to stay at Aulani because you’re a “Disney person,” then you could do a week on another island and then fly to Oahu just to stay at Aulani for a few days and not feel like you need to see much else of the island since you’ve already had your “cultural Hawaii experience.”

Want to read more? Don’t miss some of my most popular (and favorite) posts about Oahu:

If you’re trying to figure out where to stay, you’re going to want to look at my favorite boutique resort in Waikiki and the lowdown on where to stay on Oahu besides Waikiki. Plus I’ve got the scoop on how to avoid illegal vacation rentals and a roundup of where to stay in Ko Olina and reviews of the Laylow and Disney’s Aulani Resort. And a LOT more on Aulani like is Aulani worth it?, tips for staying at Aulani, how many days to spend, and the best things to eat and drink at Aulani. 

If you’re researching luaus on Oahu, I’ve written quite a bit. First, I’ve got a full breakdown of the best luaus (and the worst) on Oahu. Then I’ve got complete reviews of Paradise Cove, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and Aulani’s Ka Wa’a Luau. And if you’ve narrowed it down to the top two most popular on the island and still can’t decide, here’s Paradise Cove vs Polynesian Cultural Center. 

If you’re trying to put together an itinerary full of the best things to do, take a look at my best 5 day itinerary, and roundups of the best things to do in Waikiki, “secret” things to do on Oahu, plus my favorite things to do in Kailua and the windward coast, in Ko Olina, and on the north shore. And if you’re looking for food recommendations, I’ve got the best restaurants in Ko Olina and where locals eat in Waikiki. 

And last but not least, some of my favorite things on Oahu like Jurassic Park at Kualoa Ranch, Shangri La and the Honolulu Museum of Art, tips for visiting Pearl Harbor, easy hikes on Oahu, and the best spas on Oahu. And everything you need to know BEFORE you go to Oahu.

 

P.S. Thanks for sticking around and reading this whole post! If you have ANY questions about planning your trip to Hawaii, you can join my free Facebook group here. I’m there answering questions every day and there are 7500+ other friends who have a ton of Hawaii information to share!

Also, if you want to follow along on my travel adventures in real time, you can follow me on Instagram (@caitylincoln). My post captions are full of travel tips and I have a ton of story highlights and videos with great info. And please share my account with your friends that are headed to Hawaii! Your support really helps me keep this blog running!

P.S. If you want to follow along on my travel adventures in real time, you can follow me on Instagram (@caitylincoln). My post captions are full of travel tips and I have a ton of story highlights and videos with great info. And share my account with your travel loving friends! Your support really helps me keep this blog running!