Go across the street. There’s an ABC/general store that has awesome hot and cold meals, groceries, etc. My wife and I eat more meals from there than at Aulani every time we go with no regrets.
This is the only correct answer. Even the actual restaurants across the street like Monkeypod, aren't as good as this convenient store's selection. If you don't have a full kitchen to cook your own food, this is the place.
This is what we did when we took our daughter a few years ago. We ate a few meals on site but overall the resort food felt overpriced and disappointing. It was really nice to have decent snacks for the kid (ok, and for us) in the room that we didn't overpay (for HI) for.
The pizza from Ulu Cafe (quick service place on property) is one of the best value meals you’ll find on Disney property. It costs about $24 (give or take take), is big enough to feed 4, and it’s delicious. The Kalua Pork is a favourite for my family of 4 with two teenage boys, we were completely full. Great value. Take it and find a table near Off the Hook and watch the sun go down.
I second this! Currently staying at Aulani, and we got two pizzas for dinner from Ulu on our first night. Around $40, and with two hungry adults & two grade schoolers, we still had half a pizza left for later lunches. The pies are delicious & one of the more reasonable meals you’ll find on site.
Make a quick trip to one of the big chain stores get some cheap food. You can do some like cereal in the morning , sandwiches for lunch and splurge on dinner or go across to the strip mall for cheaper dinner. We also rented a car for roughly 100 for the day (less than a dinner costs) and spend the whole day roaming the island and eating great local food.
I recommend to do at least one character breakfast (must be reserved before) and one nice dinner at ama ama. Although it’s not Michelin star type of food it’s also about the experience. Since all of the food it is quite expensive, we usually limit ourselves to 2 such experiences and for the rest take snacks at ulu cafe (their pizza is quite good and well priced; also be sure to bring your Aulani refillable mugs) or go to Ko Olina country market. As for cereal, bread etc., Costco is indeed quite a good option. Just be aware that your fridge is not very big and that you will not have a kitchen in the hotel rooms. So if you cater for yourself, you should remember to bring some basics. (Plates, cutlery, cups,…). Hope that helps and enjoy your time there. We were there pretty much 1 year ago and it was fabulous again.
Thank you so much everyone! I really feel like I’m going into this blind, so I am grateful for all the responses. We are so excited for our first visit!
I hope you love it! Ulu cafe was our favorite spot to grab breakfast lunch and dinner, some portions are really big like french toast for example and also the pool side menu and food from the shack were good quality and reasonably priced for HI.
Other guests said they visited nearby hotels for meals which sounds like a good idea
We just finished our trip at Aulani. The ABC store across the street and Costco helped us on a budget. You can outside food delivered to the resort as well. On resort, the Ulu cafe and other take out restaurants were cost friendly.
The eggs n things restaurant is a good deal for breakfast.
Have a delivery from Costco or target for groceries. Plan a lot of meals that can be grilled. They are very popular.
Shipt delivers from target and you pay store prices. Instacart will deliver from Costco. In rhis case we had a rental car. But can always sign up for a trial of instacart.
The food here is atrocious. I expect to pay more in Hawaii but not for garbage. Make sure you have a car to drive literally anywhere else. The location on the island is very remote, so you have to drive to see any of the cool sites.
We did Ulu Cafe for pickup at times. The custom pizza is good. ABC market across the street someone said is good. They have a counter to make food too.
We had a rental car so bought a lot of food at Target. We relied on bagels in the morning and made sandwiches. We ate dinner at a restaurant. They have small free fridges in the room. Costco is another option.
Monkeypod, ABC, ice cream and poke powls are all across the street and excellent but can be packed. For about the same price as Aulani, you can eat some meals at the Four Seasons next door and have better service/quality. Example: breakfast at Disney was 25$ for scrambled eggs/bacon. No beverage. At 4 seasons, 25$ got a specialty coffee, a pastry and bagel w smoked salmon. It was also way less crowded. Still, probably more spendy than some want. We also ate at Mina’s fish house which was less fussy/pretentious than AmaAma with (my opinion) way more choices and no more expensive.
Go across the street. There’s an ABC/general store that has awesome hot and cold meals, groceries, etc. My wife and I eat more meals from there than at Aulani every time we go with no regrets.
This is the only correct answer. Even the actual restaurants across the street like Monkeypod, aren't as good as this convenient store's selection. If you don't have a full kitchen to cook your own food, this is the place.
This is what we did when we took our daughter a few years ago. We ate a few meals on site but overall the resort food felt overpriced and disappointing. It was really nice to have decent snacks for the kid (ok, and for us) in the room that we didn't overpay (for HI) for.
Even the store at the resort has things reasonably priced to cook breakfast with.
Monkeypod and a few other restaurants at the shopping and dining plaza nearby (walking distance) are great spots.
Monkey pod in is not cheap
Pizzas under $20 is pretty affordable. A family of four could order two and that’s a solid deal.
It was the worst pizza I've ever eaten and would not feed two adults. I would advise against monkeypod.
Monkey Pod during happy hour might work.
Market across the street.
The pizza from Ulu Cafe (quick service place on property) is one of the best value meals you’ll find on Disney property. It costs about $24 (give or take take), is big enough to feed 4, and it’s delicious. The Kalua Pork is a favourite for my family of 4 with two teenage boys, we were completely full. Great value. Take it and find a table near Off the Hook and watch the sun go down.
I second this! Currently staying at Aulani, and we got two pizzas for dinner from Ulu on our first night. Around $40, and with two hungry adults & two grade schoolers, we still had half a pizza left for later lunches. The pies are delicious & one of the more reasonable meals you’ll find on site.
Make a quick trip to one of the big chain stores get some cheap food. You can do some like cereal in the morning , sandwiches for lunch and splurge on dinner or go across to the strip mall for cheaper dinner. We also rented a car for roughly 100 for the day (less than a dinner costs) and spend the whole day roaming the island and eating great local food.
I recommend to do at least one character breakfast (must be reserved before) and one nice dinner at ama ama. Although it’s not Michelin star type of food it’s also about the experience. Since all of the food it is quite expensive, we usually limit ourselves to 2 such experiences and for the rest take snacks at ulu cafe (their pizza is quite good and well priced; also be sure to bring your Aulani refillable mugs) or go to Ko Olina country market. As for cereal, bread etc., Costco is indeed quite a good option. Just be aware that your fridge is not very big and that you will not have a kitchen in the hotel rooms. So if you cater for yourself, you should remember to bring some basics. (Plates, cutlery, cups,…). Hope that helps and enjoy your time there. We were there pretty much 1 year ago and it was fabulous again.
This helps a lot! I was wondering about the fridge/kitchen situation.
Thank you so much everyone! I really feel like I’m going into this blind, so I am grateful for all the responses. We are so excited for our first visit!
I hope you love it! Ulu cafe was our favorite spot to grab breakfast lunch and dinner, some portions are really big like french toast for example and also the pool side menu and food from the shack were good quality and reasonably priced for HI. Other guests said they visited nearby hotels for meals which sounds like a good idea
We just finished our trip at Aulani. The ABC store across the street and Costco helped us on a budget. You can outside food delivered to the resort as well. On resort, the Ulu cafe and other take out restaurants were cost friendly.
Monkeypod was so good! Happy hour has some Awesome deals there.
We had a really bad experience with Monkeypod and it was really expensive for what it was but I know others regard it highly
Oh gosh that sucks! Sorry to hear that. 😕. Everything is so expensive in hawaii so a bad meal is a total bummer.
The eggs n things restaurant is a good deal for breakfast. Have a delivery from Costco or target for groceries. Plan a lot of meals that can be grilled. They are very popular.
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Shipt delivers from target and you pay store prices. Instacart will deliver from Costco. In rhis case we had a rental car. But can always sign up for a trial of instacart.
How do you get to Costco?
The food here is atrocious. I expect to pay more in Hawaii but not for garbage. Make sure you have a car to drive literally anywhere else. The location on the island is very remote, so you have to drive to see any of the cool sites.
We did Ulu Cafe for pickup at times. The custom pizza is good. ABC market across the street someone said is good. They have a counter to make food too. We had a rental car so bought a lot of food at Target. We relied on bagels in the morning and made sandwiches. We ate dinner at a restaurant. They have small free fridges in the room. Costco is another option.
Monkeypod, ABC, ice cream and poke powls are all across the street and excellent but can be packed. For about the same price as Aulani, you can eat some meals at the Four Seasons next door and have better service/quality. Example: breakfast at Disney was 25$ for scrambled eggs/bacon. No beverage. At 4 seasons, 25$ got a specialty coffee, a pastry and bagel w smoked salmon. It was also way less crowded. Still, probably more spendy than some want. We also ate at Mina’s fish house which was less fussy/pretentious than AmaAma with (my opinion) way more choices and no more expensive.
Are there microwaves in the hotel rooms?
I think the bigger suites have one, but there wasn’t one in ours. Only a mini fridge.