Aulani Villas & Views -- REVISED 07/22/2017

[letitsnow]

Thank you! I called in my requests! I guess we shall see if they are granted. My last request failed at the VGC I did get my theme park view but it was on the first floor and we had a big black spider visit us and they told us it is common.

22 more days!!!!!!!!

 

[Joey7295]

We will be there in April in a standard view studio and was wondering if anyone can tell me of any good views in a standard view

 

[erikawolf2004]

Ok since others are asking...I'm going to ask too. We have a pool view studio booked for the middle of March. We requested highest floor possible in the W building...but since that will be closed I guess we will be in the Ewa building...do we want the long arm or closer to the lobby???

TIA

Erika

 

[dianeschlicht]

Ok since others are asking...I'm going to ask too. We have a pool view studio booked for the middle of March. We requested highest floor possible in the W building...but since that will be closed I guess we will be in the Ewa building...do we want the long arm or closer to the lobby???

TIA

Erika

If you have a pool view villa booked, I don't think it matters. The shorter one will have you closer to the restaurants and the Ewa tower long wing will have you closer to the actual pools.

 

[wdrl]

Ok since others are asking...I'm going to ask too. We have a pool view studio booked for the middle of March. We requested highest floor possible in the W building...but since that will be closed I guess we will be in the Ewa building...do we want the long arm or closer to the lobby???

TIA

Erika

If you are assigned a high floor then, as dianeschlicht posted, it doesn't really matter whether you are in the Ewa Phase 1 Building (closest to lobby), or in the Long Wing of the Ewa Building. However, keep in mind that the Pool View villas in the Ewa Phase 1 Building are only on floors 3, 4, and 5. The Long Wing of the Ewa Building has Pool View villas on floors 1 through 5.

The Pool View villas on the first floor of Long Wing have only partial views, at best, of the pool and lazy river in Waikolohe Valley. The landscaping and foliage block direct views of the water features. Here is a photo that I took while standing on the patio of villa #172, a Pool View studio. The lazy river is just on the other side of the wall that you see in the center of the photo.

 

[nonzerosum]

I'm hoping someone can give a bit of advice. I'm not a DVC owner, but we did book a 1 bedroom island view villa from the Aulani website. We will be there for 9 days at the end of July 2013. Given construction etc., I'm not sure which building and floor to request. With an island view is there any advantage to requesting a higher floor? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cinderpamela]

With an Island View I would go look back at page one at the grid that Wdrl posted with all the Island View rooms listed by color coding and see all the options for the long hall in the Ewa tower.

Many of the Island View on the back (non pool side) long hall of the Ewa building come with a bonus ocean view that is beautiful.

 

[wdrl]

Here's our view from room 1530, it's a standard (ie non-DVC) oceanview room.

Here is our ocean view 1 bedroom view from 1070 Ewa tower.

We just returned from our anniversary vow renewal at Aulani, Standard View Studio #457

Thanks, everyone, for contributing to this thread. I've added dianeschlicht's and lurkyloo's villas to the list in Post #1 and I've added as separate section for donkthemagicallama's hotel room.

 

[DiznyDi]

We have also just returned from paradise. Aulani is amazing! We were 4 adults in a 2 bedroom lock-off; 576 the 1 bedroom and 578 the lock-off studio. Photos have already been posted.
We were there for 9 nights and not once did I run into Diane.

We did the inter-island volcano eco tour from Oahu over to the big island. We also watched whales one afternoon - so fascinating. Even witnessed one big fellow breach.

This is a great thread. My thanks for keeping it up to date. I hope that one day I'll again have opportunity to visit Aulani.

 

[BCV23]

Thanks, everyone, for contributing to this thread. I've added dianeschlicht's and lurkyloo's villas to the list in Post #1 and I've added as separate section for donkthemagicallama's hotel room.

but how was your cruise?

 

[wdrl]

but how was your cruise?

We had a fun time on the cruise. Here is a link to a mini trip report with photos: http://dvcnews.com/forum/showthread...irst-Disney-Cruise-Part-1&p=151554#post151554

 

[ludari]

I enjoyed looking at 17 pages of photos but I didn't really read any of the comments. Can anyone confirm if they are private areas dedicated to DVC owners only at Aulani? After some additional internet research I also discovered that Aulani is undergoing construction until around September 2013. Would those of you who have visited during the construction phase would you recommend to wait until after construction? My time is flexible so I can go anytime but the sooner the better since I need a break from work.

 

[lurkyloo]

There are no private areas dedicated to DVC members only. I was really worried about construction (mostly because I didn't want it in our vow renewal photos) but it didn't affect our enjoyment at all. The main concentration in the guest areas is behind walls off to the side of the pool, so you don't really notice it. The patio below 'Ama 'Ama is also behind walls where they're creating new paths down to the beach. But otherwise, you don't really see or hear much.

 

[Anal Annie]

I enjoyed looking at 17 pages of photos but I didn't really read any of the comments. Can anyone confirm if they are private areas dedicated to DVC owners only at Aulani? After some additional internet research I also discovered that Aulani is undergoing construction until around September 2013. Would those of you who have visited during the construction phase would you recommend to wait until after construction? My time is flexible so I can go anytime but the sooner the better since I need a break from work.

I didn't think there were any areas of any DVC resort that were dedicated only to DVC members?!

 

[ludari]

I didn't think there were any areas of any DVC resort that were dedicated only to DVC members?!

Annie,

If you visit BLT at WDW the Top of the World Lounge is only for DVC members. So not only do you have to be a DVC member but you also have to be staying at that resort to visit the lounge. It's a great place to watch Magic Kingdom fireworks and havea a drink. They even have speakers where they play the music associated with the fireworks show. Pretty neat.

 

[ludari]

There are no private areas dedicated to DVC members only. I was really worried about construction (mostly because I didn't want it in our vow renewal photos) but it didn't affect our enjoyment at all. The main concentration in the guest areas is behind walls off to the side of the pool, so you don't really notice it. The patio below 'Ama 'Ama is also behind walls where they're creating new paths down to the beach. But otherwise, you don't really see or hear much.QUOTE]

Thanks for the information lurkyloo. I was excited about booking my reservation and when I learned of construction I thought I should move it to another date. Any idea on when construction is suppose to end? My vacation is towards the end of May.

 

[Anal Annie]

Annie,

If you visit BLT at WDW the Top of the World Lounge is only for DVC members. So not only do you have to be a DVC member but you also have to be staying at that resort to visit the lounge. It's a great place to watch Magic Kingdom fireworks and havea a drink. They even have speakers where they play the music associated with the fireworks show. Pretty neat.

We've stayed at BLT and been to the TOTWL and watched the fireworks etc. Honestly, while the lounge itself was beautiful I was so totally unimpressed with what they offered on their very limited menu we were only there for about 15 min. and we went down to the Contemporary in search of some "real food". Anyway, that's pretty much the only DVC resort with anything "special". And I thought they'd opened it up to members staying at other resorts sometime last year?! We were there over spring break last year & I thought I'd remembered reading that that rule changed after we were there. We could see the fireworks from the comfort of our balcony and it was so windy when we were there and the wall was so high it was sort of a let-down after our balcony experience.

We're going to Aulani in August and at the time we booked in January they were still saying the construction would be done by summer. We already have our flights and have to travel during the summer due to school schedules so I just hope by then the construction is winding down. We have a cabana rented for 2 days which is right next to the one area under construction and if I read that there's still a lot of noise going on then we'll just cancel it. Will save me $500 if so.

 

[Minnie222]

If your dates are flexible, I would wait until the construction is over to visit Aulani. The construction work is going really slow, and they keep changing the completion date. Wait until they are really finished, if possible.

During our stay, the main annoyance is the beeping sound of the trucks backing up in the construction area. It is "continuous" throughout the daytime. Other than that, it is ok.

Occupancy was really low during our stay. We feel that most of the rooms were not occupied as we walked along the corridor to our room. Makahiki dinner had only 5 tables of customers, no one at the buffet bar. My friend said it felt like a 10% occupancy. I didn't ask the actual figure, but I think it was really really low. If you dates are flexible, I would choose a low season to go there.

 

[BCV23]

We had a fun time on the cruise. Here is a link to a mini trip report with photos: http://dvcnews.com/forum/showthread...irst-Disney-Cruise-Part-1&p=151554#post151554

Thanks for the link. Sounds like a nice time. Enjoyed the comparisons, too, as we've only cruised a few times and I've only been on DCL.

 

[lurkyloo]

I agree with Minnie222 that waiting til construction ends so you can enjoy all the new stuff is ideal. But for those who already have plans they can't change, I would say not to worry about it. I never noticed the beeping of trucks backing up or was bothered by a few construction walls here and there.