Aulani and DL

[YensidRocks]

Hey guys,

Not sure If I'm posting in the right place but here goes...

My family and I are starting to toss the idea of forgoing our annual trip to Walt Disney World but instead traveling to Disney Land and then going to Aulani. Being a WDW addict- I can't believe we're actually serious about this. We are DVC members and we're thinking of doing an OOP stay at the Disney Land Resort then using points for a stay at Aulani. Has anyone here on the boards participated in this kind of vacation. If so, what was your experiences? We're flying in from the east coast (NYC) and i'm already noticing that airfare seems to be crazy expensive. We are planning this trip for August 2016. Any advice would be appreciated!

Here are some random questions:

1. Is there a slower time during the summer for Aulani or DL? I'm a teacher so other times are super tough for me.
2. Which hotel do you recommend while staying on property at DL?
3. How many days do you need to tour the parks?
4. Is Hollywood far away? We would love to take a drive and do a day visit.
5. Should we tour Hawaii first, then DL or vice versa?
6. Which way offers the cheapest airfare? From what I researched it seems like flying to Hawaii from NYC is the same price as flying to LAX from NYC -- Maybe there's a trick that I'm not aware of.
7. Which airline is the cheapest?
8. When staying at Aulani, do they offer various excursions to different islands- hubby would love to go to pearl harbor.
9. Has anyone used Dreams Unlimited to book their vacations. I usually book everything on my own but this is an entirely new animal to me.
10. Are there any big questions that I should be asking but omitted... =).

Thank you so much!! Looking forward to hearing all of your responses.

 

[RedOnion]

My family and I enjoyed a similar vacation during April 2013. We're in Connecticut (also East Coast) and are also DVC members. I don't have answers to everything you're asking, but I'll respond where I can, and will say without reservation: it was among the best and most amazing vacations any of us have ever had!

2. The Grand Californian is the (only) DVC resort at Disneyland, so I recommend it. We loved it. Our home resort is VWL, which was designed by the same architect, so we felt very much "welcomed home". It also has its own entrance to the California Adventure park, and has some Villas that overlook it. We watched World of Color from our balcony. Fantastic.
3. We were at the parks for 2 full days--one full day for each park (Magic Kingdom, California Adventure)--but were onsite for 3 days total (2 full days; 2 half days). We agreed we could have used an extra park day to see everything, but were satisfied with the two. Magic Kingdom, Downtown Disney, and California Adventure are literally connected, so you can freely walk between them. It's a real convenience.
5. We did Aulani first for 6 nights, and Disneyland for 3 nights on the way back home. Being from the East Coast as you are, the advantage to us was to front-load the longest travel day at the beginning of the trip when we were still happy and excited; despite the long duration--and it was--we barely noticed it because of our excitement. A 9-hour-plus return flight at the end of the trip would have been a real letdown and struggle for us.
6-7. We flew Delta; at the time, it was least expensive and most convenient. Both ways, we had brief layovers at O'Hare airport in Chicago, which we welcomed for such long flights (gave us a chance to stretch our legs and get a bite to eat). I cannot speak to current rates however.
8. Aulani does offer a series of terrific excursions: be sure to review the Web site for more. Note that there is no "Magical Express"-type transportation between Honolulu Int'l and Aulani however, so you'll probably be renting a car--we rented a convertible and really lived it up--and might simply want to drive yourselves to Pearl Harbor, into Waikiki, etc. There are only a handful of major highways that run through Oahu--H1 is East/West; H2 is North/South--so it's difficult to get very lost. (One bit of advice though: do not count on your phone's voice navigation to get you around, even if you usually are able to do so in the lower 48! The street names in Hawaii are too long and complex for the voice system. You might consider investing in a map or printing off specific directions from the Internet.)

Aulani is beautiful and amazing. We enjoyed every second and cannot wait to return. Disneyland--which I feared might be underwhelming to diehard WDW fans like us--was also a real treat. Despite the fact that people often use "trick terms" from real estate listings to describe it's size--"intimate", "cozy", meaning "small"--the Magic Kingdom is roughly equivalent in size to the Magic Kingdom at WDW, and in many ways is superior. It's where Walt walked, personally. Pirates of the Caribbean and other attractions are confirmed longer and better. California Adventure is delightful, especially Cars Land. I promise you will not be disappointed.

I hope you go forward with this trip! And can't wait to read your review when you return.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I've been to Aulani twice and DL multiple times. We now live in California, formerly from NJ. DL is much, much smaller than WDW and doesn't require a long stay. We find a three day stay sufficient. Like the previous posted said, there is only one DVC resort at DL and it's the Grand Californian. We always stay there. But be aware there are much fewer DVC rooms than those DVC resorts at WDW. Think something like 72-75 rooms. The Grand Californian books up fast because of little inventory and many who own there live very close. In California, kids can go back to school anywhere from the beginning of August to end of August. I don't live in that area, I'm much further North but I can tell you school started in our area as early as August 5th (my daughter starts August 25th). I've never been to Aulani in August (only February) but I clearly remember asking several workers at the hotel about the weather and how busy it can get during summer season there and they all said it's very busy and insanely hot (don't know if that's true). LAX is a major hub airport so there will be more airline choices. I'd check them all; United, Hawaiian, Alaska Air, Allegiant, etc. The best airfare I was ever able to snag fro SFO to HNL was about $350 (that was two years ago and during Presidents week). I think that price point would be hard to come by these days with the trends we've all been noticing of sky rocketing airfare. I can tell you that we just got airfare for Spring Break 2016 from West coast to East Coast for $2100 for a family of three. Crazy! Hollywood isn't that far away, but that's not the problem. It's the traffic. It takes FOREVER to get from point A to point B. I cannot stress enough how awful the traffic is. Pearl Harbor is on the island of HNL. If you plan on going, get there early. Parking is lacking and get there before the tour buses. We rented a car, used phone navigator and never had a problem. Traffic can be bad at times, especially those going to and from work. We looked into going to other islands but found it too expensive for us. I think just airfare was something like $300 per person. Many stop at Target on way to Aulani to stock up on kitchen essentials while there. There's also some grocery stores and restaurants there. A tip for DL: The new Cars Land is great. If you don't get a fastpass in the morning, be prepared to wait two plus hours in line. Be aware that the FP for Cars Land is not near Cars Land and they run out sometimes by 10 a.m.