Aulani - Disney Got it Right!

[nuts]

All I can say is WOW!

We visited Aulani 12/17 through 12/23 in a two bedroom unit. The unit was imaculate, and the furnishings were outstanding (bed mattresses were the most comfortable of all the DVC resorts). Disney continues with their attention to detail. For those of you traveling to the resort in the future, below are my recommendations:

Food
Do NOT buy food at the store at the resort. 10 minutes away is a Walmart, Super Target, and Cosco. We chose the Super Target. Example of the price gouging at the resort: 1 gallon of milk at the Super Target = $5.00. 1 gallon of milk at Aulani = $15.00

Restaurants
Unless you are very rich, I wouldn't plan on eating many meals at the resort. Again you are 10 minutes from a bunch of restaurants (Outback Steakhouse, Dennys, McDonalds, etc). Across the street is the ABC store with good sandwiches.

Snorkel gear
Rent at Aulani for $20/day, rent from a local snorkel place for the same price for the week, or go to the ABC store across the street and buy your own snorkel gear for $20.00. We chose the purchase option. Snorkel gear worked great. No quality issues.

Car Rental
Yes, an absolute must if you want to tour anywhere on the island. Self Parking is free and convenient for DVC members.

Finally, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Disney did a great job with the themeing. Take one of their daily tours of the hotel. You learn so much about the details of the resort (and catch the little things you would otherwise have missed).

 

[ncvikinggirl]

I loved reading your raves about the resort itself and it is so helpful to know that a supertarget, etc. are all there around the corner! (great tip)...but, the biggest detail that i cannot get over are the taxes per night!!! in addition to consuming all of our points, room taxes can be anywhere from $50-$300 per night, i was told by a DVC rep on the phone, depending on the accommodations that you reserved. is that true?? without getting too specific, was that indeed your findings with the 2 BDRM that you reserved?- i assumed you used your DVC points! these taxes are the only thing keeping us from trying this DVC property---surely, if you're going all the way to HI, you can find a hotel on the island for the same or LESS...why would i use points AND pay the $$???? thanks for any insight- i'm hoping that maybe a discussion about it happened with you and other DVC members at the pool one day! thank you! danielle

 

[jennypenny]

You say disney got it right, and then say not to shop at the grocery store, eat at the restaurants, or rent the snorkel gear there. That would imply to me that disney didn't get it right. If you don't recommend eating at the restaurants there, then I'm not interested in the resort. I'm not flying 12 hours to eat at Outback or Dennys.

Not really trying to be rude, but the post seemed contradictory.

 

[Texas Disney Fan]

I loved reading your raves about the resort itself and it is so helpful to know that a supertarget, etc. are all there around the corner! (great tip)...but, the biggest detail that i cannot get over are the taxes per night!!! in addition to consuming all of our points, room taxes can be anywhere from $50-$300 per night, i was told by a DVC rep on the phone, depending on the accommodations that you reserved. is that true?? without getting too specific, was that indeed your findings with the 2 BDRM that you reserved?- i assumed you used your DVC points! these taxes are the only thing keeping us from trying this DVC property---surely, if you're going all the way to HI, you can find a hotel on the island for the same or LESS...why would i use points AND pay the $$???? thanks for any insight- i'm hoping that maybe a discussion about it happened with you and other DVC members at the pool one day! thank you! danielle

I think your quote of $50 to $300 for the tax is per stay not per night. I saw a thead that talking about how to calculate it. I am estimating our 10 night stay in a 1 bedroom at about $130 for the entire stay.

 

[nuts]

I loved reading your raves about the resort itself and it is so helpful to know that a supertarget, etc. are all there around the corner! (great tip)...but, the biggest detail that i cannot get over are the taxes per night!!! in addition to consuming all of our points, room taxes can be anywhere from $50-$300 per night, i was told by a DVC rep on the phone, depending on the accommodations that you reserved. is that true?? without getting too specific, was that indeed your findings with the 2 BDRM that you reserved?- i assumed you used your DVC points! these taxes are the only thing keeping us from trying this DVC property---surely, if you're going all the way to HI, you can find a hotel on the island for the same or LESS...why would i use points AND pay the $$???? thanks for any insight- i'm hoping that maybe a discussion about it happened with you and other DVC members at the pool one day! thank you! danielle

We paid $75 for the entire 6 night stay for the two bedroom.

 

[nuts]

You say disney got it right, and then say not to shop at the grocery store, eat at the restaurants, or rent the snorkel gear there. That would imply to me that disney didn't get it right. If you don't recommend eating at the restaurants there, then I'm not interested in the resort. I'm not flying 12 hours to eat at Outback or Dennys.

Not really trying to be rude, but the post seemed contradictory.

Well, to be fair, I only focused on the things I would watch out for. If you make the decision to not go to Hawaii based on cost of resort restaurant, and resort snorkel gear, then you miss the point of Hawaii. The resort is outstanding, but its not like Disneyworld. You go to Hawaii for Hawaii.

 

[jennypenny]

I wouldn't base my decision to go to Hawaii on those things. They would factor into my decision whether to stay at Disney's resort however. I'm sure it's nice, but there are a lot of nice resorts in Hawaii.

 

[spleen]

Compared to other resorts on Oahu, Aulani has the best pool by far. This and the free kids club would clinch it for me. Furnishings are luxurious and well done in general - accommodations are very comfortable. There are other resorts on Oahu though that do have similar level of accommodations at similar pricing (the Kahala, the Halekulani, the Hilton Hawaiian in the Alii Tower, etc). I think food is still one of Aulani's biggest weaknesses and needs to be improved. Obviously, the choice of where to stay on Oahu would depend on what's important to you.

 

[lilpooh108]

To the OP---we just got back too and I agree w/most of what you've recounted, especially the areas which should be improved and your great tips about the food, Target & snorkel gear. Why not save money when you can?

 

[djo]

Thank you! My family of 10 are in the beginning steps of planning an Aulani vacation and your tips are exactly what we want and need to hear! I appreciate you taking your time to post for us!

 

[disneynutz]

Sounds like a beautiful resort but you really pay for the privilege to stay there.

Bill

 

[edmartin]

Great info, nuts. Thanks!

On restaurants, I'd suggest that DVC in-general isn't all that strong (or focused) on in-resort restaurants. At WDW, they have the entire theme park property to rely on so most DVC resorts have just snack bars and/or rely on the rest of the park property. Grand Californian is similar in that the hotel drops right into Downtown Disney.

But when you look at the "non-park" properties, the restaurants are not the strongest part (nor the point of the property). Vero has 2 but they share the same kitchen (so it's more like the same place with slightly different flavor). They are good but not exactly enough for an entire vacation. Hilton Head only has a snack bar. By design you are going to head out & take advantage of the "outside" area at any DVC resort (within a park or non-park).

It will be interesting to see if Aulani can hold the premium pricing on the "extras" at the property. My guess is that they can. Let's face it, flying to Hawaii is not the cheapest "price of admission" for the vast majority of the world. And Hawaii isn't exactly known as the least expensive of the 50 states. They even built the place in an upscale (even by Hawaii resort standards) area - Ko Olina. So Aualni is designed at the high end for guests that are paying a lot of money to travel to an expensive part of the world.

I can't imagine that too many guests are going to go there and never leave the walled-mouse-city. So I'm not shocked that Disney decided to go after the high-end for the amenities at the hotel. There are tons of options right outside the entrance in-between the Aulani convenience store vs Walmart and Ama Ama vs Denny's.

 

[norm&linda]

thanks for the insights - we definitely plan to venture outside the resort as well as enjoy it and your tips are well taken

 

[emum]

It will be interesting to see if Aulani can hold the premium pricing on the "extras" at the property. My guess is that they can. Let's face it, flying to Hawaii is not the cheapest "price of admission" for the vast majority of the world. And Hawaii isn't exactly known as the least expensive of the 50 states. They even built the place in an upscale (even by Hawaii resort standards) area - Ko Olina. So Aualni is designed at the high end for guests that are paying a lot of money to travel to an expensive part of the world.

They will, and they can. Hawaii is a VERY affordable option to those of us who live in the Pacific / South East Asia. Barely more expensive than touring our own country, unfortunately (and we're not particularly "high end").

Cheers,
Sally

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Are there taxis available to take you to a grocery store?
We're thinking of skipping a rental car ($450+ for a minivan for 6 days--there are 6 of us) in favor of $150 roundtrip shuttle. Honestly if we had a car we would only go to Dole Plantation and the grocery store. With 4 little kids we want to just enjoy the resort. We plan to dine at Aulani and the Marriot next door regardless if we rent a car or not. The only thing we'd miss is a trip to the Dole Plantation, shopping at the swap meet at Aloha Stadium, and finding a hot Masalada. So if there's a good way to get some groceries (breakfast and snacks) I think we will skip the rental car.
We are coming to Aulani after a week on Maui where we will do plenty of sightseeing and shopping.

BTW, thanks for the post! All the info is very helpful!

 

[disney4bb]

Thanks for the great info Nuts! We already know how expensive but fun Disney is, so it's most helpful to hear the tips and advice on what to do, what to avoid, and how to get around the high costs at the resort.

I've heard we can rent a car from the airport for half a day & drop it off at the hotel. Then whenever we need a car, we can rent one for half a day from the hotel, including the return trip to the airport. That sounded like a good option for saving money if it's true.

Any suggestions for excursions? We were thinking the Arizona Memorial and one of the luau dinners.

Thanks!

 

[myxdvz]

I can't wait to visit this hotel... Oahu is really just a small island, and by small I mean, you can rent a car and drive around the WHOLE island in a day, so relatively everything else is close by. I don't think I will ever go there and just stay within Aulani - and I think hotel prices are always higher than buying from the grocery store.

The last time I went to Hawaii (just me and my sister), I stayed at a Waikiki hotel (the cheaper Sheraton). There is an ABC in almost every corner there, but going to the Walmart is still a smarter option. Hotel > ABC (Convenience Store) > Walmart.

When I go back with my family, it would be good to know that Aulani is an option.