Aulani: Not sure I will visit

[mooshka1]

Aulani is nice, but defenitely not worth the price. At $500+ for the most basic room, you'd expect better service, better ammenities, better everything. The food was extremely overpriced, (almost $50 for a turkey sandwich plate), and parking is not free!! I am a local resident and I felt kind of sorry for a lot of the guests who were milling around the pool. I think they were expecting more from a Disney hotel at that price. I'd stay elsewhere and spend the money I saved on activities, shopping, and dinners. The best part of the resort was the pool, but it's still not worth the price at all! I will never go back there, and I never recommend it to people visiting.

 

[dsneygirl]

I was thinking the same thing, I've yet to find a place that compares to Hawaii. We're not ones to just sit around a resort and the islands offer so much to do you're never bored. When we were planning our first trip to Kauai in 2008 we thought it would be a one time trip. Not, we couldn't wait to go back in 2010. We're almost done with the planning for our next trip in Jan 2012, it started out with a week at Kauai, then we've traded VGC points for a week at the Westin on Maui and to top it off and not waste a good weekend we're trying to start the trip off with 3 nights at Aulani.

Totally agree as well. Hawaii has such an amazing vibe you can't compare it to Jamaica or the D.R. We have been to Maui twice, down the road to Hana, the bike ride from Haleakala, hiking etc.

However now we have 2 small children in tow. We are staying 8 nights at Aulani because it seems perfect for families. I can't take my 8 month old on a bike down a volcano at this point.

We'll hopefully be back in another 4 or 5 years and then they will be old enough for more exploring and activities and we'll probably do a split stay with Aulani and Maui.

 

[bwvBound]

Aulani is nice, but defenitely not worth the price. At $500+ for the most basic room, you'd expect better service, better ammenities, better everything. The food was extremely overpriced, (almost $50 for a turkey sandwich plate), and parking is not free!! I am a local resident and I felt kind of sorry for a lot of the guests who were milling around the pool. I think they were expecting more from a Disney hotel at that price. I'd stay elsewhere and spend the money I saved on activities, shopping, and dinners. The best part of the resort was the pool, but it's still not worth the price at all! I will never go back there, and I never recommend it to people visiting.

Ok. I hear you.

On the other hand, it could be a wonderful bargain for DVC guests. We visited for 8 nights last Sept and found our spending habits to be higher than normal on "trinkets" (had to buy some Aulani-logo items) but not any different than most trips with respect to food, parking fees or activities.

• Flights were "free" using AA reward miles.
• Our 1BR OV unit was booked on DVC points. Cost breakdown for the 1BR unit ran a bit over $200/night. Sure, a bit spendy ... but the room was lovely.
• We rented a car - which we generally do when visiting any of the HI islands. The rental rate wasn't offensive (~$180 for the 8-night visit?).
• Our parking was free as DVC members.
• We bought most of our food stuffs at Costco. We picked up "smaller quantity" items from local stores.
• We cooked most of our meals. Only ate "on property" for one lunch at Ama Ama.
• Most of our activities were free.
  • We brought our own snorkel gear and used it at Electric Beach and other sites.
  • We participated in the resort's morning fitness programs.
  • We visited the swapmeet at the Aloha Stadium. (Almost free?)
  • We did the free tours at Pearl Harbor.
  • We drove the island and visited some of our favorite beaches and photo spots.
  • We attended church at a favorite location.
• We allowed ourselves to become fully immersed in the "resort experience" with lots of time spent at those pools. Please don't feel sorry for me -- we had a really great time!

 

[TDC Nala]

I'd only go on points. don't think I'd pay to stay there. I am sort of planning to go and spend a couple of nights there, then go to other islands. I'm not assuming that I would stay at Aulani for a week or more.

 

[ACDSNY]

We're already planning our second trip to Aulani for December. We enjoyed our weekend in January and we still have more to explore on the island so we're planning a week at Kauai and 5 nights at Aulani. I resort is beautiful and the service was the best of any of our DVC stays.

 

[disneypoor]

Thanks! We're really looking forward to our first visit to Maui and we're in a 2 bedroom unit. It's kind of funny I found out after we secured our reservation that my Aunt & Uncle will be there at the same time. Our DS and DDIL will be with us too.

15 hour flight eek. That's like going to Austrailia for us. You'll just have to stop off at DL both way to break up the flight.

I'm sitting on the lanai in my Westin Kaanapoli Ocean Resort villa as I type this. You will LOVE it here! Watched a pod of whales right from my lanai today and the snorkeling is great! Kaanapoli beach is wonderful! Enjoy your vacation!
Susan

Just realized I spelled Kaanapali wrong. Oops!

 

[DVCismyhappyplace]

DH and I have made the trip from NY to Hawaii 4 times in 6 years. Honestly, at first I was like "WAHOO a DVC in Hawaii" and then I heard it was on Oahu and I went "EH."

While I will continue to go to Hawaii every year, I can honestly say, I don't think we'll be going to the DVC there. Heck, the last time we were there, we even cut out a stop on Oahu all together!

 

[DougEMG]

I'm on the west coast, but have no real desire to go to Hawaii, so no interest in Aulani. Would much rather spend my time in WDW.

 

[6mouselovers]

We love Hawaii, have been a few times with island hopping, and are going in about 2weeks. However, this time we are skipping Oahu all together and so Aulani is not even an option. We also were very excited when we heard about Hawaii, until we heard Oahu. We love Maui the most and find that it has enough to keep the kids happy and yet is still beautiful and not cosmopolitan like Oahu. We are, though, making the obligatory stop at the Grand Californian on the way back!!