Aulani Owners Thread - ALOHA!

[eandesmom]

Same question here from a new owner. How about 1br? Which views book up first?
11mo window opening very soon!

Standard view and the hotel room category. Very Very small inventory.

Followed by Island/Garden
Then Pool
Then Ocean View

In my experience 11m is helpful for xmas and summer reservations. Other times of year are not the same kind of crush although for whatever reason September filled up earlier than I would have expected. If you want standard view or the hotel category, 11m is a requirement.

Yep, I booked at the 11mo window, even walked the ressie. But then looked at actual airfares, and YIKES! Decided to save $3000 in airfare (4 pax) and changed plans to August.

Xmas availability is very tight now, probably not anything likely to be left at 7 month window for non-home resort bookings.

I'd look at those August airfares, they can be brutal too, it's peak season still.

Does anyone know if the coffee pots in the villas use basket filters or cone filters? We are hoping to bring some supplies from home for our trip.

Basket (at least as of April)

 

[mommacat56]

Hi fellow Aulani owners!
I booked Aulani for next year and want to follow this week with a week on Maui (Kihei area)...Could anyone recommend a great place that I could book through our DVC/RCI relationship? Thanks in advance!
Mary

 

[Leilanie94]

My sons both have January birthdays.

We booked a weekend staycation for January 23, 2016 - my first son celebrating his 13th birthday.

We also booked a weekend staycation for January 30, 2016 - my second son celebrating his 11th birthday.

 

[njmeisje]

Did you try other airlines?

The thing with airline prices is they can change anytime. We actually booked our flight in to HI for a day prior to our DVC reservation because we were able to get frequent flyer seats on that day, but not the next. We then wait listed the extra night and with a bit of luck, got it 6 days prior to arrival.

Flights can be frustrating.

- Dreams

Make sure you browse flights in "private mode". The airlines track cookies, and I have noticed if I watch a flight over time, the flight prices creep up. Use a different PC, and you are back to the lower price. It's unfair, but it happens.

 

[southerngirl528]

I booked Aulani for next year and want to follow this week with a week on Maui (Kihei area)...Could anyone recommend a great place that I could book through our DVC/RCI relationship? Thanks in advance!

Aloha Mommacat56,

We go to Maui as often as we can and when DVC announced it was switching to RCI from II I was actually on Maui at the time and immediately got online to check what my options would be. I was not looking in South Maui (where Kihei is), but as for West Maui my best rec would be the Ka'anapali Beach Club. It is at the very extreme north part of Ka'anapali Beach but still a nice area and has fabulous views of Moloka'i and Lana'i.

 

[Leilanie94]

We had a weekend stay January 28- 29, 2017. My 14 year old son enjoyed the Stand up Paddle Board.

 

[Leilanie94]

We have a upcoming weekend staycation in April 2018. Celebrating my birthday and our anniversary.

 

[hakepb]

FYI, Southwest started selling tickets to Hawaii (including HNL) today for departures starting Mar 17.
It appears the airfare wars are beginning!

 

[SteveNZ]

Does anyone know if you can buy into DVC if you’re not a US citizen / resident? We live in New Zealand and Hawaii is a manageable Disney destination for us. We went to Aulani in May last year and fell in love with the place and are planning to go again next year. Thinking that if we’re likely to return every 2-3 years then a DVC contract via resale might be worth considering IF we’d be eligible. If anyone knows much about DVC for international buyers would appreciate the info! Thanks.

 

[ColinA]

Does anyone know if you can buy into DVC if you’re not a US citizen / resident? We live in New Zealand and Hawaii is a manageable Disney destination for us. We went to Aulani in May last year and fell in love with the place and are planning to go again next year. Thinking that if we’re likely to return every 2-3 years then a DVC contract via resale might be worth considering IF we’d be eligible. If anyone knows much about DVC for international buyers would appreciate the info! Thanks.

I am Australian. You can buy DVC points at Aulani but for NZ would need to be at Aulani or a US DVC location to purchase direct. Payment for us in the past was on Amex.

Or look at DVC resale from a reputable site and then you can by from Australia. Money is transferred by wire transfer and the contracts are handled by the agent. I would check if there are restrictions on resale and depends on what you want to do with the points.

All our points are Boardwalk and we often book at Aulani at the 7 month window. Probably easy for us booking at 7 months as we book1 bedroom and they are easier to get. Might not be the same for studios.

 

[Jperiod]

We are VGC resale owners (since 2017) and planning to use our points for a stay in december. I've been reading up on resort activities and it seems like there a several DVC-only activities/privileges. As resale DVC members, what things CAN we do at Aulani? So far, it seems like the only thing will be free parking??

 

[emchen]

We are VGC resale owners (since 2017) and planning to use our points for a stay in december. I've been reading up on resort activities and it seems like there a several DVC-only activities/privileges. As resale DVC members, what things CAN we do at Aulani? So far, it seems like the only thing will be free parking??

I thought restriction of membership extras was more recent, but I see in the small print of membership site that the cutoff is April 4, 2016.

Unfortunately, it seems you are correct.

 

[AZMermaid]

Do you have a blue card? If so, you can do everything. If not, yes, just free parking. They were pretty diligent about asking for the blue card for discounts and the sparkly pool bracelets.

 

[emchen]

For original AUL owners and those of us who bought resale contracts originating on or before September 2011, do you know how powerful your maintenance fee subsidy is? I quoted a discussion I had with @montreid where I was trying to figure it out:

Right, so you're talking about the number of years to break-even when compared with a non-subsidized AUL contract. This is why I love DIS boards because members help you really think things through.

I actually did quick calculations prior to making my offers. FYI, the actual sale price was $110 pp on 217 points. I made a conservative assumption of $95 pp (~90% certainty) for a similar non-subsidized AUL contract. The $15 pp differential = 7.5 yrs to break even.

However, that wasn't the most important thing in my mind, since break even is a variable that can be changed and manipulated by how I used the contract. For example, I could cut that $15 pp differential by up to 2/3 with just renting out one year's worth of points.

What is more important for me are the constants, like length of contract, location, etc. But THE MOST important is the maintenance fee subsidy. This year (2019), ($7.86-$5.91{sub MF})/$7.86 (non-sub MF) = 25% difference. As I understand it, the yearly MF percent-increase apply equally to both fees, so over time, the 25% difference will actually slowly increase! How powerful is that?? No variable can compare, and no other constant in any DVC contract is as powerful in my opinion.

 

[i<3riviera]

͏

 

[i<3riviera]

͏

 

[emchen]

E komo mai!

That's "Welcome Home" in Hawaiian - so welcome to the AULANI OWNERS THREAD! - Aloha!
I could not find an established thread like this, just a bunch of different random threads about Aulani - points, opening dates, etc - so I figured I would take the plunge and start one. Here we can chat and discuss about our new island "home" - slated to open August 29, 2011. I'm pretty excited about it, even though my family won't be able to stay there until the summer of 2012 at the earliest, but that's okay... there will be years of memories to be made with hopefully lots of great trips to our little piece of Disney on the island of Oahu.

Since the resort isn't open yet, there simply aren't a lot of photos yet, but there are some good stories to be found out on the internet in other websites that follow Disney to give us updates on the construction progress, as well as some members on the ground in Hawaii who have posted tidbits here and there. We do also have concept art renderings and a view of the model. Then when it opens and our first members actually stay there - hopefully they will start posting real pics for us all to enjoy, along with reviews, updated information about the restaurants, entertainment offerings and of course the neighboring community. EDITED: NOW that it IS open - I'm looking forward to seeing lots of pictures and TR info as members and their guests start to enjoy this beautiful resort! Can't wait to stay there myself in 2012 or 13.

We know that there will be 460 villas, including 21 Grand Villas. On the other side of the resort will be 359 hotel rooms. There will be the wedding pavilion, the spa, fitness center, Aunty's Beach House children's play/care facility, as well as a couple of restaurants, room service, and the snorkeling lagoon. And of course O'ahu itself has a plethora of things to see and do. Looking back through past issues, I see that Aulani has been a featured highlight in at least three issues of Disney Files. Looking at Disney's official Aulani website, it seems to indicate that there will be concierge on staff to help in planning for events and excursions as well.

Here's some concept art, copyright Disney of course

a view of the model (that was on display at D23 last year and is, I believe, currently on display at Doorway to Dreams in Schaumburg, IL), the first view is of the resort from the ocean side

and then from the opposite side, showing the front, including the porte cachere and the conference center

and then also a closer view focusing specifically on the pool / water play area, with the volacanic caldera in the center with slides coming out from within. It looks awesome, and we can't wait to enjoy it.

Here are a few photos of the model room from the local sales center

All in all we have an exciting new resort on the horizon. It'll be fun to stay there, but at the same time, it will be fun to hear your thoughts, experiences and plans for the future at Aulani.

Aloha!

@Sandisw Do you know any active mods or consistently active posters who would be interested in reviving this thread? I agree with OP that there still are no dedicated owners/lovers thread for Aulani owners.

 

[Mattrg_2000]

Hey Aulani!!! So I’m VGF home. We’re curious how you guys got 21 Electric Vehicle EV parking spaces? They are on the ChargePoint network and they are free! We need this in the Orlando resorts. Any thoughts?

Here’s the thread if any of you get to Orlando. Might not be a big deal for you since you’re probably not driving around there. Any help is greatly appreciated!

https://www.disboards.com/threads/dvc-disney-world-tesla-ev-charging.3934078/page-2#post-65153598