Aulani

[boscoj]

FYI--I just spoke to my friend today who is one of the project managers for the electricians contracted by Disney and he said that although they originally planned to open the resort at the end of 2011, Disney is really pushing for a mid-year opening. He's been working at least 6 days a week since the project began and said the "water park/pool area" in the middle of the resort is going to be awesome! His only complaint is that whoever is making the final decisions on the design of the resort constantly changes the plans which ultimately results in more delays......

 

[wheelcap]

. . . although they originally planned to open the resort at the end of 2011, Disney is really pushing for a mid-year opening. . . . whoever is making the final decisions on the design of the resort constantly changes the plans which ultimately results in more delays......

I'm just a bit confused - is it being pushed for early opening, or is it being delayed?

 

[ACDSNY]

I'm just a bit confused - is it being pushed for early opening, or is it being delayed?

Early...possibly summer 2011.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

GC's will be happy to oblige... means bonus $$$ for them for bring the project in ahead of schedule.

BLT opened early as well, I want to say 1-2 months early?

Doesn't really surprise me since I think construction has to be at a certain point before they can begin sales.

I hope it's true & it does open for 2011 summer Think I read where they topped off this past week so that's a good sign.

 

[disneychic]

I can't wait to start seeing more information on this new resort. We're really hoping to use points to go there in 2012.

 

[TLPL]

I hope they will give us more advance notice, plan a trip to HI takes extra long time and we need to plan ahead. It is not like going to Florida just drive down there anytime people feel like it.

 

[yensid9111]

I'm ready for the 2012 Aulani point charts! I've somewhat already planned our 2011 trips, but I'd like to see how many poionts I'm going to need to go to Hawaii in 2012. It would be really helpful if DVC released point charts earlier so we could plan a bit better...I'm betting I'll need to have some points banked for Hawaii!

 

[TLPL]

I'm ready for the 2012 Aulani point charts! I've somewhat already planned our 2011 trips, but I'd like to see how many poionts I'm going to need to go to Hawaii in 2012. It would be really helpful if DVC released point charts earlier so we could plan a bit better...I'm betting I'll need to have some points banked for Hawaii!

I would start planning to bank and borrow point for the big HI trip if I were you.

 

[Thumper4me]

WOW!!!

I sure hope you are right. We are tentatively planning on doing Hawaii in October 2011. I would love to be able to stay at Aulani!!

Kelly

 

[disneychic]

Wouldn't you think the points would be out by this summer if the resort will be open by summer of 2011?

 

[wdrl]

Wouldn't you think the points would be out by this summer if the resort will be open by summer of 2011?

I agree with you. BLT sales started in September 2008, which was a year before the then-planned opening in September 2009. However, in one of its earlier news reports, Disney said that Aulani would have a "phased" opening. Perhaps the hotel portion will be ready before the DVC portion, or vice versa. So we still don't know when the DVC villas will open.

 

[Nikisha421]

I can't wait to head back to Hawai'i and this time with family in tow...so the earlier the better....

 

[disneychic]

Not sure if this info has been posted in the past, but if you go to flickr and type in "DVC Ko Olina" in the search there is a person who keeps posting photos/updates of the construction. The latest set of pictures are from this month (April 2010). Just thought I'd share incase others on the DIS didnt' know.

 

[boscoj]

Just a little more info......

As you can tell from the pictures, there will be 6 towers (3 on each side of the pool area) that top off at 15 stories. On one side, all 3 towers will be dedicated to DVC....on the other side, 2 will be for hotel guests and the third will be for DVC.

The other reason that my friend is "stressing out" is because this project was originally planned to be completed in 6 years, but Disney has since cut that time in half. He said in a normal project he may have between 40-50 electricians working under him, but for this one, since they have pushed up the date, he now has around 110. I told him to just make sure they do a good job! LOL

 

[TLPL]

The think I really want to know is..when is the off-season and when the airfare is cheapest. I would like to travel Jan-April to get away from the Canadian winter cold. Hawaii sounds pretty warm to me!

 

[Anal Annie]

The think I really want to know is..when is the off-season and when the airfare is cheapest. I would like to travel Jan-April to get away from the Canadian winter cold. Hawaii sounds pretty warm to me!

You said cheap and airfare (to Hawaii) in the same sentence!

Hawaii doesn't have so many different seasons... I could be wrong, but I think Dec-Jan might be their slowest tourist months. Other than that, count on it being a high season. I have been in late April/early May, early Sept., mid-Oct and mid-July. ALWAYS perfect.

 

[TLPL]

So the airfare roughly the same year round?