Disney Land and Aulani

[YensidRocks]

Hey guys!

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.

 

[Girimama33]

Hey guys!

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. The first 2 weeks in June may be a little slower, but they are harder to book. Otherwise, the resort is usually at capacity until early September.
2. Which hotel do you recommend while staying on property at DL? The Grand CA is the closest, but the pools are better at DLH. If you have kids, I would probably go with DLH.
3. How many days do you need to tour the parks? I would at least do 4.
4. Is Hollywood far away? We would love to take a drive and do a day visit. Without traffic, it is about an hour away.
5. Should we tour Hawaii first, then DL or vice versa? That is subjective I guess. I know I have a harder time getting used to the time difference on the way back vs. the way there. If it were me, I would opt to go there on the way back so you can gradually get used to the change back.
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? I have no idea. I typically only fly Hawaiian to HI. I have heard people get good rates through Alaska Airlines. You just need to keep checking sites like Travelocity, etc that may compare different airlines.
8. When staying at Aulani, do they offer various excursions to different islands- hubby would love to go to pearl harbor. I believe they offer day trips to some of the outer islands. After living in HI, and vacationing there several times, I would not do a day trip to an outer island. I would try and plan a few days to really explore. They do offer some tours around O'ahu, including 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. I have not personally used them.
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.

Expand the reply above - I answered some of your questions in there.
A trip to Aulani (and DLR for that matter) is expensive...I do not think there is any way around that.

There are people that have participated in a vacation from the east coast to DLR and Aulani. I find that they post about that more so on the DVC section of these forums under DVC Resorts or the DVC Trip Reports. I recall one in particular last year. Here is a link to their trip report: http://www.disboards.com/threads/ca...to-disneyland-and-aulani-update-10-2.3322698/

I live in CA and have been to DLR a lot. I have also been to Aulani twice (once in 2014 and again in 2015).
Aulani can get pretty crowded, but as long as you know what to expect, and plan accordingly...the crowds will not be an issue.

 

[bfost87]

Hey guys!

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.

I don't know why it stresses me out so much when people spell it Disney Land instead of Disneyland lol.

1. No there aren't really any off peak times in the summer. Like yourself, all the locals are out of school and people visiting from other areas. Depending on when you go back, the end of August is probably the 'slowest'.

2. You can't really go wrong with any, but if you can afford it the Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian would be my choice.

3. Disneyland won't require near as long as WDW. You really won't need more than 4-5 days.

4. Disneyland to the area around the Chinese Grauman Theatre in 'Hollywood' is about 55 miles.

5. I'm not sure anyone can answer that but you, it's really up to you.

6 and 7. You'll just have to go look online and search for the different possibilities. No one knows when you're going or where from, etc. All of those factors affect price.

8. That's a good question, I don't know of any. I wouldn't think they offered any excursions to other islands, as the other islands require a flight to get to. Luckily, Pearl Harbour is only 30 miles from Aulani. And if you don't already have a rental car, there is an Alamo right there at Aulani.

9. I haven't myself, hopefully someone else has and can add some comments.

 

[corinne76]

In regards to #8:When staying at Aulani, do they offer various excursions to different islands- hubby would love to go to pearl harbor.

Pearl Harbor isn't a different island. It's on Oahu. Taking a day trip to a whole separate island like Maui or Kauai would require a plane ride (usually about 30 minutes or so) but probably not worth it for just a day.

In regards to going places on Oahu, there are tour buses that will take you there. My dad works for a tour company and I know they take Aulani guests into Waikiki or to the malls for the day, and then back. I'm sure there must be a sight seeing or attraction tour (maybe not his company, but there are many)

edit: here you go http://www.enoa.com/tour/pearl-harbor-remembered-66/#from-ko-olina-tour-66k---click-for-more-info
here's another: http://www.enoa.com/tour/pearl-harbor-excursion/#from-ko-olina-tour-77k---click-for-more-info
these tours pick up from Ko'olina resort, which is right next to Aulani.

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

1. august will be hot and crowded at DL, if you check california school schedules it might be less crowded once those schools are back in session. hawaii in august can be almost as hot as florida (high humidity/etc.) august is generally slightly less busy than june/july (unless the first week or 2 of june is an option)

2. on property is very pricey but if this is gonna be a once in a lifetime thing the grand californian would be the closest, while the disneyland hotel might be better for overall "magic" feeling. if cost is an issue check the hotels across the street like carousel, tropicana or the 2 best westerns (park place inn and anaheim inn) they're very walkable distance to the parks at a fraction of the price (no early entry every day tho)

3. probably gonna need 3-4 days longer if you wanted to add universal (potter should be open by summer 2016) or knotts. add 1 more day each if you wanted to do either of those.

4. hollywood is at best a 30 min. drive...possibly 2 hours if theres lots of traffic. if you aren't renting a car already there are tours that depart anaheim that do day tours to hollywood (and other theme parks)

5. depends on your jet lag tolerance...3 hours for DL, and...6 I think for Hawaii (Hawaii doesn't do daylight savings time, so it's either 5 or 6 hours)

6. and 7. airfares will be very high this long before your trip, if you can tolerate waiting longer there should be cheaper flights (unless you're using miles...then its probably best to book asap) flights direct from new york to hawaii aren't nearly as common as new york to california (lax or sna)...so if trying to get a "cheap" flight with no stops...odds are california will be your best bet.

8. pearl harbor is on the same island as aulani, flights to other islands are relatively cheap and frequent the local carriers are generally best at this (hawaiian airlines) although you really won't be able to do much even if you take the first flight out and last flight back.

9. never used them

10. info on aulani is more common in the dvc resort foum as girimama33 stated. for aulani I would also look up the jellyfish calender (if you like swimming at the beaches) and the road closure schedule (doubtful it'd show anything that far out yet) as there is quite a bit of construction for a rail system going on.

also realize that you'll be losing basically 4 days to travel on this kind of trip or would have to endure several red eye flights and sleeping on planes.

 

[SlickWilly]

#6 The trick is called a stop over fare. I've been looking at the same plans for next summer from Chicago (ORD) and I am seeing the same pricing as the OP. A round trip from ORD to LAX is the same price as a round trip from ORD to HNL. However, if I book a multi city ticket ORD-LAX stay two or three days then onward LAX-HNL, stay a week and return HNL-ORD, the price is also the same (I looked at United and Delta). They don't advertise these stopover fares on US airlines, but if you use the multi city option, you get the pricing automatically, if it is offered.

It basically makes the flight to CA free - which means more $ to spend at DLR.

 

[Iceman93]

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. No, as pointed out earlier the out-of-school times are peak season for both DLR and Aulani.
2. Which hotel do you recommend while staying on property at DL? Any of the three Disney hotels are great. As with WDW, opinions vary as to which is the "best", "most magical", "worth the cost", etc. I recommend looking at the theming and amenities of each, then basing your decision on what looks most intriguing to you.
3. How many days do you need to tour the parks? This is a loaded question. You could bang through each park in a day, hitting the high points and considering them conquered. You could also take your time over a full week, enjoying nice meals and the special Disney touches that you miss when on a forced march. I would say a good rule of thumb is to think about how many park days you have on a WDW vacation and cut that in half for DLR.
4. Is Hollywood far away? We would love to take a drive and do a day visit. This is very do-able as a day trip.
5. Should we tour Hawaii first, then DL or vice versa? Either way will be fine. If it was my family, I would do DLR first because the time changes won't be so severe at each stop, plus I think Aulani is a great way to end a vacation. Flying home will stink no matter what, so making that a super-long leg wouldn't seem to matter so much.
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. The stopover fare advice given by SlickWilly is spot-on.
7. Which airline is the cheapest? This varies constantly. Use one of the websites that checks all the airfares, plug in some dates, and see what pops up.
8. When staying at Aulani, do they offer various excursions to different islands- hubby would love to go to pearl harbor. Not to other islands, but they do offer several excursions to sites around Oahu.
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. No, I've never used a travel agent. You can do this!
10. Are there any big questions that I should be asking but omitted... =). No, I'll just say that your plan of paying to stay at DLR and using DVC points to stay at Aulani is a smart move.

 

[disneychrista]

Here are some random answers:

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. Not really, Maybe mid-May or late-August but really it will be crowded & hot.
   
2. Which hotel do you recommend while staying on property at DL? - They are not worth the extra money for me, so I haven't stayed at any of them.
   
3. How many days do you need to tour the parks? Minimum 3 days, 5 days is optimal.
   
4. Is Hollywood far away? We would love to take a drive and do a day visit.It is about a hour drive.
   
5. Should we tour Hawaii first, then DL or vice versa? Personally I would do DL first then "relax" in Hawaii.