Family trip thoughts?

[rbonner]

Hello all, we are thinking through a trip to either Aulani or Saratoga Springs in May and having a tough time, maybe someone has thoughts that we have not considered.

We are a family of 5 (myself and wife and one of our kids with wife and new baby). We had considered Aulani but travel seems to be harder to the island, and more expensive. Then thought to goto Saratoga springs. We know our grandson won't appreciate the parks, we are looking for a relaxing time and thought walking around Saratoga might be as nice as Aulani.

My thoughts: Aulani is great, but contained. Going out of the bubble is different. Super pretty, but at times kinda dry. Saratoga is perfectly maintained and big and connected to downtown Disney. Temps will be nice in May, so pools will be avail. And we could do a park with baby swap.

Thoughts? Any experiences?

Thanks in advance!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Are you locked into DVC? Otherwise ditch the Disney part and decide if you want to go to HI or FL. Both have far better accommodation options for a group not committed to Disney.

 

[Mouse Tracker]

I think you are comparing 2 different types of trip. While both have foundations in resorts, the experiences outside of that seem different ( I have no knowledge of Aulani)

 

[Marthasor]

Hello all, we are thinking through a trip to either Aulani or Saratoga Springs in May and having a tough time, maybe someone has thoughts that we have not considered.

We are a family of 5 (myself and wife and one of our kids with wife and new baby). We had considered Aulani but travel seems to be harder to the island, and more expensive. Then thought to goto Saratoga springs. We know our grandson won't appreciate the parks, we are looking for a relaxing time and thought walking around Saratoga might be as nice as Aulani.

My thoughts: Aulani is great, but contained. Going out of the bubble is different. Super pretty, but at times kinda dry. Saratoga is perfectly maintained and big and connected to downtown Disney. Temps will be nice in May, so pools will be avail. And we could do a park with baby swap.

Thoughts? Any experiences?

Thanks in advance!

There is just simply no comparison between the resorts or locales other than their ties to Disney. If those are your only choices, I would opt for SSR as you will have so many options - restaurants, parks, etc - within walking or bus/car distance. Better places to stroll with a newborn. Going to Aulani with a newborn doesn't sound relaxing to me. We didn't go to Hawaii until DS was 14 and could appreciate everything else Oahu had to offer - museums, Pearl Harbor, etc. There is a reason WDW is considered by so many to be the #1 destination for young families.

 

[ilovebassets]

I think you need to decide if you want to go to Hawaii or Disney World first, and then worry about accommodations. These are two completely different vacations.

 

[tinkerjo]

I have never been to Aulani but SSR is very relaxing. We stayed in the Congress Park section. It was SUPER close to Disney Springs. We just walked over on the path. I also really enjoyed the pool/hot tub area. There were mostly all adults in the pool and we could stay out there as late as we wanted (as long as we were quiet) The view of the river and Disney Springs was fantastic!!! We were going to take a boat to POFQ one night but hurricane Helene had other plans. Otherwise I thought it would be a fun excursion. The only complaint was that the resort was really spread out. We used the internal bus to get to the feature pools and restaurants/activities. Lake Buena Vista golf course is right there too if you have golfers.