For those going to Hawaii...

[cruiseconvert]

I've only stayed at Hale Koa, not Aulani, so I can't compare, but I can tell you about Hale Koa. My then-21-year-old daughter and I stayed at Hale Koa in 2009. The location was great for what we wanted to do. The hotel has the best beach on Waikiki, plus gardens on the street side, so it didn't feel like we were in the middle of the city. I've stayed at other military hotels, and other than the low prices and the need to show ID in the gift shop, we didn't feel like we were at a military hotel. I don't know if this is still accurate, but they had a car-rental office on site, so we rented a car mid-stay to drive to other spots around the island, and it was very easy. We also did the Hale Koa luau dinner and enjoyed it.

 

[MomOTwins]

This may sound odd but has anyone ever stayed at a hotel and endured the Timeshare sell for 2 hours just to get a great deal for a few nights at that hotel. I got a great offer for a hotel in Hawaii if we participate in the "sell" for 2021 and was considering it possibly in 2022.

No way would I go to a timeshare pitch on vacation (not referring to DVC, but to regular timeshares). I made the mistake of going to a few of those when I was younger. To begin with, they are incredibly boring. Worse, when you don't buy, the salespeople get sour, if not downright nasty, and I do not want to deal with that on vacation. At all. Especially if they're associated with my hotel. In fact, such an offer would probably warn me off from staying at that hotel at all.

My parents got suckered into it once. I tried to warn them but they said they had would just walk out when their two hours were up and enjoy the deal. What a disaster--they were trapped all day in awful pitches. They'd ask to leave, then be told what they attended was not "the two hour meeting" it was just "the breakfast" or something, and they would be charged full price unless they attended the "actual" meeting, then would be escorted to another room with another pitch, then another, then another. And each time became more and more of a hard sell--lots of pressure.

I cherish my vacation time wayyyy too much to waste it on that.

Edited to add: I am not referring to DVC of course--that is different; they don't do a hard sell but they also don't give really big incentives to sit through their pitches--just some small disney swag or fastpasses. But the non-DVC timeshares where they try to lure you in with a super cheap stay are awful.

 

[mmouse37]

My parents got suckered into it once. I tried to warn them but they said they had would just walk out when their two hours were up and enjoy the deal. What a disaster--they were trapped all day in awful pitches. They'd ask to leave, then be told what they attended was not "the two hour meeting" it was just "the breakfast" or something, and they would be charged full price unless they attended the "actual" meeting, then would be escorted to another room with another pitch, then another, then another. And each time became more and more of a hard sell--lots of pressure.

I cherish my vacation time wayyyy too much to waste it on that.

Edited to add: I am not referring to DVC of course--that is different; they don't do a hard sell but they also don't give really big incentives to sit through their pitches--just some small disney swag or fastpasses. But the non-DVC timeshares where they try to lure you in with a super cheap stay are awful.

Thank You

MJ

 

[Cheburashka]

Edited to add: I am not referring to DVC of course--that is different; they don't do a hard sell but they also don't give really big incentives to sit through their pitches--just some small disney swag or fastpasses. But the non-DVC timeshares where they try to lure you in with a super cheap stay are awful.

Agreed. I've been to DVC pitches on Disney cruises in exchange for the stateroom credit. They're only 30 minutes & it's completely relaxed and positive. You watch the presentation with no one speaking to you one-to-one, and you leave without signing up for an individual talk if you aren't interested. No pressure at all. I still wouldn't buy DVC personally, but it's true that Disney doesn't use typical timeshare tactics, thank goodness.