Hawaii 2020

[honeybeesmom]

I was thrilled to have found an ocean view guarantee going to Hawaii from Vancouver on the weekend. Booked it so fast! Our daughter would love to stay at Aulani for a night, as it is expensive one night is probably all that we could do. Is that enough time there? If anyone has any feedback I would appreciate it. Thanks so much.

 

[GoofyNewfie]

I wouldn't be too stressed about is it enough time there. If you want to stay there, do it. One day is better than none. And the ship is most certainly docking early in the morning so you'd get a pretty full day in Aulani. We're doing the opposite direction and staying for 3 nights. All we could consider was 3 days for this once-in-a-lifetime trip and I probably shouldn't have done 3.

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

if you're sole intention is to experience aulani, then 1 night could be enough time...especially if that 1 night is a weekday (and not a holiday). if you can get to aulani early on checkin day and leave in the afternoon after you check out you pretty much get 2 full days.

character breakfasts are every day, but the luau and character dinner are only on some nights so if the luau and character dinner are important to you then you might be out of luck depending on what day of the week you stay at aulani.

 

[nkereina]

When are you visiting? You may have enough time to look into renting DVC points, which makes a multi-night stay at Aulani more affordable.

If you end up doing one night only, I think its still worthwhile. I'd recommend a weeknight as well to avoid the busy weekends when locals visit. Arrive early on your check-in day because you start using the amenities even if your room isn't ready yet. Leave late the next day on your check-out day. I think it would be enough time to get a taste of mostly everything. You can also visit Aulani when you're not staying there - dine at the restaurants, spa treatments, and even swim in the lagoon. You just can't use the chairs on the beach or around the pool (or go in the pool).

 

[honeybeesmom]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. We arrive on Friday May 8 and was looking for the weekend but after your suggestions I will look at staying there before we leave. We have decided to stay for a week after the cruise. How do you go about looking at DVC points? I appreciate all your input and suggestions as it really is a trip of a lifetime.

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

if you're staying a full week you can also look at a possible split stay (few nights in waikiki to make doing things on that side of oahu easier). i.e. spend the weekend in waikiki, and then switch to aulani during the week where its less crowded and easier to enjoy the resort (assuming the anticipation of going to aulani won't ruin that part of your trip)

renting points is done via a 3rd party service (this site has one it endorses, but I forget which one it is) availability of the cheaper rooms can be an issue sometimes, but you can also potentially get a bigger room for the same price (or maybe a better view)

 

[honeybeesmom]

That's a great idea about spitting up our in two different areas. I will look into renting points, I am excited about another option about staying there. Thanks again for your great ideas

 

[Sakura1017]

Anyone contact disney cruise line to be added to their wait list for aulani, did they get back to you? I received an email inquiring about it,but I wanted to know about with prices and at the time they couldn't give me a quote. Today I got an email from cruise line because they updated my post land to add aulani as a reservation without my acknowledgment. I previously booked alauni on my own where they had a glitch in the system that waived the fees of anyone after 2 guests in the room. So it looks like it was cheaper but I chose standard room. My aulani that disney cruise line added was standard view but with island gardens view. I will admit the cruise gave me a slight discount because if there was no glitch I would be paying more.

 

[spacecanada]

I haven't heard anything from DCL about adding Aulani to our cruise, but I have already booked with DVC and got exactly the room type we wanted (ocean view villa), at a price we were happy with. I figure cruise rooms would be regular hotel rooms, and we wanted a kitchen.