My tour of Aulani-Photos!

[dizkrazkate]

Hello All!

Not too much of a Disboards poster, more a lurker, hang out a lot on another board.

Anyway, DH and I were in Hawaii two weeks ago and took the sales presentation at Aulani on 7/28. I have my own Disney blog, and I posted my review and quite a bit of information and photos of the rooms. It really was a beautiful resort, and I envy anyone with an upcoming trip booked! If you are interested in reading the blog, check out my blog listed in my siggie.

Thanks!

 

[disneychic]

Wow! That's so cool that you went on a tour! Great photos! Thanks for posting

 

[hilarys]

Great blog and great description of your tour.

I was on Oahu with my family for three days and we went over to Aulani and took the tour this past Saturday the 6th. Andrea also showed us around and she was great. They had just moved the sales office over to the resort and it was really nice with a nice play area for the kids. It was very cool to be there just three weeks before opening as even on a late Saturday afternoon it was bustling with activity - mock check-ins, "smoke" coming out of the volcano slide, cast members learning their new jobs, we even heard that a certain mouse had been there earlier in the day rehearsing for greeting guests.

We also were very impressed with the resort. The grounds were lush and the attention to detail amazing. We have stayed at VGC, SSR, and BCV and the rooms at this resort seemed the nicest to me. I loved the Hawaiian quilts, the master shower with its rain shower, and the added touch of a rice cooker in the kitchen!

I am jealous of anyone visiting soon. It will be a great place to vacation. The drive from the airport is very easy and you will definitely want to have a car here so that you can visit other parts of the island. We spent quite a bit of time on the Windward side it was amazingly beautiful. I have visited Maui and the Big Island quite a few times but this was the first time to Oahu. I will definitely be back and will plan to stay at Aulani. We are crunchy the numbers now, but since we have now been to Oahu and the resort in person we will probably add-on here with enough points to visit every 3 years.

Happy to answer any questions. It is a GREAT property.

Hilary

 

[Scott H]

Thank You , now more excited about our January Stay. Oh do they have the member tiles up yet??

 

[hilarys]

I did not see the tiles up, but then since we do not have one I was not looking for it.

Have a great time in January. The beach in front of the hotel is a very nice sandy beach very calm. Great for kids and just lazing about. We were there on a Saturday afternoon on a busy August weekend and it was not too crowded at all. I imagine you will have it to yourself in January. The character dining restaurant looks really cool.

Hilary

 

[Scott H]

Thanks Again,

 

[dizkrazkate]

Thanks everyone for your views! You can sign up to follow via email if you'd like to get future posts to your email.

I did not see the member tiles, yet, like Hilary, I wasn't actually looking for them. What and where are they supposed to be? I have seen the ones at AKV and BLT, so I know the idea, just not sure what they are to be at Aulani.

Price wise, DVC points are the way to go. If a standard hotel room in January is $400/night x 7 nights is $2800 +tax. An ocean view studio for the same time period is only 175 points. If you value you them even at $12 per point, your cost for the room on points is $2100, plus the Hawaii resort fee. A good deal.

If we come up with the cash anytime soon, we too would buy perhaps 100 points and then travel there every 3 to 4 years. If anyone has $12K they'd like to give away, just pm me.

 

[Scott H]

RE HAwaii resort fee, wonder how much that will be, I am guessing it will be based upon the rate at the time of ones stay.

 

[despina]

thanks

 

[Cee]

It's beautiful! I love the layout of the studio.

 

[BigEeyore]

Thanks for sharing! Someday we'll get over there...it looks so beautiful!

 

[psac]

Great post, thanks. I don't see myself ever going there, but good to see it.

 

[dizkrazkate]

RE HAwaii resort fee, wonder how much that will be, I am guessing it will be based upon the rate at the time of ones stay.

I'm not sure what it will be exactly but Disney states "For all stays at Aulani, the State of Hawaii imposes a daily transient acoommodations tax based up9on the number of Vacation Points required for the stay and the per Vacation Point Annual Dues for the calendar year of the stay".

I found this document from Hawaii that makes it looks like the tax will be around 7.25% of what they value the rental to be worth. Basically a hotel tax on timeshares.

Here is the document:
http://www.state.hi.us/tax/taxfacts/tf98-04.pdf

 

[NC State Tigger]

I'm not sure what it will be exactly but Disney states "For all stays at Aulani, the State of Hawaii imposes a daily transient acoommodations tax based up9on the number of Vacation Points required for the stay and the per Vacation Point Annual Dues for the calendar year of the stay".

I found this document from Hawaii that makes it looks like the tax will be around 7.25% of what they value the rental to be worth. Basically a hotel tax on timeshares.

Here is the document:
http://www.state.hi.us/tax/taxfacts/tf98-04.pdf

I don't own at Aulani, but hope to be able to book at 7 months. Would I be charged the tax if I am not an owner? 7.25 % of what amount? I did not understand the example sited in the link. I've never been to Hawaii before, but am sure other DIS members have and probably own other Hawaii timeshares. What amounts are likely to be charged? For example, if my stay were to be 500 points, what would I need to budget for this tax?

TIA

 

[ASROBERTS]

Can't wait to visit this beautiful island and resort.

 

[rsschneck]

I don't own at Aulani, but hope to be able to book at 7 months. Would I be charged the tax if I am not an owner? 7.25 % of what amount? I did not understand the example sited in the link. I've never been to Hawaii before, but am sure other DIS members have and probably own other Hawaii timeshares. What amounts are likely to be charged? For example, if my stay were to be 500 points, what would I need to budget for this tax?

TIA

Yes, you will have to pay the tax too. Even if you are not an owner you will be staying there on points so you will be required to pay the tax. The tax is based on how many points you use and the information can be found on the DVC member web site.

 

[living20057]

That was a great description. I felt like I was there with you.

 

[mrsswiss]

Thanks for sharing! Hawaii is such a wonderful place and adding Disney to it is a great match.

 

[bmalonef45]

A little under 48 hours until we make our 7 month window and call to book our spring break trip. The family is totally pumped. First time to Hawaii for all of us and hopefully not our last. But it definitely won't be an every year adventure due to the flight costs. Can't wait to stay at this resort. I was just telling a friend this weekend how we've really loved our DVC purchase and new properties like this keep making it better and better. He was amazed saying we're the only people that he knows that have really enjoyed their timeshare purchase... yes we're the only DVC members he knows.

 

[downontheBW]

Thanks for posting here. You're pics of the room are the best I've seen. The images in Disney advertising don't capture the units that well, in my opinion.

Can't wait to stay there! But it will be a year or two before we do Hawaii again.