Need to Walk Aulani over Christmas for 2BR Ocean View

[AC168]

Hi there ... AUL owner planning to book 11 months out for 6 day reservation over Christmas ... do I need to "walk" the reservation or should there be plenty of availability for a 2 BR Ocean View right at 11 months? Thanks for any info!

 

[kboo]

I am not an AUL owner but I was watching availability to try to book last Christmas (2025) at 7 months, and it seemed like inventory, especially for high-point-cost rooms, stuck around until 8-9 months? That said, I wouldn't sleep on it, especially as an owner.

FWIW, as a VGF owner pre/post its expansion, I was always on at 8am sharp at 11 mo for Christmastime, and it was ... varied. Some people were walking for January (low points) and so I would check throughout the day for availability if I didn't get it right at 8am. But usually I could get what I wanted at 8am.

Another time (2018) I was booking BLT for Thanksgiving and got the last 2BR (dedicated) at 8am.

If you have absolutely inflexible dates, I would walk to be sure. But if you're flexible as to room category and dates, based on what I saw for Christmas 2025, you should be ok if you book right at 11 mo.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Hi there ... AUL owner planning to book 11 months out for 6 day reservation over Christmas ... do I need to "walk" the reservation or should there be plenty of availability for a 2 BR Ocean View right at 11 months? Thanks for any info!

For 6 consecutive days…. Probably OK, but I would be on the safe side.

 

[J-Dog]

Hi there ... AUL owner planning to book 11 months out for 6 day reservation over Christmas ... do I need to "walk" the reservation or should there be plenty of availability for a 2 BR Ocean View right at 11 months? Thanks for any info!

Christmas is not June at Aulani, but still busier than the shoulder seasons. Unless you have some ethical aversion to walking (some people do), then I would do it. Walking takes about 30 seconds a few times a week and practically guarantees your success.

 

[PattiPB]

Hoping to book New Years week (12/27-1/2) for this year, but will have to do it at 7 months.

In 2023, I was able to book Christmas week at the 7 month mark in a 2 bedroom Island/Gardens.

Anyone have any insights on studios during the week FOLLOWING Christmas?

 

[mickeyshellbelle]

I am not an AUL owner but I was watching availability to try to book last Christmas (2025) at 7 months, and it seemed like inventory, especially for high-point-cost rooms, stuck around until 8-9 months? That said, I wouldn't sleep on it, especially as an owner.

FWIW, as a VGF owner pre/post its expansion, I was always on at 8am sharp at 11 mo for Christmastime, and it was ... varied. Some people were walking for January (low points) and so I would check throughout the day for availability if I didn't get it right at 8am. But usually I could get what I wanted at 8am.

Another time (2018) I was booking BLT for Thanksgiving and got the last 2BR (dedicated) at 8am.

If you have absolutely inflexible dates, I would walk to be sure. But if you're flexible as to room category and dates, based on what I saw for Christmas 2025, you should be ok if you book right at 11 mo.

Looking to book Christmas time at 7 months. That scares me when you said most rooms were booked 8/9 months out. I would need a 2 bedroom any view- Do you have any recollection as to how hard that was to get? We were looking to start the vacation around December 18? Does that check in date help as opposed to a December 22/23 check in? Thanks for any info you can provide

 

[J-Dog]

Looking to book Christmas time at 7 months. That scares me when you said most rooms were booked 8/9 months out. I would need a 2 bedroom any view- Do you have any recollection as to how hard that was to get? We were looking to start the vacation around December 18? Does that check in date help as opposed to a December 22/23 check in? Thanks for any info you can provide

A 2BR is likely - not guaranteed - but likely to be available at 7 months for OV and maybe even other views if you're lucky. Especially if you book the week before Christmas.

 

[kboo]

A 2BR is likely - not guaranteed - but likely to be available at 7 months for OV and maybe even other views if you're lucky. Especially if you book the week before Christmas.

Just FYI I was looking for any combo of dates at around 7 months before Christmas 2025, and was willing to do a 7mo walk in any size/view room and ... we ended up going to Maui. (Lucky to have Marriott points!) There wasn't even a way to book 3 or more consecutive nights in ANY category and try to waitlist. If you were an Aulani owner, probably you'd have better luck because you wouldn't be tied to 7 months.

 

[J-Dog]

Just FYI I was looking for any combo of dates at around 7 months before Christmas 2025, and was willing to do a 7mo walk in any size/view room and ... we ended up going to Maui. (Lucky to have Marriott points!) There wasn't even a way to book 3 or more consecutive nights in ANY category and try to waitlist. If you were an Aulani owner, probably you'd have better luck because you wouldn't be tied to 7 months.

That's crazy. I've only ever booked over Christmas once but have perused the availablity multiple times (but not this last year) and it usually seems like OVs are available for most days around that time at 7 mo. Maybe you got unlucky or maybe availability is getting worse? I don't own at Aulani so that's slightly concerning.

 

[VGCgroupie]

That's crazy. I've only ever booked over Christmas once but have perused the availablity multiple times (but not this last year) and it usually seems like OVs are available for most days around that time at 7 mo. Maybe you got unlucky or maybe availability is getting worse? I don't own at Aulani so that's slightly concerning.

Availability has been worse than what i experienced in 2024

 

[mickeyshellbelle]

Just FYI I was looking for any combo of dates at around 7 months before Christmas 2025, and was willing to do a 7mo walk in any size/view room and ... we ended up going to Maui. (Lucky to have Marriott points!) There wasn't even a way to book 3 or more consecutive nights in ANY category and try to waitlist. If you were an Aulani owner, probably you'd have better luck because you wouldn't be tied to th Of curiosity, what check in were you looking for before Christmas Day?

Just FYI I was looking for any combo of dates at around 7 months before Christmas 2025, and was willing to do a 7mo walk in any size/view room and ... we ended up going to Maui. (Lucky to have Marriott points!) There wasn't even a way to book 3 or more consecutive nights in ANY category and try to waitlist. If you were an Aulani owner, probably you'd have better luck because you wouldn't be tied to 7 months.

Thanks for the response. Out of curiosity, how many days prior to Christmas Day were you looking to check in? Basically I’m wondering if we were to start at Aulani about a week prior to Christmas Day if that would make a difference as opposed to trying checking in the 22nd or so. TIA

 

[AC168]

Just to follow-up. I was able to get 6 nights through Christmas with a 2BR OV booking the day it opened up. Thank you for all of the advice!

 

[kboo]

That's crazy. I've only ever booked over Christmas once but have perused the availablity multiple times (but not this last year) and it usually seems like OVs are available for most days around that time at 7 mo. Maybe you got unlucky or maybe availability is getting worse? I don't own at Aulani so that's slightly concerning.

Over Christmas break, I was also juggling watching airfares, which were already in short supply - and unfortunately by the time I started looking, it was already late April/early May, so you had Thanksgiving, early December and early January bookings already in the mix. It was similar the time we went in April 2023, but we knew we were going to Oahu, and flights weren't as crazy expensive or full. So I think it was a lot of factors. It turns out that almost everything I was looking at in Hawaii (Marriott not MVC points and Aulani) were booked from Dec 23-26*, and I didn't want to book flights in the hope that something would open up, so we ended up going to DL and then Hawaii after. And Aulani was still spotty and I didn't want to stay in 2 different places on Oahu or island hop, so we finalized our plans in August/September. One of the problems was that my points were tied up in a weeklong reservation at VGC and you can't easily modify a reservation like that. So I wasn't going to let go of my sure thing in hopes of getting something at Aulani

*there were some rooms available at over 1,000,000 Marriott points or something like $2,000-$5,000/nt, but that's just

Thanks for the response. Out of curiosity, how many days prior to Christmas Day were you looking to check in? Basically I’m wondering if we were to start at Aulani about a week prior to Christmas Day if that would make a difference as opposed to trying checking in the 22nd or so. TIA

It looks like everything worked out for you, so that's great! Kids had break from Dec 23 to Jan 2 and we are East Coast so travel time + time difference also only gave us +/- 1-2 days flexibility on either end.

We are going back to Maui in April (not gonna lie, I looked at Aulani at 3 months in advance) and very excited for it. So Aulani for Christmas will happen sometime later... or when DH and I have more flexible dates.