New to Aulani planning. Please HELP!

[beautybelle]

So my crew has suddenly started talking about changing plans from going to the parks next year to going to Aulani and I have no clue how to plan a visit there.
We're looking at going in June of 2018. So here are my questions I guess: If we go in June next year, when should we make the reservations? How do I rent points in order to save money? Can I still use my gift cards to make the reservation? And literally, anything else you can tell me that I'll need to know because I'm just starting my research and know nothing right now.
Thank you so much to those that help.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

If you rent points and find some who owns at Aulani, you can book up to 11 months out. If they don't own at Aulani, the soonest they can book is 7 months out (I think). If you rent points you will likely not be able to pay for your reservation. You can still use gift cards while there though, on march, food or whatever.

Just start reading this board, you'll learn a lot.

If you rent points, parking is free so you can rent a car if you want. If you don't rent, parking is $35 per day I believe.

We always hit costco and target on the way to the hotel, since it's on the way from the airport.

 

[buffettgirl]

You're basically planning a visit to Hawaii, staying at a resort on the island of Oahu. Your Aulani part of it is really just a small part of your visit - it's a resort, not much more. So start researching Oahu and all there is to offer here.

 

[Brancaneve]

Just plan on relaxing...that's it! I agree with the PP that your planning should include what you want to do on the island, whereas at Aulani planning may just consist of reserving character breakfasts, the Luau, etc. (if in fact you want to do those things).

My biggest piece of advice is to stay in Waikiki/Honolulu for a few days to see the sights on the east side of the island. You will not want to leave Aulani once you get there! Also, you are saving money by staying at a hotel that you will most likely use just to sleep in since your adventures will keep you busy all day.

I am Aulani right now and will most likely start a thread about my experiences. That should be coming soon!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I am in the process of writing my trip report on our recent visit. We stayed in Waikiki and did our touring and then spent 4 nights at Aulani just relaxing and doing the resort thing.

 

[nkereina]

Agree with PPs - aside from dining reservations and cabana/casabella rentals, there isn't much you need to plan in advance at Aulani. Not like a WDW trip. I did make a daily schedule so I knew when I'd have resort days and when I'd be going off-site. And many of the off-site activities we did involved purchasing tickets, scheduling tour times, etc. So there is some planning there, but it all depends on what you want to do in Hawaii.

PP is also correct in that if you rent points, you will not be able to use a Disney gift card to pay for the point rental. You can use them for food and activities at Aulani, though. You'll be working with either a DVC owner or a third party points broker, so you can't use a Disney gift card to pay them for the points. David's DVC Rental is a reputable broker for your first time renting points. We've done it before, so I just connected with an owner here on the rent/trade forum and did it myself. We booked about 10 months in advance. The earliest you can rent is 11 months in advance, but it will be based on the number of Aulani owners willing to rent at that time frame. The availability will open up to other DVC owners to rent to you at the 7 month mark. I would start making inquiries at 11 months because a broker will usually add you to a list is nothing is available right away. Also note that if you secure a point reservation, your dates are set in stone and it's non-refundable. There is a broker who offers insurance, but most do not and owners will not. So just make sure you're confident in your plans and dates. Lastly, you will not receive daily housekeeping while at Aulani if staying on a points reservation. But you do get free parking!

 

[PattiPB]

I am DVC, so we are using point this month. Looking at the prices people pay for the rooms makes my head spin! Definitely rent points for your stay!

 

[alldiz]

I will add that if you want to go earlier June points are cheaper and most likely you will need that 11 month window to get a reservation.
If you rent like PP's have said be Firm in your dates there is no wiggle room.
I have used David's rental to rent my own points and would not hesitate to use them again to rent if i needed.

Start googling best spots Oahu, get an idea where u want to go. U might decide to break up your stay at different points of the island .
Happy planning
Kerri

 

[DieHardJoe]

We are also DVC members. As PP mentioned, points are cheaper for the first few weeks of June as well as most of May. Then you jump from the second lowest points season to the highest if you go from June 25th-Aug 12th. You also have to consider the type of room and view. To give you some idea - We spent two weeks in Hawaii in May, with the second week at Aulani. We had decided early on it would be a 1-BR and not a Studio. At first we were going to really splurge with an ocean view which would have been 350 points. But we were reading these boards and it seemed like more than a few people said that, yes, while you could see the ocean, it wasn't necessarily a head-on view and they were somewhat disappointed. So we started to scale back looking at Pool view and Island view to save points. But at some point we realized that we were not going to be spending much time in our room. In fact, one day we caught a 5:00 AM to the Big Island and didn't get back to our room until 9:00 PM. So we scaled all the way back to Standard for 259 points, a savings of 91 points which for us is a lot of points we can use for a week in a studio in Florida. It was a great decision, at least for us. We were lucky and got the highest floor for a Standard view (7th). We looked out over the Conference Center, but sitting on the balcony looking straight out was a nice view of the island. If we had used points for an Island view, we could have been assigned Floor 8 and would have paid 49 more points for almost exactly the same view!!

So as a few people have mentioned, start to decide what you think you want to do when you get there. And if you are not planning on spending much time on your balcony enjoying the view, then consider a cheaper points option. Believe me, we have some fantastic pictures of sunsets and didn't need an Ocean view room to get them.

And one other thing - A PP noted there is no daily housekeeping which is correct. But there is housekeeping after the 4th night (or could be the 3rd, not sure).