Poly Preferred + Aulani Pool Garden, or Poly Standard + Aulani Ocean View?

[Road_Dog]

So funny enough, zero 2-bedrooms had space for the 5-nights we wanted in May (22nd-27th). Which is odd because there is a ton of availability one week prior in pretty much all categories besides Standard. There is one particular Saturday (at the 7 months + 1 day mark, the 23rd) that is booked up, seemingly blocking me from getting a 5-night reservation in any category. I’m assuming this is people walking at the 7-month mark?

I’m aware of the pool refurbishment in early May 2026 so the dates I’m eyeing up are beyond that. It’s weird to me that most of May is still available except for the one darn Saturday I need to make my trip a complete 5-day. It gives me a false sense of hope that I could just wait for whomever is walking to get done and get my desired dates down the line, as I can’t find any sort of event on May 23rd that would be causing every 2-bedroom to be booked beside the fact that it’s a Saturday and school is probably done for families.

I ended up booking a Pool Garden 5-night trip 4-days sooner than I wanted 5/18 to 5/23 (meaning I’d have to adjust our flights). I’d ideally like to keep our flights so I ended up waitlisting for both a pool garden and an island garden (both dedicated) during the 5-days that I originally wanted.

However, the more I read into waitlist strategies, it almost seems like I should be booking a 1-night stay every morning for the next 5 days and waitlisting anything that isn’t available, as I can then piecemeal my bookings together. I understand why this makes sense to do, but it seems like a gamble to cancel a 5-day booking I already have to only maybe get a chance at the dates I want. Any advice would be appreciated.

I actually see Standard availability (1-night) on 5/22 right now, 5/23 is booked, but 5/24-5/27 are open. I could even extend our vacation by one day and do 6-nights if I could somehow land Standard availability. Is there a strategy involved with booking the 1-night now, and trying to grab individual days every morning for the next 5 days? Lol. If you can tell, this is my first time dealing with a 7-month availability window.

 

[drusba]

See the maps of Aulani rooms on this page: https://www.disboards.com/threads/aulani-villas-views-revised-07-22-2017.2907389/ As you will see, all the pool view rooms are directly below ocean view rooms. The ocean view rooms on the 6th floor have essentially the same view of the pools and ocean as the pool view rooms on the 5th floor.

Some above have mentioned having fantastic views from an ocean view room. If you have high floor and are in the sections that are closer to the ocean that may be true, but if you have an ocean view room nearer the lobby area, it is a an OK ocean view but the ocean is actually quite a distance away. In other words do not assume that if you get an ocean view room you will necessarily have a fantastic view, and be aware the view could be no better than a 5th floor pool view room if you get a lower floor, ocean view room on the pool side of the building.

If you stick with pool view, you should probably request 5th floor. If you choose ocean view make sure you request high floor.

 

[Road_Dog]

See the maps of Aulani rooms on this page: https://www.disboards.com/threads/aulani-villas-views-revised-07-22-2017.2907389/ As you will see, all the pool view rooms are directly below ocean view rooms. The ocean view rooms on the 6th floor have essentially the same view of the pools and ocean as the pool view rooms on the 5th floor.

Some above have mentioned having fantastic views from an ocean view room. If you have high floor and are in the sections that are closer to the ocean that may be true, but if you have an ocean view room nearer the lobby area, it is a an OK ocean view but the ocean is actually quite a distance away. In other words do not assume that if you get an ocean view room you will necessarily have a fantastic view, and be aware the view could be no better than a 5th floor pool view room if you get a lower floor, ocean view room on the pool side of the building.

If you stick with pool view, you should probably request 5th floor. If you choose ocean view make sure you request high floor.

Thanks. My plan was to choose between 5th floor or 1st floor (for a request). 5th floor for the exact reasons your mentioned. And 1st floor so we can walk from our room out to the pool area (easier access).

 

[Road_Dog]

Sorry I'm just venting. Am I getting walked to death right now?

This is my first-ever 7-month booking, and I'm a bit frustrated that everything didn't go as planned.

I've been planning on a 2-bedroom booking at Aulani for 5-nights 5/22-5/27. All of my research indicated that 2-bedroom availability was plenty in May, usually because busy season doesn't typically hit until June. I had 310 points which was enough for a Standard (unlikely), Island Garden (should be plenty), or Pool Garden (what I wanted).

I checked on 10/15 and saw plenty of availability, I've never tried walking before and thought I'd be fine. Come the morning of 10/22 (7-month mark) and there were no 5-day availability for the dates I wanted. Weirdly enough, there was plenty of availability for Island and Pool views in the 2 weeks prior (post Pool refurb dates). Which begs the question, what makes my dates so special?

Yes, it does run over Memorial Day weekend, but my understanding was June was usually the popular time to go (reflected by the sparse availability shown). I suppose I could be seeing a spillover into the last week of May with the combination of Memorial Day Weekend and families who have kids get done with school in May.

I ended up booking 5/18 to 5/23 in Pool Garden, but this requires changing our flights that I'm particular to keep. I'm wondering if I'm just the victim of Walkers and need to wait a week or two for this to pass. I say that because in a lot of categories, it's 1 or 2 day specifically blocking me from getting the full 5-days, namely Saturday 5/23 and Sunday 5/24.

I'm hesitant to do the 1-day at a time booking and waitlist strategy, mostly because even 5/18-5/23 as a 5-day block is now gone in all categories. I'd almost rather just keep that in my back pocket and watch how this plays out in the next 2 weeks before I make a call on changing my flights.

 

[eticketplease]

Sorry I'm just venting. Am I getting walked to death right now?

This is my first-ever 7-month booking, and I'm a bit frustrated that everything didn't go as planned.

I've been planning on a 2-bedroom booking at Aulani for 5-nights 5/22-5/27. All of my research indicated that 2-bedroom availability was plenty in May, usually because busy season doesn't typically hit until June. I had 310 points which was enough for a Standard (unlikely), Island Garden (should be plenty), or Pool Garden (what I wanted).

I checked on 10/15 and saw plenty of availability, I've never tried walking before and thought I'd be fine. Come the morning of 10/22 (7-month mark) and there were no 5-day availability for the dates I wanted. Weirdly enough, there was plenty of availability for Island and Pool views in the 2 weeks prior (post Pool refurb dates). Which begs the question, what makes my dates so special?

Yes, it does run over Memorial Day weekend, but my understanding was June was usually the popular time to go (reflected by the sparse availability shown). I suppose I could be seeing a spillover into the last week of May with the combination of Memorial Day Weekend and families who have kids get done with school in May.

I ended up booking 5/18 to 5/23 in Pool Garden, but this requires changing our flights that I'm particular to keep. I'm wondering if I'm just the victim of Walkers and need to wait a week or two for this to pass. I say that because in a lot of categories, it's 1 or 2 day specifically blocking me from getting the full 5-days, namely Saturday 5/23 and Sunday 5/24.

I'm hesitant to do the 1-day at a time booking and waitlist strategy, mostly because even 5/18-5/23 as a 5-day block is now gone in all categories. I'd almost rather just keep that in my back pocket and watch how this plays out in the next 2 weeks before I make a call on changing my flights.

Can you keep what you have and put in a waitlist? One for IG and another for PG? Then just stalk.

 

[Road_Dog]

Can you keep what you have and put in a waitlist? One for IG and another for PG? Then just stalk.

That's exactly what I did. I have the 5/18 to 5/23 booked right now, and I have 5/22-5/27 for both IG and PG waitlisted. I did the waitlist for both ASAP at the 7-month mark.

Do you get an email if your waitlist went through?

 

[eticketplease]

That's exactly what I did. I have the 5/18 to 5/23 booked right now, and I have 5/22-5/27 for both IG and PG waitlisted. I did the waitlist for both ASAP at the 7-month mark.

Do you get an email if your waitlist went through?

You should but usually you get one about your trip being cancelled first.

You will be able to see it in the dashboard.

 

[Road_Dog]

You should but usually you get one about your trip being cancelled first.

You will be able to see it in the dashboard.

Thanks, I've been stalking and keep noticing that various days of availability keep shifting (i.e. progressing forward a day) which leads me to believe that I'm just the victim of some walkers right now, but you never know, maybe that pool refurb caused a lot of people to reschedule or rethink their travel dates!