Type of room at Aulani?

[Mduff]

For those of you who have gone to Aulani....would you borrow points to stay in an Ocean View even if it meant altering plans for DW in 2016, or would you try to get an Island View instead and use less points, leaving enough for a spring break vacation to DW in 2016?

It seems Ocean View is a lot easier to book for August 2015 than an Island View villa.

 

[Anal Annie]

If I had the points for an OV w/o borrowing then I would def. do that or maybe a PV but if I had to borrow extensively I would just do the IV. We had an IV and we really weren't in the room all that much. SOME IV villas have glimpses of the ocean so to me it's worth the gamble. Yes, the OV is easier to get because it does suck down a lot more points. When I booked I HOPED for IV but was prepared that I might have to go higher (we were borrowing so didn't want to borrow any more than we had to). It worked out to get the IV. I was online BEFORE 8:00 and had everything filled in so that all I had to do was hit book when the computer clock hit 8:00. I also just initially booked myself into the room and then I called MS later to add DH & DS (just to save having to fill in any more info than I had to before I hit book). We are now planning our vaca this summer to get back on track with our annual allotment and out of the borrowing mode...

 

[Mduff]

I should have done the same thing....get all set and hit Book at 8. I had already booked OV when I couldn't get IV and then had to cancel before I could book. Hubby now wants to stay OV even though we're borrowing from 2016. Figures we don't need to borrow much and even though I've planned out 2016, he says all future vacations are subject to change So I guess I've locked myself into OV and trying to make myself feel better about the points!

 

[Anal Annie]

I should have done the same thing....get all set and hit Book at 8. I had already booked OV when I couldn't get IV and then had to cancel before I could book. Hubby now wants to stay OV even though we're borrowing from 2016. Figures we don't need to borrow much and even though I've planned out 2016, he says all future vacations are subject to change So I guess I've locked myself into OV and trying to make myself feel better about the points!

I know the feeling. If you read my trip report you will see that we had originally booked this trip for summer of 2013 and had to cancel the entire trip at 8 days out due to a medical emergency with our DS which prevented him from flying. We had planned ahead for that time by banking points from the previous year and had booked an OV without blinking. Then when we went to re-plan it for this past summer we were working with about 100 fewer points so cuts had to be made - since we were borrowing some now we cut back to IV and dropped 1 night off of our CA portion. If you can do the OV without having to dip in tooooo far it's probably worth doing.

Have you considered "walking" the reservation? I did that for our CA portion bcuz VGC is so small and has so few studios. Even tho we only wanted 3 nights I had enough points available to go ahead and book the entire week starting 4 days before we reallllly wanted to go. Then I called MS once we hit the "real" 7 month window for when we wanted to go and I canceled off the first 4 nights so that my points were once again available to use to book Aulani. It took some of the stress off to at least get that much squared away as the entire trip hinged on being able to get in there first.

 

[Mduff]

Hmmm, that might have worked....booking before I really wanted to go. And then cancelling what I didn't need. I think I tried something like that but I couldn't book beyond the day of my 7 month window. And now hubby is set on Ocean View - oh well. I think I was just too eager to book

I did start to read your trip report....after all that you sooo deserved your vacation working out for you! Thanks for all your advice, I look forward to seeing your name pop up when I post

 

[juncker]

We stayed in an Ocean View room in Oct. 2014. While we don't usually go for the upgraded views (usually DVC point misers), we did this time and I would have to say that it was worth it. We were on the 10th floor. There would have been more noise from the lower floors. We loved just sitting on the balcony.

If we were to visit again, I'd go for the OV without hesitation, even if I end up borrowing to do so. I'd even go for one night cash offsite if that is what it took to get OV.

Just my opinion ....

 

[dreaming4disney]

We just went to Aulani this past June. We had an island view- we wanted pool view but it wasn't available. We had a nice view of the ocean anyway. I think I would try for pool view because then you will have a nice view of the pool area and sometimes, if you can get a higher room(5th floor) you could see the ocean also.

Some of the ocean views are not worth the extra points. It's a beautiful resort and you will enjoy it no matter what your view is. The only view I would try to stay away from is the standard view because you could get a parking garage view.

Enjoy!

 

[DenLo]

We stayed in an Ocean View room in Oct. 2014. While we don't usually go for the upgraded views (usually DVC point misers), we did this time and I would have to say that it was worth it. We were on the 10th floor. There would have been more noise from the lower floors. We loved just sitting on the balcony.

If we were to visit again, I'd go for the OV without hesitation, even if I end up borrowing to do so. I'd even go for one night cash offsite if that is what it took to get OV.

Just my opinion ....

Me too. I stay in cheaper point accommodations at WDW instead.

 

[Mduff]

We stayed in an Ocean View room in Oct. 2014. While we don't usually go for the upgraded views (usually DVC point misers), we did this time and I would have to say that it was worth it. We were on the 10th floor. There would have been more noise from the lower floors. We loved just sitting on the balcony.

If we were to visit again, I'd go for the OV without hesitation, even if I end up borrowing to do so. I'd even go for one night cash offsite if that is what it took to get OV.

Just my opinion ....

Thanks! Makes me feel better. Hubby won't let me waitlist anything else now - he wants OV - says we should go all out in Hawaii. We still have enough points for 6 nights at BCV in 2016 And now I'm all set with my 9 nights of OV - no more need to stress over booking

 

[alohamom]

We had a split stay-first part in an OV as a result of a direct hotel booking and second part in an IV as it was a DVC point rental situation (we moved from one section to another) While the IV was ok the OV was incredible and my whole family were just overwhelmed by watching the sun set over the ocean etc. I didnt really care but my kids and hubby felt it made it more like "Hawaii" and they just loved that view, especially in the morning.