"What to Expect from Disney at Ko Olina" (DVC in Hawaii)

[Anal Annie]

OK, so we have only ever stayed IN Waikiki...and have never rented a car on Oahu...just trying to get my bearings... Am I correct in thinking to get to this location from Waikiki you drive thru town and AROUND Diamond Head? It is not far from Diamond Head is it? I believe the only time I went around that way was on my first ever trip many, many years ago and we took a tour bus to that big Polynesian Cultural Center thing over by Brigham Young... (I did not like that tour. It was an ALLLL day event and we felt trapped being that we were on that bus...) But anyway, I am just trying to get this location in my mind! We have also never stayed more than 3 nights on Oahu....we usually island hop....very interested to see if this resort would get us to stay longer!

 

[Dean]

OK, so we have only ever stayed IN Waikiki...and have never rented a car on Oahu...just trying to get my bearings... Am I correct in thinking to get to this location from Waikiki you drive thru town and AROUND Diamond Head? It is not far from Diamond Head is it? I believe the only time I went around that way was on my first ever trip many, many years ago and we took a tour bus to that big Polynesian Cultural Center thing over by Brigham Young... (I did not like that tour. It was an ALLLL day event and we felt trapped being that we were on that bus...) But anyway, I am just trying to get this location in my mind! We have also never stayed more than 3 nights on Oahu....we usually island hop....very interested to see if this resort would get us to stay longer!

No, wrong way. If you drive toward Pearl Harbour, pass that go on past H-2 and by Barbers point. Make the turn up the coast and it's right there. IMO, not getting a car and exploring the island is missing many of the best sights.

 

[WDWLVR]

Hopefully this map helps. Ko Olina is on the bottom left while Waikiki is on the bottom about two thirds over to the right. The Polynesian Cultural Center is upper right.

I agree with Dean that getting a car and exploring the island is a must. We loved going all over to see things. We went into Waikiki twice. Once to scope our where we would park for a tour we were taking the next day and then spent the rest of the day exploring the East side of the island (sea life park, Byodo-Inn, just to name a few). The next day we went in to catch a tour by Home of the Brave tours to the Arizona and other sites associated with the attach on Pearl Harbor. Then after the tour walked around the Hilton Hawaiian Village and some other local shops. Another day we took a ride up the middle of the island to the North shore on our way to the Polynesian Cultural Center. The waves weren't big that day but we sill enjoyed the drive and stopping at one of the beaches.

 

[Anal Annie]

Thanks ya'll...The map was quite helpful!!

Having always stayed in Waikiki and only for 2 or 3 n we never had time to rent a car and explore. With Maui being our fav. island we usually only stayed on Oahu for an obligatory trip to Pearl Harbor and some time shopping at the marketplace and a few hours on the beach before moving on. Not staying in Waikiki will definitely be cause to rent a car and explore. We have always wanted to go to the North shore to watch the surfers...Perhaps we WILL do our first ever week long stay on Oahu (or at least 5 nights)!

Since Hawaii is always considered a "high season" year round any guesses as to how DVC will spread it out into 5 seasons? Do you think they will only use "Magic" and "Premier" and possibly a few weeks in "Dream"?? After seeing the point charts for BLT I am especially curious to see just how "expensive" it will be to go there... I hope they design the units with a max. capacity like they did with BLT and AKV (that was so smart of them to add 1 extra person to the one & two bedroom units). I am sure there will be at least a couple of different "views" here too so we can be flexible with our points... I don't want to have to use 2 years worth of points for one week if I don't have to! Still wondering if it will be necessary to add-on there or if it will be large enough to book at 7 months...

Anxiously awaiting more details from DVC please!

 

[wrighter]

ccigliano - Any chance you recall what airline you flew on direct from Newark to Honolulu? I was on orbtiz looking to see who flew direct, and nobody came up. But I'm wondering if perhaps they only fly the direct route on certain days of the week?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

ccigliano - Any chance you recall what airline you flew on direct from Newark to Honolulu?

I'm not ccigliano, but I can tell you that the airline to check for nonstop EWR-HNL service is Continental. I even put in dates for a roundtrip in January 2009, and it showed one flight per day in each direction on Continental.

Nonstops to Hawaii are becoming harder to get. American Airlines dropped their nonstop service from Chicago to Honolulu and Maui. They still sell tickets from Chicago to these destinations, but they now require a connection through Dallas or the West Coast.

 

[musical2]

This is the view we had from our room.

Hey, that looks almost exactly the view I had from my room this past July. I might have been one floor below that.

 

[WDWLVR]

I'm not ccigliano, but I can tell you that the airline to check for nonstop EWR-HNL service is Continental. I even put in dates for a roundtrip in January 2009, and it showed one flight per day in each direction on Continental.

Nonstops to Hawaii are becoming harder to get. American Airlines dropped their nonstop service from Chicago to Honolulu and Maui. They still sell tickets from Chicago to these destinations, but they now require a connection through Dallas or the West Coast.

That's a shame. When we flew out last Feb (2007) the plane was packed both ways. We did however say that in the future we'd do a day or two layover for Disneyland so it might not be too bad. Not a fan of flying into LAX.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

That's a shame. When we flew out last Feb (2007) the plane was packed both ways. We did however say that in the future we'd do a day or two layover for Disneyland so it might not be too bad. Not a fan of flying into LAX.

United still offers nonstop service from Chicago to Honolulu -- on a 777, no less.

Spending time in Southern California on the way back from Hawaii has a lot of advantages.

While the nonstops to Chicago are overnight "redeye" flights, there are daytime flights into California. They arrive quite late due to the long flight and the time zones, but at least you can sleep in a real hotel bed rather than attempting to sleep while siting up in an economy seat with noise all around you.

If you're using airline frequent flyer tickets, the stopover does not add anything to the number of points needed. So the stop is "free" in that regard. (It can add several hundred dollars if you're paying for tickets with money.)

Southern California is great destination with many more things to see and do than just Disneyland.

And it makes the time zone readjustment easier on your way home.

 

[MarkRG]

United still offers nonstop service from Chicago to Honolulu -- on a 777, no less.

Spending time in Southern California on the way back from Hawaii has a lot of advantages.

While the nonstops to Chicago are overnight "redeye" flights, there are daytime flights into California. They arrive quite late due to the long flight and the time zones, but at least you can sleep in a real hotel bed rather than attempting to sleep while siting up in an economy seat with noise all around you.

If you're using airline frequent flyer tickets, the stopover does not add anything to the number of points needs. So the stop is "free" in that regard. (It can add several hundred dollars if you're paying for tickets with money.)

Southern California is great destination with many more things to see and do than just Disneyland.

And it makes the time zone readjustment easier on you way home.

You've just listed exactly why we decided for future trips to add a layover.

 

[BCV23]

Horace, I like stopping at LA or San Fran on the return trip, too. Since I really don't sleep on flights it's the difference between arriving at 5 or 6 am and being exhausted all day or landing later in the afternoon feeling well rested.

 

[Dean]

Since Hawaii is always considered a "high season" year round any guesses as to how DVC will spread it out into 5 seasons? Do you think they will only use "Magic" and "Premier" and possibly a few weeks in "Dream"??

While HI is red time all year round, it is not truly high season. Take DVC's exchange designations. Oahu is HIGH season weeks 51-34 (xmas to Easter), LOW for early Dec and MID the rest of the time. My guess is the lowest you'll see is Dream (possibly choice for early Dec) with a LOT of Magic and a fair amount of Premier. The points schedules will likely be in line or more than BLT.

 

[ccigliano]

Yes wrighter, Horace is correct - I booked Continental. Believe it or not - the non-stop was the only flight with the cheaper easy pass miles available. I think they are beginning to realize that people don't mind stopping in San Fran for a couple of days and moving on so the connecting flights were actually more miles. Besides I'll miss my little dog if I stay away longer anyway and I did want to spend at least 12 days in Oahu and Kauai. The pics from the plane is awesome. I've actually stayed at the Marriott Ihilani Hotel a few years ago and absolutely loved snorkling in the lagoons. I can't wait to see what the Disney imagineers will dream up.

 

[Anal Annie]

The last 2 times we used Delta. Went thru Salt Lake City on the way over and direct from Maui to Atlanta on the return. Of course then we have to hop back up to DC after that...but the Atlanta flight was actually quite nice. It left late (9 or 9:30). We napped a little 'cuz it was dark... Used American the trip before that...that went thru Dallas. The Delta flights were the shortest overall times we could find... I am NOT trying to spend 17 hours each way! 12-12 1/2 is all I'm up for!

 

[mkymsehi]

My 2 cents about where the Hawaii DVC is being built in Ko Olina Resort.

I live in Honolulu, and it's roughly a 35-45 minute drive from the Honolulu International Airport.

Ko Olina resort is nice, but don't drive further West than that. Nanakuli, Waianae, Makaha are not safe areas to visit. High drugs, crime, low income & homeless areas.

Having said that, Kapolei town nearby has lots of restaurants, and there is the Hawaiian Waters adventure park. Not much else in the area. Waikiki is about a hour drive.

 

[bookwormde]

I am hoping they do ME to the ferry.

bookwormde

 

[gingermouse17]

 

[Candace]

I am totally ignorant of Hawaii, having never been there. I am excited about visiting the DVC resort when it is finished. Can someone please tell me the airport you would need to fly into if staying at the Disney resort?

 

[Dean]

I am totally ignorant of Hawaii, having never been there. I am excited about visiting the DVC resort when it is finished. Can someone please tell me the airport you would need to fly into if staying at the Disney resort?

HNL is the airport code, it's on the leeward side near Pearl Harbour. It's Maybe 20 minutes to Waikiki but very variable depending on traffic (time of day) and the route chosen. And it's roughly 30 minutes or sightly over to Ko'Olina but depending on the time of day it could be MUCH more. Oahu is very traffic dependent for transit times and complexity. The route that took me 20 minutes at 5:45 am, would be 45 minutes at 6-6:15 and well over an hour just a little later. The return trip during rush hour was easily an hour an a half. Hopefully H3 and some better lane planning has helped some but likely compensated by increased demand.

HNL is also great to fly into for other islands. It's often better to fly in to HNL and take an interisland flight even when you can get a flight directly in to one of the other islands, esp if one is trying for a timeshare exchange.

 

[bookwormde]

HNL is a pretty airport to land at, if you come in from the east you come by Diamond Head, from the west you fly by Pearl Harbor, A left side window seat is great.

bookwormde