Aulani Owners Thread - ALOHA!

[snackyx]

Get to know the ABC store across the street. It has an unbelievable wine selection (Silver Oak! Caymus! @ an ABC!!??), and you can buy about anything you need for vacation AND they have a nice little deli with some fresh made sandwiches, wraps, pasta salads, sushi, etc. MUCH cheaper than buying similar items at the resort, and a nice place to grab something to eat if you do not want to pay big $$$ at Aulani.

 

[stopher1]

I'm so excited to be going in a week and a half. Weren't planning on going until later in the summer or even next year, but found a great airfare deal and had some time available, so we planned a quick getaway in advance of our anniversary. Gotta love flexibility. Now we're planning our first family trip for summer 2013.

I've read and seen many wonderful TR's and online articles on different sites I follow - but I can't wait to experience it all first hand!

 

[living20057]

So this morning I had to call member services to shift our dates (cheaper to fly out Sunday and back on Monday instead of out Saturday and back Sunday) and the CM mentioned something I had not known, so I thought I would pass it along. Did you know that if you go to Aulani's website that you can make reservations for meals, spa treatments and such, 1 year in advance? I thought it was 180 days but that is only if you want to call and make it through member services, she told me. I am on my way over to the site to see what I can do for our trip in August. Let me know if anyone has had a different experience.
Later,
Sue

I tried making a reservation, but it is only up to mid July

 

[beeadude]

What's the difference in the towers? I read that quests are requesting different towers and floors. Thanks

 

[mkymsehi]

On my visit last weekend, found out the Founder's tiles will not be installed on the Pohaku rocks until January, 2013.

 

[mkymsehi]

Does anyone know whether any of the Aulani room items are for sale, anywhere? Specifically, we loved the Mickey Mouse wood lamp and the Mickey Hawaiian "Quilt." The only thing we saw for sale in the Kalepa store was the bathrobe...

As of January the lamp and quilt are now sold in Kalepa's. Both are $200 each.

 

[dreamlinda]

What's the difference in the towers? I read that quests are requesting different towers and floors. Thanks

Just returned from 2 weeks in Hawaii, the last 5 nights we were at Aulani. The Waianae section is the northern wing and Ewa section is the southern wing. Per the front desk, all the hotel rooms are in the Wainanae wing. DVC is in both.

The Wainanae wing is completely finished. The even numbered rooms face the pool area, odd face north toward the Marriott resort. We were told that some rooms on both sides have "ocean views". The quiet or leisure pool is located off the NW tip of this tower.

The Ewa section is completed on the outside, but only the rooms closest to the Lobby are completed and furnished and available to occupy. The side wing and the largest portion of this wind is "Phase 3" and we were told they will be done later this year, or even early 2013.

Our room was on the 14th floor (the highest floor on our section of the Wainanae building, closer to the lobby the building has 16 floors) and was classified as ocean view. We had a view of the entire pool area (which is huge) and out to the ocean. The ocean is to the side on all of the rooms, the rooms closest to the Lobby are situated slightly more straight to the ocean but are further away. If you look at a overhead of the resort you will see what I mean.

The pool area is noisy, especially the rooms above the childrens water play area. This isn't due to the children, it's from all the cascading water that runs from 8am to 6pm. When it shuts off you can actually hear the ocean waves when the tide is coming in...

Does this help??

 

[dreamlinda]

OH, FORGOT, there are some rooms that are at the end of the towers that are ocean front (straight on view of the ocean if they are high enough to see over the trees). These are all Grand Villas, and I bet they have killer views!!!

 

[beeadude]

OH, FORGOT, there are some rooms that are at the end of the towers that are ocean front (straight on view of the ocean if they are high enough to see over the trees). These are all Grand Villas, and I bet they have killer views!!!

Thank you so much for that "report". We are going in September for our 40th anniversary. We have an ocean view one bedroom but everything I've been reading says don't waste your pts on an ocean view-like you said the villas have it. Do you agree? Thank you again.

 

[dreamlinda]

Thank you so much for that "report". We are going in September for our 40th anniversary. We have an ocean view one bedroom but everything I've been reading says don't waste your pts on an ocean view-like you said the villas have it. Do you agree? Thank you again.

Not all 1 bedroom villas are ocean view, the Grand Villas (3-bdrm) that are on at least the 3rd or 4th floor have ocean views. The 1 bedroom units that face the pool and are at least the 4th or 5th floor are going to have at least a partial ocean view. The lower floors would be blocked by trees, restaurants and the pool slide (which looks like a volcano). If you want to be ensured of a ocean view I would spend the points. We did (celebrating 20th anniversary) and for us it was worth it to be sure we didn't have an obstructed view. After all, it is Hawaii and a special occasion.

 

[Frikitiki]

OH, FORGOT, there are some rooms that are at the end of the towers that are ocean front (straight on view of the ocean if they are high enough to see over the trees). These are all Grand Villas, and I bet they have killer views!!!

Here's a view from the 10th floor grand villa

Disney's Aulani Opening by coconut wireless, on Flickr

 

[wdrl]

The pool area is noisy, especially the rooms above the childrens water play area. This isn't due to the children, it's from all the cascading water that runs from 8am to 6pm. When it shuts off you can actually hear the ocean waves when the tide is coming in...

Thanks for your insights. We just booked a Pool View Studio at Aulani for September. One of our concerns about requesting a Pool View was the noise level from the pool area. One reason why we requested a villa in the Ewa Building is because the Pool View villas are on the third and fourth floors. In the Waianae Building the Pool View villas are on floors 1 through 5, and we really don't want a first floor villa.

One question: Do you know how much the taxi fares are from Aulani to the airport? We are wondering whether we should rent a car for the entire 7 nights we are at Aulani. Plan A is to rent a car, which will cost us around $450+ for the 8 days. Plan B is to rent a car at Aulani for just two or three days, which should save us about half or more of the car rental fee. But if we rent a car at Aulani, we'll need to pay for a taxi to get to and from Aulani.

Thanks in advance!

 

[dreamlinda]

One question: Do you know how much the taxi fares are from Aulani to the airport? We are wondering whether we should rent a car for the entire 7 nights we are at Aulani. Plan A is to rent a car, which will cost us around $450+ for the 8 days. Plan B is to rent a car at Aulani for just two or three days, which should save us about half or more of the car rental fee. But if we rent a car at Aulani, we'll need to pay for a taxi to get to and from Aulani.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the picture!! We rented a car for our stay, from Avis we paid $275 for our 6 days / 5 nights. Earlier in this post I believe someone listed some info on taxi fares (and maybe a car service also). We were really happy with our decision to get a car at the airport, since we have spent time on the north and east shore before we knew we would be taking at least 2 day trips plus trips to Costco/Safeway. As a DVC member as long as you are booking with points parking is free, and is very convenient and easy.

 

[scotttrippett]

One question: Do you know how much the taxi fares are from Aulani to the airport? We are wondering whether we should rent a car for the entire 7 nights we are at Aulani. Plan A is to rent a car, which will cost us around $450+ for the 8 days. Plan B is to rent a car at Aulani for just two or three days, which should save us about half or more of the car rental fee. But if we rent a car at Aulani, we'll need to pay for a taxi to get to and from Aulani.

Thanks in advance!

There is a flat rate for a Taxi from the airport it was $50 if I remember right.

 

[Leilanie94]

Hello! Please add us. We will be there April 14 - 15. Just for the weekend, we live on Oahu.

 

[disney4bb]

Hi,
We're getting a studio & a two-bedroom for a week, "garden view". I hope that means it will be quieter. I heard as DVC members we get two free parking spots per room, is that correct? We're renting a minivan @ the airport for the week- I read there's drop-off fees if you rent from airport & return to Aulani, and extra fees if you rent for day trips. We're doing day trips for at least 4 of the 7 days, so a week rental seemed worth it.

 

[cdnsluvdisney]

If you are a Costco Member, definitely keep an eye on the travel section of costco.com's website. I was able to get a 13 day full-size car rental for $300.13 incl. taxes for the entire time, from the airport with Alamo. This was $140 less than the cheapest deal we could find on Alamo's site with Entertainment Book and other codes.

 

[dstupper]

@disney4bb Yes, you get 2 cars per DVC room. We had a friend's daughter with us, so my Daughter would have a friend. Her daddy was able to come (with Grandma) and enjoy the days while the Girls played in the pool and looked for Menehune.

 

[dstupper]

@wdrl Because of where Aulani is, you will be grateful that you have that car for all of your stay. AMA AMA is very nice(MUST have the chocolate cake), but you are going to need your freedom and options

 

[mkymsehi]

As a local resident and DVC owner, I went to show friends around the hotel on Monday, March 18th.

I previously posted in this thread that parking is $35 for visitors or non-DVC reservations guests.

The bell desk no longer accepts a $35 merchandise purchase from Kalepa's Store or Lava Shack for free validation. They only accept $35 food and drink purchases from one of the restaurants or bars.

Aulani sure is making itself less welcoming when it comes to charging exorbitant fees just to visit or dine.

One other note, more rooms have been made available for guests. However, the resort was very empty on Sunday night.

There is a new counter service restaurant being built next to the shave ice stand. I believe that is the location, as a "pardon our construction" wall has been placed in that area.

I forgot to check if the founder's tiles have been installed yet.

No new merchandise in the store. Same prices.