Aulani: What's the One Thing You Wish You Knew?

[nkereina]

My husband and I are planning a trip for September 2017 and we want to rent DVC points to stay at Aulani for 8 or 9 nights... Right now we are having difficulty renting points to stay at the Poly this fall. Is it fairly easy to rent points at Aulani?

If you are flexible with room type and view, it's my understanding that renting points at Aulani at the 7 month mark shouldn't be too difficult. We are going this September and it is considered off-season there, which helps as well. I was able to find an Aulani owner over on the Rent/Trade board that had enough points for me around the 10 month mark, and I was able to book a standard studio for 6 nights with no problem. If you contact a broker like David's around the 11 month mark, they may have some Aulani owners by that time too.

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

Ok. Thought of two more questions. Are there blenders in the rooms? And are their showers near the beach areas to rinse off the sand? Thanks!!

Nope, no blenders. However, there is a Target in Kapolei. You can pick a Black and Decker one up there for $20. Super cheap and you just leave it behind when you go. Go to the Target web site and enter Kapolei as your home store, then you can see what they have.

 

[princessluna14]

If you are flexible with room type and view, it's my understanding that renting points at Aulani at the 7 month mark shouldn't be too difficult. We are going this September and it is considered off-season there, which helps as well. I was able to find an Aulani owner over on the Rent/Trade board that had enough points for me around the 10 month mark, and I was able to book a standard studio for 6 nights with no problem. If you contact a broker like David's around the 11 month mark, they may have some Aulani owners by that time too.

Thank you!!

 

[Loveallthingsmouse]

Ok. Thought of two more questions. Are there blenders in the rooms? And are their showers near the beach areas to rinse off the sand? Thanks!!

I have read that you can call and request a blender for your villa. We hope that is correct for our upcoming trip.

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

I have read that you can call and request a blender for your villa. We hope that is correct for our upcoming trip.

I just double checked and it's true!!! Good to know!

 

[crystal1313]

I have read that you can call and request a blender for your villa. We hope that is correct for our upcoming trip.

I just double checked and it's true!!! Good to know!

Awesome guys!! Thanks!!

 

[BWVPam]

If you are flexible with room type and view, it's my understanding that renting points at Aulani at the 7 month mark shouldn't be too difficult. We are going this September and it is considered off-season there, which helps as well. I was able to find an Aulani owner over on the Rent/Trade board that had enough points for me around the 10 month mark, and I was able to book a standard studio for 6 nights with no problem. If you contact a broker like David's around the 11 month mark, they may have some Aulani owners by that time too.

we had no problems making our reservation for Aulani at 7 months. We are going in May.

 

[BWVPam]

Quick question for you experienced Aulani travelers.

We will have a car and our party is all adults, we want to do a catamaran sail. WOuld it be best to book it through a North Shore company? Through Aulani it is like $154 each YIKES

I booked a private cabana today - woohoo.

We want to also do a north shore tour where we can do a hike and see waterfalls. Any suggestions????

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

Quick question for you experienced Aulani travelers.

We will have a car and our party is all adults, we want to do a catamaran sail. WOuld it be best to book it through a North Shore company? Through Aulani it is like $154 each YIKES

I booked a private cabana today - woohoo.

We want to also do a north shore tour where we can do a hike and see waterfalls. Any suggestions????

Aulani is my DVC home property, so we are there at least every year. There really is no other place in this world I would rather be!!!

The number one suggestion I give everyone looking into excursions is to check out the Groupon (and Living Social) deals for the Honolulu/Kapolei area. You will find AMAZING deals! But, like with anything online, do your due diligence and look into the operators before you buy (Yelp reviews can be helpful for this). Here is what is currently being offered right now for catamaran cruises. As you can see, much better deals https://www.groupon.com/browse/hono...ban+Honolulu,+HI&query=CATAMARAN&locale=en_US

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

Quick question for you experienced Aulani travelers.

We will have a car and our party is all adults, we want to do a catamaran sail. WOuld it be best to book it through a North Shore company? Through Aulani it is like $154 each YIKES

I booked a private cabana today - woohoo.

We want to also do a north shore tour where we can do a hike and see waterfalls. Any suggestions????

I forgot to answer your question about hikes and waterfalls! Check out Waimea Falls Park on the way to the North Shore http://www.waimeavalley.net If you're looking for a beautiful hike with a waterfall, this is the place!! And, it won't kill your entire day. Do the hike/falls in the morning, then drive up the road to the north shore! There is an admission price, so just FYI on that. Do some research on it and see if it might be a fit for what you're looking for!

 

[ratt1345]

I forgot to answer your question about hikes and waterfalls! Check out Waimea Falls Park on the way to the North Shore http://www.waimeavalley.net If you're looking for a beautiful hike with a waterfall, this is the place!! And, it won't kill your entire day. Do the hike/falls in the morning, then drive up the road to the north shore! There is an admission price, so just FYI on that. Do some research on it and see if it might be a fit for what you're looking for!

I would like to echo this. Waimea Falls was absolutely beautiful. I took so many pictures there!!! In case you were wondering, they have a small gift shop and a food bar that serves things like hot dogs and burgers.

 

[crystal1313]

Hello! I am starting to make a packing list for our visit. I think I have it all covered... but was wondering if once at the resort you realized you should have packed something you didn't think about? For instance, reading through this thread, I would have never thought to pack bug spray. Anything you wished you had packed and didn't? I am also wondering if I should pack a beach blanket/towel? I know Aulani hands out towels, but what if we walk to another cove? Can you bring Aulani towels with you? I know I am over thinking this...but I am curious! Thanks.

 

[jtba]

I am also wondering if I should pack a beach blanket/towel? I know Aulani hands out towels, but what if we walk to another cove? Can you bring Aulani towels with you? I know I am over thinking this...but I am curious! Thanks.

ooh great question! i want to know too!

 

[cmph]

Quick question for you experienced Aulani travelers.

We will have a car and our party is all adults, we want to do a catamaran sail. WOuld it be best to book it through a North Shore company? Through Aulani it is like $154 each YIKES

I booked a private cabana today - woohoo.

We want to also do a north shore tour where we can do a hike and see waterfalls. Any suggestions????

We're going next month, and I just bought a 3-day Go Oahu pass to save money on the things we wanted to do. One of the included things is a catamaran sail out of Honolulu that gives you a view of Diamond Head from the ocean. It was $680 for us (2 adults, 2 kids) for that pass and will get us the catamaran sail, all of the Pearl Harbor things that cost (only the USS Arizona memorial is free), Waimea, Polynesian Cultural Center, a Kualoa tour, Dole, etc. Serious money savings, b/c we would have spent nearly that much just on a boat tour and Poly CC alone! (I'll note that we aren't really being picky about the catamaran and it was the only one offered on the all-inclusive card - doing it b/c one child wants to go but the rest of us could take it or leave it.) If you have a car, I highly recommend getting the all-inclusive. I did see it on groupon for less than I paid, but I had already given my travel agent the go-ahead to buy it for us, unfortunately. Not sure what else you're planning to do, but you can also price out a build-your-own-pass on the Go Oahu page if you just want 2 or more specific things. The all-inclusive only makes sense if you were planning to already do a bunch of things on it, like we are, and use it efficiently (meaning, doing more than one thing per day of pass use).

 

[wanderlust7]

I am also wondering if I should pack a beach blanket/towel? I know Aulani hands out towels, but what if we walk to another cove? Can you bring Aulani towels with you? I know I am over thinking this...but I am curious! Thanks.

I never asked what the official policy was, but I don't think anybody would know or care if you took towels off property. They're not stingy about towels like some resorts are - no exchanging towels for new ones or towel cards. They don't keep track at all. Take as many as you want, throw them in one of the used towel bins when you're done.

 

[Iggipolka]

I never asked what the official policy was, but I don't think anybody would know or care if you took towels off property. They're not stingy about towels like some resorts are - no exchanging towels for new ones or towel cards. They don't keep track at all. Take as many as you want, throw them in one of the used towel bins when you're done.

We did this on our last trip. We took 6 towels from the pool area to the North Shore & returned them to the towel bin that night.

 

[squeezle]

I forgot to answer your question about hikes and waterfalls! Check out Waimea Falls Park on the way to the North Shore http://www.waimeavalley.net If you're looking for a beautiful hike with a waterfall, this is the place!! And, it won't kill your entire day. Do the hike/falls in the morning, then drive up the road to the north shore! There is an admission price, so just FYI on that. Do some research on it and see if it might be a fit for what you're looking for!

I would like to echo this. Waimea Falls was absolutely beautiful. I took so many pictures there!!! In case you were wondering, they have a small gift shop and a food bar that serves things like hot dogs and burgers.

You could also check out Maunawili Falls - it's east of Honolulu. It is a little more technical and takes a little longer than Waimea Falls, but it was a beautiful hike.

 

[Mom2disneygirls]

Okay the on thing I wish I knew was to make reservations for Cabana or casebella WAY and I mean WAY in advance because at 90 days they were already gone for when we wanted one (okay July 4th but still I did not know you could book those sooner than that).

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Okay the on thing I wish I knew was to make reservations for Cabana or casebella WAY and I mean WAY in advance because at 90 days they were already gone for when we wanted one (okay July 4th but still I did not know you could book those sooner than that).

Yeah - I booked my Cabana for July 4th back in December

 

[twodogs]

Agreed about the cabanas. I tried to book the Executive Lanai at 6 months, and it was booked. Was able to get a cabana so not all bad. This was for late May/early June.