Aulani For 8 nights - Studio or One Bedroom

[BWV Dreamin]

A question for you Hawaii vets...we are planning a trip next September 2014 to stay at Aulani for 8 nights. It will cost me 368 pts. for a one bedroom (OV) and I will have to borrow plus buy 24 points from Disney. I have the points needed for a studio (OV) without borrowing or buying.

For this length of time, is it wiser to stay in a one bedroom for the kitchen (saving money cooking some) and washer and dryer? Or is it doable with the studio? Are the laundry areas crowded? Near by stores for prepared food available?

Any suggestions appreciated!

 

[dianeschlicht]

No way would I stay in a studio ANYWHERE for 8 nights. We loved our 1 bedroom OV! If points are an issue, I'd book a cheaper view before I'd book a studio.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

No way would I stay in a studio ANYWHERE for 8 nights. We loved our 1 bedroom OV! If points are an issue, I'd book a cheaper view before I'd book a studio.

OK! This is what I thought but of course I needed to ask. Is OV worth it? What other view would you suggest?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

bumping for Hawaii vets.....

 

[lovetotraveltx]

A lot of people liked the pool/garden view. Don't know if that's less points??

 

[dianeschlicht]

Well, yes, the ocean view is nice, but if you go over to the Aulani thread, you will see plenty of pictures of "garden view" rooms that have a great ocean view as well. I'd even suffer a bad view and enjoy the resort before I'd stay in a studio.

 

[adminjedi]

We have a plethora of points (1533 total - 400 Aulani) and it is still hard for us to book a 1bedroom just for the 2 of us.

It all comes down to what is important to you: more "time" on vacation or more "quality/space" on vacation.

We for now, want more time, so we sacrifice space for view (we do miss the king bed though). We do an OV studio for 10-14 days at a time. In September, the sun sets later so you will be able to enjoy the view and sunset from your balcony (Some OV are better than others.)

We have done a OV 1bdrm, but had another couple along as our treat. They were happy to have a free stay at Aulani and sacrificed a little privacy to do so! Again, personal choice.

 

[carissa1970]

We stayed in a 1bdrm pool view for 7 nights and it was awesome. We did not feel we needed the ocean view as we actually referred to go sit on the beach to watch sunsets, etc. loved the kitchen and laundry being in the room, and the extra space to spread out in the evenings was great. Super Target and Costco very close, so lots of premade meal choices available. We bought stuff for grilling and did that a couple of nights. You will want the extra space for that many days, so I would downgrade the view. We literally sat right above the kids play area and loved it.

 

[wdrl]

Two questions: First, will you have access to a car while you are at Aulani? And Second, how many people are in your traveling party?

If you have access to a car, then you'll be able to drive to eateries in the immediate Kapolei/ Ko Olina area, or even further out to Pearl and Honolulu. Thus, you wouldn't have to be dependent on paying the high prices for food at the resort.

We had only a studio for our 7 nights at Aulani and it worked out well for us. The mini-fridge had more than enough space to hold fruit, sandwich meats, condiments, milk, yogurt, etc., which allowed us to eat breakfast and lunch in our room. I know some people love to cook, but we certainly didn't miss having access to a stove or oven for 7 nights.

Aulani has two laundry rooms, one in the Waianae Building near villa #112 and one in the Ewa Building near villa #170. They are steps away from the pool and lazy river area, so its easy to do a load of laundry while sitting out by the pool. DVC members staying on points get free tokens for the laundry. There are three washers and six dryers in each laundry room.

If its just you and another person, then you'll find Aulani's studios have plenty of room. One thing we liked about the studio bed is that it had ample storage space beneath it, so we could put our suitcases under the bed.

If you are traveling with another couple, then its really your call whether you'll enjoy being that close to someone else for 8 days.

Views are so subjective that its hard to offer advice on whether you should get an Ocean View or downgrade to a cheaper view. We had a Pool View Studio (#304) last year and we loved overlooking the Waikolohe Valley, the name for Aulani's main pool and lazy river area. Its great sitting on our balcony and listening to the morning chant and the music during the day. We are going back to Aulani in October 2014 and I am willing to pay more for another Pool View or even Ocean View. But, like dianeschlicht says, Aulani has some Island View villas that offer limited views of the ocean.

Good luck on deciding what you want. Aulani is a great resort and well worth the visit!

 

[Cinderpamela]

When it was just DH and I last August we stayed in a pool view (5th floor so it had a view of the ocean as an added bonus) studio. It was totally fine for just the 2 of us, honestly we didn't need any more space. We found that we did not do a lot of meals in as we wanted to experience the local foods. We used the laundry room for a couple of loads and it was super easy, and not at all busy.

We just booked a trip for this coming Christmas and our 2 boys will be coming along this time. After staying in the studio, for 2 it was fine, but for 4 we though it would be way to tight. Maybe if our kids were little but they are 16 and 12 now and take up a lot more space than they used to!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Thank you! It will be just my husband and I travelling to Aulani. Well this is excellent info, as we are studio people anyway. I just thought we would need to cook more because I have read how expensive the food is. But we do want to do the Luhau (I don't know how to spell it!) at Marriot's Ko Olina one night, and between touring sometimes we just grab stuff to eat. So it sounds like we could do just fine in a studio! Then I wouldn't have to borrow my 2015 points. So glad to hear about the laundry too.

Two questions: First, will you have access to a car while you are at Aulani? And Second, how many people are in your traveling party?

If you have access to a car, then you'll be able to drive to eateries in the immediate Kapolei/ Ko Olina area, or even further out to Pearl and Honolulu. Thus, you wouldn't have to be dependent on paying the high prices for food at the resort.

We had only a studio for our 7 nights at Aulani and it worked out well for us. The mini-fridge had more than enough space to hold fruit, sandwich meats, condiments, milk, yogurt, etc., which allowed us to eat breakfast and lunch in our room. I know some people love to cook, but we certainly didn't miss having access to a stove or oven for 7 nights.

Aulani has two laundry rooms, one in the Waianae Building near villa #112 and one in the Ewa Building near villa #170. They are steps away from the pool and lazy river area, so its easy to do a load of laundry while sitting out by the pool. DVC members staying on points get free tokens for the laundry. There are three washers and six dryers in each laundry room.

If its just you and another person, then you'll find Aulani's studios have plenty of room. One thing we liked about the studio bed is that it had ample storage space beneath it, so we could put our suitcases under the bed.

If you are traveling with another couple, then its really your call whether you'll enjoy being that close to someone else for 8 days.

Views are so subjective that its hard to offer advice on whether you should get an Ocean View or downgrade to a cheaper view. We had a Pool View Studio (#304) last year and we loved overlooking the Waikolohe Valley, the name for Aulani's main pool and lazy river area. Its great sitting on our balcony and listening to the morning chant and the music during the day. We are going back to Aulani in October 2014 and I am willing to pay more for another Pool View or even Ocean View. But, like dianeschlicht says, Aulani has some Island View villas that offer limited views of the ocean.

Good luck on deciding what you want. Aulani is a great resort and well worth the visit!

 

[Anal Annie]

Hope - IMHO if you are "studio people anyway" then you'll be fine sticking with a studio. We booked a studio at VGC for 4 nights and an OV studio at Aulani for our week there because that's what we had to do to stretch our points (only had to borrow 3 pts). We considered booking a lower view 1 bedroom but DH didn't want to compromise on the view AND we would've had to borrow more points. When I booked I was prepared to either book the poolview or the OV depending on availability. Turned out the poolviews had some nights already booked and we would've had to wait list but OV was open for all 7 nights so that's what I booked.

We plan to eat breakfasts in like we do in FL and probably a couple of lunches. We won't be at the resort all day every day so I'm not going to worry too much about cooking. Right now we're only planning to be AT the resort on 2 days at lunchtime. The food in Hawaii while expensive is very good and we enjoy eating our dinners out. We will likely eat lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Waikiki one day (DS collects their T-shirts) and we'll hit a shrimp truck on the North Shore one day... We also want to eat dinners at Monkey Pod Kitchen and Roy's. I am just planning for a fairly big "meal budget".

(PS) Luau's are expensive and many of the better ones will run you in the neighborhood of $100 pp.

 

[slowly]

If I were you I would use the points you have to stay in a studio for the first half and stay in a one bdrm the last half. The main reason I would do it this way is:

1. Don't want to cook after flying so far especially the first couple of days! Too excited!
2. Once in the one bdrm you can do laundry!
3. You can use the points you have rather than having to buy some!

Trust me after staying at Aulani numerous times, you walk to the beach to get the view you want. All views are nice except for the ones facing the conference rooms. The garden views are very nice and require less points.

Split stays are the way to go. On the day you have to move go on an excursion or drive around the island so your room is ready upon your return. One tip I have is to tell them you have a split stay when you initially check-in and when you check-out do it early so you can check-in again. We have had better luck when we check-in early to get a room before 4:00 pm. The earliest we got on was 10:30 am.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

If I were you I would use the points you have to stay in a studio for the first half and stay in a one bdrm the last half. The main reason I would do it this way is:

[*]Don't want to cook after flying so far especially the first couple of days! Too excited!
[*]Once in the one bdrm you can do laundry!
[*]You can use the points you have rather than having to buy some!


Trust me after staying at Aulani numerous times, you walk to the beach to get the view you want. All views are nice except for the ones facing the conference rooms. The garden views are very nice and require less points.

Split stays are the way to go. On the day you have to move go on an excursion or drive around the island so your room is ready upon your return. One tip I have is to tell them you have a split stay when you initially check-in and when you check-out do it early so you can check-in again. We have had better luck when we check-in early to get a room before 4:00 pm. The earliest we got on was 10:30 am.

Great idea! I was just going to ask about the island views. Which location should I request for the better island views?

 

[joeabate]

We have been DVC members since 1992 at what was then the Disney Vacation Club Resort, now Old Key West. We bought points for a once a year, 2BR summer vacation for us and our two kids, now 30 and 28!

We were at Aulani in January and we are going back in October. Both stays 8 nights in an OV Studio. We ate breakfast every morning in January on the balcony with a great view of the ocean and the pools. We rented a car and traveled the island as well. If we wanted to do laundry we could always use one on the first floor, while sitting out at the pool.

Dropping down to a studio for just the two of us enables us to take multiple trips a year (2 this year to Aulani alone and still points for a third trip if we want) and the rooms are plenty big for the amount of time we spend there. We are usually out by 9:00am to either go to the beach or sightseeing, and besides a short trip or two back up during the day, not there until after 8-9:00PM.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We have been DVC members since 1992 at what was then the Disney Vacation Club Resort, now Old Key West. We bought points for a once a year, 2BR summer vacation for us and our two kids, now 30 and 28!

We were at Aulani in January and we are going back in October. Both stays 8 nights in an OV Studio. We ate breakfast every morning in January on the balcony with a great view of the ocean and the pools. We rented a car and traveled the island as well. If we wanted to do laundry we could always use one on the first floor, while sitting out at the pool.

Dropping down to a studio for just the two of us enables us to take multiple trips a year (2 this year to Aulani alone and still points for a third trip if we want) and the rooms are plenty big for the amount of time we spend there. We are usually out by 9:00am to either go to the beach or sightseeing, and besides a short trip or two back up during the day, not there until after 8-9:00PM.

This is so good to read. We are studio people. The thought of using up another years worth of points is really bothering me. I am going to go with the OV studio for 8 nights. This timeframe gives us a day or so to "catch up" with the time change and still have days at the resort in addition to sightseeing. Thank you!

 

[Anal Annie]

BTW if you want to cook a meal somebody posted pics of the grill area on the views thread...looks very nice. Since we're also in a studio we have kicked around the idea of buying some fresh Mahi Mahi and asparagus to cook on the grill plus some potatoes to bake for a nice meal "in" one night. We love Mahi and and grilled asparagus so this sounds like a fun idea to us. I will bring some seasonings with us in one of those snack size zip locks along with a few pieces of foil folded up and a few "heavy duty" large size paper plates. This stuff won't take up much space or weight in the luggage and would be less wasteful than buying it all there...I'll just pack it all in a large zip lock.

 

[AKchristmasqueen]

Do the studios have small refrigerators and microwaves in them? If so, they would be ideal as we could cook almost everything on the grill to save money from dining out- not town ruin saving points for an additional week or two

 

[Anal Annie]

Do the studios have small refrigerators and microwaves in them? If so, they would be ideal as we could cook almost everything on the grill to save money from dining out- not town ruin saving points for an additional week or two

Yes, they're just like all the other DVC studios at all of the other resorts.