Room Thoughts With Construction?

[sizzlin’ bacon]

Yes my heart sank when I saw the construction happening as we are unable to change our dates as we already have flights booked and the first part of our trip on the Big Island!! So we will make the best of it at Aulani. But I don’t think I will stress as much as the availability in September now that this is going on. My question is this: I was going to ask to be in the Waianae building, high floor, ocean view 2 bedroom facing the Pool in the Waikolohe Valley. We are only four adults and we will have a car and We will be there 10 days. Is there another choice to ask for with construction going on? Is there another ocean view with pool view other than where the construction is or will it not matter as we will see it from any view? Hope that made sense, below is what I saw.

Thanks in advance all of these threads and your folks stories have been so helpful.

 

[OKW Lover]

Its hard to say just what kind of disruption the construction will cause. Don't know how much noise will be involved. But otherwise, your choice of preferred room location sounds good to me. Being on a high floor you'll be able to look out over the pool area to the lagoon and ocean beyond. I'd stick with your original plans.

 

[RAD]

On this weeks pod cast show Pete came out and said that with the pool construction he recommend not going to Aulani. I know it's too late for you unless you want to pay to stay somewhere else and save Aulani for another trip. Could you rent out your DVC points (if that's how you're paying) and use that money to pay for somewhere else?

 

[sizzlin’ bacon]

I have never rented out my points before so not sure how to do that. Who is Pete and how do I listen to what he had to say? I have shared the info with the guest I am bringing and they are not concerned at all. I am hoping there are so many more things to do on the island and a variety of beaches to visit and hang out that I hope to avoid some of the construction on most days at Aulani. I am really disappointed and if we had not already had our plane tickets I would’ve totally changed my dates. However at this point I need to make the best of it since we have the first part of our trip booked. Although a nice gesture I do wish the daily compensation was a little higher. But where do I find Pete?

On this weeks pod cast show Pete came out and said that with the pool construction he recommend not going to Aulani. I know it's too late for you unless you want to pay to stay somewhere else and save Aulani for another trip. Could you rent out your DVC points (if that's how you're paying) and use that money to pay for somewhere else?

 

[pharmama]

Aulani is a big "U". If you want ocean view facing the pool areas (which are mostly inside inside the U) it will be impossible to not see the construction area except for the Grand Villas at the end of the towers. That said, you are there in the first half of the refurb which affects the lazy river area. This is the portion of the U closest to the lobby. So if you aim for even, lower room numbers in Waianea Tower you will be closer to the ocean (and therefore farther from the construction area). I don't know if you have a dedicated 2br or 2bd lock off booked but if it's a dedicated, you'd want XX02 and if its a lock off XX04/06. There is quite a lot of foliage covering a good part of the lazy river area that will also 'hide' some of the construction.

If you really don't want to see the construction (and we have no idea what it will look like) You'd have to consider some of the ocean view rooms that don't face the pools.

 

[alohamom]

Yes my heart sank when I saw the construction happening as we are unable to change our dates as we already have flights booked and the first part of our trip on the Big Island!! So we will make the best of it at Aulani. But I don’t think I will stress as much as the availability in September now that this is going on. My question is this: I was going to ask to be in the Waianae building, high floor, ocean view 2 bedroom facing the Pool in the Waikolohe Valley. We are only four adults and we will have a car and We will be there 10 days. Is there another choice to ask for with construction going on? Is there another ocean view with pool view other than where the construction is or will it not matter as we will see it from any view? Hope that made sense, below is what I saw.

Thanks in advance all of these threads and your folks stories have been so helpful.

I will admit one of the biggest draws for my family is the lazy river and that will be closed however the other side of the pool will be open and it is a large, shallow entry free form pool that has lovely ocean views. The KaMaka grotto pool will still open and the excellent two tiered hot tub near it (so amazing) plus the adult pool. (basing this on you saying Sept)Yes, there will be noise but I dont think they are doing any major construction,are they? Just rehab. Last time we were there all the railings around the pools were being painted. It was a bit of an eyesore and it kind of felt weird to walk by the workers in your bathing suits (I felt kinda guilty they were sweating away and I was swimming and having fun) but it was fine. I think if they were closing all the pools I might make other arrangements. @pharmama makes a great point above pointing out strategic room requests.

 

[sizzlin’ bacon]

I will admit one of the biggest draws for my family is the lazy river and that will be closed however the other side of the pool will be open and it is a large, shallow entry free form pool that has lovely ocean views. The KaMaka grotto pool will still open and the excellent two tiered hot tub near it (so amazing) plus the adult pool. (basing this on you saying Sept)Yes, there will be noise but I dont think they are doing any major construction,are they? Just rehab. Last time we were there all the railings around the pools were being painted. It was a bit of an eyesore and it kind of felt weird to walk by the workers in your bathing suits (I felt kinda guilty they were sweating away and I was swimming and having fun) but it was fine. I think if they were closing all the pools I might make other arrangements. @pharmama makes a great point above pointing out strategic room requests.

Thank you for feedback, this is helping me feel better about my trip.

 

[sizzlin’ bacon]

Aulani is a big "U". If you want ocean view facing the pool areas (which are mostly inside inside the U) it will be impossible to not see the construction area except for the Grand Villas at the end of the towers. That said, you are there in the first half of the refurb which affects the lazy river area. This is the portion of the U closest to the lobby. So if you aim for even, lower room numbers in Waianea Tower you will be closer to the ocean (and therefore farther from the construction area). I don't know if you have a dedicated 2br or 2bd lock off booked but if it's a dedicated, you'd want XX02 and if its a lock off XX04/06. There is quite a lot of foliage covering a good part of the lazy river area that will also 'hide' some of the construction.

If you really don't want to see the construction (and we have no idea what it will look like) You'd have to consider some of the ocean view rooms that don't face the pools.

Thank you I will be trying for a dedicated, 2 bedroom ocean view. So if I understand what you are saying I should ask for a high floor with the oceanview but a low number room. Is that right?

 

[pharmama]

Thank you I will be trying for a dedicated, 2 bedroom ocean view. So if I understand what you are saying I should ask for a high floor with the oceanview but a low number room. Is that right?

Correct (for Waianae tower. You'd want a higher number to be closer to the ocean for Ewa Tower). Additional caveat/clarification is that even numbers face the pool, odd ones do not (this is true for both towers).

 

[RAD]

I have never rented out my points before so not sure how to do that. Who is Pete and how do I listen to what he had to say? I have shared the info with the guest I am bringing and they are not concerned at all. I am hoping there are so many more things to do on the island and a variety of beaches to visit and hang out that I hope to avoid some of the construction on most days at Aulani. I am really disappointed and if we had not already had our plane tickets I would’ve totally changed my dates. However at this point I need to make the best of it since we have the first part of our trip booked. Although a nice gesture I do wish the daily compensation was a little higher. But where do I find Pete?

OK, Pete is Pete Warner, he's one of the owners of Dream Unlimited Travel, which is the folks that run this web site. There do a podcast every week (usually) and if you go to 43 minutes 09 seconds or so into this weeks video a thttps://youtu.be/JziBL-4YjEg you can see where they discuss the pool closures and their thoughts on it.

As for renting points there are a few web sites that will rent them for your or you can rent them directly yourself which usually nets you a higher dollar per point about. I've used Davids at https://www.dvcrequest.com a few times to rent my points out, usually end up renting them within a couple days of offering to rent them. If you want to rent yourself there is a section here for that, https://www.disboards.com/forums/dvc-rent-trade.29/

 

[TheJLiz]

Soon we’ll also have to start thinking about the rumored construction set to begin in the empty piece of land next to Aulani. The company who purchased the land is planning to build an Atlantis type resort like the one in the Bahamas.

 

[nkereina]

I have never rented out my points before so not sure how to do that.

PP provided good information about renting out points via a broker. Using a company like David's would be the easiest.

Who is Pete and how do I listen to what he had to say?

As PP mentions, Pete owns Dreams Unlimited Travel, WDWInfo.com, and the Dis Boards. He also does the Dis Unplugged podcast. This week's podcast mentions Aulani, and there are also older ones (I think one right before Christmas) where they do Aulani reviews as they travel there somewhat frequently. You can listen to it wherever you find your podcasts (Podcast app, iTunes, iHeart Radio), and I'm sure they're available on the Dis Unplugged site. There's also a video edition available on their YouTube channel, and they often show footage from their trips as well.

I tend to take what the Podcast team advises to heart. They are the experts, and I generally agree with their opinions on things. We took several of their restaurant recommendations on our trip to Hawaii, and enjoyed all of them.

 

[Trixi Mouse]

Forgive me for piggy-backing on your thread here :-D
For quite some time, we've been planning for a trip in late October*. Hawaii is a total Bucket List item for both of us, and we just joined DVC with the intent of using our points for this trip (the way we have it planned, it'll maximize our point usage to make this trip extra special). We are planning for a deluxe studio with ocean view, not really caring if there is construction as it's all about the ocean for us. We'll be there with our (almost) 6 year old, who loves pool time but will also go bananas over Aunty's Beach House (seriously, I think Pixar Play Zone was his most favorite thing on our last WDW trip). All that said - I'd also like some advice from you, the wise and wonderful DIS crowd
1 ) Room request suggestions considering the timing of construction (unless it's gigantic cranes and sandblasting all hours, I'm not sure that we'll care about overlooking it - but just-n-case)?
2 ) Transportation to and from the airport - best suggestions?
3 ) Would the Resort Credit allow us to maybe get VIP for a luau, or do those have to be purchased too far in advance?
and lastly (for now)
4 ) Transportation to the Friends Of Honolulu Botanical Gardens - should we rent a car for a couple of days to hit that and the Dole plantation, or is there some kind of dedicated transport to that? Even though we lived in LA for a while, we are not really that great with unfamiliar, heavy traffic scenarios. Suggestions?

Thank you!

(*it's our 10th wedding anniversary, which is on Halloween but our son would flip a nut if we weren't home for trick-or-treating :-D )

 

[linco711]

Forgive me for piggy-backing on your thread here :-D
For quite some time, we've been planning for a trip in late October*. Hawaii is a total Bucket List item for both of us, and we just joined DVC with the intent of using our points for this trip (the way we have it planned, it'll maximize our point usage to make this trip extra special). We are planning for a deluxe studio with ocean view, not really caring if there is construction as it's all about the ocean for us. We'll be there with our (almost) 6 year old, who loves pool time but will also go bananas over Aunty's Beach House (seriously, I think Pixar Play Zone was his most favorite thing on our last WDW trip). All that said - I'd also like some advice from you, the wise and wonderful DIS crowd
1 ) Room request suggestions considering the timing of construction (unless it's gigantic cranes and sandblasting all hours, I'm not sure that we'll care about overlooking it - but just-n-case)?
2 ) Transportation to and from the airport - best suggestions?
3 ) Would the Resort Credit allow us to maybe get VIP for a luau, or do those have to be purchased too far in advance?
and lastly (for now)
4 ) Transportation to the Friends Of Honolulu Botanical Gardens - should we rent a car for a couple of days to hit that and the Dole plantation, or is there some kind of dedicated transport to that? Even though we lived in LA for a while, we are not really that great with unfamiliar, heavy traffic scenarios. Suggestions?

Thank you!

(*it's our 10th wedding anniversary, which is on Halloween but our son would flip a nut if we weren't home for trick-or-treating :-D )

 

[linco711]

Would like to hear answers to these questions also. I’m concerned about the construction, but feel this might be our only chance to stay at Aulani. I’d be happy to hear any helpful information

 

[nkereina]

2 ) Transportation to and from the airport - best suggestions?

Rent a car. If you don't want to keep it for the duration of your stay, there's an onsite Alamo and I believe an Enterprise at the Marriott up the street, which is walking distance. We had a car for the duration of our stay, and the cost was partially offset but any airport transfers we would have otherwise had to book. Plus, we used it to stop for groceries and tour areas of the island at our leisure. I usually try to avoid renting a car on vacation, but Hawaii is one place I won't go without.

Would like to hear answers to these questions also. I’m concerned about the construction, but feel this might be our only chance to stay at Aulani. I’d be happy to hear any helpful information

Personally, with the construction, I would only stay at Aulani if it were for a night or two of a longer trip OR I was a DVC owner staying on my points. I don't think Aulani is worth the cost in the midst of the construction with some of the biggest draws to the resort being closed. The Marriott up the street is a similar price point with a gorgeous property (and everything's open as far as I know), and since its walkable to Aulani, you could still visit Aulani for meals, spa, etc.

If it really might be your only chance to stay at Aulani, I would do a split stay with another resort so you can still enjoy resort amenities.

 

[For love of disney]

This is a great thread. I spoke with member services, she confirmed that since the construction is mostly the pools- to avoid pool side view lower floors. Those who aim for garden view seems safe. Correct me if I’m wrong of course.

 

[For love of disney]

Would like to hear answers to these questions also. I’m concerned about the construction, but feel this might be our only chance to stay at Aulani. I’d be happy to hear any helpful information

The construction depends on when you go. If it’s early during the construction phase, it would not be ideal if you have toddlers less than 4 yo. If just adults or older kids, I’d recommend the first part of construction since it’s mostly working in the lazy river and the little kids bridge play area. I’d avoid going the second half if family is mostly of adults and older kids as they work on the other side of pools and little kids are allowed in the adults only water areas I think.

 

[roopster]

Sorry to also jump on your thread but we too have flights booked to Hawaii for our family (my wife and I, kids aged 5 & 10 and my parents in their 70’s) at the end of August which can’t be changed. We are renting points for a 2 bedroom suite. I was sad the lazy river is closed but we can’t afford any other hotel that had a lazy river and at least the pools are open & of course the beach...but I just watched the video of the podcast and it’s freaked me out a bit! The rental cost of our 8 night stay is pretty much the same as booking a pre pay 2 bed at the Marriot Ko Olina (although there is the tax to pay at Aulani, and maybe parking at the Marriot?) What would do people think would be best to do within our budget? (about $780 a night is what these options are...) I’m already thinking of dropping two or three nights from Aulani to stay at Waikiki or North Shore so we haven’t risked the whole vacation!

 

[Caracoles]

When we were there in late January, DH talked to a couple of CM who said they would be replacing the existing pool decking to make it non-slip. (Which is great, because currently there are areas that are really slippery.) If that's true, I would imagine the demo will be noisy so requesting a higher floor or looking outward might be a safer bet.