Aulani... On the "cheap". Tips?

[KBinCO]

We are hoping to take advantage of the winter deals and head to Aulani for the first time in January. We've never been to Hawaii, and have two girls ages 6 and 8. Looking at 6 nights.

It's quite the splurge for us, even with the price break and the one included meal a day. Our budget isn't huge, so I'm wondering if anyone has any good money saving tips for us when we're there. Sights to see that may be on the less expensive side, relatively speaking. Is a villa better than a standard room? Is upgrading to an ocean view worth it? We are willing to splurge a bit, but would honestly prefer to only spend $1000-$1500 once we're there. So excursions aren't out of the question, we just want to get the most out of the experience on a tight budget.

 

[catmegs]

My opinion is that an ocean view is not worth the price if budget is an issue. Our last trip we paid for an island view and requested high floor in the Ewa Tower. It ended up we could see the ocean from that side of the building and we also were able to watch the starlight hui from our balcony with the kids thought was awesome. For our next trip we've booked the same room category, but I'm going to take the advice of some of the posts on this forum and ask if they have any upgrades at check in just in case we can score an upgrade for a discount. As for a villa- the kitchen is great to make food to save costs (if you go for a 1 or 2 bedroom) but thinking back I don't think we actually 'cooked' much. Most of our breakfasts were fruit/ cereal which you could easily do without the full kitchen. We used the grills outside a few times for dinner if you go to the supermarket. I found with kids that the kids meals at Aulani were good value, but I guess it depends how much your kids eat. Also, worth paying for an extra bag for your flight and packing a bunch of snacks for the kids to avoid hawaii prices. As for excursions, our only expense was the rental car. We just drove around the north shore and did pearl harbour which was a nominal fee. Enjoy!!

 

[jtba]

agree with the island view suggestion from @catmegs . we did the same, requested a high floor in the ewa tower (got 16th), and got a view of the ocean anyway. next time we're actually going to downgrade a category altogether, because we really weren't in the room that much. we'd rather spend the money on other things.

we did, however, use our kitchen in the 1-bedroom villa quite a bit. had all our breakfasts in the room, cooked a few sandwich lunches and dinners during our five-night stay; ate three lunches at Ulu and two dinners at Ama Ama and another at Roy's across the street. we picked up lots of grocery from safeway on our way to aulani from the airport, and brought some snacks from home as well.

here's my april 2016 trip report if you'd like to take a peek. still need to finish the last day...

 

[JoeA]

There is an ABC store across the street (it's not called ABC...Island something or another, can't remember the name but it is an ABC store).

We grab food there a lot. It's pretty cheap and not too bad! They have a grill so you can get hot plates, cold cuts, sushi...just about anything. We also grab snacks there (chips, cheese, etc). Much cheaper than eating on-site.

If you drink they also have some decent prices (considering) on alcohol. We get a bottle of rum and make our own drinks.

 

[scrappydew]

Does that $1000-$1500 include food, or is that separate? Because we spent close to $100 a day for food for four people (two teenagers, one of whom eats next to nothing), and that was with buying food elsewhere and preparing it in the room for some meals. It adds up really quickly!

 

[pamelaj]

We went in January 2015 with our two kids and loved it! Some ways we saved money included:
1. We rented the points for a villa. This saved us a lot and allowed us to have a full kitchen.
2. We used the full kitchen and grills to cook a fair amount. We brought tons of snacks from home, shopped at the local Target, and made breakfast every day in our room. We also made lunches most days and dinner some nights. With kids, this can help you save a ton of money. They were completely happy to eat mac and cheese in the room, get dropped off at Auntys, and then we went out to dinner. It was amazing.
3. We rented a car for the week and it ended up being cheaper than the shuttles to and from the airport and allowed us to leave the hotel when we chose. (to buy groceries!) Since we rented points, parking was included

Hope it all works out for you!

 

[alohamom]

Does that $1000-$1500 include food, or is that separate? Because we spent close to $100 a day for food for four people (two teenagers, one of whom eats next to nothing), and that was with buying food elsewhere and preparing it in the room for some meals. It adds up really quickly!

We are a family of four as well (with older teens) and that was about what we spent too, averaged out.

 

[KBinCO]

That budget does include food. We get one included meal a day and will probably live on one other large meal, with groceries and packed snacks to sustain us otherwise. But I do assume that $500-$600 may be spent on food.

As far as other experiences, I'm just looking to see what can't miss things there are off the resort, and what is worth the cost and what isn't. We will likely fall into the tourist trap of a luau. Maybe one other experience, if there is a must do?

 

[ihearthawaii]

We are hoping to take advantage of the winter deals and head to Aulani for the first time in January. We've never been to Hawaii, and have two girls ages 6 and 8. Looking at 6 nights.

It's quite the splurge for us, even with the price break and the one included meal a day. Our budget isn't huge, so I'm wondering if anyone has any good money saving tips for us when we're there. Sights to see that may be on the less expensive side, relatively speaking. Is a villa better than a standard room? Is upgrading to an ocean view worth it? We are willing to splurge a bit, but would honestly prefer to only spend $1000-$1500 once we're there. So excursions aren't out of the question, we just want to get the most out of the experience on a tight budget.

I've been to Hawaii many times and we always do it on a budget. It allows us to come back year after year. We are going back in October and this is how we've cut cost so far:

1. Booked "free" flights using our credit card miles.

2. Rented DVC points, saved us 50% off of cash rate. Saved $1800, so we splurged and got oceanview.

3. Rented a car. It was more economical to rent then reserve a round trip shuttle. I booked through COSTCO and got 8 days for $184 through Avis. We get free parking for renting DVC saving us a little over $200.

4. Splitting the trip with two nights in Waikiki. I got rooms for $115/night by booking months in advance. Those days we will get a lot of the touristy stuff done.

5. There are lots of free or almost free things to do just do your research. Dole Plantation, Pearl Harbor, hiking, beaches, hula and fireworks show at Hilton Hawaiian Village on Friday nights, etc. but you will need a rental car to do these activities. We don't do paid excursions, we like to do things on our own.

6. Find some hole in the wall or food truck for some island style eats. This is where some of the best food on the island are served. But obviously check reviews before going.

So far for 8 days we will have spent about $2100 for airfare, hotel, Aulani and rental car for the 3 of us. We will probably spend about $125/day or less on food. We will be buying alcohol from Costco and getting refillable mugs at Aulani. This will save us a couple hundred $$

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

We are hoping to take advantage of the winter deals and head to Aulani for the first time in January. We've never been to Hawaii, and have two girls ages 6 and 8. Looking at 6 nights.

It's quite the splurge for us, even with the price break and the one included meal a day. Our budget isn't huge, so I'm wondering if anyone has any good money saving tips for us when we're there. Sights to see that may be on the less expensive side, relatively speaking.



Is a villa better than a standard room? - A villa will give you a kitchen, so you can save money on food that way. There is a Costco nearby (Kapolei, the exit right before the exit to Aulani) which is always our very first stop before hitting the resort. Also nearby is are grocery stores and a Target with a small grocery store. I also only budget around $1,500 for food for our 10 day stay, so I make the $ stretch. Across the street is an ABC store with a deli that has really good food, including hot dishes, for very little money.

Is upgrading to an ocean view worth it? - We had a garden view room one year that was on a high floor, and it was like having an ocean view. I'll be honest, it was nice sitting out there in the morning sipping coffee and looking at the view. But, would I pay a lot of extra $$$ for that view? No. In total, I spent maybe 2-3 hours on that lanai, so I would rather take the savings and stay extra nights, or for souvenirs, food and what have you.

We are willing to splurge a bit, but would honestly prefer to only spend $1000-$1500 once we're there. So excursions aren't out of the question, we just want to get the most out of the experience on a tight budget.

- Check out the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet on Wednesday and Saturday to grab your souvenirs for cheap. While you're in Honolulu you can hit Pearl Harbor (get your tickets ahead of time through the National Park Service).

 

[im4pacers1]

I used Groupon for a few of the excursion type things. We did the underwater scooters and got them for half price. If you do Pearl Harbor, skip the paid tours and just do the free one. I agree with renting a car and eating in your room as much as possible. For us, the biggest expense, by far, is the flight. Once you get past that, you can go to Hawaii for about the same as anywhere else. We are DVC so the accommodations are prepaid.

 

[nkereina]

I would use the money to rent a car before I would upgrade to a view. A rental car will let you stop for groceries so you can do quick and inexpensive breakfasts and lunches in the room. It will give you transportation to various sights and tourist attractions you may want to see. And it will be easier to go off site from Aulani for more affordable meals. Just one exit up near the grocery store and Target are tons of chain restaurants that would be cheaper than Aulani.

If renting a car for the duration isn't an option, even renting a car for the day you arrive would be good. Rent from Alamo, pick it up at the airport, stop for groceries on the way to Aulani, and drop it off at the Alamo at Aulani when you arrive. You'd only have to pay for the day and no parking, and would probably be cheaper than a shuttle.

 

[crystal1313]

So much great advice on this thread.......If you have room in your luggage, take snacks from home. I loaded up our checked bag with protein bars, goldfish, beef jerky, fruit rope, cereal, and brought our own tea bags from home. We bought mainly perishables at the Costco, which saved us a ton of money! Milk, POG juice, rolls for sandwiches, deli meat, pineapple, liquor, beer, muffins for breakfast. We ate breakfast and lunch in the room, (except we had to try the malasadas a couple times) and we ate 3 dinners in the room with food from Costco that we just basically had to warm up. Was fantastic! Have a great trip!

 

[KBinCO]

Thanks for all the advice. I have worked out a few scenarios to save us money on flights. Our initial flights were $3300 but through a little playing around, I have some that save us up to $1200 from that. We only have SW points but if we fly to LAX with those points, our flights out of LAX are considerably cheaper - by nearly $300 per person (nonstops from here are $830 a pop).

So I can rent a car from the airport and return it to the car rental at aulani? What about vice versa? If we check out in the morning on our last day, but have a 10pm flight, can we rent a car at aulani and return it to the airport to use for the day?


We aren't huge Disney people. We've gone to wdw for a day at a time when in FL, have done a Disney cruise and a couple Disneyland trips but I am unfamiliar with DVC and what it entails to "rent" points. Anyone care to explain?

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

Thanks for all the advice. I have worked out a few scenarios to save us money on flights. Our initial flights were $3300 but through a little playing around, I have some that save us up to $1200 from that. We only have SW points but if we fly to LAX with those points, our flights out of LAX are considerably cheaper - by nearly $300 per person (nonstops from here are $830 a pop).

So I can rent a car from the airport and return it to the car rental at aulani? What about vice versa? If we check out in the morning on our last day, but have a 10pm flight, can we rent a car at aulani and return it to the airport to use for the day?


We aren't huge Disney people. We've gone to wdw for a day at a time when in FL, have done a Disney cruise and a couple Disneyland trips but I am unfamiliar with DVC and what it entails to "rent" points. Anyone care to explain?

I rented points for the first time for my upcoming trip to Aulani in May 2017. The process is relatively smooth. I recommend you go with one of the rental companies. We went with Dvc-rental. Just follow their page and they will walk you through the process. You will end up saving quite a lot. For our trip, we needed 300 points for our stay at a one bedroom villa with ocean view and we were charged $14/point for a total of $4200.

 

[brimorga]

If you don't buy points, book the cheapest room and negotiate for an upgrade when you get there. I'm assuming you are going in January and not around NYE, so as long as the resort is not full, that is an option. But be prepared to be ok being stuck with your room if it doesn't work out. If you book with points, I've been told you can't upgrade.

You can get disney gift cards to pay for your trip at a discount from Target. Use a redcard to save 5% or if you don't have one, you can buy Target gift cards from cardpool. You can consolidate disney gift card values to 1 card on the Disney sites so you don't carry around a bunch of cards.

Book a car via Costco now and then check on a regular basis to see if the rates have dropped, then cancel and rebook.

 

[nkereina]

So I can rent a car from the airport and return it to the car rental at aulani? What about vice versa? If we check out in the morning on our last day, but have a 10pm flight, can we rent a car at aulani and return it to the airport to use for the day?

Yes. It has to be through Alamo, since that's the company onsite at Aulani. You'll also want to make the reservation form Aulani to the airport in advance. The Alamo at Aulani can sometimes run out of cars, but I believe you'd be safe from this if you have an advance reservation. Also, you can do what you propose on the last day. Depending on your pick up time and drop off time, it may be slightly more than the daily rental fee but I'm not even sure what hours they go by.

 

[KBinCO]

Right now a standard room or studio villa is $2600 for six nights including the free meal. We aren't terribly choosy when it comes to hotel rooms and never spend a ton of time in the room, so I figure that's a decent deal and we'll stick with that. Perhaps with the savings, having a rental car for the week and paying for the parking is worth it for exploring purposes.

 

[nkereina]

Right now a standard room or studio villa is $2600 for six nights including the free meal. We aren't terribly choosy when it comes to hotel rooms and never spend a ton of time in the room, so I figure that's a decent deal and we'll stick with that. Perhaps with the savings, having a rental car for the week and paying for the parking is worth it for exploring purposes.

I just used the calculator on David's DVC Rental and chose 6 nights in January, and a standard studio is pricing out at $1428 if you rent points. Not sure what the promotion Aulani is running with the meals, but I'd imagine renting points is still a better deal. You'd also get free parking staying on points.

 

[KBinCO]

I just used the calculator on David's DVC Rental and chose 6 nights in January, and a standard studio is pricing out at $1428 if you rent points. Not sure what the promotion Aulani is running with the meals, but I'd imagine renting points is still a better deal. You'd also get free parking staying on points.

Well huh. I better look into that!