Aulani August 2018 - help!

mhingher

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 15, 2004
We're planning a trip to Hawaii next August. Since we have DVC points we want to use them to stay at Aulani.
- Is it difficult to get in 7 months out? Our points are with Bay Lake Tower.
- Would you recommend a split stay between Aulani and Waikiki or Aulani and Maui? We have points with Hyatt and can use them to stay at either place.
- We have been on 2 Disney cruises and my girls loved the kids clubs! They will be 8 and 11. Can we just show up or do they have to be scheduled? I read that you have to get on line early in the am otherwise wise the clubs get booked?
 
I just booked by trip for July 2018 and agonized over the whole split thing. There is so much to do in Waikiki honestly I can't imagine not spending a few nights there. We are splitting our trip 4 nights there and I convinced DH for Aulani. He is a huge disney fan but wasn't feeling Aulani. I convinced him last night by showing him the activities we do in the city vs. the activities to do north shore etc. So we are set. We too looked at Maui but too much hassle for us with another flight etc and honestly just felt more remote etc. I like the business of Ohau.

The food choices are fantastic in Waikiki and pretty limited up by Aulani. We watched You tube videos of the hotels and they were really helpful in getting the vibe of what there is to do. Originally I had planned on staying put either in Waikiki or Aulani but such a case to be made for the split stay in terms of location of things etc.
 
Getting a room at the 7 month mark can be challenging. I would highly recommend booking as soon as you can. Some views may not be available when you book, most likely the standard view rooms.
 
- We have been on 2 Disney cruises and my girls loved the kids clubs! They will be 8 and 11. Can we just show up or do they have to be scheduled? I read that you have to get on line early in the am otherwise wise the clubs get booked?

You can pre-register the kids at 90 days out and request the free activities (they offer 4 and the number you can enroll in depends on your length of stay). They will email back a few days later with the dates/times of your requested activities. When you get to Aulani, you have to finish the registration and get the kids their bands. I recommend not doing this early in the morning as the club is busy at this time - if you arrive in the afternoon/early evening, this would be a good time. You only have to wait in the line if you are signing them up for stand-by spots in the activities or for lunch, dinner, and perhaps the Premium activities (I don't know about those - we didn't even look into them). We just stuck to open play times and the free activities and never waited in line. We were also there when the resort was sold out and didn't encounter a time where the club was not accepting kids due to capacity. Though I have heard this happens and it would just be temporary until enough kids leave to make space for those waiting.
 


- Would you recommend a split stay between Aulani and Waikiki or Aulani and Maui? We have points with Hyatt and can use them to stay at either place.

IMO, it depends on how many days you will spend in Hawaii. If its like 7-9 days, I think a night or two in Waikiki is worth it. It's a whole different vibe than Aulani and there's so much in walking distance that you'd be able to go without a rental car during that part of your stay as well. We also did Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor as part of organized tour because most tour companies offer transportation to and from Waikiki hotels. So that worked out really well.

If you have more than 10 days in Hawaii, a visit to Maui would make more sense. We stayed at the Westin Maui which is just up the road from the Hyatt in Kaanapali. It's a gorgeous area, convenient to Lahaina. I will warn that we were there in mid-September and found the waves to be big and rough - best for strong swimmers. It was also very noticeably windy the whole time we were in Maui. YMMV.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top