DVC trip to Aulani and Grand Californian

[Chezman1399]

This may be better for the Trip planning area, but it's really DVC-centric and I wanted to get some opinions.

Next December (2016) we plan to spend 10 nights at a 1 bedroom at Aulani followed by 3 nights in a Studio at the Grand Californian. The plane flight home wiped us out a couple years ago, so I figured this would be a nice stop over. I know rooms go pretty quick at GC, we'll have enough points to book a Studio there.

Has anyone ever tried to rent points there? I think that's what I'm going to do, probably going through David's. I've never rented points before so is it usually pretty easy to get a room if you request 11+ months out?
Has anyone ever done this DVC trip to Hawaii and CA all in one? How was it? Any tips?

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Can't help you on the rental (although I recommend it; there are a limited number of studios, so you'll have less trouble at 11 months out), but we did do the dual GC/Aulani trip two years ago. We stopped at GC first and then went to Aulani. It worked well. We were worn out after the DL portion and in the mood to just chill by the pool.

I disagree with the previous poster that 10 days is too much at Aulani. I think you can easily spend a week just chilling by the pool an on the beach, and there is plenty to do on Oahu. Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Waikiki...lots. We're doing 2 weeks there next month, 5 nights at the Hilton Hawaiian on Waikiki, and then the rest at Aulani.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I only recommended it because op said they had gone just a couple years ago. I'm in Oahu all the time for work and love it- it's the best island for little kids for sure. But once you see Pearl Harbor and diamondhead, you're really short changing yourself to simply see it all again if you haven't been off Oahu. The other islands each have their own charm and character and stories- and they should be experienced, if you can.

I've never been off Oahu and we're going and doing just Oahu again. We have unique circumstances and can only do Oahu. I think it is certainly possible to go and do different things every few years on Oahu.

 

[Chezman1399]

Thanks for the input guys, as far as our Oahu plans, we enjoyed Aulani so much last time that we didn't see anywhere near the island that we wanted to. We visited Iolani Palace, took a dinner cruise past Diamondhead, drove around some different areas of Honolulu like China Town and stuff to just explore a bit, spent a day at the spa and took a trip up the north shore and got a guided tour Waimea Valley/Falls. We had less time and very limited budget, so we avoided some places we were iffy on and we also spent a lot of time just enjoying the resort. We want to visit one of the other islands this time, but we still need to see that ranch where they film movies/TV, Pearl Harbor, maybe the Triple Crown of Surfing, the summer palace on Oahu, so we still have a lot to see. We may try to island hop one or 2 days.

@andysol We are in Alabama, so the flight is HSV->ATL->HNL, we end up leaving in the morning getting there in the early afternoon. The way back is painful though because I can never find a similar flight, so it ends up being HNL->LAX->ATL->HSV, the trip takes almost 24 hours on the way back and we lose so much time coming back that stopping in Cali on the way back just makes sense for us.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

@andysol We are in Alabama, so the flight is HNT->ATL->HNL, we end up leaving in the morning getting there in the early afternoon. The way back is painful though because I can never find a similar flight, so it ends up being HNL->LAX->ATL->HNT, the trip takes almost 24 hours on the way back and we lose so much time coming back that stopping in Cali on the way back just makes sense for us.

Really? Ours back this summer is HNL-ATL-BWI. On Delta.

 

[Chezman1399]

Yeah I see now there is a direct redeye to ATL on the way back on the same Airbus 330-300. That's awesome, for some reason I did not find that flight the first time we flew out there. Still, I think with the amount of time lost due to timezones, we'll still probably go the route of staying a few nights in Cali to adjust. Thank you though, I'm not sure how I missed that I pour over Delta's site like crazy.

 

[polynesiangirl]

There is so such thing as too much time at Aulani. I love, love, love that place. My next trip cannot come soon enough. That's all I have to add to this thread. Well, that and that your trip sounds great, OP.

 

[UofMGuy423]

This may be better for the Trip planning area, but it's really DVC-centric and I wanted to get some opinions.

Next December (2016) we plan to spend 10 nights at a 1 bedroom at Aulani followed by 3 nights in a Studio at the Grand Californian. The plane flight home wiped us out a couple years ago, so I figured this would be a nice stop over. I know rooms go pretty quick at GC, we'll have enough points to book a Studio there.

Has anyone ever tried to rent points there? I think that's what I'm going to do, probably going through David's. I've never rented points before so is it usually pretty easy to get a room if you request 11+ months out?
Has anyone ever done this DVC trip to Hawaii and CA all in one? How was it? Any tips?

I tried to book a Studio at VGC at the 7 month window at 8am and they were completely booked, so I went with a 1 BR and secured the first 2 nights and wait listed the 3rd, which came through a few days later. This is for 1/4/16-1/7/16. If you want a studio for that time period, I'd highly recommend finding a VGC owner that will rent between 7-11 month window. It's such a small resort. There's only 78 DVC rooms available I believe.

 

[Ralphlaw]

We're planning our first Hawaii trip for next Christmas. I own at the Boardwalk, but I'm hoping there'll be a 1 bedroom available at Aulani at the 7 month window. Any thoughts or happy predictions on this?

I'm also hoping that the Adventure by Disney 3 day activities will be up and running. We found it on a website, but our call on Saturday to ABD said that it may not be running anymore. Anyone know anything about this?

Thank in advance.