Husband Veto'ed Our Aulani Stay!

[vikequeen]

I have stayed at both places. You will be fine! You can easily walk to Aulani and go for the luau, a spa, or the character meal. If you really, really want Aulani, and as you are saving so much on lodging, I would consider VIP luau. I've also been to the luau and the marriott, and it was also very good but very very different than Aulani.

that was supposed to say I have been to both luaus. They are both good, just very different.

 

[Pooh2]

I LOVED Aulani and for us it was probably a once in a lifetime trip due to the cost for Aulani and travel from the east coast.
But.. to stay next door at a $3,000 savings?? Yeah, I would agree with husband on that one..
With all that savings, book a few meals at Aulani to enjoy the resort.
Walk up from the beach and buy some Mickey bars and shaved ice for an afternoon treat..
That $3,000 can buy a lot of fun extras!
Enjoy your trip!

 

[ErinC]

We stayed at Aulani for 7 days over the Christmas holiday. I loved it, but it's not like being at the World and the Parks. We are DVCer's, AP'ers, and love the mouse. We walked back in forth in front of the Marriott several times. I even looked at rentals online for "future" visits. It's a beautiful resort. We did the character buffet for dinner and enjoyed it, but it wasn't super memorable for us as family. Aulani is beautiful, but it just doesn't compare to the Disney resort experience in the sense that you are going to feel like you are staying offsite somewhere. You'll be able to walk around and enjoy the resort and the restaurants. I'm a huge disney fan, and I would be okay with your husband's decision. If it wasn't for our DVC points, we would never pay cash to stay at Aulani. It was our place because we could use our points there. We also stayed on the north shore for 4 nights. The accommodations did not compare, but I still had a great time. I would absolutely not go all the way to the PCC for the Luau. I don't have anything against it, it's just a long drive when you have the Aulani Luau, and other luau's so close in proximity. We actually did the luau at Sea Life Park, while we were over on the part of the island. I enjoyed it, but it was my first luau, so I have nothing to compare it to. Now the spa at Aulani, that was memorable. Take that saved money and book you a really nice spa visit at Aulani!

 

[lisa3635]

We’ve stayed at both and much prefer Marriott. In fact, we were just there last week.

 

[North of Mouse]

100% with your dh & ds. Getting to go to HI and saving so much money too. I'd be all over it thanking my dh!!!!

 

[85glht]

UGH- I am so frustrated! I have been planning a family vacation for DH, DS 14, and myself to Hawaii this upcoming Memorial Day- we will be starting our trip in Maui at the Marriott in Wailea and then headed to Oahu for a week. The plan was to spend 5 nights at Aulani and then 2 nights on the North Shore.

Last night my husband came home all excited that he was able to get a 1 bedroom at Marriott Vacation Club in Ko Olina for our entire stay on points and that there would be no cost. While I understand the value of free- I am so bummed. I really want to stay at Aulani. DH is sort of drawing a line in the sand on this (which he rarely does) and says there is no way to justify spending 3k for a smaller room on the same beach just for Disney themeing. Mind you, we are big Disney fans and annual passholders at WDW (we live in Orlando)- so this stance really shocked me. DH is stating that we can go to the Luau at Aulani, or have dinner, and get a similar experience. What is even more shocking is my DS fully agreed with him and is ecstatic at the thought of having his own space/tv (albeit the living room sleeper sofa) and a kitchen!

I am definitely outnumbered on this one, and don't feel like I am going to win the battle. I am really disappointed and hate feeling like I am going to be missing out of the experience of Aulani. Am I being ridiculous? I do understand its a lot of money and that I should be truly excited about having this as an option (who wouldn't want a free week in Hawaii)- however, with that said, this was not what we had been planning and I just feel so thrown off. Living on the East Coast, we probably will not be back to Hawaii for awhile so its not like we will be doing this again in the near future. Is DH right? Do you think we can get an "Aulani feel" by visiting for a meal or the spa- if so, is there a particular experience that would be best?

Tough to argue with free! You can spend the money you save on other things... I’d go with it.

 

[SteveNZ]

Go with the Mariott but as an earlier poster said, book one night at Aulani at the cheapest rate you can find. You don't even need to sleep in the room, just check in and use the Aulani pool facilities for two whole days, then return on other days to do the spa, etc.

 

[KayKayJS]

As someone whos visited Aulani/Hawaii twice and stayed multiple places, my opinion is to cut the 2 nights at North Shore and do 2 nights at Aulani at the end of your trip. Go to North Shore for 2 days while staying at the Marriott. It's not that bad of a drive and you're up early in Hawaii because of the time difference anyway.

 

[happymommy]

I'd go with the Marriott in a heartbeat! That being said, that's where I own. We go for 2-4 weeks every other year (in 2017 I did a month). I've walked around Aulani, and it's so much more crowded than the Marriott. I can usually go down any time of the day and find a chair by one of the pools. The grills are open all the time, and there are several grilling areas (unlike Aulani where they have one area only open at dinner time). We often grill at lunchtime, It's more spread out than Aulani. I agree with your husband to save the money totally!

I'd also skip the PCC. Lived on Oahu and went, found it okay for a day, didn't consider doing the luau. It's a long drive. If you must do a luau, I'd do the Paradis Cove. That being said, I've done it twice over the years (once when we lived there, once on a trip with my mom and a friend), and it was once too many. It's LONG! Even living on Oahu, I was falling asleep by the end (and we lived on the windward side, so had an hour drive to get home). I've heard the luau at the Marriott is very nice, though, and more intimate.

 

[ktlm]

I will be in the minority- but there is zero way I would be spending the money for airfare to Oahu and not spending at least a night or two at Aulani. There is no way I would want to stay in the Ko Olina area and not be able to spend at least a few hours floating in Aulani's lazy river or meeting and greeting the characters (FYI- they check wristbands and if you are not staying at the resort you can not meet the characters- outside of booking the character meal). I get the not spending 5 nights there when you can stay in the area for free-- but I would put my foot down for 2 nights for Aulani.

Hawaii is a not very often trip for us because the airfare from our middle of the U.S. location is usually triple what it costs to go anywhere on the mainland. Actually, we have only been once. We spent 5 nights at Aulani and then moved to Maui. That meant we had 4 full days on Oahu. Our plan was to spend our first full day at Aulani, and then at least 2 of the other days were were going to explore and do different things on Oahu. We spent our 2nd full day other places on Oahu and then decided that we loved Aulani so much we just wanted to stay there there the other 2 days.

I can't imagine flying that far, staying in the Aulani area, and not being able to take advantage of the lazy river and all the things Aulani has to offer. I could float in circles in that lazy river all day-- it is landscaped and beautiful. If I couldn't stay a night or two at Aulani, I would rather not be in the Ko Olina area at all. We weren't that impressed with the beach areas there-- they are just man made lagoons. We much preferred Maui as far as the beach goes. We did like Aulani's lagoon because you could rent the paddle boats which DH and DD loved-- for me it turned out to be a lot harder than it looked

I'm pretty sure if my husband had told me no nights at Aulani- we were just going to stay nearby- that once we had visited Aulani and I saw what I was missing the rest of our trip would have been miserable because I probably would not have been speaking to him.

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

I am with your husband on this one. That savings mean more money to have more experiences in Hawaii.