You CAN rent points which honestly makes Aulani competitive price wise with other high end resorts.
It obviously depends on when you stay and what type of room you choose.
Pro=When you rent DVC points your parking is included. Con=Parking at Aulani is approx $37/night and you pay for that on top of your cash reservation.
The major draw for my family is the lazy river pool.
We have stayed at quite a few Hawaiian resorts with fantasy pools.
Ask me about any fantasy pool in Hawaii and I can probably give you a rating LOL
For a long time the Grand Hyatt Kauai was out favorite but then we went to Aulani and the lazy river changed our opinion.
Even when Aulani is super crowded, the lazy river pool doesn't feel like it IMO
I think if you are visiting Oahu and just need a place to lay your head, there are other options that are cheaper.
However, having said that, we kind of treat Aulani like others do staying on site at WDW.
Our days out and about on Oahu are equal to park days and we pace them so that we have days in between.
If exploring Oahu is more important than staying at Aulani, so people do split stays like
@needvaca suggested above. You can also look at the Turtle Bay resort up in the North Shore as that is a way to experience two very different parts of the island.