Aulani DVC rental question

[Aloha-ha]

Hello, I'm a DVC newbie, not a an owner (yet!). I've been looking into trying to rent a DVC for a specific date at the Aulani this summer. They are all booked at this point for the dates I need. Does anyone know if I keep watching the rent/trade boards there might be a chance that a rental for the dates I need will come up or is it once they're booked that's it? I don't want to waste my time looking for the next 6 months if my chance is gone. Any insight is welcome, thanks!

I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this question.

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

A lot depends on the dates (weekend vs weekday vs holiday weekend) and what type of room. At this point its unlikely that studios would be available for dates that include a weekend, and the cheaper 1bdr rooms are likely to only have weekdays as well.

Generally 2bdr rooms and up aren’t difficult to get at this point unless you need a lot of consecutive days...but they do cost a lot more.

 

[Aloha-ha]

That’s what I was counting on but they’re all out right now for my dates.

That’s why I was wondering if owner’s sometimes post specific dates on here if they have to cancel.

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

the existence of the wait list makes checking the forums for possible cancellations mostly a moot point. Probably easier to just check the rental sites, or if theres a specific person you’re renting points from, maybe ask them to waitlist a room for you.

If you were a dvc member you could waitlist a room for the dates you want, and assuming no one is ahead of you in the queue you get first crack at it (pretty sure theres also a time limit on how long you have to accept it before they release it to the next person in line or for anyone to book)

I don’t believe any of the rental sites have a waitlist option, but it is possible.

It’d probably be a massive pain, and possibly not worth it, but a split stay in different rooms or hotels might be more feasible. If your stay involves a weekend, the odds of any rooms becoming available are very low for the summer, and if even the 2 bdr rooms are booked...theres probably several people already on a waitlist for 1 or more of the days you’re looking for.

For summer dates you’ll have much better luck trying to book 8-11 months out (especially the studios and cheaper 1 bdr rooms on weekends), not as bad as trying to get a room via dvc at the grand californian...but summer can be problematic especially for longer stays.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Sometimes owners will list confirmed reservations with either rental agencies or the DVC Rent/Trade board here. But it is wildly rare that there will magically be the exact dates and unit type you want. Confirmed reservations tend to be best used by the ultra-flexible. And I don't know that I've seen many at AUL.

 

[Aloha-ha]

Thank you thedogatemyhomework and _auroraborealis_! That was all very helpful information, I think I’m understanding all of this a lot better now.

 

[alohamom]

It’d probably be a massive pain, and possibly not worth it, but a split stay in different rooms or hotels might be more feasible.

@Aloha-ha this is what we did the first time we stayed at Aulani. We had a stay on Oahu that was on either side of time on the Big Island and I needed to find a 5 day stay at a hotel. I had been toying with renting DVC points but was frankly concerned, it seemed soooo much cheaper than a direct booking with Disney that to my mind, there had to be a catch. (catch is of course the risk that your rental of points is with the DVC owner)

We found a couple of days to rent and then backed a hotel stay onto them figuring the combined prices still saved us money and we were able to finally try out Aulani. The split stay wasnt bad at all, in fact it was easy as our next room was ready right at check out so we just had to move our stuff from one room to another. It was cool to see the two types of rooms and compare their pros and cons. We had packed fairly light so moving around wasnt that big of a deal but if you have a bunch of suitcases and stuff I can see it being a pain.

Anyway, my point is a split stay wasnt a bad option for our family and if it is all you can do, it is better than nothing.

 

[Aloha-ha]

@alohamom I like that idea! I’ll see what a I can find; saving any money over paying full price through the hotel seems worth it. Thanks for the help.