What's your opinion on just owning Aulani? I've really gone back and forth on this... on the DVC board here there's a lot of negative attitudes toward OWNING Aulani which seem misplaced to me, but maybe not... I feel like owning at a reduced point/price and getting free flights with CC rewards = frugal trips for years and years but I must be missing something.
Going to give my opinion - I think owning is an individual decision again based on how you vacation and what is most important to you. And sometimes just where you are located.
I have no desire to own Aulani because I know I'm not going to make multiple trips there. That's probably the situation with most DVC owners. They bought to go to Disney World. It wouldn't make sense for me to buy in at Aulani.
I own 4 DVC resorts - BWV, BCV, VB and HH.
When I bought BWV I was discouraged by the Disboard members and my Disney friends. OKW was the first and extremely popular. The rooms were bigger. You could park in front of the Villas. Now, there is no question in my mind that what I felt back then - proximity to other parks - is what keeps BWV and BCV at 100 per cent occupancy almost year round. And, many of the people who discouraged me have sold some or all of their OKW and have bought BCV and BWV.
Now, HH is more a case like Aulani. I love HH and own there and go almost every year. But the average DVC member has never been to HH and may never go. It doesn't have parks and it's not even on the beach. So it doesn't necessarily appeal to the Disney enthusiast.
For me, I am always considering another HH purchase, just haven't pulled the trigger because I can usually get what I want with my existing points at 7 months. Also, my stays are kind of like Lain's Aulani stays - 3-5 nights at a time.
Now this summer coming of 2018, I needed a 2 bedroom for 4 nights - 164 points. I don't have 164 HH points. I was able to book July 3rd and 4th with my existing points and then at the 7 month window, I was able to get July 5th. But, I missed the mark on July 2nd - I have a studio for that night and a waitlist in. I couldn't even get 2 studios so someone will have to sleep down the road that night if my waitlist doesn't come through. This makes me want to run out and buy points even though my waitlist will probably come through! But - with my existing points I can easily get a studio for a week, or a one bedroom for 4-5 days, so this year is just different.
So, it depends on what's important to you - not to everybody else. I could spend my whole year's allotment at HH and be pretty happy - not so for people whose focus is more Florida and the parks.
There are also many other timeshare spots on HH that are much less expensive. But, that's where the Disney feel comes in - it's pretty hard to top Disney magic, which is probably what attracts Lain to Aulani.