Lama pa'ipa'i on the Lanai – an Aulani TR -Aloha and Mahalo Aulani! Link to PTR 11/5

[afwdwfan]

All the souvenirs look fantastic, but...

Jeff snagged the paper and pen

Jeff wins. If you don't have the pen and paper from the room to prove that you stayed at Aulani, you don't have anything.



It looks like an all around great trip. Thanks for sharing and the words of wisdom... you know, if I can ever get to Hawaii, or Aulani. If so, I will definitely have to visit the Monkeypod, for sure!

As I've said in the past, I'm overwhelmed just reading about the plans for this NYE trip, so I look forward to seeing how it all shakes out for you!

 

[eandesmom]

I hope you'll join me!!!

Working the System

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Congratulations on a mini contract at Aulani! Super cool!!!!! Very jealous of your (relatively) short flight to Hawaii. But also recognize I luck out on the flight to WDW.

Truly seems like an amazing resort and I'm thinking I need to plan for a couple of weeks to see and do everything. And win lotto...

Love all of your souvenirs. Perfect momentos. Especially love the monkeypod shirt. Lucky Live Hawaii. Indeed!

Thanks for sharing your trip. Visiting Hawaii is for sure on my "bucket list." Just have to make it happen!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

It was wonderful to enjoy your trip on the Dis, probably the only way I will ever see Hawaii.

 

[Pinkocto]

Congratulations on the Aulani points!!!

I absolutely love the first shirt, it looks so soft!

Thanks again for sharing your trip, I've made many notes for when I go there

 

[KatMark]

Great reacap, Cynthia.

I love the souvenirs...especially your shirt (and, like Jeff, I always take the pen and paper).

Congrats on the little "add on" at Aulani.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Nice wrap up to the TR! You brought home a lot of great souvenirs, and I think I would have been tempted myself by quite a few of them! Sounds like a wonderful trip to put on my future Wish List!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

All good things must come to an end,

No!! I hate that saying! Why can't all bad things come to an end too?

Don't put it in the dishwasher!

Actually, I have no idea, but I'm saying that just in case.

For Eric

That's my shirt! You obviously have excellent taste. I liked how it had a hidden Aulani logo and Hidden Mickey in the turtle.

Jeff snagged the paper and pen

Nice work, Jeff. If it's free, it's for me!

I had no idea Monkeypod had t-shirts. Julie would have loved one of those. I guess we need to go back now.

Dining
Monkeypod, Monkeypod, Monkeypod! What else is there to say.

What a great place.

Activities
There is SO much to do right at Aulani (lazy river anyone) that I really encourage anyone going there to make sure you plan enough resort time. There is so much to do and see in Hawaii outside of the resort it is easy to schedule yourself gone most of your trip and if you do, you will miss out. That said, get out! See the ocean, the mountains, the valleys, the history. There is nothing like it. We loved everything we did and would do it again (yes, even Koko Head!) but we also plan to continue to find new things.

Well said, Cynthia.

You really have the best of both worlds there. An amazing resort to explore and an amazing island to explore.

Traffic
Is horrible during rush hour. Plan accordingly and you will be fine.

And watch out for disappearing highways!

Aulani as an adult only destination?
YES! Granted, loving Disney helps but really for us, who typically get a condo in Hawaii on our adult only trips (so are “very” alone compared to a resort like Aulani) it was surprisingly amazing. Both of us were a little concerned with how we’d do at a resort like that for a full week. I actually don’t believe we have ever done that on an adult only trip and we were blown away by how much we loved it all. More than T shirts, pins and mugs (and photos!) we brought home memories of an amazing amazing week. So amazing we added on a small contract at Aulani to give us holiday 11m advantage here and there.

Good call! Definitely worth having that advantage especially since it's a shorter flight for you guys. I hope you get to take advantage of Aulani for a long time to come.

Back to dreaming about an adults-only trip with my DW....

Thanks for the trip report! I'm glad you guys had such a great time, and I especially want to thank you for filling me in with the last-minute tips and tricks before I left for my trip. I can't wait to see how your NYE trip works out, but I hope everyone has a blast!

 

[eandesmom]

I love the shirt that you got for yourself! But especially the one that you got for Eric, that is now yours. It looks so comfortable!

I like them both a lot!

I always snag the pens from Disney resorts but the paper from Aulani looks very nice. Good job Jeff!

it was...I used the last piece a few days ago. SAD!

Will you be posting the link to your next PTR here??

yes! Posted and in my siggie as well

All the souvenirs look fantastic, but...

Jeff wins. If you don't have the pen and paper from the room to prove that you stayed at Aulani, you don't have anything.

Very true. Except the paper is now gone...so no more proof! The pen has been spotty on the ink flowing.

It looks like an all around great trip. Thanks for sharing and the words of wisdom... you know, if I can ever get to Hawaii, or Aulani. If so, I will definitely have to visit the Monkeypod, for sure!

I can't say enough wonderful things about both! We had a great trip.

As I've said in the past, I'm overwhelmed just reading about the plans for this NYE trip, so I look forward to seeing how it all shakes out for you!

It will shake. LOL! No really, it will be good, less moving pieces as time goes on but it will be different for sure than the last big one, so many things have changed since then that I really feel I need a PTR for input. I am very excited for it!

Congratulations on a mini contract at Aulani! Super cool!!!!! Very jealous of your (relatively) short flight to Hawaii. But also recognize I luck out on the flight to WDW.

Mini is relative I guess, basically our waitlist for BW never came though (still hasn't technically I am still on that list) and this made sense for a variety of reasons. I think we are done now though, it's a nice amount of total points and I do think there will be a few times we will be very happy to have that 11m advantage. At least I sure hope so!

Truly seems like an amazing resort and I'm thinking I need to plan for a couple of weeks to see and do everything. And win lotto...

Yes you do! All of the above, especially the lotto. LOL! The cost is getting there (and the time in travel of course), I can't say I think it's worse than a WDW trip once there (personally).

Love all of your souvenirs. Perfect momentos. Especially love the monkeypod shirt. Lucky Live Hawaii. Indeed!

Thanks for sharing your trip. Visiting Hawaii is for sure on my "bucket list." Just have to make it happen!

I almost got one of those for myself, next time!

It was wonderful to enjoy your trip on the Dis, probably the only way I will ever see Hawaii.

I'm a fan of virtual travel thank you! It was a wonderful trip

Congratulations on the Aulani points!!!

I absolutely love the first shirt, it looks so soft!

Thanks again for sharing your trip, I've made many notes for when I go there

Thanks, it seemed to make sense for us. Of course they will go to other trips first before I get to pull my 11m card but that's ok. You need to go there, it is just magical!

 

[eandesmom]

Great reacap, Cynthia.

I love the souvenirs...especially your shirt (and, like Jeff, I always take the pen and paper).

Congrats on the little "add on" at Aulani.

I can't believe I didn't grab it, was very happy he did!

Thanks, we are happy to have the points there, I think they will come in handy for us.

Nice wrap up to the TR! You brought home a lot of great souvenirs, and I think I would have been tempted myself by quite a few of them! Sounds like a wonderful trip to put on my future Wish List!

There were a lot of things I wanted and didn't buy...one thing I will say, while the dining etc was basic resort pricing, the souvenirs were over the top more expensive. Which did curb things a bit.

No!! I hate that saying! Why can't all bad things come to an end too?

Oh they do, we just don't talk about them!

Don't put it in the dishwasher!

Actually, I have no idea, but I'm saying that just in case.

Prudent thought. It's safe though (thank goodness)

That's my shirt! You obviously have excellent taste. I liked how it had a hidden Aulani logo and Hidden Mickey in the turtle.

it is a great shirt, Eric wears it a ton.

Nice work, Jeff. If it's free, it's for me!

exactly!

I had no idea Monkeypod had t-shirts. Julie would have loved one of those. I guess we need to go back now.

quite the selection, I almost got one for myself...

Well said, Cynthia.

You really have the best of both worlds there. An amazing resort to explore and an amazing island to explore.

And watch out for disappearing highways!

I will just avoid that highway, thank you!

Good call! Definitely worth having that advantage especially since it's a shorter flight for you guys. I hope you get to take advantage of Aulani for a long time to come.

me too! It's actually the same time in flight to go to Florida versus Hawaii for us

Back to dreaming about an adults-only trip with my DW....

Thanks for the trip report! I'm glad you guys had such a great time, and I especially want to thank you for filling me in with the last-minute tips and tricks before I left for my trip. I can't wait to see how your NYE trip works out, but I hope everyone has a blast!

thanks and me too!!!

 

[Pinkocto]

It might not have been the best decision for me to get as many as I did since I won't be using them at the 11 month window often, but I know I'll be happy to have that security when I do need them. Most places are ok to get right at the 7 month window in WDW anyway.

 

[franandaj]

Nice wrap up and the Souvenirs look like they will be great momentos!

I'll be over to your PTR soon. Crazy days with the house and all! ...............................

 

[eandesmom]

It might not have been the best decision for me to get as many as I did since I won't be using them at the 11 month window often, but I know I'll be happy to have that security when I do need them. Most places are ok to get right at the 7 month window in WDW anyway.

I think you will. While I didn't "want" more than we got (for a variety of reasons we have 3 smaller equal sized contracts), I will not have enough to book what I want at 11 months fully for either Presidents Day week or Spring Break in 2015 which are riskier. I'll have enough to get about half of the trip at 11m and half at 7. Of course if I hadn't have used some up for the DL marching band trip I'd be ok but...it's worth the risk for that! Later on though I do hope to be in a better bank/borrow situation and then could pull off a full week. Depending on when you go though 7m can be ok and if you want the standard rooms I think that 11m is key!

Nice wrap up and the Souvenirs look like they will be great momentos!

I'll be over to your PTR soon. Crazy days with the house and all! ...............................

I hear you, I need to go get all caught up on yours (or maybe I am...I can't even keep that straight!)

We use everything we brought home and that is always a good sign!

 

[Chilly]

I like both those t-shirts.

Looking forward to the next TR.

 

[eandesmom]

I like both those t-shirts.

Looking forward to the next TR.

Thanks Claire! I wear both quite a bit so they were good purchases. PTR is started

 

[glennbo123]

Nice souvies! I'm sure I'll be seeing that new hat on Eric in the next trip report.

Wow, congrats on the Aulani points!

Thanks for the report Cynthia, it was great to tag-along and learn so much about the resort and Oahu!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

All done! Well, you got some cool shirts and a really pretty mug, but by far the best souvenir was the paper and pen!

Thanks for sharing - and I will come back to this for reference when we are ready to go to Aulani! Lots of good info! What a fabulous couple trip you had!

 

[annmarieda]

I love the wrap up! I may have to print it and use it as a future reference...cause someday dh and I will get there. Who knows when though. It is a bit more costly on the points needed... and since I am sure that dh and I would feel the same way about the ocean view... lots of points needed.

So in that thought...points needed.. Congrats on adding on there!!!

Love the shirts! Actually, all the souvenirs are great. (even the pen and paper. )

 

[eandesmom]

Nice souvies! I'm sure I'll be seeing that new hat on Eric in the next trip report.

I am sure you will! Probably the lanyard as well

Wow, congrats on the Aulani points!

thanks! I thought I'd posted about them but maybe not? we really went back and forth on that one a lot whether it was the right thing to do or not. We decided it made sense but certainly there would have been far less expensive ways to add on! The sad thing is, even though we are now finally at the "total" number I think we need/want...we are still borrowing! Sad.

Thanks for the report Cynthia, it was great to tag-along and learn so much about the resort and Oahu!

I hope you and Judy can get your couples trip out there soon!

All done! Well, you got some cool shirts and a really pretty mug, but by far the best souvenir was the paper and pen!

everyone seems to like the paper and pen the best, too funny!

Thanks for sharing - and I will come back to this for reference when we are ready to go to Aulani! Lots of good info! What a fabulous couple trip you had!

You have Cali to look forward to, that will be wonderful and I am confident you will make it to Aulani, it's not an "if" it's a "when".

I love the wrap up! I may have to print it and use it as a future reference...cause someday dh and I will get there. Who knows when though. It is a bit more costly on the points needed... and since I am sure that dh and I would feel the same way about the ocean view... lots of points needed.

You will get there! Go off season, it helps on the points for sure but yeah, it's still pricey compared to WDW, almost twice as much! a week at OKW in a studio for that same time period would be 99 points...our trip which had one night in a standard was 175.

Ouch.

Worth every point though!

So in that thought...points needed.. Congrats on adding on there!!!

Love the shirts! Actually, all the souvenirs are great. (even the pen and paper. )

It was definitely a luxury purchase. I figure if I use them mostly for GCV and Aulani at least relatively speaking it's an ok use for them. We really went round and round on it but for 100 point contracts, my UY, etc and the few resorts we wanted to own at...we decided for holiday advantage and the length of contract, this wasn't a bad move for us. We could easily go every other year just us on what we bought and I could definitely see that happening. That was kind of the thinking. It will be a bit before we get to that schedule but that's the long term plan.

 

[annmarieda]

You will get there! Go off season, it helps on the points for sure but yeah, it's still pricey compared to WDW, almost twice as much! a week at OKW in a studio for that same time period would be 99 points...our trip which had one night in a standard was 175.

Ouch.

Worth every point though!

We definitely will have to go off season. Steve is very excited about going there (now) It was funny he was looking over the point chart book for 2013 and 14. He saw how much to stay there. He wrinkled his face asked how many points we have and then as if he was having a private conversation in his own head said "I think we need to see how much we like our DVC before we add on more points" I go back and forth honestly... I think buying another contract could just lead to less trips else where. (not to mention there are other things close to home that we could throw money at, like new windows or siding) Then again, when the argument for DVC shifted to the ability to stay where we wanted rather than just at a value resort I guess the same could be applied when adding another contract...just means we can stay in less studios...etc.

It was definitely a luxury purchase. I figure if I use them mostly for GCV and Aulani at least relatively speaking it's an ok use for them. We really went round and round on it but for 100 point contracts, my UY, etc and the few resorts we wanted to own at...we decided for holiday advantage and the length of contract, this wasn't a bad move for us. We could easily go every other year just us on what we bought and I could definitely see that happening. That was kind of the thinking. It will be a bit before we get to that schedule but that's the long term plan.

That makes sense! Even if you just "squirrel those away" to be used every other year..bam, your aulani trips are covered! I am almost to the point of understanding my contract. (I say almost cause I had a moment recently where I was on why I could borrow agains my 2014 points already) I can't imagine how it would work to have multiple contracts. I see small...very small resale ones come through in my emails and I wonder how they would even be helpful unless you had a larger contract with the same UY at the same resort. Otherwise, you get home advantage for maybe a night? With your plan... I can understand. 100 points banked until the next year to give you 200... and those are enough to rent for the week. So I am slowly getting there.