Aulani summer availability?

[BrianM]

I called on 11-20 for a 1 br and reserved island view for 6-20 but the same view was not avail for 6-21 and 22 so had to call the next day and reserved std view for those two days. On the wait list for island view for the 21st and 22nd to avoid having to change rooms.

 

[musical2]

I got Aulani 2 BR Ocean View this morning for the week starting June 24!

 

[Bonnie151]

Booked an ocean view studio this morning from 24-28 June 2012.

 

[wdrl]

A WORD OF CAUTION ...

It appears that Aulani 7-month availability is rapidly becoming a dicey proposition for Summer 2012.

Monday afternoon, I called in mid-day to check availability at the resort at the 7-month window (a day earlier than my actual reservation window). The rep told me that there was zero 2-bedroom availability for June 21st, but that there was plenty of availability for all room types & sizes from June 22nd onward. (I had her check every category; a few types were low, but all were available.)

I called in right at 9am on Tuesday morning -- Entire resort (all room types, all room sizes) sold out for June 22nd. Once again, plenty of availability for June 23rd onward. I was forced to use the waitlist for my entire stay (since only June 22 was in my 7-month reservation window).

I called in right at 9am again this morning. Low and behold, my waitlist literally matched while I was on the phone with the agent looking for June 23rd availability.

While I have a "happy ending," it is pretty clear to me that there are lots of members right now who are "walking" their Aulani reservations for upcoming summer stays. (My experience matches perfectly with this theory.) If you are planning on going to Aulani this summer, I advise you to play the "walking" game, because it looks like lots of other members are doing the same thing. If you don't you will be at a definite disadvantage in trying to secure your reservation. (Disney really needs to do something about this loophole in the reservation process!)

Congratulations of getting your villa!

I don't think your experience shows that people are walking reservations. If people were walking reservations, you still would have encountered difficulty getting a reservation for June 22 or 23 because people would continue to "walk" their reservations forward. If people were actually walking reservations, then you should see that the nights of June 15-16 suddenly become available as they are dropped by people "walking" their reservation forward.

There is another reason why I don't think the walking of reservations accounts for your situation. If someone is walking a reservation, they can book up to seven days in advance. For example, on June 19 they could have booked June 20-25 as well. There is no need to wait until June 21 to book June 22.

I think your situation merely demonstrates that there is strong demand for Aulani and that there are a limited number of villas available. Two Phases of Aulani villas are open at this time, but the really important issue is the percentage of those villas have been declared for the DVC inventory.

 

[JeffPort]

I don't think your experience shows that people are walking reservations.

I called in on Monday and found that there were zero rooms available for exactly 7 months in the future (6/21), but that there was easily 50+ rooms available on the 7 months + 1 day / 2 day / etc (6/22 and beyond). Then, I called in within the first 15 seconds on Tuesday morning (less than 5 working hours later) and discovered that the 50+ room availability had completely evaporated.

Clearly, the rooms were booked Monday afternoon (not in the 0-15 seconds before I got on the line with the agent). Since there was zero availability for (6/21) when I called on Monday, there could have only been two possibilities as to how all those rooms on 6/22 got booked: (a) Several members with existing reservations at Aulani "walked" their existing reservation (which included 6/21) through to 6/22 and possibly beyond, or (b) A whole bunch of Aulani owners suddenly decided that they wanted to make reservations starting on the 6/22 arrival date mere hours before their priority reservation window ended ... even though they had 4 full months to make those reservations. Personally, I think that (a) is much more plausible than (b). I assume that you disagree.

Keep in mind that this entire episode repeated again on Tuesday/Wednesday. Then throw in that my waitlist opened up first thing Wednesday morning ... where I presume a member with an existing Aulani reservation called in and dropped their 6/22 reservation date and added in another date at the far end of their 7-day reservation.

Maybe the reservation walking was only occurring for selective dates where members were trying to secure dates at the end of the lower-points-cost period in late June, or only to secure dates around the Independence Day holiday ... But I'm pretty confident that it was occurring.

 

[wdrl]

I called in on Monday and found that there were zero rooms available for exactly 7 months in the future (6/21), but that there was easily 50+ rooms available on the 7 months + 1 day / 2 day / etc (6/22 and beyond). Then, I called in within the first 15 seconds on Tuesday morning (less than 5 working hours later) and discovered that the 50+ room availability had completely evaporated.

Clearly, the rooms were booked Monday afternoon (not in the 0-15 seconds before I got on the line with the agent). Since there was zero availability for (6/21) when I called on Monday, there could have only been two possibilities as to how all those rooms on 6/22 got booked: (a) Several members with existing reservations at Aulani "walked" their existing reservation (which included 6/21) through to 6/22 and possibly beyond, or (b) A whole bunch of Aulani owners suddenly decided that they wanted to make reservations starting on the 6/22 arrival date mere hours before their priority reservation window ended ... even though they had 4 full months to make those reservations. Personally, I think that (a) is much more plausible than (b). I assume that you disagree.

Keep in mind that this entire episode repeated again on Tuesday/Wednesday. Then throw in that my waitlist opened up first thing Wednesday morning ... where I presume a member with an existing Aulani reservation called in and dropped their 6/22 reservation date and added in another date at the far end of their 7-day reservation.

Maybe the reservation walking was only occurring for selective dates where members were trying to secure dates at the end of the lower-points-cost period in late June, or only to secure dates around the Independence Day holiday ... But I'm pretty confident that it was occurring.

But if you think about, the situation you describe is an extremely inefficient way of walking a reservation. The whole idea behind walking a reservation is to grab several days into the future, not to do it piecemeal one day at a time. If a Member has secured a reservation for 6/21, they can also book 6/22 to 6/27 at the same time. If people want a villa for 6/22, they could have reached that date as early as 6/16. I find it hard to believe that Members would wait until the afternoon of the last day (6/21) to walk their reservation, and then they only grab one day into the future.

The fact that your wait list came through so quickly might be because Aulani owners who booked at the 11-month window are switching to other resorts once their 7-month windows opened.

I'm not sure how to explain the situation you encountered, but walking reservations doesn't seem to fit.

The good news is that you got the reservation you wanted! I just hope we are as lucky when we try to book an Aulani studio for September 2012.

 

[JeffPort]

I find it hard to believe that Members would wait until the afternoon of the last day (6/21) to walk their reservation, and then they only grab one day into the future..

Actually, the way I understand "walking" ... Once you secure your initial reservation, you don't have to be hard-pressed to call in and walk the days forward, one-day-at-a-time ... Because your forward days are all still outside of the 7-month window for other members not owning at the resort. So long as you call in and extend/change prior to the opening of the 7-month window for your outlier days, nobody else (other than an owner at the applicable resort) can secure the days you seek because they cannot secure a start date for their reservation (which the walker already has obtained). While there is some danger in waiting, it is limited to the reservation activities of owners at that resort (right at the 7-mo window), so there really is not much need to get up every morning and walk forward day-by-day. (At least, that is how I understand it.)

The counter point you make, that owners at Aulani might be shifting to other reservations at the 7-month window is not likely at all, given the isolated location of the Aulani resort compared with all of the other DVC resorts.

Don't get me wrong ... I don't like the walking loophole one bit. I'd really like to see DVC develop some rules to eliminate or minimize it. But I do believe it is happening, and those persons who use the technique definitely have a priority advantage over the rest of the DVC population.

 

[tjkraz]

50+ people "walking" reservations for the same dates at Aulani? Seems extremely far-fetched to me.

I'd put my money on some sort of computer glitch. Perhaps the system is inadvertently releasing rooms a day later than the 7 month window.

 

[rstamm]

50+ people "walking" reservations for the same dates at Aulani? Seems extremely far-fetched to me.

I'd put my money on some sort of computer glitch. Perhaps the system is inadvertently releasing rooms a day later than the 7 month window.

I was not going to walk my reservation till I saw a thread saying June dates were sold out so I started calling in Nov. 21 to see how many rooms were available and if I really needed to walk it.

Nov. 21 called after work, no rooms left was told plenty for the next day.
Nov. 22 no rooms told plenty left for next day.
Nov. 23 no rooms told there were 68 calls in the queue when member services opened, the guy told me I have to call when they open.

Nov. 25 got through right at 9:00 got what I wanted and needed to walk only one day.
Nov. 26 got through right at 9:00 and was told they only had 2 ocean views
left and now only one since thats what I needed for my last day.

I asked what time Aulani sold out the day before and he said when he checked at 10:30 every room was gone.

Anyone who wants a room for the summer needs to be on phone at 9:00AM!

 

[htmlkid]

I'm looking to do aulani july 2 (mon) to July 9th (mon) I was afraid that no rooms would be available monday july 2nd cause traditionally most people vacation Saturday to Saturday so I booked today at 9am the Friday before I arrive to Friday. When I did the cm stated that availability was extremely limited due to the July 4th holiday. I was happy I decided to book this and will just walk the other days out over the next three days.

Dates are really getting tight there and I recommend everyone start calling 9am at the 7 month mark to ensure you get the dates you want.

 

[edmartin]

We called on 11/26 to book starting 6/26 for 9 nights. We wanted a 1-BR ocean view. Given the window, we could only book the first 7 nights. 1-BR ocean view was unavailable for 6/26 but was available for the next 6 nights. So we broke the reservation into 2 pieces - booking garden view for 1 night on 6/26 (wait listed for ocean view) and took the OV for the next 6 nights. We then called back the morning of the 27th & 28th and were able to extend the reservation to get OV for nights 8 and 9.

We called right at 9AM each day. I still think it was strange that June 26th was sold out of OV's (it's a Tuesday) but happy that the rest of the nights were available with no problem.

 

[wdrl]

We called on 11/26 to book starting 6/26 for 9 nights. We wanted a 1-BR ocean view. Given the window, we could only book the first 7 nights. 1-BR ocean view was unavailable for 6/26 but was available for the next 6 nights. So we broke the reservation into 2 pieces - booking garden view for 1 night on 6/26 (wait listed for ocean view) and took the OV for the next 6 nights. We then called back the morning of the 27th & 28th and were able to extend the reservation to get OV for nights 8 and 9.

We called right at 9AM each day. I still think it was strange that June 26th was sold out of OV's (it's a Tuesday) but happy that the rest of the nights were available with no problem.

Are you saying that on November 26th Member Services let you book the Garden View 1BR for June 26th AND let you book an Ocean View 1BR for a stay beginning June 27?

If that is the case, then that is a different booking practice then what has occurred in the past. Since the Ocean View is a different accommodation, I have always thought that you had to wait until the 7-month windows opens for that specific reservation. In your case, I would have thought you would have had to wait until November 27 to book a different stay that starts on June 27th.

Something strange is definitely happening with Aulani bookings.

 

[CC&M]

I have had no luck at the 7 month mark for June 24-27 or June 17-20...I've tried both 2 BR Villas, and 2 Studios..no luck for me

I'm waitlisted for the 2 BR Villas, but not counting on getting in...we'll still go visit the resort, even if we can't get in to stay there...

 

[Deb & Bill]

We called on 11/26 to book starting 6/26 for 9 nights. We wanted a 1-BR ocean view. Given the window, we could only book the first 7 nights. 1-BR ocean view was unavailable for 6/26 but was available for the next 6 nights. So we broke the reservation into 2 pieces - booking garden view for 1 night on 6/26 (wait listed for ocean view) and took the OV for the next 6 nights. We then called back the morning of the 27th & 28th and were able to extend the reservation to get OV for nights 8 and 9.

We called right at 9AM each day. I still think it was strange that June 26th was sold out of OV's (it's a Tuesday) but happy that the rest of the nights were available with no problem.

Are you saying that on November 26th Member Services let you book the Garden View 1BR for June 26th AND let you book an Ocean View 1BR for a stay beginning June 27?

If that is the case, then that is a different booking practice then what has occurred in the past. Since the Ocean View is a different accommodation, I have always thought that you had to wait until the 7-month windows opens for that specific reservation. In your case, I would have thought you would have had to wait until November 27 to book a different stay that starts on June 27th.

Something strange is definitely happening with Aulani bookings.

I was going to say the same thing. Basically, the PP got to book one day ahead of everyone else.

 

[edmartin]

Are you saying that on November 26th Member Services let you book the Garden View 1BR for June 26th AND let you book an Ocean View 1BR for a stay beginning June 27?

If that is the case, then that is a different booking practice then what has occurred in the past. Since the Ocean View is a different accommodation, I have always thought that you had to wait until the 7-month windows opens for that specific reservation. In your case, I would have thought you would have had to wait until November 27 to book a different stay that starts on June 27th.

Something strange is definitely happening with Aulani bookings.

I stand corrected. We split the reservation on the 27th.

My point was that there was availability for 1BR starting June 26.

 

[htmlkid]

I have had no luck at the 7 month mark for June 24-27 or June 17-20...I've tried both 2 BR Villas, and 2 Studios..no luck for me

I'm waitlisted for the 2 BR Villas, but not counting on getting in...we'll still go visit the resort, even if we can't get in to stay there...

You were looking to book Sunday to Wednesday. What you didn't consider is all the people who where booking Saturday to Saturday (one day before you). What I would have done is called and booked the 23-27 or the 16-20 and after that was confirmed. I would have called the next day to cancel the sadurday night stay.

The theory in this is that most people tend to book saturday to saturday so you need to be in line with them.

I booked a Monday to Monday July 2nd - July 9th but knew it would be sold out if I waited to book the Monday so I initially booked the saturday before June 30th - July 7th and have been woalking the reservation ever since. And although the booking were tight I have secured my dates even though it was over the 4th of July week with no problem.

 

[wdrl]

I stand corrected. We split the reservation on the 27th.

My point was that there was availability for 1BR starting June 26.

Thanks for clarifying your situation!! Hope your wait list comes through and that you get an Ocean View villa for your first night!

I don't mean to wish anyone bad luck in getting what they want at Aulani, but these reports of Members having difficulty getting Aulani at the 7-month mark are great news for the DVC. I really hope Aulani is successful from a business perspective, and that requires that DVD sell points -- a lot of points -- at Aulani. If everyone thinks Aulani is easy to book at the 7-month mark, then there is little incentive for the Membership to buy Aulani points.

 

[Blonde Princess]

We had a reservation at Beach Club, our home resort, from June 29, 2012 through July 8, 2012 in a One-Bedroom Villa that we had booked at the 11 month mark. On November 28th, we called right at 9 am at our 7 month window to transfer into Aulani. We had no problem. We booked a 2 bedroom ocean view for seven nights. I called back each day for the next three days ending this morning to add three more nights to the same reservation and had no problem. So we ended up with 10 nights!

We are soooooooo excited!

 

[Nyteacherbelle]

We are new dvc members, and own at SSR. We just booked our first ever dvc trip, to aulani from July 8-14. We had no trouble at all getting an ocean view deluxe studio. So ridiculously excited! Not only will it be our first dvc trip, it will be our first kid free trip!

 

[JeffPort]

We are new dvc members, and own at SSR. We just booked our first ever dvc trip, to aulani from July 8-14. We had no trouble at all getting an ocean view deluxe studio. So ridiculously excited! Not only will it be our first dvc trip, it will be our first kid free trip!

Congrats! ... Until two years ago, ALL of our trips to Hawaii were "Kid-Free," so rest assured that you picked a great place to go for a special Mom/Dad getaway. Hawaii is addictive. The only bad day will be the day you have to get on the plane and leave!