Buy Aulani resale or direct?

[Brian Noble]

You sound like a slam dunk resale buyer to me.

This, and it isn't close. The analysis to justify direct feels a lot more like FOMO to me.

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

I’ll also add that if you’re going to do one bedrooms … you won’t want to go back to studios. And if/when you do… you’ll hate it!

 

[AstroBlasters]

Two aspects that make resale the best choice here: paying cash for the points and having points for a 2 bedroom! Having the living room space available is worth buying enough points for the two bedroom. Your family will enjoy the time so much more with everyone sleeping in a bedroom.

I will echo that the point jump from a 1bd to a 2bd is not a huge jump and comes with a very beneficial 2nd bathroom. Much easier to pull off with resale pricing.

When traveling with older kids, it is hard to express how much nicer the vacation is when the kids have their own bathroom and shower and the parents have their own bathroom and shower.

Shoot for as close to $90pp as you can get (as the subsidized market has essentially dried up) and let us know when you join our Aulani ‘Ohana.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We bought aulani when it first became available at around $110. So we have thr subsidized points. We have 380 points. We always go in either may or September so we get reservations at 7 months and combine our aulani points with other points (we have another 700 from other resorts) to get a one bedroom ocean view for 50 points a night. We are from chicago so it’s a long flight. We always stay a minimum of 10 nights.
If you have to go June thru August or at a holiday it’s more difficult to get space at the 7 month mark so you need to reserve at 11 months.
We have been all over Oahu so the last couple years we haven’t rented a car. We take Charley’s taxi to and ftom the airport. And I take a taxi or Uber to the store in Kapolei to buy breakfast and lunch provisions.
As you can tell we love it. I would definitely buy resale with subsidized points. They cost a bit more but over the years the savings in maintenance will make up for it. The direct sale price for aulani is crazy high.
All the points we have are either resale or points we got when first offered. We first bought in 1998 and psid a little over $50 for boardwalk. The sane with vero beach. Yiu can’t come close to that today even with resale. So obviously we are lucky. And even though maintenance goes up every year it seems we definitely feel like we get our moneys worth. What we pay in maintenance every year is less that what we would pay for 10 days in a one bedroom ocean view. Abd we go to Disney every year in March. And stay couple weeks. So we get good use of points.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Before everyone jumps on the subsidized train, there is only 1 on the market and it is stripped of this years and next years points and priced at $129pp….

I’d take $90 unsubsidized with banked points over that.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Yeah you really have to stalk the market and be patient to get them. I did see 2 come on the market the same week. They both went quick. I’m grateful to have gotten one.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Yeah you really have to stalk the market and be patient to get them. I did see 2 come on the market the same week. They both went quick. I’m grateful to have gotten one.

I think the “patience” part is easier if you are already a member and have vacations booked.

I tend to see most (not all) AUL-S as add-ons for current members with addonitis. <cough guilty cough>

 

[VandVsmama]

The $90/pt contract is now already sold. But I'm sort of eye'ing a couple of 175 pt Aulani resale contracts right now that are asking $95 and $99/pt. However, we could also afford 1 of the 220 pt resale contracts I'm also watching.

 

[VGCgroupie]

The $90/pt contract is now already sold. But I'm sort of eye'ing a couple of 175 pt Aulani resale contracts right now that are asking $95 and $99/pt. However, we could also afford 1 of the 220 pt resale contracts I'm also watching.

Put in offers for what you are comfortable paying. They may accept $90

 

[Tatebeck]

Yeah I'm waiting to see if any subsidized contracts pop up in one of my use years as well. But still I am tempted to start lowballing some of the regular contracts in my use years just to see if anyone really wants to sell. But I keep telling myself I should go once before buying points there lol. I had been to WDW and DL before buying those resorts. Did anyone here buy Aulani sight unseen?

 

[VGCgroupie]

Yeah I'm waiting to see if any subsidized contracts pop up in one of my use years as well. But still I am tempted to start lowballing some of the regular contracts in my use years just to see if anyone really wants to sell. But I keep telling myself I should go once before buying points there lol. I had been to WDW and DL before buying those resorts. Did anyone here buy Aulani sight unseen?

Me. I haven’t passed ROFR yet though. We bought for SAP hopefully SAP+ after we go in August and see how we like it.

 

[RichVIII]

As others have said, buy as many Aulani resale points you can afford. We are East Coasters and we wanted to HATE Aulani. Problem is we LOVE it. This past trip we did the 1BR and loved it even more. The rack rates are insane so you will do well in quickly covering your investment.

 

[ShaneDJ]

Resale 100% for Aulani.

And buy enough points for the 2-bedroom. You won’t regret it. Good luck!

 

[AstroBlasters]

The $90/pt contract is now already sold. But I'm sort of eye'ing a couple of 175 pt Aulani resale contracts right now that are asking $95 and $99/pt. However, we could also afford 1 of the 220 pt resale contracts I'm also watching.

Asking price is like sticker price on a car.

There are A LOT of contracts out there…. I’d go in at $85pp and see who’s willing to negotiate.

Be mindful of use year.

 

[VandVsmama]

As others have said, buy as many Aulani resale points you can afford. We are East Coasters and we wanted to HATE Aulani. Problem is we LOVE it. This past trip we did the 1BR and loved it even more. The rack rates are insane so you will do well in quickly covering your investment.

Yeah, going into this trip, my husband wanted to hate Aulani. He moaned and groaned for weeks about how much we were spending a night to stay there, what is so great about that place, can't we just stay at a Comfort Inn & Suites for $200/night, blah blah blah. About halfway through our stay, he admitted that he really liked it. And then by the end of the trip, he said that he wants to go back! And then a couple of days later, we started talking about DVC and...here we are. LOL.

The rack rates are only going to go up even more over the years, so I'm excited to pay essentially a lower price per night!

 

[jimmymc]

Like others have mentioned, both direct and resale get free parking. And in pretty much every calculation, things like food and merch discounts are not worth the price difference. Annual passes get the same of better discounts, and even the free Visa card gets a lot of the same discounts at table service and merch locations, where it really makes a different. The biggest con to resale points is not being able to use them as Riviera or Disneyland Hotel. But if you're OK with the other 10 WDW resorts, I also don't think that's worth the extra cost.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Like others have mentioned, both direct and resale get free parking. And in pretty much every calculation, things like food and merch discounts are not worth the price difference. Annual passes get the same of better discounts, and even the free Visa card gets a lot of the same discounts at table service and merch locations, where it really makes a different. The biggest con to resale points is not being able to use them as Riviera or Disneyland Hotel. But if you're OK with the other 10 WDW resorts, I also don't think that's worth the extra cost.

FYI, MKs/APs get no discounts at Aulani on food/merch but DVC-Y does.

Agree that it’s resale 100% if you don’t care about VDH/RIV/DLand FWD.

Maybe the OP can get lucky at VGC instead of crashing at a friends house for DLand once in a while….

 

[VGCgroupie]

FYI, MKs/APs and Visa get no discounts at Aulani on food/merch but DVC-Y does.

Agree that it’s resale 100% if you don’t care about VDH/RIV/DLand FWD.

Maybe the OP can get lucky at VGC instead of crashing at a friends house for DLand once in a while….

Disney Visa says they get these discounts at Aulani.

• 10% off select merchandise purchases at select locations at
  AULANI Resort
• 10% off snorkeling at Rainbow Reef, a private saltwater lagoon home to thousands of tropical fish3
• 10% off Kāpala Kiʻi – a t-shirt stamping activity3
• 10% off Ohana Painting Party3
• 10% off an ‘ukulele purchase right after you complete an ‘ukulele class

Also I didn't see where DVC-Y gets food discounts. Did I miss something?

 

[AstroBlasters]

Disney Visa says they get these discounts at Aulani.

• 10% off select merchandise purchases at select locations at
  AULANI Resort
• 10% off snorkeling at Rainbow Reef, a private saltwater lagoon home to thousands of tropical fish3
• 10% off Kāpala Kiʻi – a t-shirt stamping activity3
• 10% off Ohana Painting Party3
• 10% off an ‘ukulele purchase right after you complete an ‘ukulele class

Also I didn't see where DVC-Y gets food discounts. Did I miss something?

Brain cloud, amended statement. I wish we got Inspire Key or Sorcerer Pass good/merch discounts….

I don’t really get out my wallet much…. I always just ask for the DVC discount and show my wrist band or digital card and then use the magic band to charge things to the room. From there I pay with a Disney gift card before checkout.

I believe you get DVC-Y casabella/cabana discounts and free popcorn refills.

It’s been a year, so this is a good refresher before our trip in 2 weeks.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Brain cloud, amended statement. I wish we got Inspire Key or Sorcerer Pass good/merch discounts….

I don’t really get out my wallet much…. I always just ask for the DVC discount and show my wrist band or digital card and then use the magic band to charge things to the room. From there I pay with a Disney gift card before checkout.

I believe you get DVC-Y casabella/cabana discounts and free popcorn refills.

It’s been a year, so this is a good refresher before our trip in 2 weeks.

Darn I was hoping I missed something and I could use a discount at our 2 character breakfasts as a selling point for my husband to buy direct (VDH) tomorrow. I think he is going to have me tell our guide we will wait til we get back from Aulani since the popcorn isn’t a big enough selling point for him . We are 3 weeks out for our trip. Super excited!