[2014] Aulani trade - help

I just got 2 matches into Aulani for January!!! One is for a one bedroom and the other is for a two bedroom. Eeek!! So EXCITED!!!

Unfortunately, the week we matched the one bedroom works better with our schedule, as our kids have 2 days off of school that week and it is the week of my daughter's birthday. It says that the 1 bedroom sleeps 5. We have 6 in our family, but the youngest will be under 2. Does he could toward the occupancy of the room? Or should we opt for the 2 bedroom?

Thanks in advance. The trade is using my Worldmark with a search started in August of 2013 (in case anyone was wondering!)

Congratulations!

DVC allows one additional infant less than 3 plus the listed occupancy. The 1 bedrooms sleep 5 with a pullout sofa and a single pull down murphy bed. Can the youngest sleep in a pack and play or squeeze 3 in a bed? If so it should be fine.

jennypersons said:

I just got 2 matches into Aulani for January!!! One is for a one bedroom and the other is for a two bedroom. Eeek!! So EXCITED!!!

Unfortunately, the week we matched the one bedroom works better with our schedule, as our kids have 2 days off of school that week and it is the week of my daughter's birthday. It says that the 1 bedroom sleeps 5. We have 6 in our family, but the youngest will be under 2. Does he could toward the occupancy of the room? Or should we opt for the 2 bedroom?

Thanks in advance. The trade is using my Worldmark with a search started in August of 2013 (in case anyone was wondering!)

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In my opinion, it depends on the age of your children. If you are trying to work around your kids school schedule and they are in elementary school, I would say opt for the 2 bedroom. Now that my boys are in jr high and high school, I wished that we had traveled more in elementary school. We did usually take them out for a week each each to travel off season. The homework and make up was time consuming but was not at the level of importance as jr high and high school...just my opinion.

I remember one year that the boys were doing their homework on the balcony of the Westin Kaanapali, pretty great place to do homework!

My oldest is going to be in her first year of jr high. The week of the 2 bedroom is almost the end of her first semester and the 1 bedroom week is the end of the 1st semester - hence the days off! My sons are in 4th grade, a preschooler, and a 1 year old. We've taken them out of school before - no problems (we travel often!), but now we are venturing into the upper grades for the first time - yikes!

Thanks for the info on the under 3 not counting!

Well, I had inquired with jennypersons via pm asking about the 2BR Aulani match (phenomenal, phenomenal exchange match). It just so happened that this 2BR was for the EXACT dates that I had entered for my Aulani request. I requested a 2BR ONLY, and ONE AND ONLY ONE week for check-in, so imagine my dismay when the exchange of the century was matched to someone else whose ongoing search was initiated one month ahead of mine in line.

Then, we learn that this 2BR match was not so ideal due to the age of her children and their school schedules. So there was more than a fleeting possibility that she would toss it back into the exchange pool. But then reality started to sink in: the OP just broadcast to the TUG world that she had two Aulani matches for January, one of which was getting tossed back, and the initiation date of her search. I could imagine all of the folks rejiggering their existing searches to catch this beauty. There is no way that I'm going to get it. Oh well, Marriott Ko Olina it is.

Well, imagine my shock and delight when I get an email from RCI saying that I have received a match to my ongoing search. One 2BR Disney Aulani match for my dates. The week that jennypersons threw back got matched with me!!!! Holy crap! This is legendary. I have confirmed it (and I will be checking RCI every few days to make sure it is still there out of sheer disbelief that this worked out), and my wife is doing backflips. I will gladly take whatever dumpster or parking lot view they hand out at check-in. I scored a week in a 2BR at Aulani, for <$1k total in fees (MFs plus RCI exchange fee) no less!

Thanks very much to jennypersons for keeping my fleeting hope alive with this thread, and most importantly for tossing the exchange back. Wow. I have reached the pinnacle of timesharing Nirvana less than 3 years into this journey. None of this would have been possible without everything I have learned on TUG. Life is good right now. Life. Is. Good.

Congrats!! Looks like we are both heading to Aulani in January!

Congratulations! As icing on your cake, there's a good chance that your room will be an Ocean view room. You can call DVC member services in about a week and they should be able to tell you the room category. You need to do this anyway to place the names of your guest on the reservation. We matched to a 1 bedroom ocean view this past May and it was fabulous. I requested high floor room in the EWA tower facing inward to the pool. We ended up getting a great 7th floor room. Have fun.

slum808 said:

Congratulations! As icing on your cake, there's a good chance that your room will be an Ocean view room. You can call DVC member services in about a week and they should be able to tell you the room category. You need to do this anyway to place the names of your guest on the reservation. We matched to a 1 bedroom ocean view this past May and it was fabulous. I requested high floor room in the EWA tower facing inward to the pool. We ended up getting a great 7th floor room. Have fun.

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Thanks for the pointer about calling to add names. I hadn't considered the possibility of getting an OV assignment, but that would make sense that it is the more expensive view categories that are left after owners have snatched up the cheaper ones. I cannot wait to call. Woop woop!

Beefnot said:

Thanks for the pointer about calling to add names. I hadn't considered the possibility of getting an OV assignment, but that would make sense that it is the more expensive view categories that are left after owners have snatched up the cheaper ones. I cannot wait to call. Woop woop!

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Wow, what luck. Congrats to you both on outstanding matches.

-ryan

Beefnot said:

Thanks very much to jennypersons for keeping my fleeting hope alive with this thread, and most importantly for tossing the exchange back. Wow. I have reached the pinnacle of timesharing Nirvana less than 3 years into this journey. None of this would have been possible without everything I have learned on TUG. Life is good right now. Life. Is. Good.

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Score!! And what awesome matches for both you and jennypersons! You are going to have wonderful trips!

Congrats Beefnot!! You guys are going to have a blast!!

I'm so happy for both of you. Not sure if I missed it, but were matches thru RCI points or weeks?

Quimby4 said:

Congrats Beefnot!! You guys are going to have a blast!!

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Thanks, we are bursting at the seams!

Weimaraner said:

I'm so happy for both of you. Not sure if I missed it, but were matches thru RCI points or weeks?

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I matched in weeks, 46 TPU for the 2BR.

This gives us all hope I had though about placing an OGS search for some time in 2016 better then realized my chances would be slim. But now...

jmpellet said:

This gives us all hope I had though about placing an OGS search for some time in 2016 better then realized my chances would be slim. But now...

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Keep hope alive. Before our successes posted in this thread, I believe there was only one other confirmed 2BR Aulani exchange posted on TUG, and that was back in November 2013.

slum808 said:

Congratulations! As icing on your cake, there's a good chance that your room will be an Ocean view room. You can call DVC member services in about a week and they should be able to tell you the room category. You need to do this anyway to place the names of your guest on the reservation.

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You were correct

Conratulations!

We loved our room and you will too. We had a 7th floor room in the EWA tower looking in toward the valley. You can use the link below to see the views from specific rooms and call DVC to add a room request. I originally tryed to ask for a room in the Waianae tower because we had family staying in the hotel portion, but was told right away that we would be staying in the EWA tower. I'm not sure if that was because its an exchange of developer inventory or if they try to keep all the week stays in one tower to make room assignments easier.

Have fun.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2907389

jennypersons said:

It says that the 1 bedroom sleeps 5. We have 6 in our family, but the youngest will be under 2. Does he could toward the occupancy of the room? Or should we opt for the 2 bedroom?

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Except for very specific rooms (I think value rooms at AKV), a 1 BR will sleep 5 + 1 infant under 3. I know because we've fit our family of 6 in 1 BRs for a while. I'm bummed because this ends for us starting next month... but it was great while it lasted. It might be tight depending on the ages of your kids. Mine were 2 years apart so 2, 4, 6, 8.

On the older villas (BWV, BCV, etc), the 3 older kids normally share the sofa bed sleeping sideways (and they fit fine since they're small). On the newer villas with the separate sleeper chair/murphy bed (BLT, OKW, etc), the oldest gets her own bed. The play pen worked when DS2 was younger, but not once he knows how to get out of it At which point he slept in the King bed with DH and I which had plenty of room.

Excited for you and really looking FW to getting Ailuani via an RCI exchange in the future.

Wow! What a story!

Thanks for sharing Beefnot!

jennypersons said:

I just got 2 matches into Aulani for January!!! One is for a one bedroom and the other is for a two bedroom. Eeek!! So EXCITED!!!

Unfortunately, the week we matched the one bedroom works better with our schedule, as our kids have 2 days off of school that week and it is the week of my daughter's birthday. It says that the 1 bedroom sleeps 5. We have 6 in our family, but the youngest will be under 2. Does he could toward the occupancy of the room? Or should we opt for the 2 bedroom?

Thanks in advance. The trade is using my Worldmark with a search started in August of 2013 (in case anyone was wondering!)

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Just a question, how do you do a trade?

jordansmomma said:

Just a question, how do you do a trade?

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You have to do an exchange through the exchange company, RCI. These are hard to get, so you need a strong trader, and you need to request a broad time frame, preferable 12 mos. or more in advance.

DeniseM said:

You have to do an exchange through the exchange company, RCI. These are hard to get, so you need a strong trader, and you need to request a broad time frame, preferable 12 mos. or more in advance.

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Thanks. We can trade with RCI, I am just unsure exactly how to. We have never traded before thanks.

jordansmomma said:

Thanks. We can trade with RCI, I am just unsure exactly how to. We have never traded before thanks.

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You need to deposit your timeshare(s) with RCI, and put in an Ongoing Search. You can do this on the RCI website or by calling them.

Wow! Congrats to jennypersons and Beefnot! Awesome match to a fabulous property!!

As a 2+ decades DVC Member I've been blessed to stay 3 different times at Aulani now on my DVC points. And have already booked airfare for next January to return to Aulani and then onto our beloved Maui.

IMHO, Aulani is the most spectacular resort Disney has ever built. The DVC villas are lovely and very well equipped. I've chosen OV each time and have stayed in both the Waianae & Ewa tower. Haven't had less than a fabulous view yet.

Be sure to take in the Starlit Hui show while at Aulani. It is superb. Keali'i Reichel was one of the main cultural consultants for Aulani. He wrote the chant for Aulani and no doubt did the hula choreography for Starlit Hui. Uncle does "talk story" around the fire pit near the beach at night. There is an awesome hand-held you can check out and go on a very cool scavenger hunt of sorts. One gets to make all sorts of cool stuff happen while on this "hunt", including making fire shoot out of the volcano slide!

AMA AMA is the gorgeous beachfront restaurant and while super popular for dinner, we prefer breakfast and lunch there. The lounges have top-shelf live Hawaiian music each night. Olelo Lounge (olelo means language in Hawaiian) require that every CM working there be fluent in the Hawaiian language.

I could go on and on, but I know you will enjoy Aulani especially if you love learning about the Hawaiian history and culture.