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Hawaii with kids - gameplan for booking ahead with points

pryu

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We are starting to plan out a Hawaii trip with 3 kids. Possibly taking the grandparents for support and family fun.

We are thinking of possibly doing a week in both Ohau and Big Island.
Which HGVC properties suit kids? I would love some recommendations.

And what's the best plan of attack to get 2 or 3 bedroom units with points. My home resort is in Orlando,... so, I can only book 9 months out,...

Hoping to hear from the experts!
Thx
 

Luanne

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On the Big Island the only HGVC properties are in the Waikoloa Resort area. We've stayed at both the Bay Club and Kohala Suites. With kids you might want to try for either Kingsland (which has better pools for kids from what I understand) or Kohala Suites. Both of these give you free privileges at the Hilton Waikoloa Resort (use of their pools being the big draw for kids). Kingsland is the only one that has 3-bedrrom suites.

On Oahu the Grand Islander, the Grand Waikikian and the Lagoon Tower of the Hilton Village all have 3-bedroom suites.

I'm not a HGVC owner so I can't help with the booking.
 

Tamaradarann

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We are starting to plan out a Hawaii trip with 3 kids. Possibly taking the grandparents for support and family fun.

We are thinking of possibly doing a week in both Ohau and Big Island.
Which HGVC properties suit kids? I would love some recommendations.

And what's the best plan of attack to get 2 or 3 bedroom units with points. My home resort is in Orlando,... so, I can only book 9 months out,...

Hoping to hear from the experts!
Thx

The 3 resorts at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Oahu and the 2 resorts in Waikoloa that are recommended in the previous post would work great for you. I find that the biggest challenge with traveling with kids is booking when they are out of school and for two weeks is usually in the summer. Coming from Toronto personally we would want to go in the winter, since we hate the cold and go to Hawaii in the winter to get away from it. That would mean taking them out of school for a week or so. If getting away from the cold is not an issue then you should book immediately since summer availability goes quickly and is available right now for July 2017 for 6 people at both locations. The Oahu location is usually the one most difficult to get so you should do that first. The Grand Islander is the newest resort and only lets club booking up to 6 months out so that availability is very fresh. You may have any issue with bringing the Grandparents since the availability that I saw was for 6 people. You can call the resorts and they may let an additional child be added with no problem. The other issue may be the amount of points that you need. You may need to shorten your vacation to fit your points if you don't have enough. Good luck and if you have any other questions please ask we all are here to help members
 

SmithOp

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The accepted strategy for getting a high demand reservation during club season is to book the first three days first, then add days every day using the change reservation option or calling in. Book at 12:01 EST for the best chance when the new day starts, book exactly at 276 days.


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alwysonvac

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This question is asked a lot. So there's lots of old threads covering this topic. I've added some links below but there are plenty more.

The Big island will be easier to book than Oahu during peak season (whenever the kids are out of school) due to the competition. So if you want Oahu, it's best to book a room their first then book your Big Island stay the week before or the week after.

On Oahu, you'll want to stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village (HHV) resort.
On the Big Island, you'll want to stay at Kings Land or Kohala Suites.
NOTE: The three bedroom at HHV are harder to book than the two bedrooms on both islands.

Location
OAHU - The HGVC resorts are located on Waikiki in Honolulu

BIG ISLAND – The HGVC resorts are located in the Waikoloa Beach Resort area.
There are several restaurants and two shopping centers within Waikoloa Beach Resort - http://www.waikoloabeachresort.com/


Hotel Property Integration
OAHU – 4 out of the 5 HGVC resorts (Lagoon, Kalia, Grand Waikikian and Grand Islander) are located within the Hilton’s 22 acre hotel property (Hilton Hawaiian Village). As a result, HGVC guests have access to all of the hotel amenities (however at hotel prices).
The Hokulani property is not integrated with the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It's a standalone boutique hotel in the heart of Waikiki near the main shopping strip.

BIG ISLAND – None of the existing Club resorts (Bay Club, Kohala Suites & Kings’ Land) are located within the hotel property (Hilton Waikoloa Village) however all HGVC guests do have access to the Hilton hotel amenities. Waikoloa Suite and Kings’ Land guests have free access to the hotel pool. Bay Club guests must pay for hotel pool access. There is an internal HGVC resort shuttle that stops at the Hilton property and two local shopping malls.

Beachfront
OAHU - Hilton Hawaiian Village is a beachfront property. Many of the HGVC rooms on the hotel property offer great ocean views.

BIG ISLAND – While the Hilton Waikoloa Village is an oceanfront property, it does not have a swimmable beach (extremely rocky). None of the HGVC resorts are oceanfront. Some have a glimpse of the ocean. Here’s a map of the Waikoloa Resort area that shows the location of each of the HGVC resorts - http://www.waikoloabeachresort.com/files/map2012.pdf

Pools/Lagoons
OAHU - Truth be told... I don't find the pools at HHV inviting. They've always seemed too small and cramped for the size of the resort. But the lagoon is a fairly large size.

BIG ISLAND – I can only speak about the pools at Kings’ Land and the Hilton Waikoloa Village. They are both inviting and relaxing. We spent a day at each pool location during our 2013 stay in the 1st week in June and truly enjoyed our experience. See HWV Lagoon and Pool photos - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194066


Big Island
Interested in opinions on the 3 Big Island resorts (2016) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240857
Kings Land 2br (2012) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173030
Phase 3 at Kings Land (2016) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=238439
Why go to HGVC on the big island at all? (2015) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236611

Oahu
For those who are not familar with the Hilton Hawaiian Village(2013) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1563081&postcount=31
Oahu HGVCs - Help me decide which one to stay (2013) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194183
What would you recommend in Honolulu? (2012) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163139
 
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Sandy VDH

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Realize that the 3 BR units at HHV all come on premium point chart. The Lagoon and Kalia towers are on the standard point chart, and do book up quicker as a result. There is a very few 3 BR units at Lagoon Tower but a full week would almost never be available at the 9 month mark. These 3 BR units are 2 stories high and are the top 2 floors of the building. Hardly ever see these available during club season. So don't count on that.

The 3 BR at HHV Waikiki Tower is a PH unit, and is 28,750 points for a week in a 3 BR. That is a lot of points. You may want to consider two 2 BR units at Lagoon, or a 2 and a 1 BR unit. That might be better on points.

For Waikoloa on the BI, there are ONLY 3 BR units at Kings' Land, and these too are on the premium point chart, not the standard.

So you could go through a lot of points to get 3 BR units in Hawaii. How many points do you have?
 

ljmiii

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As others have mentioned, it will be more difficult to get reservations at Oahu's Hilton Hawaiian Village and so should probably be booked before the Big Island. Another strategy would be to book the Big Island for a 'peak week' (e.g. President's Week) and Oahu for a less competitive week before or after. Another piece of advise I can give you is to put aside dreams of 3BR units on Oahu. Not only are they rare as hen's teeth but the point requirements for all but the handful of 3BRs on the top floor of the Lagoon tower are truly breathtaking. Oh...and that HHV is firm on the 6 person limit.

Our family of 7 (for us 2 kids and 3 grandparents) have been enjoying a week together at HHV every other year for a decade now. And we found trying to fit us + our kids + 2 grandparents into the smallish 2 bedroom units of the Lagoon tower to be something of a challenge - particularly given our conflicting sleep schedules. And so my last piece of advise is to suggest you and the kids stay in a 2BR that gets used as the 'clubhouse' - I make breakfast for everyone and until recently served nightcaps to the adults after the children were tucked in bed. And get the grandparents their own room - ideally in the same tower but anywhere in HHV will do.
 

thare

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For lagoon 3 BR, do people keep doing the 3 day moving reservation thing for months? I'm looking at October, and there are literally no days open. You literally can't even book the 3 days right now, and I was wondering if the strategy was to keep moving the days.

Do you get assessed a change fee every time you move dates or add dates? Can you change the start date and end date by 1 day every day?
 

Sandy VDH

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For lagoon 3 BR, do people keep doing the 3 day moving reservation thing for months? I'm looking at October, and there are literally no days open. You literally can't even book the 3 days right now, and I was wondering if the strategy was to keep moving the days.

Do you get assessed a change fee every time you move dates or add dates? Can you change the start date and end date by 1 day every day?

You will be extremely lucky if you even find a 3 BRs at Lagoon, Home week takes up most of those units.

You can book a changable reservation. That way adding or changing days is NO extra fee.

Early October is Gold Season, those weeks likely go very fast. Mid Oct onward is back to Platinum so try after gold season is over.
 

ljmiii

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There are just a handful of 3BRs on the top floor of the Lagoon tower and I can't imagine an owner ever using their 3BR Lagoon week as points - it's worth all of 9,600 points instead of the 28,750 points a 3BR in the Grand Waikikian yields.
 

Tamaradarann

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And get the grandparents their own room - ideally in the same tower but anywhere in HHV will do.[/QUOTE]

Since pyru mentioned, "perhaps bring the Grandparents" I didn't specify a good alternative if a 3 bedroom wasn't available and HGVC Resorts were not flexible with an additional child. The suggestion of a separate room for the Grandparents is excellent and could be accomplished at the Hilton Hawaiian Village with a timeshare studio or 1 bedroom if points were available or a hotel room on the same property. A 1 bedroom would be the alternative at Waikoloa.
 

alwysonvac

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The accepted strategy for getting a high demand reservation during club season is to book the first three days first, then add days every day using the change reservation option or calling in. Book at 12:01 EST for the best chance when the new day starts, book exactly at 276 days.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Here's a link to an old thread regarding high demand week reservations.
Reserving a Hard To Get Week (2013) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/reserving-a-hard-to-get-week.202535/

NOTE: This 2013 thread was based on the old reservation system.

The new website might have a whole new set of challenges :doh:
For example, last year the new website wasn't starting the next day at midnight eastern. :crash:
I don't know if that was fixed :shrug:
 

presley

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Which HGVC properties suit kids? I would love some recommendations.
Kingsland on the Big Island is a great resort for kids. They have a really good pool area, plus a few extra activities during the week (shave ice, hula lessons, etc). There is a shuttle bus that will take you to the Hilton Hotel where you can use the waterslides, pools and lagoon which are also very fun for kids.

On Oahu, you will want Hilton Hawaiin Village. Several people have mentioned the various towers already. The points required for the different towers varies a lot. The cheaper rooms will fill up the quickest. Be prepared that whatever points you own in Orlando won't go as far in Hawaii. Hilton Hawaiin Village has a lagoon, a beach, penguins, exotic birds, a waterslide area, shopping and dining all onsite. The rest of Waikiki is easily walkable, although I've been told by several people that they were not comfortable with having their kids explore Waikiki.
 

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Lots of good information here. For HHV you can also put grandparents in a studio. If they're like our parents they'll enjoy hanging out with everybody in the 2bdrm unit and retiring to the studio for naps and sleeping. Studio of course is less points than 1 bdrm but will be perfectly fine for your situation.

Bay Club and Waikoloa Suites share a check in lobby and pool. Bay Club units have a lot more space and big L-shaped lanais. While I prefer the 3rd floor my kids really like the 1st floor units. The lanais on the first floor open directly to the green space where they can play and they can come and go as they please.
 

thare

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Anyone have any idea what the difference between the room codes within a room type are? IE the 3BR has a 3BP and 3BL, 2br premiere has 2LX and 2BX?
 

alwysonvac

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Anyone have any idea what the difference between the room codes within a room type are? IE the 3BR has a 3BP and 3BL, 2br premiere has 2LX and 2BX?
The codes are listed in the Revolution reservation system

3BP = three bedroom penthouse with 2.5 bathrooms
3BL = three bedroom penthouse with three bathrooms
2LX = two bedroom penthouse with two bathrooms
2BX = two bedroom oceanfront with two bathrooms (floors 3-23)

All penthouse units are on the top floor (24th floor) in the Lagoon Tower. These are all two story penthouse units. There are
- six 2 bedroom oceanview penthouse units
- two 3 bedroom oceanfront penthouse units
- three 3 bedroom oceanview penthouse units.
NOTE: The bed sizes in the penthouse units vary (there is no guarantee which unit you will be placed in).

Old threads
Lagoon Tower 3 bedroom lock off (2016) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/lagoon-tower-3-bedroom-lock-off.246331/
Size of Penthouse versus Ocean Front (2010) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/2010-size-of-penthouse-versus-ocean-front.132850/
 

JulieAB

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Kingsland 2 bed had two full beds in the 2nd bedroom.

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alwysonvac

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... The rest of Waikiki is easily walkable, although I've been told by several people that they were not comfortable with having their kids explore Waikiki.

Honolulu/Waikiki is like any other major city - San Diego, Chicago, New York, etc.
If you're talking about kids roaming around Waikiki on their own, I would feel the same for kids in any major city.

Honolulu is listed under the 15 Best Family Vacations on US News and World Report - http://travel.usnews.com/rankings/Best_Family_Vacations/

Honolulu is also listed as a top kid friendly city by Parents Magazine - http://www.parents.com/fun/vacation/ideas/familyfun-travel-awards/
 
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