How bad is Standard View?

Anna Chassereau

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 9, 2016
I’m about to book our 10 year anniversary trip and I’m really struggling with what room category to book. We’ve been to WDW many times and on three Disney Cruises and always book the highest room category...we get the extended Verandah rooms on DCL and always get a Savannah view room at AKL or a theme park view room at the Contemporary for example.

Pricing out an Oceanview room for our stay and that with a flight and insurance added in the cost is pretty significant. We’re coming from the east coast and there are three of us (my husband, son and I). Booking a standard view room instead of an Oceanview would literally save us thousands of dollars...like $3,000.

I am just so torn. This will be a very expensive trip and one we only plan to do one time since Hawaii is such a long flight for us and we have so many other places we want to visit. I’m so torn over just going for it or saving that money and booking a standard room. All the other expenses for the trip (food, car rental, excursions, the luau) will also be pricey so just trying to figure out what to do.

If you’ve stayed in a standard view room how bad was it? Is it super far away from the lobby etc.? Do you regret booking this room category and wish you would have booked a better one?

Also I’m not open to booking any of the middle categories like island view etc. I’m literally just going for it and splurging on an Oceanview or saving a ton and getting a standard view. Any advice or insight is so appreciated:) Thanks!!
 
Also if we did book a standard view are there places high up around the resort to get a picture and see the ocean?
 
The standard view is great. You may have views of the parking garage or other areas of the resort. Unless you are planning on spending a lot of time enjoying the views in your room. We did not spend much time in the room. There is a great balcony off the lobby to take pictures with the ocean in the background. Honestly, you'll be happy to be able to use the money saved for food, drinks, and excursions around the island.
 


The standard view is great. You may have views of the parking garage or other areas of the resort. Unless you are planning on spending a lot of time enjoying the views in your room. We did not spend much time in the room. There is a great balcony off the lobby to take pictures with the ocean in the background. Honestly, you'll be happy to be able to use the money saved for food, drinks, and excursions around the island.

This is so good to know! I’m glad there’s a balcony to take pictures from with the ocean in the background...yes I’m really thinking the money we save will help with all the other expenses. I’d love to sit out on our balcony in the morning with a view of the ocean but not sure I can justify how much more money that would cost.
 
Did you consider renting DVC points? I rented for an Island view studio and saved almost 50%

I’ve thought about this but am leaning towards just booking through the consumer site...what DVC rental website did you book through if you don’t mind me asking?
 
We stayed in a standard view DVC studio this summer. Our view overlooked the convention center and then the island off in the distance. No one in our family minded as we slept and showered in the room and that was it. My kids ate breakfast out on the balcony a few times and they never said a word about the view (but again, we weren't there for view from the balcony. Other people find the view from their room extremely important, we do not, so only you can decide the level of importance to place on the view from your room). We were on the 8th floor of the Ewa tower and we loved that location. We were only a few rooms down the hall from the elevator and when we got to the ground floor, we were right by the laundry and the exit to the pool.
 


We booked a standard room, and got one on the 3rd floor. The view was total greenery like being in a treehouse and looking out the window. We saw trunks and leaves. That's all. There was an overpowering chemical smell in the room like someone had unleashed 5 full bottles of Febreeze. It was giving me a headache within minutes, so we asked for another room. They said there was nothing else available, but after waiting in the lobby for 40 mins while they got it sorted (and while we made sure to keep an excellent attitude!), they found something available - an ocean view room on the 14th floor. (Had there been a 13th floor, it would have been rm# 1313, which might explain its availability. lol.). The room was identical in every way, but the view was NOT :-). Oh my, it was FANTASTIC. I felt like it really impacted our experience significantly for the better. That ocean view was wonderful, and experiencing it every day was so great. It was great enough that we were inspired to call WDW from Aulini and upgrade our upcoming WDW value stay to a deluxe...because we saw how much the room environment changed the feel of the vacation. However, $3000 is STEEP!!! Too steep for me for just a view. I'd probably pay an extra $1K for it though! If you are used to staying in the highest categories of the deluxe hotels at WDW, you may feel the difference without the view - but I would be looking into DVC rental as an option for sure.

Also, something to consider: we did stay in our room way more at Aulani than we do at WDW. Even our 3 days of touring the island with the rental car, we came back to the hotel room on and off. Imagine skipping all the park days at WDW and just exploring Orlando or relaxing at the resort, hanging at the hotel grounds and the pool, and participating in resort activities. Would that make the view more important? Something to consider.
 
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After some trial and error, my wife and I now only book standard rooms at Aulani, so save the money and book standard! Although we're DVC, we decided to book standard for the following reasons:

1. At Aulani, we're spent so little time during the day in the room that we never got the benefit of a nice view. Granted, it's nice to go on the deck in the morning and have a cup of coffee with a great view, but I can get an even better view taking my coffee to the beach. When the sun goes down, there is little to be gained from the view.

2. Noise for certain rooms. The last time we stayed in a pool/garden view, we were right about the courtyard where the character breakfast is and where they bring in local musicians to play. I love Hawaiian music, but to have the same artist come in every night and put on basically the same set every night gets old really fast. And my wife, who is a late sleeper, frequently woke up in the morning to the sound of guests in the courtyard having breakfast. That wasn't an issue for me because I'm a morning person.

3. If you're on a higher floor, the standard view can give you wonderful views of the mountains. The parking garage is only about 4 stories tall, so for many rooms, the garage won't be blocking your view, and if you are high enough up, you won't even notice it.
 
I have stayed in standard view twice. Both times we were on a low floor looking at the open space between the resort and convention center. Basically there was no view. We did have a balcony of course. There was some noise the second time as that space was often used for convention meals and meet and greets. We did not find it disruptive to our day. The view was terrible, no Hawaii postcards made from that view! But that being said, we knew what to expect going in and would do it again on future trips. We have stayed in all view types and while if money wasn't an object it would be ocean view always....money is an object! We take the savings on the standard view so that we can stay longer or get a larger unit. I don't get to see Hawaii beauty from my balcony but I do get to walk out of my room and smell it and feel it a few extra days!! It's a trade off.... one we are willing to make.

I think you are doing the right thing. Ask for opinions, look at photos and compare pricing. You need to be okay with whatever view you get and do what is best for you and your family!
 
We’ve booked a standard view 2 bedroom for each of our trips. Once we were given a ground floor villa near the spa and it was lovely. The rest of the trips (4 subsequent times) we’ve gotten excellent Villas over Aunty’s house and the grounds where the luau is situated. Each one of those we have had views of the ocean to our right and the island / Beach Villas to our front / left.
 
I have been beating myself up over the same question you are having. We are staying 10 nights so I can feel your pain with the extra money to go to ocean view for us it would be 600 a night more x10 nights 6 grand more.
As much as I would love to sit out on the balcony and have a coffee or even a beer and over look the ocean I cant see me doing it for 6000 more.
We knew we wanted a 2 bedroom and we wanted to go to Aulani. if it was for a few days and it was say 5 or 6 hundred more in total then yes but not 6000 more.
Like someone else said I will grab a coffee and head to the beach and sit there in morning and enjoy my coffee.
The other thing that went through my mind was going for less time to get the ocean view... NOPE rather for 10 nights with a standard view.
Have a great trip on whatever you decide.
 
We’ve booked a standard view 2 bedroom for each of our trips. Once we were given a ground floor villa near the spa and it was lovely. The rest of the trips (4 subsequent times) we’ve gotten excellent Villas over Aunty’s house and the grounds where the luau is situated. Each one of those we have had views of the ocean to our right and the island / Beach Villas to our front / left.
what room numbers did you have and I would love to see pics so I could maybe put in a request for those room numbers
 
We had a standard view 1 bedroom when we were there summer 2018. It was wonderful. We did a lot of research about what rooms have what views, and made room requests accordingly. We also requested "highest floor," which was 7 for standard view. This got us a mountain view and views of Honolulu in the distance. I would book it again in a minute. In fact, we are going back next summer, and we currently have a standard view one bedroom booked again. I plan to request the same room we had last time--it was amazing! HUGE lanai--we sat outside and gazed at the mountains every morning while drinking our coffee. The lower point value for standard view made it so that we could stay an extra night.

You can see the pix and info in the post below:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/aulani-villas-views-updated-03-21-2017.3570961/post-59348977
 
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what room numbers did you have and I would love to see pics so I could maybe put in a request for those room numbers
787 was the villa number - I did post photos in the thread up top April / May 2018.
 
The standard view room I had was fine but definitely not a view I wanted to take pictures of. Ultimately it comes down to how much time you think you’ll be spending on your deck and how much you value a view. I lean more on the side of paying up for a bigger room, nicer meals, sitting further up on the plane and many other things than paying the difference for the view but I wouldn’t spend more than 20 minutes a day on the patio either.
 
Theres something very special about gazing out upon the pacific ocean as the sun sets over the horion. Seeing the pools and grounds at night all lit up while paddleboarders are out on the ocean with LED lights below them. Waking up every morning and drinking coffee watching the resort come to life and hearing the waves. It truly was so pretty at times it was hard to believe what i was seeing was reality. If its your only trip to Hawaii and you can spring it I think its worth splurging on an Ocieanview. Now having said all that on my next trip i am booking a one bedroom standard view over the Ocean view studio as i am choosing more room over the view. Good luck and im sure whatever you choose you will enjoy Aulani.

PS I also couldnt agree more with the suggestion to rent points. I used the disboards here and had no problems with my stay.
 
This has been our experience, take from it what you will...

We have stayed in a couple of standard views. The one that looks over the convention centre lawn and the studio that is on the ground floor that has a garden fence rock wall with a water feature. We have also stayed in a partial ocean view hotel room that over looked the adult pool and ocean towards the Four Seasons side.

Here is thing about the ocean view.
We loved it, it was awesome but we did not spend any time out there. The kids went out the day we got there to ooooh and awwww over the view. We took a couple of pictures and that was pretty much it. Actually I might have gone out to have a morning cup of tea at one point but we do not spend a lot of time in the room while at Aulani. The balconies in all the rooms we have stayed at are not big enough for the four of us to eat meals on as they have all been fairly narrow. With two older teens, my hubby and I all out there, they feel crammed.

My hubby did gravitate to the balcony/lanai in the ground floor studio because of the privacy. When we were getting ready for dinner or a couple of times in the mornings he sat there with his drink of choice and enjoyed the fresh air and sounds of the water. Might have been two or three times.

I think if we were in a one or two bedroom and I was cooking meals we might want an oceanview as my thoughts are we would be in the room for longer periods of time however I dont think I would be paying and extra $3000 for it.
 
We stayed in a standard studio and it was fine. Like PP, it overlooked the lawn of the convention center. We found it made the room a little dark, but it was better than facing the parking ramp I suppose. During our week in the room, we saw a wedding and the Secretary of Defense also gave a speech on the lawn, so it was interesting to see secret service buzz around getting everything ready. The room was on Floor 5 and the lobby is on Floor 3, so easy enough to take the stairs when needed. Wasn't far from the elevators either. Personally, we would rather spend the upgrade money on activities, or meals, or sightseeing than the room view. We wanted to be out of our room enjoying the resort and Oahu as much as possible. The only advantage I can see to having a nice view is those who will be spending time on the balcony due to sleeping kids in the room. And even then, I'm not sure its worth it once its dark out.
 
Whilst I think any room at Aulani is better than no room, I wouldn't trade our ocean view room for anything less. I considered it long and hard before booking our next trip and couldn't justify sacrificing one of the best parts of your trip: sitting on our balcony and enjoying the sunrises, sunsets, watching the waves, reading, enjoying breakfast... We are on our Aulani balcony every day, more than on a cruise or at WDW or literally anywhere else we've ever been. I never imagined how much we would enjoy our balcony time at Aulani, even more than at Animal Kingdom Lodge. However, I think an island view or partial ocean view would also be great. Honestly, any beautiful view would do. If the price jump from standard to ocean view is so dramatic, consider another view; it may surprise you. Most partial ocean view rooms have excellent views of the ocean.

I don't think a view of the convention centre or parking lot would ruin our trip, but it would definitely make Aulani less of a magical place for us.

To answer your other question, YES, there are large viewing areas with floor-to-ceiling windows where you can sit or stand and watch the ocean from the corridor. There was one on each level where the lifts let you out to the rooms. We would get off the lift and sit there for a while just because the view caught our attention... and then move on to our balcony or wherever else we were going. There is a beautiful outdoor viewing platform/deck from the hotel lobby as well.

I also echo considering renting DVC points from David's to get a studio villa with a better view for a discounted rate. We've rented from them several times and always had a seamless experience. The only downside is that you cannot add any room requests, but you can sometimes add them when you arrive.
 

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