Ditto
I would prefer the cabins at WL over the bungalows at Poly b/c of the privacy, shade etc.
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Anybody’s bucket list includes that outrageously expensive Star Wars galactic cruiser? Not mine
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I think it would be fun if our whole family could (afford) do it as a unit.
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I was thinking about adding Aulani to my list, but based on some reviews it is not very “Disney”. Wondering what your thoughts are.
It’s very Disney. and an amazing resort Aulani Trip Report 9/5/21 (10 days) - Disney Vacation Club - TouringPlans Discussion Forums
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Thank you so much! I’m back to being excited about going to Hawaii. DD9 is obsessed with Lilo & Stitch and I think it would be fun for her.
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There are a lot of fun things for kids to do there too. It’s our home resort and we are going back again this fall w/ oldest DD, SiL and DGS-12. More should be open now and I intend to take some Ukulele lessons this time!!!
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I’ll do a trip report next July/Aug (by next I mean 2023) on the whole first time Adventures By Disney (Japan), Tokyo Disney from the Mira Costa resort inside DisneySea and then Aulani experience. Going with both sets of parents (well my parents and hubby’s mom) plus DD and possibly my BFF and her daughter/hubby might join for parts of it. So I can give the teens through seniors experience for those things. It’s a lot of first time and bucket list items for me. I’ve been to Hawaii when I was 18 and I seriously credit it with my desire to make something of myself. I was going thru a rough patch and Hawaii healed me and taught me that this is the kind of thing I’d like to be able to afford to do so I got myself back into college (I had dropped all my classes the previous semester and not enrolled in spring session when we went) and made something of myself. So whether or not Aulani is Disney won’t matter to me…it’s the birth of my adulthood and I loved it at 18 so I’ll just be happy to be back for the first time in 25 years! Since we’re gonna spend two nights on the way home in Honolulu at my mom’s request I thought why not Aulani??? (The reason my mom requested it was because she grew up in Japan from 3-10 years old as her dad played baseball there. She flew b/w the states and Japan several times and back in those days you had to stop in Hawaii or Alaska I believe…I don’t think planes made it quite as far as they do today so she has childhood memories of doing that and wanted to relive it).
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Also, I think Vero Beach is very Disney so if it’s anything like that but with a Hawaii flavor I’ll be a happy girl. Throw in Lilo & Stitch or Moana…yup!
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Looking forward to your TR!
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I was thinking about what we loved about Vero Beach and to me, what it has that’s Disney is what WDW is beginning to lose. The top-notch service and food, the little extras like the waitress giving the teens a Disney pin and telling them where the trading board is at dinner, the amount of activities to entertain some Disney like trivia and movies on the lawn and some the local flavor like a turtle nest walk. That’s the most Disney thing there is to me…not the characters in all honestly. So if Aulani has Disney quality service, food and entertainment, it’s gonna feel Disney to me!
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I agree 100%. Those reviews might have defined Disney by amount of theming and number one of characters, maybe?
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Yeah probably true. I mean the spirit of the Polynesian people is to take care of one another. In Polynesian culture there is no real such thing as individual families. Everyone is family. “Ohana means family….” Lol. I cannot imagine a Disney resort on an island that embodies the culture of taking care of one another could have non-Disney quality service.
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I despise the term “bucket list”, but my WISH LIST is…
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Poly. Yes, I do stay in a studio pre-renovation, but…
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Aulani
And those are the only 2 I really definitely want to do.
I would love to do an ABD but they are SOOOOO expensive as a solo.
Yes, the Asian parks sound great, but I don’t eat fish (cooked or raw), and I’m gluten-free so that rules out most soy sauce making actually being able to eat while there iffy. Eating is important to, you know, live.
Disneyland Paris is something I would like to do, but I had a VERY bad experience with a French exchange student from Paris (she was assigned to us and it was a horrible match to put this girl from boarding school with a minister’s family - she refused to do chores, listen to my parents, etc.) and her whole attitude really turned me off of Paris period.
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The thing that turned me off from the Poly bungalows was when a vlogger stayed there and noticed how many flying insects there were out on the balcony that effectively made the plunge pool not usable in the evening hours especially. Pivoted immediately to cabins with screened in area 
and scratched bungalow from my list at all
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It isn’t clear to me what we mean by “bucket list”. Do we mean if money were no object, what would we want to do? Or do we mean what resorts, etc., would I eventually likely do that I want to do, but haven’t yet?
I didn’t realize that. Thanks for that info!
Thinking more about this thread I need to add wilderness lodge and boardwalk to my list. I always think of staying at one or the other but always pick something else. Maybe a split stay!
Oh, I’ll add I’d love to stay at Yacht or Beach Club sometime.
I just have such a hard time justifying the cost of a Deluxe when I’m not a “go back to the room and rest” or “chill at the resort/pool for a day” person. (Which, yes, I realize makes it slightly ironic that I love cruising since it’s not go-go-go, but I love the ocean, so just watching it is cool to me.)
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This is what I had in mind. Things we want to do/ plan to do before we kick the bucket!