Aulani - Pre Trip Report (May 2017)

[BariTravis]

Hi Everyone!

Here is our pre trip report for Aulani! Let me know your thoughts/suggestions on our plans.

The Crew:



I'm on the left (Travis) and my husband (Paul) is on the right.

About Us:

We both love Disney! We are Annual Passholders to DisneyLand, DVC, and D23 members.
This trip is going to be the first trip we use DVC points and utilize our membership.

I work in HR and recently found out my company is relocating from Los Angeles to the Miami area at the end of May, so I'm using this trip as an escape to re-set the job search once I return, as I'm not a fan of moving to South Florida.

Paul works at a popular gaming company in HR as well, but on the systems side. We have two adorable fur babies! a 9 month old black cat named Jiggly(puff) and a 4 year old Shiba Inu named Yoshi.

When we are going:
May 7th - May 12th
5 Nights, 6 Days

Point Allocation:
105 Points

Room Type:
Deluxe Studio - Islands Garden View

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Sunday, 07 May 2017 -

Travel Day - We are still looking at flights out of LAX.
We plan to purchase them the last week of January.
Right now our two options have us arriving at 10:35am or 12:30pm.

We plan to get a rental car for the whole week.

We Plan to be at Aulani around 1:30/2pm at the latest.
Depending on how we are feeling we will either check in, and take a nap.
Or check in, drop off our bags, change, and go check out the lazy river!

That evening at 6:30 pm we have a reservation at Ama' Ama', which is great if its not raining or overcast as Sunset is set for 7pm based off historical data. I'm sure we will spend a good 1.5/2 hours soaking up the experience and potentially heading over to the Olelo bar for a drink or two before bed.

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Monday, 08 May 2017 -

The morning will be spent at the resort relaxing, laying out on the beach, the lazy river, and exploring the resort.

After we have a quick snack at a quick service area (possibly the AMC store ). Then back to the room for some sleep. The plan is to wake up around 3:30/4pm and head over to Monkey Pod for some happy hour drinks and appetizers.

This will be an early night as well as we will probably be stumbling back to our room after a good afternoon out. Depending on when the pools close we may go back for a swim before bed.

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Tuesday, 09 May 2017 -

This morning we will be going to the Dole plantation to do the garden tour and the train ride. We plan to do some shopping as well. From there we will head to Matsumotos for some Shave Ice! After that experience we will head to ALI’I BEACH PARK to try and find some sea turtles! After exploring the area I hope we can stop by a shrimp truck on the way back to Aulani.

Once we get back we can rest up before our reservation at Makahiki at 7pm. We may adventure out or on property to go to a bar as well before the night is over.

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Wednesday, 10 May 2017 -

I left this morning open to visit the swap meet around 9am. I expect we will find breakfast there as well as snacks to try and souvenirs. While we are in the area, this would be a good time to see Waikiki before heading back to the hotel.

More to come as we plan it!

 

[alohamom]

So far, so GREAT! Either you are a well seasoned traveller or having really been paying attention to these boards or a combo of both because I think your itinerary so far is realistic and balanced. If you are thinking of doing any snorkelling you might want to include hitting Sharks Cove or Three Tables on your Dole plantation/North Shore day. When you are headed up to Matsumotos from Dole Plantation, you will pass both along that highway just across from Foodland before Sunset Beach. Love the fur babies names too!

 

[wanderlust7]

I like your relaxed pace.

If you don't see turtles at Ali'i Beach Park, you can also try Laniakea Beach (on the North Shore as well). Parking is on the street and kind of a pain, but there are usually turtles there sleeping on the sand.

 

[PattiPB]

Are the beaches well-marked from the road by name, or are they really hard for a tourist to find in a "drive-by"?

 

[wanderlust7]

Are the beaches well-marked from the road by name, or are they really hard for a tourist to find in a "drive-by"?

Laniakea Beach is not well-marked. It's just a little stretch of beach that the sea turtles happen to like. The first time we tried to find it, we ended up at a longer stretch of beach down the road thinking that was it. We stayed for a few hours wondering where are the turtles? On the way back, we noticed hey, why are all those people walking down to that beach? So we stopped too and there were all the turtles.

Other beaches are easier to find, ones with "beach park" in the name probably has parking and restrooms, etc.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Sounds like fun!

 

[Tracy Pratt]

My family will be there some of the same dates! May 6-13..I'm eagerly watching this thread!

 

[BrotherBear]

Your trip sounds GREAT so far. I really loved going to Monkeypod for their happy hour. Highly recommend this! There aren't many "bars" in the Ko Olina resort area, especially ones that have a happy hour.

The shrimp food-trucks are really fun to go to as well. Many, many choices in Haleiwa. Just make sure you save room for that amazing reservation at Makahiki.

Many of the great turtle watching places are not marked with signs. Just be aware of the places where lots of cars are parking....that's where the turtles are. I remember driving down Hwy 83, and wondering why all these people were pulling over and parking....lol...when we came back on that same road we also pulled over and saw some amazing turtles in the ocean.

 

[disnygirl55]

Looking forward to hearing about your vacation! I'll be starting a pre-trip report myself soon - we arrive on Oahu March 25, and head to Aulani for four days beginning the 28th. Hope you have an amazing time!

 

[BariTravis]

So far, so GREAT! Either you are a well seasoned traveller or having really been paying attention to these boards or a combo of both because I think your itinerary so far is realistic and balanced.

Thanks! I have done a lot of reading. And its similar to how we want our DisneyWorld vacations to go equal fun/play and relaxation!

Love the fur babies names too!

Aww thanks

I like your relaxed pace.

Thats the name of the game in Hawaii!

Laniakea Beach is not well-marked. It's just a little stretch of beach that the sea turtles happen to like. The first time we tried to find it, we ended up at a longer stretch of beach down the road thinking that was it.

I will definitely take note of this!

My family will be there some of the same dates! May 6-13..I'm eagerly watching this thread!

Thats awesome! I'm updating the rest tomorrow!

Your trip sounds GREAT so far. I really loved going to Monkeypod for their happy hour. Highly recommend this! There aren't many "bars" in the Ko Olina resort area, especially ones that have a happy hour.

The menus have a lot of items we want to try! I can't wait!

we arrive on Oahu March 25, and head to Aulani for four days beginning the 28th.

Definitely write a trip report! I'd love to see how Aulani is before we get there!



Thanks everyone! The rest of the PTR will be completed tomorrow. Your suggestions and comments are great!

 

[BariTravis]

Thursday, 11 May 2017

I want to spend the morning doing a horseback ride at Ka’a’awa Valley. So I'm alotting 4 hours in total for this. 2 hours of actual riding and the rest looking at the area and driving.
Since we are in the area we may stop at the shrimp trucks for lunch, but have yet to decide.

We will head back to Aulani for a lap or few laps around the lazy river, then back to the room to prepare for our last night here.

We are doing the Deluxe Luau at Paradise Cove and plan to spend the majority of the evening there!

Then we will get back and pack for our Friday departure.

We have yet to buy flights as we will be doing that in the next 2 weeks. But I hope we can get a flight after noon so that we can spend a little time at the pools and hot tubs!

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I can't wait to visit and then do a trip report.

 

[OKW Lover]

When we are going:
May 7th - May 12th
5 Nights, 6 Days

That's a great time to go. We were there that week in 2015 and 2016. Looking forward to your TR.

 

[BariTravis]

That's a great time to go. We were there that week in 2015 and 2016. Looking forward to your TR.

We are looking forward to it! What is the weather like in the evenings? I'm assuming it will be close to LA's beach weather so at the lowest about 65 degrees.

 

[OKW Lover]

I'm thinking it was warmer than that at night. Just can't recall.