PARADISE LOST AND FOUND – Our family’s first trip to Aulani & Hawaii - updated 9/2/16

[Dugette]

Glad you're back to updating! It's funny because I read the rest of the report before going to Aulani myself and now it's all so familiar! I too miss that beautiful place, being back in (moderately) cold Minnesota. Great empty morning pictures of the resort!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

We loved the show. There was singing and hula dancing. There were dueling ukuleles. There were Disney characters. There was fire. I think in hindsight that I personally would have been fine with passing on the luau we attended earlier, since this was an excellent, albeit shorter, show that was a nice substitute for the same general kind of entertainment you have at a luau. When I told my children this today, they disagreed vigorously.

When you throw in the cost of the luau vs. the free Disney show, I definitely agree with you!

I saw just a few cast members, but mostly had the place all to myself. Aulani really is beautiful... Here are some of the photos, which hopefully give a sense of that I mean.

I love your photos! So amazing to have the place to yourself. We took a walk early one morning as well and just loved exploring. Even now, the photos take me back instantly. What an incredible resort.

The new (at the time) Infinity Edge pool:

Wish that was there when we'd visited!

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

Glad you're back to updating! It's funny because I read the rest of the report before going to Aulani myself and now it's all so familiar! I too miss that beautiful place, being back in (moderately) cold Minnesota. Great empty morning pictures of the resort!

Thanks for hanging in there with me! It's good to be back. I am enjoying your trip report also. Wow! It seems like yesterday you were still planning... I will be chiming in on your report, but have been a lurker on the boards instead of actively participating lately. I have to tell you that it is a funny coincidence - we went to Disney World the day after you left for Hawaii, so our family also happily missed that huge first snow of the season. Yay!

I miss Aulani also. It has a way of pulling people back for repeat visits, but I am trying to be patient... And to go easy on my sweet husband, who has more self-control than me.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

When you throw in the cost of the luau vs. the free Disney show, I definitely agree with you!

Yup. No brainer. But they liked the food much more than me. I did NOT like it, which made it an easy decision to say no food and free is better.

I love your photos! So amazing to have the place to yourself. We took a walk early one morning as well and just loved exploring. Even now, the photos take me back instantly. What an incredible resort.

Thank you! It is easy to go crazy taking too many photos at Aulani. Gorgeous stuff everywhere you look. I knew I wanted to remember it well and pictures would help, so mission accomplished.

Wish that was there when we'd visited!

It was an excellent pool! More photos coming... Hey, now you have another reason to go back. Plus, poor Drew did not really get to truly experience Hawaii, in my humble opinion.

I'm following your adventures in your current TR, also. I have to say that driving on the wrong side of the road would have scared me silly - I agree with your wife! So excited that you reached the Disneyland reveal part! Fun reaction photos. I have been waiting to hear about that part of your trip for a while and am excited to hear more. We are going (to Disneyland and probably San Diego) next year, and I cannot wait.

 

[Robin"D"]

Great report.....
Question, now that you had your taste if you will, of DVC, do you think that you will become owners?

Robin & Angel " D".

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

Chapter 14: In Which We Play in the Lagoon and the Twins Fall in with a Bad Crowd at Auntie’s

On the way back up to our room, I stopped by Auntie’s Beach House to sign the twins up for their activities. Both guys had selected Stitch’s Space Goo at 12:30. Benji would participate in Uncle’s Canoe Racing at 3:00 without Kevin, who had chosen to join the rest of us in a Disney Family Fun Animation class that was scheduled for 3:30.

The family was nearly ready when I arrived at the room. We were all hungry, so made our way to Ulu Café for another tasty breakfast. I ordered a breakfast platter (below).


Kevin had a chocolate chip muffin.


The others ate breakfast too, but surprisingly not everyone enjoys waiting for Mom to take multiple pictures of their entrees before beginning to eat them. So, that’s all you get!

During our stay at Aulani, we had an easy time of finding chairs wherever we wanted near pools or on the beach, and today was no exception. We found nice chairs together on the beach and settled in. We enjoyed the beach, which was not very crowded. We went stand up paddle boarding ($30 per hour to rent boards), with everyone taking turns riding. It was a blast! We had never tried paddle boarding before, and I am sure the extremely calm water in Aulani’s lagoon helped to make it easy. Sam steered for a while and did a good job.






We paused for a family picture, on the way to taking the twins to the room for a change into normal clothes. We like getting PhotoPass for the family pictures, so try to stop where there are opportunities, to make the CD purchase price worthwhile.


I dropped Kevin and Benji off at Auntie’s at noon, because the policy is that children signed up for classes must arrive at least 30 minutes in advance. I’m not a big Stitch fan, but thought this was pretty nicely adorned, so I took a picture on my way back to the beach:


While the twins were occupied there, Sam did some boogie boarding, which was fun for him, but unfortunately a bit dull due to the lack of waves.


Our boys normally enjoy seeing Disney characters whenever we are at Disney World, but on this particular day Sam passed up a meet-and-greet with Goofy so he could spend more time in the ocean. I had to walk nearby the character meet location on Halawai Lawn (the same place that the Starlit Hui is held), so I decided to stop by and meet Goofy on my own. This was a mistake, as evidenced by the ridiculous photo. The cast member accompanying Goofy was letting Goofy direct the poses. The actual photo is full-length, but I cropped it to try to improve it. Didn’t really help, as you can see. Oh, well!


Sam and I used the waterslides and stopped for a PhotoPass picture. This is more our style, although I fear we aren’t cool enough to make the “shaka” look very natural. Observe my handy, if a bit bulky, case I bought for my key card and a couple other small items. I think it was $10, and worth every penny. Since then, I’ve used it at home at the waterpark near us as well as at Blizzard Beach, and it is so helpful.


After drying off and changing, we picked the twins up at Auntie’s and heard reports of a fun time with this guy…


And this guy!


I don’t know what was happening exactly here, but they are smiling and emerged from Auntie’s apparently undamaged, so that’s good.

Finally, here is the Space Goo ™ the boys left with as a souvenir. This sticky stuff did not accompany us (but was not LOST) when we checked out of Aulani.




Next up: We search for frozen yogurt and participate in many more fun activities at Aulani. Oh, and I will get to the explanation for my face I previewed earlier. Sorry for the delay on that one!

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

Great report.....
Question, now that you had your taste if you will, of DVC, do you think that you will become owners?

Robin & Angel " D".

Thank you so much for reading and chiming in! I think owning DVC sadly does not make a lot of sense for us, because of our lower frequency of visits and the fact that we need a larger room with our group of 5. We loved Aulani and our first time at a DVC resort, but for us we generally try to keep costs down lower than that per night so we can stay longer periods of time (since we only go to WDW every 2 or 3 years). For us, the Free Dining promos have been an amazing deal. Plus, I have a silly dream of staying at all the Disney World resorts eventually and to do that we'd need a lot of flexibility.

I assume you are enjoying being a DVC owner, Robin? I see you are at BLT. I hear that is a great resort! I am eager to try Animal Kingdom Lodge sometime, and I think renting points would be our best bet there. Ahhh, fun to plan!

 

[Robin"D"]

Thank you so much for reading and chiming in! I think owning DVC sadly does not make a lot of sense for us, because of our lower frequency of visits and the fact that we need a larger room with our group of 5. We loved Aulani and our first time at a DVC resort, but for us we generally try to keep costs down lower than that per night so we can stay longer periods of time (since we only go to WDW every 2 or 3 years). For us, the Free Dining promos have been an amazing deal. Plus, I have a silly dream of staying at all the Disney World resorts eventually and to do that we'd need a lot of flexibility.

I assume you are enjoying being a DVC owner, Robin? I see you are at BLT. I hear that is a great resort! I am eager to try Animal Kingdom Lodge sometime, and I think renting points would be our best bet there. Ahhh, fun to plan!

Being DVC owners has been one of the best things we have ever done. The thing about BLT is Location, plus the view we had [lake view] we pretty awesome.
Animal Kingdom is our favorite resort. If and when you stay, stay with a Savanna View, Nothing like waking up to those views.

Robin & Angel "D"

 

[mrsR123]

I'm so enjoying your report. You have a lovely family and a great writer's voice. I'm soaking up knowlege for my trip his June.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

I'm so enjoying your report. You have a lovely family and a great writer's voice. I'm soaking up knowlege for my trip his June.

You are very kind! I appreciate you taking the time to read it! So fun to know you have a trip coming up soon. Have you been to Hawaii before? If you have any questions at all, please ask. I love planning trips and since I will not get back to Hawaii for a while it is nearly as good interacting with others who are going soon.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

BY THE WAY.........

Just wanted to apologize to anyone reading this Trip Report for the trouble with the photos from my last update. With the changes in the DISboards recently, I have been struggling a bit with how to upload my photos.

Initially, I tried just copying my photos and pasting them into the TR because I thought it would be more efficient than my old way, but that did not work. I checked the Technical Support threads and appreciated getting some other ideas. That brought me to webresizer.com, where I was resizing the photos (which were apparently too large initially to post), copying, and pasting them in to the TR. They looked perfect initially, but then they wrote over each other, so they were all the same photo (the last one I had inserted) and then they all disappeared. I next tried using the "upload file" button here on the Disboard thread to insert my photos individually, which was pretty nice until it limited me to only 10 pictures per post. Finally, for the rest of my photos in the post (#11 and on), I returned to my process of pulling my photos into photobucket, resizing, and inserting the link from my photobucket account into my TR. It's nice to have all the pictures here, but now the sizes of my photos are not uniform. I may change that. Or not... I guess I am back to just using photobucket the old way for future posts. That'll be fine.
Anyway, for anyone who saw the goofy photo problems or the gap in photos where they should be, I wanted to explain. I was feeling like for a while with all this, but now am again. Hope you are all adjusting well to the changes with the boards! I definitely like they way the board works now on my iPad, compared with the old app.

 

[Dugette]

Sounds like a fun day so far! Your lagoon time looked fun (we only spent a very brief time in the lagoon...never enough Aulani time!)

Glad the boys had fun making Goo with Stitch!

We did as many Photopass pictures as possible too - I was really surprised that most character meets did NOT have a PP person, though (just CMs). We still made the CD worthwhile, though.

What you said about pictures confirms to me that I am doing the right thing by continuing to use my photobucket account and not mess around with direct posting. No need to teach this old dog a new trick!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I'm following your adventures in your current TR, also.

Thanks! I was hoping I hadn't finally bored you to death.

Both guys had selected Stitch’s Space Goo at 12:30.

Because what the heck.

We went stand up paddle boarding ($30 per hour to rent boards), with everyone taking turns riding. It was a blast!

Looks like a great time! I wish we'd had the chance to try it.

We paused for a family picture, on the way to taking the twins to the room for a change into normal clothes

Nice shot of everyone!

The cast member accompanying Goofy was letting Goofy direct the poses.

I don't see a problem with this.

I don’t know what was happening exactly here, but they are smiling and emerged from Auntie’s apparently undamaged, so that’s good

Looks like a lot of fun!

Oh, and I will get to the explanation for my face I previewed earlier. Sorry for the delay on that one!

Hey, a good cliffhanger never hurts the story.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

Sounds like a fun day so far! Your lagoon time looked fun (we only spent a very brief time in the lagoon...never enough Aulani time!)

So, so true - never enough Aulani time! There is a LOT we did not have time to do there. I can see why people say they have trouble leaving the resort.

We did as many Photopass pictures as possible too - I was really surprised that most character meets did NOT have a PP person, though (just CMs).

We noticed that, too! Too bad, but still got lots of other photos. The whole place is so beautiful that there is always a nice, unique background.

What you said about pictures confirms to me that I am doing the right thing by continuing to use my photobucket account and not mess around with direct posting. No need to teach this old dog a new trick!

You are wise to leave well enough alone, I think! This dog does not do new tricks well generally (if they involve computers )and I should not have tried, I guess. Oh, well. I was sure the new way would be faster. It sounds like it is for others.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

Thanks! I was hoping I hadn't finally bored you to death.

Nope! Awesome report, as usual. Thanks for taking the time to share it all. I already am looking forward to hearing where your family is off to next time, which I assume you will be sharing at the end.

Looks like a great time! I wish we'd had the chance to try it.

Another reason for you all to go back!

Nice shot of everyone!

Thanks!

Looks like a lot of fun!

Yes, they liked the space goo even better than the video games at Auntie's, so that says something, too.

 

[sager1969]

Loving your family and the pictures! We are DVC and Aulani is our home. We fell in love with Oahu and knew we had to go back again and again. Your pictures are wonderful. My husband loves photography. I may have to send him on one those photo tours. We go back in December. Also, I am hungry after reading this! I Love the pineapple there more than anything! Also, Leonard's is our 1st post flight stop. My son has already asked if we are getting some of those again. I noticed that you had my problem of getting earlier than everyone else. I would be out walking before the sun came up. But, it was honestly some of my favorite times with just me and the cleaning staff...... Thanks for sharing! Now I have to get a healthy snack. But, I will dream about yummy Malasadas.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

Loving your family and the pictures!

And thanks so much for reading!

We are DVC and Aulani is our home. We fell in love with Oahu and knew we had to go back again and again. Your pictures are wonderful. My husband loves photography. I may have to send him on one those photo tours. We go back in December. Also, I am hungry after reading this! I Love the pineapple there more than anything! Also, Leonard's is our 1st post flight stop. My son has already asked if we are getting some of those again. I noticed that you had my problem of getting earlier than everyone else. I would be out walking before the sun came up. But, it was honestly some of my favorite times with just me and the cleaning staff...... Thanks for sharing! Now I have to get a healthy snack. But, I will dream about yummy Malasadas.

Wow, lucky you with Aulani as your home resort! Well done! I love Oahu, too. Gorgeous & SO much to do & see! When we get back to Hawaii someday, I could not skip Oahu (because we've already been there). No way. I am sure the others are beautiful (I know the Big Island is, and am eager to share pictures later from that part of the trip ), but we loved Oahu and want to see more of it - and Aulani.

I bet you are counting the days til you get back. December would be the perfect time to go. I understand the waves are much better then, which would be so nice to see and enjoy.

I completely agree that Leonard's is a priority. I myself think about food entirely too much. We make our first trek to Disneyland in just over 400 days and I was delightedly reading a review of their restaurants online today and scheming about which ones to visit and what to get. Silly. Yes, I too will be having some healthy snacks in preparation, but not on the trip!

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

Chapter 15: In Which There is Ice Cream, an Adventure™, and an Un-Magical Visit to Aunty’s

We had an early dinner reservation planned, so decided to treat ourselves to frozen yogurt instead of a real lunch. I had heard that there was some tasty frozen yogurt available at Painted Sky, the resort’s teen spa. You do not need to be a teen to get the frozen yogurt, which is available at a counter just inside the door of the spa. We managed to find Painted Sky after some searching, but it turned out that there was a very long wait because the one cast member on duty was assisting another guest. Three of us eventually gave up, because we were so hungry and knew there were other Disney ice cream treats more easily available that we may in fact like better.

Sam, Benji, and I made our way to the Lava Shack and grabbed some ice cream treats from their cooler. I am happy to report my Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar was spectacular, as usual. There is no way the frozen yogurt could have surpassed its deliciousness. We do not have photographic evidence of our snacks, because they did not last long.

After our treat, we strolled Aulani’s gorgeous lobby and happened upon a Photo Pass photographer for some family photos with the Waikolohe Valley behind us. Love the open air lobby!





Benji needed to be at Aunty’s again by 2:30, so he could take part in Uncle’s Canoe Racing at 3:00. It was tough having to drop off our guy so soon (he had less than an hour break between his events at Aunty’s), but he was excited to do it and we knew it would be great.

Our next stop was Kalepa’s store for Aulani t-shirts for all the boys. We found some nice ones and looked around at other souvenirs to buy later. I was searching for a pretty Aulani ceramic mug, but the only ones I liked were DVC mugs, so I assumed I could not buy one because I am not a DVC member. I am sad I did not ask, though, because I love a fun Disney mug. Oh, well. At least I came away from the store with something else – my mom! She met us at this point and would be joining us for the rest of our day. She had been with us earlier, but during the beach time she decided to get out of the sun and spend some time relaxing and reading on her balcony. Some people like to relax on vacation after all, especially in Hawaii. That’s what I hear anyway.

Next stop was the Pau Hana Room (a.k.a., the Community Hall), because we wanted to take a shot at the Menehune Adventure Trail. It is a “high-tech scavenger hunt” along the lines of Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure in Epcot. We only had time for one adventure, but it was entertaining. We enjoyed exploring some places in the resort that we had not yet had a reason to visit. A little highlight for the boys was the kids’ waiting area with the TV that shows Disney animated shorts. (They LOVE sitting in the waiting area at Port Orleans – Riverside, our “home resort.” They adore the silly slapstick comedy in those old cartoons and can watch them forever.) As is the case at Epcot, there were many cool effects triggered by our device. I love how it forces you to really tune into the Disney details that are so special.



I love the photographs in the front desk area. So beautiful.
http://s1166.photobucket.com/user/disMom7/media/img_1116_zpsz15nhgqb.jpg.html


After our adventure was finished, we returned our device to the community hall, which was all set up and ready for Disney Family Fun Animation, a class we would be taking part in. A cast member walked us step-by-step through sketching Donald Duck’s head. The second part of the class was our favorite part: hand-painting an animation cel. We got to choose from a variety of characters and had a great time working on them. It makes a nice souvenir, too.



http://s1166.photobucket.com/user/disMom7/media/img_1118_zpslrriiyys.jpg.html


While we were at our class, Photopass photographers took some pictures of what Benji was doing. Some of this…



And also this…



Our class concluded at 4:30, so we went to pick up Benji, whose class ended at 4:00. We were excited to see him and hear all about the canoe race he had participated in. This is where our day – and the vacation - hit its low point: Benji let us know he had had a terrible time at Aunty’s. Remember how earlier when we had toured Aunty’s, cast members blocked us from one room that they said was for little kids and that would not be of any interest to kids our age? Well, they stuck Benji (and the other kids) in that room when he arrived for the class, and right after the class they were sent there again. During the canoe building activity, he said another boy scribbled on his canoe and picked on him in other ways. Benji said he told a cast member, but nothing was done to stop it. He asked them to call me, because he wanted to leave, but they would not. He was pretty unhappy, until at the very end when he was released from that forbidden room and started to play a video game. Of course, this is when we showed up and he needed to quit. We had to go to dinner, so we tried to cheer Benji up as he walked. He was extremely sad and in tears and remained that way through much of dinner. It was disappointing. I was frustrated that they would not call me when he asked. That is just wrong. I have high praise for Disney 99.5% of the time, but in this case, they got it very wrong.

Next time: Dinner at Monkeypod and a swim and then more early morning Aulani photos, as we prepare to leave for the Big Island

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I am happy to report my Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar was spectacular, as usual.

Our next stop was Kalepa’s store for Aulani t-shirts for all the boys. We found some nice ones and looked around at other souvenirs to buy later.

Much later, after taking out a second mortgage.

I love how it forces you to really tune into the Disney details that are so special.

That's a great way to look at those games!

The second part of the class was our favorite part: hand-painting an animation cel. We got to choose from a variety of characters and had a great time working on them. It makes a nice souvenir, too.

Very cool!

I have high praise for Disney 99.5% of the time, but in this case, they got it very wrong

Wow, that really stinks. I'm sorry he had such a crappy time there. And really amazed that nothing was done about it.

Looking forward to Monkeypod!

 

[Dugette]

Wow, those animation cels you colored look really cool!

So sorry that Benji had such a rotten time at Aunty's! I hope you all can still enjoy Monkeypod - we loved it there!