# Trip Report: Our First Aloha - A Spring Break 2017 Hale Koa and Aulani Report



## disnygirl55

*INTRODUCTIONS AND PLANS*

Hi everyone! It’s time for another trip report, and a brand new experience for our family. This will be our first trip to Hawaii. This is a split stay: 3 nights at Hale Koa at Waikiki (my husband is retired Air Force, so we’re taking advantage of the lower prices at the military resort) followed by 4 nights at Aulani. At Aulani, we have rented points from DVC rentals (renting points is another scary “first” for us), and we are staying in a one-bedroom Ocean View villa. Flying Hawaiian Airlines, Extra Comfort seats, so I’ll be reporting on that as well.

I will tell you up front that we rented the one-bedroom villa for the space, not the cooking facilities. That is one sticking point I have about considering buying into DVC – when I go on vacation, you will not find me cooking. I love eating out! But yes, the space will be wonderful, and I’ll appreciate the refrigerator and microwave, and the dining table (for drink-preparation purposes???). That’s about it. (And I think the washer and dryer may also come in handy. We’ll see.)

First, introductions of our family of three:




Me, lover of all things Disney. Disney Cruises have taken first place in my heart – no better vacation ever!! But regardless of the destination, we always make some terrific memories, and I enjoy the planning process nearly as much as the trip itself. Planning this first trip to Hawaii has been scary. It’s been so long since I’ve ventured into the unknown for a vacation. Three cheers for the Dis Boards and the many trip reports I’ve read avidly!

DH, loves Star Wars first and foremost, and also Donald Duck specifically of all the Disney characters. He is a Disney convert through marriage, but has embraced my way of life without too much resistance. It helps immensely that the Star Wars and Disney families are now one and the same.

DS, 15. He is so grown up now! He loves cruising, Disney, and Star Wars, so we think we’ll keep him. He’s excited to see Hawaii. I’m a bit bummed that he’s now in high school and we have to plan around school breaks, but we’ll do what we have to do. He has also grown to enjoy fine dining experiences, so we have included him on our “date night”-type dinners. He’s really excited about the amount of sushi I’ve assured him we will come across in Hawaii.  I’m hopeful he can make some teen friends at the resort, and enjoy making his own vacation memories.


Here is a brief break down of our plans for the trip:

Day 1: Leave home and fly to Las Vegas for one night. We have dinner reservations at Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Paris Hotel, and want to try the “Hell’s Kitchen Tasting Menu” (with wine pairings, naturally!)

Day 2: Leave Las Vegas in the AM, on Hawaiian Airlines, arrive noonish in Honolulu. We are renting a car for the week from Budget. Travel to Hale Koa Hotel and explore the area. They have a Surf and Turf buffet that night at the hotel.

Day 3: Pearl Harbor in the AM, KuruKuru Sushi in Pearl City for lunch, Hawaii Nautical Sunset Cocktail Cruise in the evening.

Day 4: Kualoa Ranch “Premier Movie Sites Tour” in the AM. Hale Koa Luau in the evening.

Day 5: Guided tour of Iolani Palace at 9:00 AM, check out of Hale Koa after, and make our way to Aulani, detouring to Costco for provisions and Leonard’s Malasadas for a brunch-type snack of…. wait for it…… malasadas! Hang out at Aulani in the afternoon, and enjoy Happy Hour and Dinner at Monkeypod.

Day 6: Early breakfast at Ama Ama, and then Laniwai Spa Appointments for the grown-ups. Aulani’s Ka wa’a Luau in the evening – VIP seating area.

Day 7: Ziplining at Climbworks in the morning, followed by lunch at food trucks on the North Shore. A stop at the Dole Plantation on the way back to Aulani. Dinner at Ama Ama to watch the sunset.

Day 8: “Dolphins and You” excursion in the AM, dinner at Roy’s.

Day 9: Rented a cabana for the day. Plan on bringing over lunch from Pizza Corner to eat in the cabana. Just enjoying the resort. We are checking out on this day, and will depart after they kick us out of the cabana for our late night flight back to Las Vegas, arriving in the morning of Day 10.

Day 10: Fly home mid-morning after a 3-hour layover in Las Vegas.

So that’s it. I loaded our activities for the early morning hours, since I don’t enjoy the heat much, and we are also early risers, which could translate into insanely early risers until we adjust to the three-hour time difference. Planning on some down time on our Ocean View balcony with some drinks in hand, lots of reading time (kindle loaded and ready!), and listening to the waves.

I must be expecting that we’ll enjoy this, since I’ve already started a small list of things we need to do on our next trip that we’re not going to have time for this time around. Especially meals, like Alan Wong’s for dinner and High Tea at the Moana Hotel.

Only five weeks of cold and snowy winter to go…..


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## disnygirl55

*TRIP REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS*


Friday, March 24 - To Las Vegas via Paris - *COMPLETE*

Saturday, March 25 - Flight to Honolulu and Staying at Hale Koa - *COMPLETE*

Sunday, March 26 - Pearl Harbor and Waikiki Sunset Cocktail Cruise - *COMPLETE*

Monday, March 27 - Part One: Kualoa Ranch - *COMPLETE*

Monday, March 27 - Part Two: Dole Plantation and Hale Koa Luau - *COMPLETE*

Tuesday, March 28 - Iolani Palace, Aulani, Monkeypod Kitchen - *COMPLETE*

Wednesday, March 29 - Ama Ama Breakfast, Laniwai Spa, Ka wa'a Luau at Aulani

Thursday, March 30 - Climbworks Ziplining, Ama Ama Dinner

Friday, March 31

Saturday, April 1

Sunday, April 2


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## chunkymonkey

How exciting you've started a PTR!! I'm really looking forward to seeing pictures and hearing about your experiences at Aulani as well as the rest of Hawaii!
Are you guys planning to snorkel anywhere? Honauma Bay is the best place for that. And don't forget the shave ice! Our favorite place is Uncle Clay's House of Pure Aloha and this little kiosk called Island Vintage Shave Ice in front of the Royal Hawaiian. It is amazing (get the Heavenly Lillikoi, it is delicious). Also on the North Shore, stop by Matsumoto's for Shave ice in Haleiwa. It's an institution! 

I'm so excited for you and your family!! You will have an amazing time! ALOHA!!!


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## chunkymonkey

BTW, that is a really awesome pic from SWDAS! You should do a little recap of that cruise!


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## disnygirl55

chunkymonkey said:


> How exciting you've started a PTR!! I'm really looking forward to seeing pictures and hearing about your experiences at Aulani as well as the rest of Hawaii!
> Are you guys planning to snorkel anywhere? Honauma Bay is the best place for that. And don't forget the shave ice! Our favorite place is Uncle Clay's House of Pure Aloha and this little kiosk called Island Vintage Shave Ice in front of the Royal Hawaiian. It is amazing (get the Heavenly Lillikoi, it is delicious). Also on the North Shore, stop by Matsumoto's for Shave ice in Haleiwa. It's an institution!
> 
> I'm so excited for you and your family!! You will have an amazing time! ALOHA!!!



Eeeeekkk!  Yes, it's finally almost time! Santa brought us each one of those cool one-piece snorkel masks - the Tribord Easy Breath snorkel masks. We have all snorkeled before, but it seems like one of us ALWAYS gets the bad snorkel that leaks somewhere, so sometimes it's not very enjoyable. I'm hoping this will be a huge improvement. They have great reviews, anyway - so I'll report back. Maybe I should go snorkeling in my bathtub prior to our trip. LOL!

We will be snorkeling with the Dolphins and You excursion, but will probably try things out in the Aulani lagoon prior to that. I sure appreciate the word on Honauma Bay. We're not planning to go snorkeling there at this point, but I'll tuck that information into my back pocket to use on a whim if we decide to. And I'll DEFINITELY add it to my "for next time" list. I mean, I'm earning miles on my Hawaiian Airlines credit card, so how could I not plan a trip back??!!!

And yes, yes on the Shave Ice. Thank you so much for the recommendations - we already have Matsumoto's on our to-do list on the way back from ziplining at Climb Works. I cannot wait to try real Hawaiian Shave Ice. We will seek out the others if we have any additional time (I think this is going to be a constant refrain of mine, and I think we should have booked for two weeks!)



chunkymonkey said:


> BTW, that is a really awesome pic from SWDAS! You should do a little recap of that cruise!



So nice of you to say about the photo - it's not my favorite, but we didn't take many other "entire family" photos on our cruise last year, so I was scaping the bottom of the barrel. I thought about doing a trip report, but honestly, there was not a lot to add after reading yours - you did such a super job reporting on everything. I should have done a trip report for the sheer reason of preserving our memories of the trip for posterity (because it's really a big blur now - but that might have been the amount of wine we drank on the verandah). I crack myself up, but it's so TRUE!! I do remember that DS had such an amazing time in the Vibe teen club, and we hardly ever saw him (thus, the lack of family photos). He wants to go back so badly. Poor buddy. But I know he's going to love this Hawaii adventure!


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## alohamom

OHHHH-I would LOVe to hear how you make out with the full face snorkel masks. I saw a lot of them last time at Hanauma Bay and I want to get some for the family but I wasnt sure if it was worth it.


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## soniam

Trip sounds great so far, and it's coming up so soon. I can't wait to hear about Aulani. We have been to Oahu before and stayed in Waikiki, but I want to stay at Aulani next trip. Curious about Roy's near Aulani too. I think it will be the most convenient for our data night, since DS is a picky eater. He will be old enough to not need want a sitter, but I don't know how I feel about leaving him that far away when we aren't at home. He will be 12 when I think we will go next.


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## GooglyBear808

A little FYI for Hale Koa ... Parking is cheap!  $7 a day and it will be billed to your room.  The parking lot is across the street (which is kind of a bummer) but it does help get some cardio in to work off all that ono food you'll be eating!  The last time we were there (May 2016) we were surprised when the lifeguards blew their whistles 45 minutes after every hour.  Apparently there is some sort of rule that for 15 minutes all children had to vacate the pool and only adults were allowed to swim.  This was enforced at the Maile pool but I'm not sure if it happens at the 'Ilima pool as well.  There is a small exchange on the bottom level that offers everything from cold beverages to swim supplies!  Enjoy your trip!


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## disnygirl55

alohamom said:


> OHHHH-I would LOVe to hear how you make out with the full face snorkel masks. I saw a lot of them last time at Hanauma Bay and I want to get some for the family but I wasnt sure if it was worth it.



I will definitely let you know if they were worth it!



soniam said:


> Trip sounds great so far, and it's coming up so soon. I can't wait to hear about Aulani. We have been to Oahu before and stayed in Waikiki, but I want to stay at Aulani next trip. Curious about Roy's near Aulani too. I think it will be the most convenient for our data night, since DS is a picky eater. He will be old enough to not need want a sitter, but I don't know how I feel about leaving him that far away when we aren't at home. He will be 12 when I think we will go next.



It amazing how quickly they start to mature once they're about that age. You'll have a better idea of his reliability, resourcefulness, and how reliable he is at communication and following the rules by then, hopefully. I'll make sure to let you know exactly how long it would take to get back from Roy's.



GooglyBear808 said:


> A little FYI for Hale Koa ... Parking is cheap! $7 a day and it will be billed to your room. The parking lot is across the street (which is kind of a bummer) but it does help get some cardio in to work off all that ono food you'll be eating! The last time we were there (May 2016) we were surprised when the lifeguards blew their whistles 45 minutes after every hour. Apparently there is some sort of rule that for 15 minutes all children had to vacate the pool and only adults were allowed to swim. This was enforced at the Maile pool but I'm not sure if it happens at the 'Ilima pool as well. There is a small exchange on the bottom level that offers everything from cold beverages to swim supplies! Enjoy your trip!



Thanks for the great info on Hale Koa! Much appreciated!


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## disnygirl55

Three weeks from today we begin our travels - eeeeeek!!!!  Getting pretty excited now - thinking about things to prep at work for my absence and getting some nice polo shirts for dress-up dinners for DS - I swear he's grown three inches in the past six months, and last year's cruise clothes no longer fit.

DH and I had the "dinner clothing" discussion this morning - I'm guessing dinner on Oahu is pretty casual. I'm thinking for the guys, polo shirts and slacks for our dinner in Las Vegas, and then polo shirts and shorts with a belt for dinner at the luau and even the dressy meals like Roy's and Ama Ama.

Can anyone chime in and let me know if I'm on the right track with the dress code?  For me - sun dresses all day every day.


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## soniam

disnygirl55 said:


> Three weeks from today we begin our travels - eeeeeek!!!!  Getting pretty excited now - thinking about things to prep at work for my absence and getting some nice polo shirts for dress-up dinners for DS - I swear he's grown three inches in the past six months, and last year's cruise clothes no longer fit.
> 
> DH and I had the "dinner clothing" discussion this morning - I'm guessing dinner on Oahu is pretty casual. I'm thinking for the guys, polo shirts and slacks for our dinner in Las Vegas, and then polo shirts and shorts with a belt for dinner at the luau and even the dressy meals like Roy's and Ama Ama.
> 
> Can anyone chime in and let me know if I'm on the right track with the dress code?  For me - sun dresses all day every day.



I remember a lot of people dressed "casually". Men mostly wear slacks and Hawaiian shirts, especially locals. Sounds like your choices will be fine. I think every city has gotten more casual at fine dining establishments. Sounds fun. Can't wait to hear about it.


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## Neverland_Girl

I've been looking at the Aulani boards lately because I need to get back to Hawaii and I just found your PTR. I went with a group from college and I'm pretty sure we went to the Hale Koa luau because one of our advisors had a friend who was stationed on Oahu. The food was amazing and they bring it out to you plated. You have to try Giovanni's shrimp truck on the North Shore it's so good. Have a great trip I'll be looking forward to your report!


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## alldiz

I am excited to hear all about your trip. I am also a WDW lover and we are planning not only our 1st trip to Hawaii, but also Disneyland this summer. I'm not sure which is more fun to research
We are also flying Hawaiian air on Economy Comfort so interested to hear if that is worth it. After Aulani we are doing the POA cruise, so I am torn over spending most time at Aulani or exploring Oahu also. I thought we would leave one day and go to North Shore.
So many decisions
Thanks
Kerri


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## disnygirl55

alldiz said:


> I am excited to hear all about your trip. I am also a WDW lover and we are planning not only our 1st trip to Hawaii, but also Disneyland this summer. I'm not sure which is more fun to research
> We are also flying Hawaiian air on Economy Comfort so interested to hear if that is worth it. After Aulani we are doing the POA cruise, so I am torn over spending most time at Aulani or exploring Oahu also. I thought we would leave one day and go to North Shore.
> So many decisions
> Thanks
> Kerri



Oh my gosh, Kerri - it sounds like you have a year of amazing trips planned!  I love love love Disneyland, and I rank it as a better, more relaxing vacation than WDW. I like them both, but your time seems to be more your own at Disneyland, as it's generally quick to get back to the hotel if you stay onsite, and it's super easy to hop between the two parks (just a stroll across the central paved esplanade). And there has really been an uptick in food quality. We tried a few new places on our last trip that I just can't wait to get back to - like Carthay Circle, which we'd never eaten at before, and the bar in California Adventure next to Ariel's grotto that looks out onto the Fun Wheel and the water - the bar food there and the drinks are amazing if you can get there early enough and park yourself at a table in the shade. Utter relaxation. And then there are long-time favorites like Napa Rose, Steakhouse 55, and the Blue Bayou. Makes me long for our next trip!

I am jealous about the POA cruise you are planning. I'd like to do that next time we travel to Oahu, so we can see the other islands. But I always love to save experiences that give me a good reason to go back!  Have a fantastic time in all your travels this year, and I hope you consider at least a small trip report to tell us how it was!


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## novatwinmom

A few more tips for Hale Koa - our fourth/most recent stay was November 2015, .  There's a "welcome breakfast" that you can go to where they give you "free" breakfast - it's continental breakfast and a sales pitch to do activities through the Tickets and Tours office there.  I think there's a raffle for one or two free outings.  If your days are planned and you want a heavier breakfast than danish, fruit, and juice (which are good, but maybe not filling) you might want to skip it.

The Hale Koa luau is great, we have native Hawaiian friends that consider it the best "commercial" luau they've been to. Ours was served more family-style - I learned the first time to put whatever I think about wanting to eat on my plate, because they WILL clear the tables.  If you want some of the yummy fresh pineapple for "dessert", take it in the beginning because it will disappear before you're ready to eat it - you'll be distracted by the show.  There's an hour or so of activity before you eat, so consider whether or not to have a light snack before arriving.

There is a great little exchange at Hale Koa, but we also really liked the exchange at Pearl (and their gas station, which is very near the airport).  We got a lot of souveniers for others at the exchange at Pearl - much the same as what is available at Hale Koa but more.  Selection at both are similar to the ABC Stores, but because they're on base, no sales tax and prices are a little lower.  Consider your food purchases at Costco vs the commissary at Pearl.  

Agree with the comment earlier about pools being cleared for 15 minutes every hour - though I think adults can stay in the pool (which won't help your son).  The resaurants at Hale Koa are fine to great - no problems eating there!


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## alldiz

disnygirl55 said:


> Oh my gosh, Kerri - it sounds like you have a year of amazing trips planned!  I love love love Disneyland, and I rank it as a better, more relaxing vacation than WDW. I like them both, but your time seems to be more your own at Disneyland, as it's generally quick to get back to the hotel if you stay onsite, and it's super easy to hop between the two parks (just a stroll across the central paved esplanade). And there has really been an uptick in food quality. We tried a few new places on our last trip that I just can't wait to get back to - like Carthay Circle, which we'd never eaten at before, and the bar in California Adventure next to Ariel's grotto that looks out onto the Fun Wheel and the water - the bar food there and the drinks are amazing if you can get there early enough and park yourself at a table in the shade. Utter relaxation. And then there are long-time favorites like Napa Rose, Steakhouse 55, and the Blue Bayou. Makes me long for our next trip!
> 
> I am jealous about the POA cruise you are planning. I'd like to do that next time we travel to Oahu, so we can see the other islands. But I always love to save experiences that give me a good reason to go back!  Have a fantastic time in all your travels this year, and I hope you consider at least a small trip report to tell us how it was!



Yes this summer will be amazing   We are stopping at DL for 3 nights on way to Hawaii. Managed to get Grand Californian studio at 7 mos (DVC points).
I am so used to planning WDW 6 months in advance dining(CRAZY) that when I saw DL you call 60 days before was my 1st clue gonna be different.
Is it reasonable to not make any ADR's? Or if I want to eat at Carthay Circle and Blue Bayou do I need a reservation.
Being that no advanced fastpass......I was kind of psyched to just wing the entire Disneyland trip without any made in steel plans. That would be Insane for WDW Is this the Norm for DL?
We added on the cruise thinking we might not get back to Hawaii......I'm hoping Aulani is a good enough reason to go back. And I survive the Loooooong flight home.
Kerri


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## disnygirl55

novatwinmom said:


> A few more tips for Hale Koa - our fourth/most recent stay was November 2015, . There's a "welcome breakfast" that you can go to where they give you "free" breakfast - it's continental breakfast and a sales pitch to do activities through the Tickets and Tours office there. I think there's a raffle for one or two free outings. If your days are planned and you want a heavier breakfast than danish, fruit, and juice (which are good, but maybe not filling) you might want to skip it.
> 
> The Hale Koa luau is great, we have native Hawaiian friends that consider it the best "commercial" luau they've been to. Ours was served more family-style - I learned the first time to put whatever I think about wanting to eat on my plate, because they WILL clear the tables. If you want some of the yummy fresh pineapple for "dessert", take it in the beginning because it will disappear before you're ready to eat it - you'll be distracted by the show. There's an hour or so of activity before you eat, so consider whether or not to have a light snack before arriving.
> 
> There is a great little exchange at Hale Koa, but we also really liked the exchange at Pearl (and their gas station, which is very near the airport). We got a lot of souveniers for others at the exchange at Pearl - much the same as what is available at Hale Koa but more. Selection at both are similar to the ABC Stores, but because they're on base, no sales tax and prices are a little lower. Consider your food purchases at Costco vs the commissary at Pearl.
> 
> Agree with the comment earlier about pools being cleared for 15 minutes every hour - though I think adults can stay in the pool (which won't help your son). The resaurants at Hale Koa are fine to great - no problems eating there!



Thank you for the great tips! They are very much appreciated. We have early morning tours scheduled every day while we're at Hale Koa - Pearl Harbor Sunday, Kualoa Ranch Monday, and Iolani Palace Tuesday mornings. So I think it's going to be a box of granola bars for us those first few days. We'll make up for it with delicious dinners, though. Looking forward to the surf and turf buffet there on Saturday night, and the luau on Monday night. We could attend the breakfast on Tuesday before our tour at Iolani, but I suppose that defeats the purpose of what they're trying to show you. Great information about Pearl - especially about the gas and souvenirs. We may very well make good use of that advice!



alldiz said:


> Yes this summer will be amazing  We are stopping at DL for 3 nights on way to Hawaii. Managed to get Grand Californian studio at 7 mos (DVC points).
> I am so used to planning WDW 6 months in advance dining(CRAZY) that when I saw DL you call 60 days before was my 1st clue gonna be different.
> Is it reasonable to not make any ADR's? Or if I want to eat at Carthay Circle and Blue Bayou do I need a reservation.
> Being that no advanced fastpass......I was kind of psyched to just wing the entire Disneyland trip without any made in steel plans. That would be Insane for WDW Is this the Norm for DL?
> We added on the cruise thinking we might not get back to Hawaii......I'm hoping Aulani is a good enough reason to go back. And I survive the Loooooong flight home.



I am always a proponent of ADR's whenever you can possible arrange them. Blue Bayou is a "must" to have reservations - I've never seen it not totally booked. And don't miss it - the food might not be as delicious as a couple other places I could think of, but the ambience and views are something totally unique to Disneyland. It's also worth a wait to ask to be seated at the edge by the water for your first trip. Too awesome! (and don't forget that most people rank the Pirates of the Caribbean ride as superior at Disneyland - so give it a whirl and see the dining area from the other side as well!) We've only been to Carthay Circle once, but I think it's pretty high end and also popular with the locals, even if you just want to get appetizer-type food and drinks, so I would recommend you consider an ADR there as well. I suppose it all depends on the day of the week and how close to capacity the resorts are. But I tried to "wing" it once a few years ago and it was a bit of a disaster. When we wanted to sit down and have a nice meal, the only thing available was counter service. After a couple of days, I was really regretting our decision, and I swore I'd be better prepared for every trip thereafter. But good food is kind of an event and entertainment in itself to us, so we find that we nowadays schedule things around our dining experiences, rather than scheduling dining around our park schedule. The cast members are always happy to move up your reservation if they can find you an empty table available, so if you want to eat dinner at Blue Bayou and schedule it for 7:00, for instance, and 6:00 winds up being a better dinner time around your Fastpasses (which are good for a full hour, just like WDW,) you might have some good success getting there early - if that makes any sense.


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## crystal1313

YAY!  Your trip is SO close now =) Can't wait to hear all about it!  Highly recommend the Macadamia nut pancakes at Ama Ama!  I am normally not a pancake person, but they were to die for!!


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## alldiz

disnygirl55 said:


> Thank you for the great tips! They are very much appreciated. We have early morning tours scheduled every day while we're at Hale Koa - Pearl Harbor Sunday, Kualoa Ranch Monday, and Iolani Palace Tuesday mornings. So I think it's going to be a box of granola bars for us those first few days. We'll make up for it with delicious dinners, though. Looking forward to the surf and turf buffet there on Saturday night, and the luau on Monday night. We could attend the breakfast on Tuesday before our tour at Iolani, but I suppose that defeats the purpose of what they're trying to show you. Great information about Pearl - especially about the gas and souvenirs. We may very well make good use of that advice!
> 
> 
> 
> *I am always a proponent of ADR's whenever you can possible arrange them. Blue Bayou is a "must" to have reservations - I've never seen it not totally booked. And don't miss it - the food might not be as delicious as a couple other places I could think of, but the ambience and views are something totally unique to Disneyland. It's also worth a wait to ask to be seated at the edge by the water for your first trip. Too awesome! (and don't forget that most people rank the Pirates of the Caribbean ride as superior at Disneyland - so give it a whirl and see the dining area from the other side as well!) We've only been to Carthay Circle once, but I think it's pretty high end and also popular with the locals, even if you just want to get appetizer-type food and drinks, so I would recommend you consider an ADR there as well. I suppose it all depends on the day of the week and how close to capacity the resorts are. But I tried to "wing" it once a few years ago and it was a bit of a disaster. When we wanted to sit down and have a nice meal, the only thing available was counter service. After a couple of days, I was really regretting our decision, and I swore I'd be better prepared for every trip thereafter. But good food is kind of an event and entertainment in itself to us, so we find that we nowadays schedule things around our dining experiences, rather than scheduling dining around our park schedule. The cast members are always happy to move up your reservation if they can find you an empty table available, so if you want to eat dinner at Blue Bayou and schedule it for 7:00, for instance, and 6:00 winds up being a better dinner time around your Fastpasses (which are good for a full hour, just like WDW,) you might have some good success getting there early - if that makes any sense.[/QUOTE*]
> 
> Thanks I will definitely make reservations for Blue Bayou and Carthay Circle. We are only there 3 nights so that should be good I think.
> I can't decide to do world of color or a fantasmic package maybe. I think I can get WOC with a fastpass not connected to system?
> Yes I have found going early to ADR they will just check you in. Late probably not so much.
> Would you say Blue Bayou atmosphere better at night?
> Thanks
> Kerri
> *
> *


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## cgattis

Blue Bayou is like the Mexico pavilion--it's always night in there  So no, it's really the same either time.


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## alldiz

cgattis said:


> Blue Bayou is like the Mexico pavilion--it's always night in there  So no, it's really the same either time.


Gotcha! Nice
Kerri


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## kdonnel

cgattis said:


> Blue Bayou is like the Mexico pavilion--it's always night in there  So no, it's really the same either time.


We loved eating at Blue Bayou. The ambience was great!


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## disnygirl55

One week to go!! We are all getting so excited now! Many things to accomplish at work before we can leave, so that should help the time pass quickly.


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## alohamom

disnygirl55 said:


> One week to go!! We are all getting so excited now! Many things to accomplish at work before we can leave, so that should help the time pass quickly.



Oh wow-that time seems to have gone fast! Happy packing...


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## MAGICFOR2

OMG!  We are on the same flight, (looks like we will be seat mates)  staying at the same hotels!  So funny! We are taking a Red Eye from San Antonio so will spend the night at the USO.  We figured by the time we got a hotel and fell asleep, it would be time to get up again.   We are doing Hale Koa 4 nights and Aulani the last 3 though.  Meeting up with our DS and fam (he's active duty, DH is retired AF)  and also bringing DH's Aunt, Uncle and Cousin as guests.

We haven't made definite plans for specific days - most of us have been there before, and DS is afraid of being so structured we can't enjoy the beach. We have the Sunday Brunch at Hale Koa booked (I miss the NCO Club brunch in Okinawa.)   And the Luau there also.
We are planning Pearl Harbor  and the USS Missouri with shopping at the huge Navy Exchange.  That is the best place to get your souveniers, BTW.  Also you can get 'on base' at the Missouri  and skip the entry fee (not sure if you have to buy a ticket when you get there, but I know there was something better about crossing the bridge and driving in on that side)


I guess we will see you in Vegas! And on the plane... And at Hale Koa and at Aulani....


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## cgattis

MAGICFOR2 said:


> OMG!  We are on the same flight, (looks like we will be seat mates)  staying at the same hotels!  So funny! We are taking a Red Eye from San Antonio so will spend the night at the USO.  We figured by the time we got a hotel and fell asleep, it would be time to get up again.   We are doing Hale Koa 4 nights and Aulani the last 3 though.  Meeting up with our DS and fam (he's active duty, DH is retired AF)  and also bringing DH's Aunt, Uncle and Cousin as guests.
> 
> We haven't made definite plans for specific days - most of us have been there before, and DS is afraid of being so structured we can't enjoy the beach. We have the Sunday Brunch at Hale Koa booked (I miss the NCO Club brunch in Okinawa.)   And the Luau there also.
> We are planning Pearl Harbor  and the USS Missouri with shopping at the huge Navy Exchange.  That is the best place to get your souveniers, BTW.  Also you can get 'on base' at the Missouri  and skip the entry fee (not sure if you have to buy a ticket when you get there, but I know there was something better about crossing the bridge and driving in on that side)
> 
> 
> I guess we will see you in Vegas! And on the plane... And at Hale Koa and at Aulani....


Do you happen to know if non-military civil servants (with PIV badge but no CAC card) can get on base and/or shop at the PX?  Thanks!!


----------



## disnygirl55

MAGICFOR2 said:


> OMG! We are on the same flight, (looks like we will be seat mates) staying at the same hotels! So funny! We are taking a Red Eye from San Antonio so will spend the night at the USO. We figured by the time we got a hotel and fell asleep, it would be time to get up again. We are doing Hale Koa 4 nights and Aulani the last 3 though. Meeting up with our DS and fam (he's active duty, DH is retired AF) and also bringing DH's Aunt, Uncle and Cousin as guests.
> 
> We haven't made definite plans for specific days - most of us have been there before, and DS is afraid of being so structured we can't enjoy the beach. We have the Sunday Brunch at Hale Koa booked (I miss the NCO Club brunch in Okinawa.)  And the Luau there also.
> We are planning Pearl Harbor and the USS Missouri with shopping at the huge Navy Exchange. That is the best place to get your souveniers, BTW. Also you can get 'on base' at the Missouri and skip the entry fee (not sure if you have to buy a ticket when you get there, but I know there was something better about crossing the bridge and driving in on that side)
> 
> 
> I guess we will see you in Vegas! And on the plane... And at Hale Koa and at Aulani....



Wow! That is so cool! We are in seats 12A, B, C on the 9:00 AM flight on Saturday from Vegas. Pause and say "Hi!" if you're close to us and want to say hello. Sounds like you've already had a lot of experience going there before, so that's fantastic! We will keep the Navy exchange in mind, definitely! I think we'll probably be bumping into you, but if for some reason we miss you, have a wonderful vacation with your family - we're all going to have such a great time!!!


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## buffettgirl

cgattis said:


> Do you happen to know if non-military civil servants (with PIV badge but no CAC card) can get on base and/or shop at the PX?  Thanks!!


the Navy Exchange and commissary are not on an actual base, so anyone who has exchange and commissary privileges can shop there even if they don't otherwise have base access.   I'm not sure if you'd have the proper privileges though, that's something you'd need to check.  But that complex isn't actually on a base.


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## MAGICFOR2

cgattis said:


> Do you happen to know if non-military civil servants (with PIV badge but no CAC card) can get on base and/or shop at the PX?  Thanks!!


If you can get on your home base and shop you should be able to.  I'm not really familiar with different civilian type badges.


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## MAGICFOR2

disnygirl55 said:


> Wow! That is so cool! We are in seats 12A, B, C on the 9:00 AM flight on Saturday from Vegas. Pause and say "Hi!" if you're close to us and want to say hello. Sounds like you've already had a lot of experience going there before, so that's fantastic! We will keep the Navy exchange in mind, definitely! I think we'll probably be bumping into you, but if for some reason we miss you, have a wonderful vacation with your family - we're all going to have such a great time!!!



Yep, we are on that flight!  We are in 13 H and J or something like that.  (Last ones in that section)  Anyway, if you see a bedraggled couple in their 50's who slept all night at the USO, give us a wave! LOL  I'm sure we will see you at the gate.  Where do you live?  We are coming from San Antonio and get into Vegas about midnight on Friday night.  Our Flight out of HNL on the 1st is at 3pm and we will fly back home at 5 am on Sunday


----------



## cgattis

MAGICFOR2 said:


> If you can get on your home base and shop you should be able to.  I'm not really familiar with different civilian type badges.


Some will let us, some won't.  And it's never clear which or why.


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## disnygirl55

MAGICFOR2 said:


> Where do you live? We are coming from San Antonio and get into Vegas about midnight on Friday night. Our Flight out of HNL on the 1st is at 3pm and we will fly back home at 5 am on Sunday



We live in Cheyenne, WY... so we fly out of Denver, which is only 1 1/2 hr south of us. We are getting into Las Vegas at 5:00 pm on Friday, and have dinner reservations at 7:00 at Paris, so that made sense to book a hotel room there.

We head back to Vegas at 10:00 pm on Saturday the 1st, so we have a cabana booked for that last day so we can hang out and enjoy the pools after we officially check out of our room. I haven't flown a red-eye in years, since my husband was stationed over in Germany in the early 1990's.... so hopefully we'll all be able to get some sleep. We get into Vegas around 7:00 AM, and our flight to Denver leaves Vegas at 10:00 AM. Hopefully we can get some breakfast to help us pass the time until we can head back to Denver.

I'm looking forward to meeting you! We will be the mid-40's couple with a (newly) 15-year old son. He's been driving to school about a week now with me in the passenger seat, and my hair has turned even more gray. So you'll know me by my frazzled appearance and fingernails bitten to the quick. LOL!


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## POTCfan

Wow. I too will be splitting our spring break between Waikiki and Aulani next week, with similar days at each.  Though we will be at the Hilton Hawaiian Village when in Waikiki, so we're not exactly copying you.


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## cgattis

disnygirl55 said:


> I'm looking forward to meeting you! We will be the mid-40's couple with a (newly) 15-year old son. He's been driving to school about a week now with me in the passenger seat, and my hair has turned even more gray. So you'll know me by my frazzled appearance and fingernails bitten to the quick. LOL!


I know that look!!! Mine is 15.5 now but she's been grounded for grades, so we're behind on practice.  Look forward to hearing how your 15YO enjoys it!!


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## kdonnel

Hope your having a great time!


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## MeeskaMooska13

disnygirl55 said:


> Eeeeekkk!  Yes, it's finally almost time! Santa brought us each one of those cool one-piece snorkel masks - the Tribord Easy Breath snorkel masks. We have all snorkeled before, but it seems like one of us ALWAYS gets the bad snorkel that leaks somewhere, so sometimes it's not very enjoyable. I'm hoping this will be a huge improvement. They have great reviews, anyway - so I'll report back. Maybe I should go snorkeling in my bathtub prior to our trip. LOL!
> 
> We will be snorkeling with the Dolphins and You excursion, but will probably try things out in the Aulani lagoon prior to that. I sure appreciate the word on Honauma Bay. We're not planning to go snorkeling there at this point, but I'll tuck that information into my back pocket to use on a whim if we decide to. And I'll DEFINITELY add it to my "for next time" list. I mean, I'm earning miles on my Hawaiian Airlines credit card, so how could I not plan a trip back??!!!
> 
> And yes, yes on the Shave Ice. Thank you so much for the recommendations - we already have Matsumoto's on our to-do list on the way back from ziplining at Climb Works. I cannot wait to try real Hawaiian Shave Ice. We will seek out the others if we have any additional time (I think this is going to be a constant refrain of mine, and I think we should have booked for two weeks!)
> 
> 
> 
> So nice of you to say about the photo - it's not my favorite, but we didn't take many other "entire family" photos on our cruise last year, so I was scaping the bottom of the barrel. I thought about doing a trip report, but honestly, there was not a lot to add after reading yours - you did such a super job reporting on everything. I should have done a trip report for the sheer reason of preserving our memories of the trip for posterity (because it's really a big blur now - but that might have been the amount of wine we drank on the verandah). I crack myself up, but it's so TRUE!! I do remember that DS had such an amazing time in the Vibe teen club, and we hardly ever saw him (thus, the lack of family photos). He wants to go back so badly. Poor buddy. But I know he's going to love this Hawaii adventure!


Hope you are having a great time!  I would love your feedback on the snorkel masks!


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## MAGICFOR2

So glad we met at the airport in Vegas, cuz I never saw you again Hope you had a great trip!  Ours was amazing.  We all crossed things off our lists, and I wouldn't have changed anything except my knee pain.


----------



## disnygirl55

MAGICFOR2 said:


> So glad we met at the airport in Vegas, cuz I never saw you again Hope you had a great trip! Ours was amazing. We all crossed things off our lists, and I wouldn't have changed anything except my knee pain.



I know it - I looked around for you now and again in the hopes that we'd bump into each other, but no luck.    It was so nice to meet you, Tammie! So glad you had a great trip, and I hope that knee resolves itself one of these days. We had a great time as well, and may go back in a couple of years, perhaps in conjunction with the Pride of America cruise, so we can visit the majority of the other islands. Both Hale Koa and Aulani were wonderful, and I miss playing around in the ocean!



MeeskaMooska13 said:


> Hope you are having a great time! I would love your feedback on the snorkel masks!



I think the Tribord snorkel masks worked amazingly well. I love the view of both fronts and sides, and they seemed to be fog free, so we didn't have to spray any anti-fog on the lenses like those using traditional snorkel masks. They were just a breeze. I had no problem with water leaking into the mask, and I wore my contacts comfortably. After a while, the pressure around the mask kind of made both mine and my husband's jaws ache (which was a weird side effect) - but that took a long time to happen, and we were preparing to finish up for the day anyway. I think they were a good buy (thanks, Santa!). We've just never had a whole lot of luck with traditional snorkels. At least one of us always seems to get one that doesn't work very well or doesn't seal properly. It was nice that all three of us had a good experience snorkeling. As a side note, sadly, no dolphins came around us in the bay on the day we went on our "Dolphins and You" excursion, but that was on the day that there was high surf warning. The Dolphins fled, apparently. However, we saw many beautiful fish, and about five sea turtles, which I really enjoyed. All the excursions for the afternoon were cancelled, as there was no chance of encountering dolphins.

It always takes me a little while to get my life back in order after vacation, but I hope to begin a trip report fairly soon on our amazing vacation. It will be great to relive it!


----------



## MeeskaMooska13

disnygirl55 said:


> I know it - I looked around for you now and again in the hopes that we'd bump into each other, but no luck.    It was so nice to meet you, Tammie! So glad you had a great trip, and I hope that knee resolves itself one of these days. We had a great time as well, and may go back in a couple of years, perhaps in conjunction with the Pride of America cruise, so we can visit the majority of the other islands. Both Hale Koa and Aulani were wonderful, and I miss playing around in the ocean!
> 
> 
> 
> I think the Tribord snorkel masks worked amazingly well. I love the view of both fronts and sides, and they seemed to be fog free, so we didn't have to spray any anti-fog on the lenses like those using traditional snorkel masks. They were just a breeze. I had no problem with water leaking into the mask, and I wore my contacts comfortably. After a while, the pressure around the mask kind of made both mine and my husband's jaws ache (which was a weird side effect) - but that took a long time to happen, and we were preparing to finish up for the day anyway. I think they were a good buy (thanks, Santa!). We've just never had a whole lot of luck with traditional snorkels. At least one of us always seems to get one that doesn't work very well or doesn't seal properly. It was nice that all three of us had a good experience snorkeling. As a side note, sadly, no dolphins came around us in the bay on the day we went on our "Dolphins and You" excursion, but that was on the day that there was high surf warning. The Dolphins fled, apparently. However, we saw many beautiful fish, and about five sea turtles, which I really enjoyed. All the excursions for the afternoon were cancelled, as there was no chance of encountering dolphins.
> 
> It always takes me a little while to get my life back in order after vacation, but I hope to begin a trip report fairly soon on our amazing vacation. It will be great to relive it!


Thank you for the feedback about the snorkel masks!  I think it will ask for one for my birthday!  Glad you had a lovely vacay!


----------



## MAGICFOR2

disnygirl55 said:


> I know it - I looked around for you now and again in the hopes that we'd bump into each other, but no luck.    It was so nice to meet you, Tammie! So glad you had a great trip, and I hope that knee resolves itself one of these days. We had a great time as well, and may go back in a couple of years, perhaps in conjunction with the Pride of America cruise, so we can visit the majority of the other islands. Both Hale Koa and Aulani were wonderful, and I miss playing around in the ocean!
> 
> 
> 
> It always takes me a little while to get my life back in order after vacation, but I hope to begin a trip report fairly soon on our amazing vacation. It will be great to relive it!



It was great to meet you also, Leslie!  Funny how there was so much to do that it took us in different directions!  My knee feels really good now, thanks.   Crazy how that is.  We almost took that cruise several years ago and then opted for WDW.  Maybe we will see each other around again another time!


----------



## POTCfan

I am looking forward to your trip review.  We were there at the same time, so I am interested in hearing your thoughts.  We had a great time!


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## MAGICFOR2

POTCfan said:


> I am looking forward to your trip review.  We were there at the same time, so I am interested in hearing your thoughts.  We had a great time!



I did see you there at Aulani,  I think.  I just didn't connect that I had seen your pic.  The weather was so perfect, wasn't it?


----------



## POTCfan

MAGICFOR2 said:


> I did see you there at Aulani,  I think.  I just didn't connect that I had seen your pic.  The weather was so perfect, wasn't it?


It was fabulous!  Though we were coming from Portland, so anything would have been an improvement.


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## MAGICFOR2

POTCfan said:


> It was fabulous!  Though we were coming from Portland, so anything would have been an improvement.


Our son went back to snow in KF.  We used to live there.  I know what you mean!


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## disnygirl55

And we are originally from the coast of Washington, and my sister recently moved from Portland to be near us - so I absolutely understand as well! The sunshine and warm water was such a treat!


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## crystal1313

Looking forward to reading your TR!  Hope you had a blast =)


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## SuzanneB74

Looking forward to your trip report!  We are going in early June for the first time and I have some of the same activities on our itinerary!  All opinions are welcomed!  I am in the midst of research and planning!!


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## disnygirl55

crystal1313 said:


> Looking forward to reading your TR!  Hope you had a blast =)



I have been remiss. No real excuses - yes, it has been busy at work since I got back, but I think I also needed time to process and remember all my favorite things! (and yes, there were quite a few!)



SuzanneB74 said:


> Looking forward to your trip report!  We are going in early June for the first time and I have some of the same activities on our itinerary!  All opinions are welcomed!  I am in the midst of research and planning!!



I am so sad that I probably won't be of much help to you....  but send me any specific questions you have. I am not the fastest trip report producer, but I had some time this weekend to get the travel day and arrival day completed....  so on with the show!!!


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## disnygirl55

*Friday, March 24 – To Las Vegas via Paris*

Finally vacation time arrived. DS had a half-day of school, so we arranged to fly out to Las Vegas late in the afternoon, via Southwest airlines. Hey, it’s the little things like honey-roasted peanuts that make me happy. I think DH and I each ordered an in-flight cocktail, so our vacation was off to a smooth start. It was a short two-hour flight, and we arrived in Vegas at 5:00 PM. We took a LONG cab ride to Paris (seems like the rush hour traffic made for the longest drive to the strip I’ve ever taken.) We chose Paris because our dinner that evening was at Gordon Ramsay Steak, and it was convenient. Despite that, I don’t think I’d choose to stay there again. I didn’t really like the layout of the room, the room comfort or amenities, or the customer service at registration. Also, the penny slots that we like to play for entertainment were very minimal. But that was only a little after-dinner diversion that lasted about an hour, so it was fine for the time we had. We’ve enjoyed stays at New York New York much more. However, the lobby and casino were beautiful, and depicted a blue sky over the streets of Paris. It was easy to find our dining destination for the evening.




We tried to check in about a half hour early, but the restaurant was busy, and we couldn’t be seated until our reservation time, which was fine. We instead signed up for the players club and then toured some of the shops off the lobby, including a candy shop that was very cute, and had a door out to the Las Vegas strip, so we could people-watch a little as we browsed. We didn’t find anything we wanted to buy, however, and headed back to the restaurant. We were escorted to our table at the top of the stairs on the 2nd floor. I liked the view over the edge to the main floor dining area below.




We had decided to go with the Hell’s Kitchen tasting menu, and although it was stated on the website that the entire table must order the full tasting menu, our waiter was very thoughtful, and without us asking, offered our teenager the choice to order off the a’ la carte menu if he preferred, which he did, because he loves a good traditional steak, and seeing this “Wheel of Beef” to choose from made his day.




The Hell’s Kitchen Tasting Menu consisted of:

Amuse Bouche – Scotch Egg (with Berkshire pork sausage and red wine braised cabbage)

First Course – Heirloom Beet Salad (with smoked salmon)

Second Course – Butternut Squash Risotto (topped with a scallop)

Third Course – Roasted Beef Wellington

Dessert Course – Sticky Toffee Pudding




Our round table was a little awkward with the large leather placemats, but they were still beautiful and unique.





We began our meal with a Brut champagne to accompany our amuse bouche and bread service. Ahhh…. vacation champagne….. one of my favorite things. The second photo shows our bread service, a couple of bread selections were sweet.






The amuse bouche was a scotch egg. I don’t think we had ever had a scotch egg, but it was very tasty, and I wouldn’t hesitate to try one again. It was a soft cooked egg deep-fried, and served over a small portion of a pork and red wine braised cabbage mixture.







The Heirloom Beet Salad was sincerely my favorite part of the meal. It was so good, and the beet, although completely hidden underneath the other ingredients in this photo, was wonderful with the small rose of smoked salmon. The citrus vinaigrette that dressed the salad was perfect. I could have eaten a larger portion of this and called it dinner. It was that delicious. It was served with a light white wine: Vouvray, from the Loire region of France.



DS asked for a Caesar salad with his steak, and really enjoyed it as a starter to his meal. You can see he “poached” half of my scotch egg from me. No pun intended.








Next up was the Butternut Squash Risotto, with a large scallop on the top. Very, very good. It was accompanied by a glass of Mischief and Mayhem Pinot Noir from Burgandy, France. I was excited, because Pinot Noir is our favorite type of wine, and we’d never tried this particular one. We usually stick to Pinot Noirs from the Sonoma area of California, or Oregon. It did not disappoint, and this course was fantastic, as expected. Check out that beautiful color on the Pinot, pictured with what was left of the bread service!


















The Beef Wellington with potato puree was the main course, and it was fun to eat the dish that so many aspiring chefs seem to fail on when they feature it on “Hell’s Kitchen”. DH is a good cook when he has the time and inclination, and has made Beef Wellington at home for us before, so I knew that we would love it. Of course, we were getting pretty full by the time we were halfway through it, and wanted to save room for dessert, so I don’t think either of us finished our steak. It was served with a Bordeaux blend, Domaines Barons de Lafite Rothschile Legende Pauillac, which was a good wine pairing with the beef.













DS had a very well-prepared steak, a New York Strip. Doesn’t that look delectable? He is something of a steak-fiend, so he was happy.








The final course was Sticky Toffee Pudding. Oh my. So, so good, though very sweet. The little pitcher beside the pudding (more like a moist date cake, as Americans would call it) was a toffee sauce, and the square butter-looking item next to the knife is a brown butter ice cream, which helped cut the sweetness just right – and it was a great way to cap off the meal.













It was served with a Grenache dessert wine: Banyuls, Chapoutier, Landuedoc Roussillon from the Rhone Valley in France.








We were presented with a souvenir menu with Gordon Ramsay’s autograph, which I didn’t know we would receive, but it was a nice touch.












This was a very expensive meal, $145 per person, plus wine pairings for an extra $75 each. Many people wouldn’t find this worthwhile, but we don’t have a problem doing one of these types of over-the-top meals during a vacation. They really make for excellent memories, and are a real treat for the palate.


After dinner, we took DS back to the room, and then DH and I went back down to the casino floor and spent a small amount of time trying to find some amusing slot machines from the scant amount to choose from.


Before long, we were back in the room, ready for a good night’s sleep before our Hawaiian Airlines Flight the next morning.


----------



## crystal1313

Can't wait to read more, dinner looked amazing!


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## chunkymonkey

I'm so happy you're continuing your TR!!
Wow Vegas...been a while since I've been but I really love it there, so much fun!
I've had friends say GR steak was some of the best they have ever had. Your dinner looks amazing. That scotch egg looks ridiculously good, and that risotto underneath the scallop looks divine. 
Sticky toffee pudding is a sweet treat that I actually like!
I hope the rest of your vacation is this tasty!


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## disnygirl55

*Saturday, March 25 – Flight to Honolulu and staying at Hale Koa*

Our flight was scheduled at 9:00 AM. We were still full from a delicious dinner, so didn’t even take time to stop for breakfast in the morning, figuring that we would get something at the airport if we got hungry. We were at the airport early, since we are early risers and really saw no point in hanging around the hotel room. As we had never traveled on Hawaiian airlines, it was a new experience. DS figured out the self-service bag drop pretty quickly, and we checked in pretty easily once we understood the process. It was actually nice to be able to weigh our own bags (one bag was about 5 pounds over-limit after shedding our winter clothes that we had worn out of Denver, but it was easy to swap a couple items into another bag and make it work out). I would have felt bad if we were up at the counter with a line of impatient people behind us, so it was convenient to check bags this way.


We found a comfortable place to sit at our gate, and the guys made good use of plugging in their phones in the outlets by the seats and playing games while waiting to board. DS had decided that he was a little hungry at that point, and there was a Starbucks right there, so he was satisfied. While the guys played phone games, I took $20 over to the slot machines right there and entertained myself for about an hour, which is a pretty good price for entertainment at a Las Vegas airport slot machine!  The highlight, however, was having my very first DISmeet with MAGIC4TWO (Tammie). Tammie and her husband Jim had a nearly identical itinerary to ours, beginning at Hale Koa and moving onto Aulani. They were on the same flight, and even in the same row, but on the opposite side of the plane. It was too funny, and quite the coincidence that we met right here on the DIS Boards! Tammie is just as sweet as she seemed when we were chatting on the boards leading up to this trip. The most awful thing is that we NEVER ran into each other once we departed the plane in Honolulu. Tammie and her husband Jim were meeting family there, so both of us had pretty packed agendas, I think. But nevertheless, it was FUN to meet her in person. She gave me a big hug, told me about her trip so far, which included sleeping a couple of hours in the airport USO due to a late travel schedule from their home (and how she looked so good when I ran into her at the gate is AMAZING to me!) I hope she and Jim and their family had a wonderful vacation like we did. So Tammie, if you come back to this forum, please know how fantastic it was to meet you, even though so briefly.


We boarded our flight quickly, and it was nice to turn left instead of right when entering the plane to sit in the extra comfort section, which we felt we needed to pay a bit extra for, due to the long flight. The seats were roomier, and there was a nice entertainment package to choose from, including movies, music and TV shows, and even some trivia games that played on the seatback in front of you.








We were in row 12, seats A, B, C.  Since the seats were a 2-4-2 configuration, I let the guys sit by the window, and I took the aisle seat in the middle.








The flight over to Honolulu was not as pleasant as the flight coming back. There was a little girl, about age 1 ½ or 2, I figure, and she was NOT happy to be on the airplane. I think she cried the entire trip (screamed was more like it). She had two dads, and they didn’t seem to know how to distract her and keep her happy. They tried a few things but the only time she was quiet was when the flight attendant took her and walked up and down the aisle with her for a while. I don’t know why one of her dads didn’t take it upon themselves to do that, but it is what it is, and I don’t judge their actions. I remember flying with our son when he was small, and I was always very concerned and nervous about keeping him quiet and occupied on a long trip. They at least seemed to be calm about it, and take it in stride that a six hour plane ride was going to be a trial, and they just went with the flow. And since I’m a pretty patient person, I can mentally shut out a screaming child pretty easily, and I even managed a fitful nap with my complimentary pillow and blanket during the journey to make the time pass more quickly.


The flight crew was very good. Attentive and pleasant. We had a small breakfast sandwich meal, and a wonderful in-flight drink when we were close to arrival, a punch made of POG (Pineapple, Orange, Guava) juice and Koloa white rum. The extra comfort seats also had individual power outlets to plug in our devices so that we could stay entertained. Worked perfectly, especially for my DH and DS. DS was getting excited as we drew closer, and practiced “hanging loose”.








We arrived a little before our scheduled arrival time of 12:40 pm. Our luggage was quickly off the carousel, and we headed to the rental car shuttle. We had decided to rent from Budget, and chose a Standard Elite SUV. I chose a larger SUV, because I had made a mistake on our last trip to Florida, and the “SUV” I reserved had so little cargo space in the back that we wound up with half of our luggage sitting in the back passenger seat next to DS. So I thought this was a brilliant plan. I pictured something like a Ford Escape or a mid-sized SUV, but this was a full-on BOAT of a vehicle – a GMC Yukon. Yes, it was wonderful and spacious, but it was also larger than what should have been responsibly driven and parked in the narrow roads and parking spaces of Oahu. Since at home DH and I both drive SUVs, and the company I had previously worked for owned a GMC Yukon (or something very similar) as a company vehicle, I was used to periodically driving a big car, so I took over as the main driver, and DH (with the help of WAZE, which was very good on Oahu) performed navigational duties.


We made our way to the Hale Koa, on Waikiki beach. This is a military resort, so the room rates are reasonable, and although it is largely without any special theming, the view and the property were gorgeous, the room was comfortable, and the eateries and amenities were great (particularly having the base exchange on the ground floor). We checked in and were delighted to find out that our room (#874) was ready. We drove down to the bottom of the hotel property, crossed the street, and parked in the free parking garage, using our room key for access to the garage. We had booked one of the Deluxe Ocean Front rooms exactly one year in advance to the day. The Hale Koa charges by rank, and is available for both active duty and retired military members. Guard, Reserves, and Department of Defense Civilian employees are also welcome, and the rates for each rank and category are explained in detail on the Hale Koa website, along with the rates offered. It is quite a bargain for the Waikiki area, and we know several people who have vacationed here and recommended it to us. The Deluxe Ocean Front rooms are a little hard to come by, as they are corner rooms facing the ocean on the upper floors, and there aren’t many of them. The balcony outside wraps around the corner, forming an “L” shape, and there are a variety of chairs and loungers outside.  Here is the view from our room, as well as some photos of the balcony and the main pool below.




























I loved the lounger on the narrow side of the “L”, and made good use of it throughout our stay to sunbathe or relax in the shade. This room had one queen-sized bed and a sofa bed, and DS never minds sleeping on a sofa bed, so we didn’t mind booking this room instead of a standard. The balcony, the views, and the spacious floor made the decision of which type of room to book very easy for us.








I had read about the buffet restaurant at Hale Koa, “Koko at Kalia”, which served a surf & turf dinner buffet on Saturday nights, with all you can eat snow crab legs – yum!  So at 5:00, we headed that direction, and explored the resort as we went. There is a huge banyan tree in the courtyard, and the entire area was beautiful, and smelled heavenly. We also passed the luau lawn, which we would see on Monday.


















At the restaurant, there was quite a lineup to enter the dinner buffet. Apparently it is VERY popular with the locals as well, and there were obviously several regulars that were being greeted by name, especially some older folks. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating, but even the indoor seating is open-air, as we discovered is very standard on Oahu, and probably all of Hawaii.


 We settled in at a lovely table in the center of the indoor area, and I promptly ordered a Hale Koa Signature Mai Tai made with light rum and a dark rum float, to start things off right. DH tried the “Tropical Itch” which came with a mini back scratcher (not pictured, as DH took it out before I could snap this photo, LOL!)













There were 4 varieties of Mai Tais on the menu, and the next one I tried was called the O’ahu Mai Tai, made with Coconut Vodka.








Everything we drank was tropical and delicious! And all the drinks were reasonably priced – around $8 to $10, as you can see from the menu. DH got a virgin daiquiri or some such, so we all had tropical drinks on hand.


















There were lots of choices for dinner – particularly dishes with an oriental flare, such as fall-off-the-bone spareribs, sticky rice, peel and eat shrimp, fish, roasted duck and some delicious poke. They also served a couple varieties of fish, and a beautiful prime rib.








There were varieties of house-made ice cream and other desserts, and the entire family’s favorite: snow crab legs!!!  They were served warm from bamboo steamer baskets, and there was drawn melted butter to accompany it. I prefer my crab warm and dripping with butter (sorry, Disney Cruise Line, as enticing as your huge crab claws are, I can’t enjoy the chilled way they are served). Here we are at dinner, along with a plate of delicious crab legs.














We just look like we’re having an awful time, don’t we?? This was another great family vacation meal.


















DS made a special friend at dinner, and named him “Kiwi”. This funny little bird was just hopping around the restaurant, having a grand old time. He was very entertaining. I’m sure he was waiting for a spare crumb to drop. I feel sorry that the restaurant probably has to clean their carpets daily with all the visiting birds. The funny thing is that we kept seeing “Kiwi” following us all during our vacation. He was out at Kualoa Ranch, followed us to Aulani, and we even think we spotted him back in Wyoming as well. I guess he got pretty attached to us. J













After dinner we walked down the path to the ocean, and checked out the open air bar on the beach (Barefoot Bar) and each tried another drink while we listened to the surf and watched the sun set. As it’s a public area, everyone was welcome, but the military patrons enjoyed a couple dollars off their drinks by showing their room key or military ID. We tried the “Blue Hawaii” and “Hawaiian Punch”.


















We sat there for a while, and listened to the waves crash, and then headed back to the room, since we had a busy day ahead of us on Sunday.


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## buffettgirl

Barefoot bar is my go to weekend bar after a day on the beach. DH and I stop there almost every weekend.  I think (for the money) it's just an amazing little place to hang out for a while.  And the beach there is great, nice and big and non-rocky.  Waikiki isn't the most gorgeous beach in the world, but it's "my" beach.


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## cgattis

So far, your TR is about 2/3 photos of food......I love it!!!  A girl by my own heart!  Really enjoying all the details (especially that risotto pic...yum!!).  Can't wait to read all the rest!  It's almost our turn!!


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## disnygirl55

buffettgirl said:


> Barefoot bar is my go to weekend bar after a day on the beach. DH and I stop there almost every weekend.  I think (for the money) it's just an amazing little place to hang out for a while.  And the beach there is great, nice and big and non-rocky.  Waikiki isn't the most gorgeous beach in the world, but it's "my" beach.



We enjoyed Barefoot Bar. They also had some live music happening there, which I forgot to mention. Anyplace with a beach is a good place by me, and we enjoyed Waikiki - I didn't think it was as horribly crowded as I had feared.



cgattis said:


> So far, your TR is about 2/3 photos of food......I love it!!!  A girl by my own heart!  Really enjoying all the details (especially that risotto pic...yum!!).  Can't wait to read all the rest!  It's almost our turn!!



Yep, that seems to be a recurring theme for all of my trip reports. We really love to take food photos. LOL! I'm excited that it's almost time for you to go!!! You'll have a great time, I know!


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## alldiz

Keep it coming have been enjoying your TR.
I love hearing about wonderful properties that our military families get to enjoy at good rates!!
Kerri


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## dolewhipdreams

Joining in on your TR. Loving your photos so far! Especially all those yummy looking fruity drinks.


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## soniam

Sorry Paris was a bit disappointing. We really liked it when we stayed there in 2015. However, the last time we went to Vegas, we noticed that it had gone down hill a bit. The blue sky is a nice touch. The meal looks fabulous though. That sticky toffee pudding is totally calling me right now.

Ah, Hawaii The resort is beautiful. The food and drinks look great. I could do with one of those Mai Tais too The one with coffee liquor looks really interesting. Hope the rest of the trip is just as good.


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## MAGICFOR2

Hi Leslie, I'm back!  So fun to see you started your report.  You are so sweet to mention our meet at the airport.  It was such a pleasure to meet you, too!  You are so friendly and genuinely sweet.  It is funny we never saw each other again.  That baby on the plane.   I felt bad for your family because you were seated so close to her.  I just wanted to go get her and help those dads.  I always like to tell parents of toddlers flying that infant Dramamine and gummy bears do wonders for little travelers and for everyone else concerned. It just "calms the waters"  I discovered it by accident when my oldest was a toddler and would get motion sickness.  DDIL used Benadryl also to help keep little ears open and it helps them sleep, too.

We loved Hale Koa!  I didn't expect to like it that much.  We did the Sunday Brunch and it was fabulous.  Our Uncle was really impressed, and he has done everything so it made us feel good that we chose that meal.  I still say Hale has the best Mai Tais on the Island!


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## disnygirl55

MAGICFOR2 said:


> Hi Leslie, I'm back! So fun to see you started your report. You are so sweet to mention our meet at the airport. It was such a pleasure to meet you, too! You are so friendly and genuinely sweet. It is funny we never saw each other again. That baby on the plane.  I felt bad for your family because you were seated so close to her. I just wanted to go get her and help those dads. I always like to tell parents of toddlers flying that infant Dramamine and gummy bears do wonders for little travelers and for everyone else concerned. It just "calms the waters" I discovered it by accident when my oldest was a toddler and would get motion sickness. DDIL used Benadryl also to help keep little ears open and it helps them sleep, too.
> 
> We loved Hale Koa! I didn't expect to like it that much. We did the Sunday Brunch and it was fabulous. Our Uncle was really impressed, and he has done everything so it made us feel good that we chose that meal. I still say Hale has the best Mai Tais on the Island!



I'm so glad you're back, Tammie!  I wish we could have visited more. I'm always a little shy with people I first meet, but you made it so easy to chat with you - thanks for a great first DIS meet!! That is wonderful that you did the Sunday brunch at Hale Koa. I've heard great things about it, and we would have absolutely been there if not for our tickets to Pearl Harbor on Sunday. Then we might have seen you! LOL! Hope you had a fantastic trip, and that your family had a great time.

Great tips about the infant Dramamine and gummy bears (and also the Benedryl to help them sleep)! I'm going to tuck that information away in my back pocket for someday with grandchildren. I used to make it a tradition to have gummy peach rings for my son. How funny to realize that it might have been more beneficial than just being a sweet "travel treat"! But it absolutely makes sense to keep them swallowing when taking off and landing. Much easier on their little ears. I felt badly for that poor little girl, not to mention her dads. How they kept their good humor the entire flight is beyond me. I would have been wound up tighter than a corkscrew if it was my baby screaming the entire flight. It didn't bug my "menfolk" at all - my DH has noise cancelling headphones, and they both kept occupied watching movies the entire flight.

Yum - memories of Mai Tais are dancing in my head!


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## disnygirl55

alldiz said:


> Keep it coming have been enjoying your TR.
> I love hearing about wonderful properties that our military families get to enjoy at good rates!!
> Kerri



It is really a terrific benefit! When we were younger, we were Shades of Green devotees, so I was hoping this would be as nice as the property at Disney World, and it definitely was - I wouldn't hesitate to go back.



dolewhipdreams said:


> Joining in on your TR. Loving your photos so far! Especially all those yummy looking fruity drinks.



Welcome! Yum, yum yum! We had some great drinks. 'Cuz that's what you should do on a tropical island!



soniam said:


> Sorry Paris was a bit disappointing. We really liked it when we stayed there in 2015. However, the last time we went to Vegas, we noticed that it had gone down hill a bit. The blue sky is a nice touch. The meal looks fabulous though. That sticky toffee pudding is totally calling me right now.
> 
> Ah, Hawaii The resort is beautiful. The food and drinks look great. I could do with one of those Mai Tais too The one with coffee liquor looks really interesting. Hope the rest of the trip is just as good.



Paris was fine, but not as nice as NY NY, in my estimation. Of course we didn't spring for any of the fancier rooms, since we were only there for such a short period of time. The front desk clerk didn't even make eye contact, and was very curt. That probably started the entire visit off on the wrong foot, so my first impression wasn't positive, and it colored our experience. It's amazing how many different things you can do with mai tais. And they were all fabulous!!


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## scrappydew

I am enjoying your trip report!  Love all those tropical drinks....I could use one right about now


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## CT15

disnygirl55 said:


> *TRIP REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS*
> 
> 
> Friday, March 24
> 
> Saturday, March 25
> 
> Sunday, March 26
> 
> Monday, March 27
> 
> Tuesday, March 28
> 
> Wednesday, March 29
> 
> Thursday, March 30
> 
> Friday, March 31
> 
> Saturday, April 1
> 
> Sunday, April 2



Hello- we will be traveling down in Sept. 
For some reason I am not able to open the links in this thread.  Will try form my other laptop - but in the mean time ... can you tell me about the flight- how was the extra comfort? We are flying direct non-stop for JFK and have purchased the extra comfort. 

Also I hear that you are not allowed  to bring any bags or purses in when visiting Pear Harbor.. can you tell me - not even small tiny purses that hold a phone and small wallet?
Ok thanks.. I hope that I get those links to work!! 
)


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## disnygirl55

scrappydew said:


> I am enjoying your trip report!  Love all those tropical drinks....I could use one right about now



Thank you! I quite thoroughly enjoyed them myself. We are throwing a 4th of July BBQ in a month, and it's going to be Hawaiian themed. Yes, there will be mai tais! I'm sure they will not be quite as pretty - I don't have any flowers to decorate the glasses, but at least we can use a piece of pineapple to up the "luau atmosphere"!



CT15 said:


> Hello- we will be traveling down in Sept.
> For some reason I am not able to open the links in this thread.  Will try form my other laptop - but in the mean time ... can you tell me about the flight- how was the extra comfort? We are flying direct non-stop for JFK and have purchased the extra comfort.
> 
> Also I hear that you are not allowed  to bring any bags or purses in when visiting Pear Harbor.. can you tell me - not even small tiny purses that hold a phone and small wallet?
> Ok thanks.. I hope that I get those links to work!!
> )



So sorry, I have not added the links yet. Meant to do that but totally forgot. My apologies!!!  I will go back and do that soon, hopefully later today!  In answer to your questions, we enjoyed the extra comfort, just for the amenities of the entertainment package, pillow and blanket, and a little more room. Didn't care much about the priority boarding that comes with it, since we were all seated together. I couldn't get my seat to recline on the way over, but it was fine coming back. We played trivia and watched movies, and while it was not as comfortable as first class, it was better than coach. My hubby especially liked it, and has requested to fly extra comfort next time we fly Hawaiian.  I don't think any purses at all are allowed at Pearl Harbor, even wristlets. They do have lockers available. But I made sure to wear something with pockets. I put car keys in one pocket and a little card holder with my ID and credit card in another, and carried my phone. So it was that simple. We locked everything else in the car, but traveled without a lot of "stuff" on this trip, just because of the frequency of break-ins to cars parked in the Pearl Harbor lot. But we had no issues.


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## disnygirl55

*Sunday, March 26 – Pearl Harbor and Waikiki Sunset Cocktail Cruise*

We purchased the USS Arizona Memorial Narrated Tour option from recreation.gov for $7.50 each, at 60 days in advance, so that we could choose an early tour out to the memorial at 8:00 AM. We wanted to arrive before the gates opened at 7:00 AM, so that we could get parking in a convenient lot, and have time to watch the theatre presentation and see the displays before our tour began. We left the Hale Koa about 6:00 AM, and arrived and were parked and in line by 6:45 AM. That was exactly what I planned, but I was amazed at the number of people already in line before the gates even opened. Many, many tour buses and private parties were already there.







After we walked through the gates, we headed to the desk for the USS Arizona Memorial Narrated Tour, which was NOT the correct thing to do. So they sent us away from that desk to the regular Tickets and Information desk, who exchanged our tickets for passes to pick up our headsets at the place we started. So, to repeat this for anyone in doubt, here is where you go first:








And here is where you are sent NEXT if you have this particular tour:







Once we were squared away, we all found that the headphones were very useful. Great narration by Jamie Lee Curtis, and it was interesting, not dry at all. We looked at the various displays, and also watched the theatre presentation, all of which made history come to life. The most amazing thing to me that became evident during the presentation was the number of things that had to happen to make this attack successful (or unsuccessful, depending on your point of view) for the Japanese. Radar was a fairly new thing, and the radar picked up the large number of Japanese bombers coming toward Oahu, but the Navy was expecting a large number of B-17 planes in from California on the same day, so they assumed it was the planes they were expecting, and therefore the navy missed the opportunity for early warning from the radar. Also, there was low manning on this Sunday morning, which resulted in fewer lives lost during the attack, but would we have had been more prepared to fight back sooner if more men were at their duty stations? It’s interesting to think how history might have been rewritten if the circumstances were different.

There were many Japanese and American citizens visiting the monument on the same day we visited, and I think this is a place of great healing and reflection, particularly for familial descendants of the attack. Another interesting thing to me is that in 1941, a great percentage of Hawaiian citizens and immigrants (about 40%) was of Japanese heritage. You can still see a huge Japanese influence in Oahu, where the numbers of those of Caucasian descent is about the same as those of Japanese descent – about 20% each. What must those Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans have experienced or thought during those horrible hours of destruction?


We boarded the ferry transport out to the USS Arizona Memorial at exactly 8:00.







Everyone on the ferry was very quiet and somber, and when we tied up at the memorial entrance, everyone was reminded to be respectful of the final resting place of so many brave individuals who paid the ultimate sacrifice. This photo of the position of the memorial above the remains of the Arizona was very helpful to understand where we were in relation to the ship. The white narrow rectangle is where the memorial is, crossing the ship like you would cross a "t", with the entrance at one end, and the Shrine Room at the other end.








Once in the memorial, you could see the rusted remains of the Gun Turret #3 poking out from above the water.








Here is a photo I found of the Arizona in the 1950’s. The clear water gives an impression of the ship that I haven’t seen. According to a map of the site, Gun Turret #4 is the one below the highly visible Gun Turret #3. Gun Turret #4 is where more recently deceased crew members assigned to the Arizona on the date of its destruction are buried with their shipmates if they so choose.








We walked up along one side of the memorial structure, which is all open-air out to the waters of Pearl Harbor. The guys took some time for silent reflection of the events of December 7, 1941.








The mooring quays, which were where the ships in the harbor were moored during the attack, and where other ships resided during the salvage operations, were reinforced with these white structures, but have recently begun a five-year restoration process because they are beginning to deteriorate, and are an important part of the history of the attack on Pearl Harbor.








Here is a look at the mooring quays (2 per ship) as they are laid out in Pearl Harbor. This photo is courtesy of the Historic Hawaii Foundation website, and is a great illustration.








We walked down to the end of the memorial structure, called the Shrine Room. We passed the Viewing Well before we entered the Shrine Room, but it was hard to see anything in the viewing well. This is where some people drop flowers and leis in memory of those lost, but there were no flowers here this morning, probably because we were only the second or third tour boat out to the memorial. The shrine room was beautiful. The large white marble panels were recently restored in 2014, as they were beginning to erode in places. This was completed in preparation for the 75th anniversary remembrance in 2016. On the wall are carved the names of the naval sailors and marines who lost their lives on the USS Arizona on that day.








In front of the wall are two additional monument structures to record the names and dates of death of those crew members who were interred in Gun Turret #4 after their deaths in later years.








An interesting fact: Elvis Presley performed a concert here in 1961 to raise money for the building of the USS Arizona Memorial, so he was a major contributor to the structure.


I especially loved the plaque of the poem that Eleanor Roosevelt carried with her during the years of WWII to remind her of the importance of our military to each one of us:








(In case you can’t see the words, here’s what it reads: Dear Lord / Lest I continue / My complacent way / Help me to remember / Somehow out there / A man died for me today. / As long as there be war I then must / Ask and answer / Am I worth dying for?)


After our somber reflective time at the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument, we drove out in search of lunch. We all wanted to try conveyor belt sushi for the first time, and found some good reviews on Yelp for KuruKuru Sushi. It was about 15 minutes from Pearl Harbor, in the Pearl Kai Shopping Center in Aiea. It was a very small little restaurant, and a little hard to find, as it was around the corner from some other shops and faced out to the main street, but the sushi was good, the friendly servers refilled our drinks continuously, and there were indeed many locals dining inside (and that’s always a good sign!)


We then made another detour to the Waikele Premium Outlets in Waipahu, where we checked out the Vans and LeSportSac Outlets. DS got a pair of flip flops from the Vans outlet, but nothing else really appealed to us at either shop. Across the street from the outlet stores was a McDonalds, where we stopped for a REAL HAWAIIAN TREAT: Old School (read: fried) Apple Pies. Ahhhhh….. memories of childhood when apple pies from Mickey D’s were fried, not baked!  And yes, they tasted as we remembered. We may have had another two or four of these during our trip on Oahu.








We then journeyed back to Hale Koa, and at 5:00, headed next door to the Hilton property and found the kiosk for the Hawaii Nautical tours out on the beach. Too funny. We didn’t really know where to find it, but we could have literally walked out to the beach in front of Hale Koa, turned right, and followed the paved pathway right to the small hut that served as the check-in point.


We were given tickets to the tour, and soon a guide led us out to the catamaran docked in the harbor.








The captain welcomed us, introduced the crew, and invited us to partake in some snacks before we set sail.








After we set sail, they turned on the music, opened the bar for anything we wanted to drink (I think officially we were offered two drinks to begin, but we must have looked REALLY thirsty, because we were able to have another drink or two toward the end of the cruise, probably to finish off what they had pre-mixed to bring on board). I remember that I began with champagne, and then had some kind of rum punch. There were about 10-15 people on board, and only 2 or 3 of them were kids. They had a special non-alcoholic tropical drink for the kids, as well as some normal soda choices.


The crew invited us to have a seat on the bow of the boat, so DH and I found a comfortable spot to lounge against the windows in front of the cabin.








DS found that he preferred to sprawl out on the “cargo net” in the middle of the bow with his non-alcoholic red solo cup.








The hot appetizers were out by now, and included meatballs and some sweet “hot” wings. (Sorry, foodie photo fail – I didn’t want to pause from my time watching the sunset to snap more photos inside the boat.) They were all very good, and was a good snack following the sushi and apple pie earlier in the day.


The boat ride was just long enough – about an hour and a half. We had a great view of Diamond Head and the Waikiki area.








And we watched the sunset, which was just beautiful.








We also were entertained by a pod of dolphins swimming alongside the catamaran. So special!  This was a great harbor cruise – perfect weather – the sea was a little choppy, but that made it more fun to be jostled around a little. The views were spectacular, and we had an amazing time – I highly recommend it!








After the sunset cruise, we went back to the Hale Koa (this time walking on the path out on the beach) and stopped into Bibas Courtyard Grill, where we shared an appetizer of Blue Crab Crostini and a wood fired Margherita Pizza. Our stomachs satisfied, we went back up to the room, and off to our separate pursuits. For me, that meant time on the balcony with a POG cocktail whipped up by DH – who is my favorite bartender, and a good book on my Kindle.


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## MAGICFOR2

Nice coverage of your Pearl Harbor tour!  We went out there on Monday morning.  It's nice to hear that your group was reminded to be respected.  Our group was a bit talkative, and the group still ahead of us was downright noisy while lining up to leave.  

Wow!  Your sunset cruise looks like a great experience.  I was sitting at Sunset Bar watching the sunset and taking pics with the fam.  We probably went in just before you got there.


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## soniam

Mmmmm, fried pies. We have a hamburger joint in town that's been opened since the 60s or 70s, and they still sell fried pies, including apple, peach (Texas), cherry, and lemon. We have been to the stuff at the Arizona Memorial, but the wind picked up, so they canceled our boat trip to the actual ship. Some day we will go back and see the actual ship, but we got to do pretty much everything else there that day. The sunset cruise looks really nice.


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## PattiPB

Sunset cruise is at the top of my list for later this month! Thanks for your review!


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## CT15

awesome thanks for the update! I'm taking notes and preparing for my tip!


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## disnygirl55

*Monday, March 27 – Part One: Kualoa Ranch*

This day was so jam-packed that I am splitting this into two separate entries.

The following morning, we left Hale Koa at 6:45 AM, so that we could arrive at Kualoa Ranch by 8:00 AM, which was the check-in time for our Premier Movie Sites Tour, which was due to begin at 9:00 AM. It was kind of gray and rainy during our drive, and the highway took us north, and then along the North Shore. Right on schedule, we arrived at Kualoa Ranch, and parked in one of the gravel lots close to the ranch house. There was a smiling gentleman in a Hawaiian shirt on the front porch, welcoming the early morning visitors. The Kualoa Ranch sign was so beautiful, I had to snap a photo.








We walked up the stairs and into the main ranch house. They had an extensive gift shop to the left, and a kitchen serving quick service food to the right. We walked out the back door to the check in desk, and were given lanyards for the 9:00 tour. They had a sitting area with picnic tables and benches under cover next to the check in desk, and we had a great view of the horses used for some of the horseback tours.













Our tour was in a private van, and we could see it waiting off to the side for boarding time, and also a few buses for other tours.


While we were waiting, we admired the intricately carved tree by the check in counter. DS had to stick his hand right in the shark’s mouth, because when else are you ever allowed to do that, right? You can see from the octopus in the photo below, the kind of detail in the tree. It was pretty cool, and reminded me a bit of the tree of life at Animal Kingdom, just on a much smaller scale.













Before the tour began, we also took a look at the different films that have used Kualoa Ranch for location shooting. The outside waiting area had several movie posters to look at. Since we are a movie-loving family, it was a lot of fun to see both the films / TV shows that we KNEW already had been shot at the ranch (Lost, Jurassic Park movies), and discover films that we were not aware of being made here (Soul Surfer, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, 50 First Dates, Paradise Hawaiian Style, and many more).

































Another really great surprise was a room with the history of Kualoa Ranch, including a shout-out to the Hawaiian Cowboy Ikua Purdy. This was fantastic, because the Purdy family has ties to our hometown of Cheyenne. In 1908, Ikua Purdy and some of his fellow cowboys travelled to Cheyenne, Wyoming, to compete in the 12th annual Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo. Hawaii was not known to the rest of the world at that time to have a cowboy culture, but indeed, there are several large cattle ranches in Hawaii. So imagine the surprise to the rest of the cowboys and the spectators in attendance when Ikua Purdy WON the world steer roping championship!!  Since those days, Cheyenne and the Hawaiian cowboys have maintained close ties. We have several Purdy family members living here that are descendants of Ikua. I suppose they came to visit, they liked it here, and they stayed on. Our DS went to school with a Purdy classmate for several years in elementary school. In our Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, they have a larger copy of this bronze on display (the large original bronze is on the Parker Ranch on the big island, so it was kind of surreal to see a smaller version here. There is really no direct tie I could find between Purdy and the Kualoa Ranch other than this bronze statue, as he was from the Parker Ranch on the big island, as I mentioned. I think the point is that Kualoa Ranch is proud of its cattle ranch and the cowboys who still work here, and they want to promote their ranching industry.








At 9:00, we loaded into our touring van with about 5 other people (I want to say there were about 8 passengers total). The first area we went to was the wooded area where there was still a Jurassic Park sign in place. We talked about how, for the most part, film companies have to sign a waiver to return the land exactly as it was prior to the start of filming, unless there are certain memorabilia items that Kualoa Ranch would be interested in keeping in place for tourism reasons.








Next, we journeyed down the road to the valley which will look familiar to Jurassic Park fans.


















This is where some of the most memorable scenes from Jurassic Park were filmed, including that big log where the tourists hid to avoid being trampled by the “Veggie-Sauruses”. It worked great for them, but not so great for us, because a carnivorous dinosaur found us, ate all three of us, and that was the end of our tour.








Ha-Ha. Just Kidding. I’m back with more movie fun.


Next, we drove further into the interior of the island to see a major set piece from the last Jurassic World movie, the entrance, observation deck and holding paddock for the Indominus Rex dinosaur (who is pretty smart for a reptile, and does not take kindly to people watching him all day, it turns out).























Kualoa Ranch has even preserved the observation tower deck, and was making structural improvements to the building while we were there, but we were still able to go up top and see into the Indominus Rex paddock like the actors did in the movie. And on the wall of the observation tower, there was a cool Jurassic World map of the fictional park itself, another prop from the movie.




























We then drove down the road to the coastal side of the ranch. Here is the view…. isn’t this amazing!?








We stopped at the area which was commandeered by the military during WWII and used to build bunkers. These bunkers have been re-purposed to house more movie memorabilia, and we saw more items from Jurassic Park and Lost, in addition to those from other films.














Very fun experience! There was even a Jurassic Park jeep parked outside for a photo opportunity, but we didn’t have a chance to take part in trying it out, as we spent so much time inside, and the tour van was ready to move on.


Our final stop was at a lush green waterside meadow overlooking a fish pond with a couple cottages that served as a key location in several movies. Chris Pratt lived here and worked on his bike in Jurassic World:








Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore ate here in 50 First Dates:








And Annasophia Robb lived her in her character Bethany Hamilton’s cottage in Soul Surfer:








The beauty of this area is indescribable. I think it can be rented out for weddings, both real and fictional….

















I would highly recommend this tour, although Kualoa has several interesting tours on their website, so I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them. Our close second choice would have been the ATV tour ride, but we were glad in the end that we did the Premier Movie Sites with the van. Our guide laughingly told us that he used to guide the ATV tours, but that since they are unprotected and in the open, they are subject to a lot of dust clouds and insects, so he much prefers the comfort of the van. I have to agree – when it began to heat up, it was nice to be in the air conditioning, and water and small snacks (popcorn and M & Ms) were provided to us, so that was a nice touch. I think we saw a couple locations that weren’t included in the ATV tour as well, where the cattle grazed, for instance, which may have been too dangerous for open vehicles, and also the Jurassic World Observation Deck. I may be wrong about that – but we didn’t see any ATVs out in either area.


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## soniam

That is really cool. I didn't even know about that place. I think I am going to have to suggest this for our trip next summer. We are all big movie fans and particularly love the Jurassic Park movies. I love the photo of Tom Selleck on the wall from Magnum PI. When I was a kid, my mom dated one of the semi-regular actors on the show. We always kind of liked that show, until we didn'tThat looks like such a cool and beautiful place.


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## Neverland_Girl

Loving you TR so far! I went to Kualoa Ranch last year and we did the secret beach. I definitely want to go back and do the movie tour or the zip line.


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## MAGICFOR2

Wow!  The ranch tour looks really interesting. There is so much beauty there to see.


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## disnygirl55

*Monday, March 27 – Part Two: Dole Plantation, Hale Koa Luau*

We interrupt this program for a special treat: Dole Whip!







From this place – the Dole Plantation.







It was so crowded in the gravel parking lot, and we parked way out in the far corner. We were lucky enough to find a spot that fit our monstrous rental SUV. Phew!

We were happy to find that the Dole Plantation has a nice little café at the very back of the store, (which is primarily a gift shop where you can buy all things pineapple) called the Plantation Grille – the line was long, but moved pretty quickly. DH chose the pineapple chili dog, and DS and I shared this yummy Kalua Pork Quesadilla. The sauces drizzled on top were a sweet barbecue sauce and sour cream. Very messy, but absolutely worth it!







The food was all very good, and we ate outside on the patio under an umbrella where we watched our friend “Kiwi the Bird” hop around and entertain us and try to steal people’s lunches. The Dole Whips came out first, and began to melt immediately in the heat, so we were forced to eat dessert before entrees. What a bummer. After lunch, we made a few purchases at the gift store, and this is my favorite: Pineapple Gummy Bears! Yum, Yum! They were pretty expensive, I must say, so we only got two bags. One for us, and one for a family friend who specifically asked for a bag if we went to the Dole Plantation. It was also his favorite treat from a past vacation.







I also purchased some pineapple cotton candy, but I didn’t think to take a photo. It came in a small plastic tub. It was also good, but I would choose the gummy bears if I had a choice between the two.

Since it was so warm inland at the Dole Plantation, it was a relief to get back to the cooler shores by Hale Koa. We changed into some dressier attire, and headed down to cocktail hour at 5:30 at the Hale Koa Luau. The prices for this Luau were $60 per adult, and $23 for our teenager. It was a very good price for the wonderful meal, and it was nice that there was a price other than adult price for DS. It was the same way at the Koko Buffet on the first night at Hale Koa. We’ve been so used to paying “adult” price for DS’s meals on nearly every vacation (since the age of 10 at Disney restaurants), that it was like traveling back in time to 2011! LOL!!! Another note on the pricing: all seats were the same price, regardless of how close to the stage you were, and you could choose to sit at the uncovered tables near the stage, or further back, under cover, closer to the bar. We took a chance that it wouldn’t rain that evening, and booked early enough that we were able to get a seat front and center of the stage, at Table 4. I did worry about rain ruining our dinner, but it was a lovely evening, so we were very lucky.

This was our very first luau, so we didn’t know what to expect, but it seems to be standard at both luaus we attended (this one and the one at Aulani) for the guests to gather on the lawn to have a complimentary rum drink handed to them, a welcome lei either of shells, nuts, or flowers, and a family photo taken (which could be purchased later at dinner in a folder with the Hale Koa name on it.)








Then we wandered around the luau lawn to watch demonstrations of Hawaiian cultural arts. There was a lei-making station, which seemed pretty time consuming to me and also had many little girls in line who would enjoy it more than I would, so we skipped it. There was also a headband making station, which was a braiding activity that was interesting and quick to do, so I made a headband out of palm fronds for DH. He liked it, and looked very tropical in his headband and Hawaiian shirt.







We watched some of the entertainers climb the palm trees that encircled the lawn, which was neat. They really were comedians, and also very strong and talented. There was a bar set up behind the back rows of tables, with several bartenders who were serving many guests already at this point.

Before we knew it, we heard the call of the conch shells to get our attention.












One of the performers, acting as an emcee for the evening, invited us all to gather around the “imu” – a Hawaiian style underground oven – which I like to simply refer to as the “pig pit”.







It was really cool to see them unwrap the pig from its roasting place under the large leaves, and then place it on a litter to carry it to the kitchen where they shredded it to make Kalua Pork (which is just the term for pig cooked in an imu oven underground.)



























We were then invited to make our way to our seats, while the band played traditional Hawaiian tunes.






We introduced ourselves to our table mates at our table for eight. There were a couple of other very nice families there. Soon, we were served our plated meals, which was different from the buffet-style “help yourself” meal at Aulani. On the plate were small portions of many different dishes, including the aforementioned Kalua Pork, fried rice, roasted vegetables, teriyaki beef, salmon and chicken. On the table, there was also salad as well poi, the traditional Hawaiian lavender-colored sauce made from pounded taro root. It didn’t have a lot of flavor, but poi is very healthy for you, apparently (we talked to one native Hawaiian who says that their family eats a lot of poi with every meal, and they have all lived long and healthy lives that they attribute to the poi.) It didn’t taste BAD, but also didn’t add anything special to the flavor of the meat, in my view… I had a little at both luaus and didn’t mind it at all.












Up on stage, the entertainment began. It was a very nice theme – the different costumes, dances, and traditions of the various South Pacific Island Cultures. They paid homage to Hawaiians, Samoans, French Polynesians, Tongans, and others. Oh my goodness…. these performers were so amazingly talented, and gave us a great education on the pacific islands. There were also several fire dancing demonstrations from the various islands represented. My photos do not do the show justice. It was also very hard to get the action shots without a lot of blurriness – but here are a few of the ones that turned out decently.

























































There was also a bit of audience participation, including a celebration of the couple married the longest in the audience, and honoring all the different military services in attendance. I think every service, including the coast guard, were represented by a large number of attendees. The evening ended with a rousing rendition of “God Bless the USA” sung by the performers and the audience, to end on a patriotic note. I cannot say enough good things about this luau, and enjoyed the show even better than the Aulani show, even though that one was also amazing.

After dinner, we headed back upstairs, and turned in early, since it had been a very full day, and we were headed to Aulani the next day! 

Thoughts on Hale Koa: wonderfully priced, beautiful property, amazing luau, fantastic opportunity to stock up on supplies, liquor, gifts, food, clothing… you name it…. at the shoppette downstairs, which had a little of everything. I even bought nail polish and the combo detergent/fabric softener sheets that I couldn’t find back home. Very handy to use for vacation travels. We tried new types of Hawaiian rums and tropical juices, and a nice pineapple wine, bought a case of water, and took everything with us to Aulani.  Only one complaint about Hale Koa… their shampoo / conditioner combination that they provided in the toiletries was horrible. Not sure which brand they buy and re-brand as their own, but it dried out my hair in the worst way. After two days of it, I bought a small bottle of conditioner from the shoppette to supplement, and it was a huge improvement. And isn’t that a silly thing to remark on as a hotel drawback??  J  We are very blessed to be able to stay at this facility, and we wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. As a matter of fact, in a couple of years we are going to take the “Pride of America” Norwegian Cruise Lines sailing around most of the Hawaiian Islands, and we are going to stay another Saturday night there before flying home Sunday morning. We’ll plan to attend the Saturday night Surf and Turf buffet again at Koko at Kalia, for more crab legs and delicious food for dinner – fingers crossed that they are still offering it! If you are eligible to stay here, I highly recommend it if it fits into your plans. Make your reservations a year in advance, if you want your choice of rooms. You can always cancel it later if you change your mind. It also bears mentioning that down at the beach, a little ways further left down the paved path while facing the ocean, there is a stand (run by an independent company) that rents out beach chairs and umbrellas, paddle boards, surfboards, water trikes, small boats, large floating foam platforms, etc… to anyone, but offers reduced prices for military members. If we were staying longer, I would have definitely made use of renting their equipment to play in the water.


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## soniam

That looks so nice, both the luau and the Dole Plantation. We love the Dole Plantation. It just screams Hawaii to me. It sounds like a really nice resort. It's nice to have something more affordable for servicemen and their families, since Hawaii is so expensive. I understand about the conditioner and shampoo. Sometimes, it's just not good.


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## longboard55

The Hale  Koa luau is a great deal for the price.  Been a while but they go back and forth on whether they will sell to non military.  Sometimes its the Don't ask No tell attitude.  If you are in Waikiki check at the activity desk at the Hale Koa  hotel lobby and see what they say.    If you are there on a grandpa trip who was in the military, you have to go.


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## buffettgirl

That's great to hear about the luau there.  I'm tired of dragging guests out to paradise cove, so I wondered how it was and it looks pretty decent.   
For the money, I just love the hale koa and DH and I will often do staycations there if our son is gone with school for something.  It's a great location and the beach is perfect in front.  Not to make anyone all jealous (ha!) but my girlfriends and I will often just hang out at the pool for the day if we all need a 'day off' from life and we pretend we're on vacation.  Did that today.  (worth noting, the bar was serving alcohol at 10am, not that I know anything about that)


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## disnygirl55

buffettgirl said:


> That's great to hear about the luau there. I'm tired of dragging guests out to paradise cove, so I wondered how it was and it looks pretty decent.
> For the money, I just love the hale koa and DH and I will often do staycations there if our son is gone with school for something. It's a great location and the beach is perfect in front. Not to make anyone all jealous (ha!) but my girlfriends and I will often just hang out at the pool for the day if we all need a 'day off' from life and we pretend we're on vacation. Did that today. (worth noting, the bar was serving alcohol at 10am, not that I know anything about that)



I love it!! Awww..... I would love a day off from life.... today would be a good one to "beam me over" to the Hale Koa pool. Meet you there at 5:00!


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## scrappydew

buffettgirl said:


> That's great to hear about the luau there.  I'm tired of dragging guests out to paradise cove, so I wondered how it was and it looks pretty decent.
> For the money, I just love the hale koa and DH and I will often do staycations there if our son is gone with school for something.  It's a great location and the beach is perfect in front.  Not to make anyone all jealous (ha!) but my girlfriends and I will often just hang out at the pool for the day if we all need a 'day off' from life and we pretend we're on vacation.  Did that today.  (worth noting, the bar was serving alcohol at 10am, not that I know anything about that)




Can I come, too??


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## disnygirl55

*Tuesday, March 28 – Iolani Palace, Aulani, Monkeypod Kitchen*

As I think I’ve mentioned, we are not a sleep-in type of family. The Hale Koa’s check-out time is 11:00 am. We didn’t want to get to Aulani so early that we would have to plan for a day bag to last us a few hours until our room was ready, so we thought we could fit in one more thing to see before leaving Honolulu. My initial thoughts were either to hike Diamond Head or drive a few blocks to see Iolani Palace, the home to the last reigning king and queen of Hawaii, before the royal family was overthrown in 1893. The Palace won out, because when I booked, my ankle was still a bit weak from a hike last fall, and I wanted to give it a couple more months to return to normal before pushing it too hard. So the tour of Iolani (only about one hour long) seemed like a nice alternative.

A little history: The palace was completed in 1882, so it was the royal residence for only 11 years. It had all the modern conveniences of the time, including electrical lights, a telephone, and indoor plumbing. Doesn’t this look like the height of elegance??  Ha Ha! Well, better than an outdoor alternative, I say!







The palace is fairly small for a royal residence, but very ornate. The memorabilia that the historical society has either restored or found after being sold off, is truly wonderful and opulent. After the monarchy was dissolved, the contents of the Palace were sold at Public Auction and have been scattered all over the world. The restoration foundation has been working to locate the contents of the palace and restore it back to its grandeur. Pieces of the King’s bedroom set (below) were recovered (by a visiting tourist who recognized an item in a photograph as now belonging to his family!), the palace china was located in California, and many other items have been found and have been restored.







King Kalakaua, the final king, died in 1891, and his sister Liliuokalani became Queen for the couple of years the royal family was still in power. When a loyal band of royal enthusiasts tried to eventually restore the monarchy, she was imprisoned at Iolani Palace in an upstairs suite, where she made this intricate quilt, ostensibly to pass the time.







To get there, we left Hale Koa at 8:15, for our 9:00 tour. It was only a 10-15 minute drive from Hale Koa, and that left us time to park in the parking garage across the street, which was a bargain at $3 for two hours, and also pick up our tickets at the will-call office, which was in a small Barracks building on the grounds.





Photo by Travis Thurston posted on Wikipedia

If helpful to anyone, the parking garage is at 1099 Alakea Street, and was very convenient (except for the extremely tight parking spaces for a big old “boat” of a rental like we had). I don’t think I’ve ever parked so close to a wall in my life. I had to let the guys out before I pulled into the only spot that would work, and slither my way out of the driver’s side. I prayed that the car next to me wouldn’t leave before I did, as I wasn’t sure if they could get into their driver’s side. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any signs of anyone needing to get out before we returned.

After parking and getting our tickets, we were invited to join the group gathering for the tour and sit in chairs on the porch outside the back entrance of the palace.







We were given velvet booties to place over our shoes. Already, the royal treatment! (Ha ha!) Below is the front porch where we gathered to wait for the tour to begin.







Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, and guided us all around the palace. We began by viewing the State Dining Room, with some of the china that was recovered from California.







My favorite part was the throne room, with the thrones, scepter and sword on display.







It also displayed these beautiful exact replicas of gowns that Queen Kapi’olani and (then) Princess Lili’uokalani wore to London in 1887 for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The Peacock Gown worn by the Queen was my favorite, and the gown that her sister-in-law wore, called the “Black Ribbon Gown” was also beautiful. This was the sister-in-law who later succeeded her brother as the monarch upon his death, and was the last queen, the one who was imprisoned and made the quilt.






















This was a wonderful piece of history to see, and the entire story was fascinating. We ended our tour in the basement, where the kitchens were located, and some storage rooms that are now used to house some of the recovered family jewels and royal decorations.












It was neat to know that some of the jewels are on loan from the descendants of the royal family still living in Hawaii, and are active members of The Friends of Iolani Palace, who are charged with preservation and restoration activities. We made a donation at the end of the tour to support this group. We believe their work is important to this piece of American history.

After visiting the Palace, we headed back to Hale Koa to check out. To our frustration, a bunch of road construction had cropped up, blocking our way back to Hale Koa, and leading us on a very slow and traffic-clogged detour. So we were about 15 minutes late to check out. We phoned the Hale Koa when we knew we would be late, and they were very gracious and understanding about the traffic.

Finally, we bid adieu to the Hale Koa, and packed up the car for the drive to Aulani. The first fail of my itinerary: we had planned to stop at Leonard’s Malasadas on the way, but it was now too close to lunchtime, and we just wanted to get to Aulani. We DID make time to stop at the Target very close to Ko’Olina and picked up some snacks and breakfast foods, and a couple of cheap plastic floaty toys (a chair and a blow-up lounge) to use in the Aulani lagoon.

The check-in process at Aulani was very easy. The parking garage was attached to the Waianae Tower side of the resort, which I had requested, and was granted. We were given room 1212, which is exactly what I requested for our ocean-view one bedroom villa. I requested upper floor, Waianae Tower, overlooking the pools / lagoon in an even-numbered room. I was tickled that we received it, as we don’t always have the best of luck when requesting rooms at Disney resorts.

The first order of business was to check out our views:

















A couple of my photos of our room didn’t turn out, so I have interspersed them with photos taken from Disney websites that were so helpful to me in planning our vacation. We loved our room, the location and the view. There was plenty of storage, and it was very handy to have the kitchen and the washer/dryer. I thought it would be weird to have the two small triangular balconies – one off the living room, and the other off the master bedroom – but we didn’t mind it at all. There was plenty of room.



























We walked around the Aulani property a little, peeked around the gift shops, and bought a new rash guard for DH.







We walked down the steps from the pool area and took a closer look at the lagoon. The ocean was beautiful and inviting, but we were getting hungry, so decided to head over to across the street to Monkeypod Kitchen. It was a quick walk of about 5 minutes or less. I had made dinner reservations for 5:30, but they were able to seat us closer to 4:30, and we enjoyed a round of Happy Hour drinks before we ordered. This is the Monkeypod Mai Tai for me, which I loved (it had a honey-lilikoi foam). Not sure what that is, but it was delicious!  I think DH had some sort of margarita, judging by the rim of salt around his glass.







For dinner, DS chose the King Kong Cheese Burger (no surprise there!), and DH and I split a couple of different entrees…. the Proletariat Pizza (we love green olives on our pizza) and the Kiawe Grilled Ahi with Jalapeno mashed potatoes. We also added a side of charred brussels sprouts. It was a wonderful dinner!












Yes, we were very happy to hang out at Monkeypod, and get the festivities started! The menfolk were already monkeying around:












Following Monkeypod, we went back to the resort. The teens were having some activities, so we walked with DS to Aunty’s Beach House to see what there was to see. I believe it was Ukulele lessons the first night. We were hoping that he would make some friends to hang out with, and that turned out to be a great decision. Look who else we found hanging loose at Aunty’s Beach House!







DH and I heard the sound of the band playing on the patio outside the 'Olelo Room. It was such a beautiful evening that we stayed outside at a table and listened to them and ordered a couple of drinks: True Blue Hawaii and a Mango Mojito.






















This is probably my favorite part of our Aulani stay… listening to a different band every night playing over at the ‘Olelo Room. We could also clearly hear the music wafting up to our balcony on the 12th floor, and it was perfect to listen to it every evening.







After our drinks, we walked around the pool and lazy river. True to what we’d heard, the lazy river was closed and vacant, but we saw that the large pool area was used by a few visitors late into the night.


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## disnygirl55

scrappydew said:


> Can I come, too??



But of course!!! That would be wonderful!!!


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## MAGICFOR2

Hi Leslie!  I am loving re-living our trip through you TR we did so many of the same activities, just at different times.  We were at the luau at the same time.  We were standing just to the left of you and a couple of rows back . How did we not see each other   We went to Pearl Harbor and Dole on Monday, North Shore and Halawa  Falls on Tuesday with pizza in the hallway lounge area. Wed. We moved to Aulani and ate at Monkeypod 

We also loved the luau at Hale Koa.  The ending "God Bless the USA" had us all in tears.  Side note  did you notice the blond chick that kept running up to the front and raised her hand for  every situation that was mentioned?  She was standing up blocking the couple married the longest or something near us, and the family chased her away.  It was entertaining, but then I was thinking she might be a young widow or something, and I was ashamed for judging. 

I fully agree with your assessment of Hale Koa.  We found ourselves asking, "why didn't we do this before?"  DS and his family took a hop over, and plan to do that again! We want to, but the new stuff at WDW is calling my name and DH is wanting to cruise.  Not sure what will win out for us.


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## disnygirl55

MAGICFOR2 said:


> Hi Leslie! I am loving re-living our trip through you TR we did so many of the same activities, just at different times. We were at the luau at the same time. We were standing just to the left of you and a couple of rows back . How did we not see each other  We went to Pearl Harbor and Dole on Monday, North Shore and Halawa Falls on Tuesday with pizza in the hallway lounge area. Wed. We moved to Aulani and ate at Monkeypod
> 
> We also loved the luau at Hale Koa. The ending "God Bless the USA" had us all in tears. Side note did you notice the blond chick that kept running up to the front and raised her hand for every situation that was mentioned? She was standing up blocking the couple married the longest or something near us, and the family chased her away. It was entertaining, but then I was thinking she might be a young widow or something, and I was ashamed for judging.
> 
> I fully agree with your assessment of Hale Koa. We found ourselves asking, "why didn't we do this before?" DS and his family took a hop over, and plan to do that again! We want to, but the new stuff at WDW is calling my name and DH is wanting to cruise. Not sure what will win out for us.



No! I didn't see the blonde!  Wonder how I missed that - what a shame that she might have dampened someone else's enjoyment of the show.  But you bring up a good point...  you just never know anyone's circumstances and what makes them act the way they do. 

I vote that you need to take a land/sea vacation. We are doing that next April. We'll be on the April 2, 2018  4-night Bahamas on the Dream, and then we'll finish out the week with a two-night stay at WDW (I know... not nearly enough time for either) - but we have to play this "school vacation" game now until our son is out of high school. Sigh....  I wanted a cruise, but I want to see Avatar land as well, and some other new things since our last visit - but cruising will always be my true love.   Good news is that my Mom, sisters and niece are coming along - their first cruise ever, and I'm looking forward to getting them good and hooked. Our niece will be seven, which is a perfect age to have a lot of fun on a Disney Cruise!!  (I think it would be fun if you were there as well.... just sayin'....)  LOL!


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## MAGICFOR2

Your land/sea sounds like a great idea!  Thank you for the invite!  You are so sweet!  It would be great to see you again!  With starting a new job, my time off is limited for awhile.  We are working on a plan for next March again with Ryan. Their Break is the last week of March.
I was planning a similar get away for this fall until our clinic sold. Jim really wants to cruise and I want to see Avatar too. So much to see, so little time


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## disnygirl55

I'm just going to play around and test here to see if I can cut and paste directly on here, so excuse my ramblings. Just found out about the whole Photobucket thing, and I'm miffed about all this wasted time writing trip reports over the years, when all my photos have disappeared. If I can't get something else to work, I'm going to say goodbye to posting reports on Disboards for awhile. Sad....


Well, that appears to work. I'll see if I can re-create some of the old posts before going forward.


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## disnygirl55

Why me???!!!  So I figure out what to do to insert my photos without using a photo hosting site, and now I see that I can only post 10 photos in a report rather than 25. Curses, Photo Bucket! And curses, Disboards, for getting me all excited that I can fix this, and then shutting down the editing of my posts, due to having more than 10 photos. What should I do now?  Start all over from the beginning? This is ridiculous. I've wasted enough of my time today. Sigh.


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## soniam

disnygirl55 said:


> Why me???!!!  So I figure out what to do to insert my photos without using a photo hosting site, and now I see that I can only post 10 photos in a report rather than 25. Curses, Photo Bucket! And curses, Disboards, for getting me all excited that I can fix this, and then shutting down the editing of my posts, due to having more than 10 photos. What should I do now?  Start all over from the beginning? This is ridiculous. I've wasted enough of my time today. Sigh.



You can insert 10 pictures/post, I believe. I think that I have posted way more than 10 in some of my reports.


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## disnygirl55

soniam said:


> You can insert 10 pictures/post, I believe. I think that I have posted way more than 10 in some of my reports.



Exactly - I have about 25 photos in some of my posts (the previous maximum) - so not sure what I can do now, other than starting a brand new thread for each trip report, which I will do someday when I have the time and energy. Otherwise, nothing will be in the correct order. Pretty devastated at the prospect - first world problems, right??


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## CT15

disnygirl55 said:


> *Monday, March 27 – Part Two: Dole Plantation, Hale Koa Luau*
> 
> We interrupt this program for a special treat: Dole Whip!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From this place – the Dole Plantation.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It was so crowded in the gravel parking lot, and we parked way out in the far corner. We were lucky enough to find a spot that fit our monstrous rental SUV. Phew!
> 
> We were happy to find that the Dole Plantation has a nice little café at the very back of the store, (which is primarily a gift shop where you can buy all things pineapple) called the Plantation Grille – the line was long, but moved pretty quickly. DH chose the pineapple chili dog, and DS and I shared this yummy Kalua Pork Quesadilla. The sauces drizzled on top were a sweet barbecue sauce and sour cream. Very messy, but absolutely worth it!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The food was all very good, and we ate outside on the patio under an umbrella where we watched our friend “Kiwi the Bird” hop around and entertain us and try to steal people’s lunches. The Dole Whips came out first, and began to melt immediately in the heat, so we were forced to eat dessert before entrees. What a bummer. After lunch, we made a few purchases at the gift store, and this is my favorite: Pineapple Gummy Bears! Yum, Yum! They were pretty expensive, I must say, so we only got two bags. One for us, and one for a family friend who specifically asked for a bag if we went to the Dole Plantation. It was also his favorite treat from a past vacation.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I also purchased some pineapple cotton candy, but I didn’t think to take a photo. It came in a small plastic tub. It was also good, but I would choose the gummy bears if I had a choice between the two.
> 
> Since it was so warm inland at the Dole Plantation, it was a relief to get back to the cooler shores by Hale Koa. We changed into some dressier attire, and headed down to cocktail hour at 5:30 at the Hale Koa Luau. The prices for this Luau were $60 per adult, and $23 for our teenager. It was a very good price for the wonderful meal, and it was nice that there was a price other than adult price for DS. It was the same way at the Koko Buffet on the first night at Hale Koa. We’ve been so used to paying “adult” price for DS’s meals on nearly every vacation (since the age of 10 at Disney restaurants), that it was like traveling back in time to 2011! LOL!!! Another note on the pricing: all seats were the same price, regardless of how close to the stage you were, and you could choose to sit at the uncovered tables near the stage, or further back, under cover, closer to the bar. We took a chance that it wouldn’t rain that evening, and booked early enough that we were able to get a seat front and center of the stage, at Table 4. I did worry about rain ruining our dinner, but it was a lovely evening, so we were very lucky.
> 
> This was our very first luau, so we didn’t know what to expect, but it seems to be standard at both luaus we attended (this one and the one at Aulani) for the guests to gather on the lawn to have a complimentary rum drink handed to them, a welcome lei either of shells, nuts, or flowers, and a family photo taken (which could be purchased later at dinner in a folder with the Hale Koa name on it.)
> 
> 
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> 
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> Thoughts on Hale Koa: wonderfully priced, beautiful property, amazing luau, fantastic opportunity to stock up on supplies, liquor, gifts, food, clothing… you name it…. at the shoppette downstairs, which had a little of everything. I even bought nail polish and the combo detergent/fabric softener sheets that I couldn’t find back home. Very handy to use for vacation travels. We tried new types of Hawaiian rums and tropical juices, and a nice pineapple wine, bought a case of water, and took everything with us to Aulani.  Only one complaint about Hale Koa… their shampoo / conditioner combination that they provided in the toiletries was horrible. Not sure which brand they buy and re-brand as their own, but it dried out my hair in the worst way. After two days of it, I bought a small bottle of conditioner from the shoppette to supplement, and it was a huge improvement. And isn’t that a silly thing to remark on as a hotel drawback??  J  We are very blessed to be able to stay at this facility, and we wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. As a matter of fact, in a couple of years we are going to take the “Pride of America” Norwegian Cruise Lines sailing around most of the Hawaiian Islands, and we are going to stay another Saturday night there before flying home Sunday morning. We’ll plan to attend the Saturday night Surf and Turf buffet again at Koko at Kalia, for more crab legs and delicious food for dinner – fingers crossed that they are still offering it! If you are eligible to stay here, I highly recommend it if it fits into your plans. Make your reservations a year in advance, if you want your choice of rooms. You can always cancel it later if you change your mind. It also bears mentioning that down at the beach, a little ways further left down the paved path while facing the ocean, there is a stand (run by an independent company) that rents out beach chairs and umbrellas, paddle boards, surfboards, water trikes, small boats, large floating foam platforms, etc… to anyone, but offers reduced prices for military members. If we were staying longer, I would have definitely made use of renting their equipment to play in the water.



Not sure if its just me- but I'm not getting the photos


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## MAGICFOR2

Is it only 10 photos per TR or 10 per post?  There has been a per post limit for awhile.  They are going to lose their audience if we can't post pics.


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## disnygirl55

MAGICFOR2 said:


> Is it only 10 photos per TR or 10 per post? There has been a per post limit for awhile. They are going to lose their audience if we can't post pics.



It's 10 per post - so I can re-do all my trip reports if I have the time to re-write them and split them up. Apparently, the limit was 25 per post if you used a hosted website like photobucket (which I did, and now I wish I had not). But back when I started writing trip reports, the only way to post a photo was by using photobucket. Since then, the DIS has revised their website, and now you can cut and paste directly into a trip report, but they only allow 10 photos per post when you do it that way.

So I'm looking at quite a long road to move forward. I'll have to start a brand new thread for each trip report and break each entry up into only 10 photos, which means my tables of contents will have to be revised to have more entries and new links to each post. Right now, I don't have the energy to start over. Guess I need another trip to Hawaii to get my happy thoughts back!


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## disnygirl55

CT15 said:


> Not sure if its just me- but I'm not getting the photos



Not just you. Nobody can see them anymore, since I used photobucket, and now they're holding my photos for ransom for $400.  Being a business person, I think they've just sunk their company. Hardly anyone will pay that, which means people won't use Photobucket anymore, which means advertisers will not be willing to place ads on their site, so they'll lose that revenue stream.  Not a smart move in my book, and I'm trying to keep my emotions out of it here.


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## MAGICFOR2

Yes I was thinking the same thing about Photobucket.  I'm sure most of us have blank pages.  I have most on pin drives I'm sure, but I'm going to download  them all onto one and delete my account.  It is like the DIS.  Brings business to their site.  If they started a membership, no one would be there.

I'm thinking i would repost a few pics if I were you, but not full on every TR. THAT WOULD TAKE FOREVER!!  Good luck getting it together. 
I got grounded by my son for sharing too much, so I've been MIA on mine.


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## disnygirl55

Test


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