# PARADISE LOST AND FOUND  Our familys first trip to Aulani & Hawaii - updated 9/2/16



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Welcome to my first trip report! I have had great fun reading trip reports on the Disboards for a while and have found them so helpful. I do hope our trip report may be a little help to someone else who is planning or considering a trip to Aulani. Yes, Im looking at you! And if you have been there, you know you need to go back.

We are not DVC owners. When I first heard about Aulani, as a Disney fan of course I knew it would be amazing, but I hadnt dreamed we would actually go there.  And then, some exciting news: my husband goes to a conference for work every year, and I learned it would be held in Hawaii. Truth be told, he was not certain at first about even going (!), but we agreed that if he decided to go we would all go and add some extra time before and after the conference to make it our family vacation. To make it affordable (yeah, right!), we rented DVC points for the Aulani portion of our trip. We also stayed at three other locations during our 11-night stay, including the big conference hotel and a dreamy vacation home on the Big Island. Im sure you all know which one was the best!

As a brief introduction, heres a picture of our family: Thats me on the left, Karin, next to my husband, Jeff. Our three sons are Benji (9), Sam (12), and Kevin (9). Yes, the youngest two are twins. (Our oldest son just LOVES it when strangers we bump into ask if they are triplets. It actually has happened many times. Silly.) My mom, Jan, also will appear in the report, as she joined us for most of our vacation.





It was an amazing trip, and I look forward to re-living some highlights with whoever would like to join us. I will try to convince you to go there yourself, I must warn you. You deserve it. Your kids do, too. It will be worth all the hassle, jetlag, and maybe even the expense. 

Soon, you will start to see a pattern of events unfolding that explains the title of my report. Lets just say painstaking planning for over a year did not prevent mishaps and craziness, including an unfortunate happening that put our trip in jeopardy on the very morning we were to leave.

Next up: Chapter One  In Which Purposeful Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. (I read that in a fortune cookie once, so Im sure that its true.)


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 - In Which Purposeful Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance
(Packing Ideas)
Chapter 2 - In Which We Lose Something, Forget Something, and Wait a While
Chapter 3 - In Which We Go Hiking, Go Driving, and Take a Bumpy Ride
Chapter 4 - In Which I Go Solo and Take a Photo Tour
Chapter 5 - In Which We Go to Kailua for Lunch and a Swim
Chapter 6 - In Which We See Waikiki Beach, Some Elephants, and the Convention Center
Chapter 7 - In Which We See Fireworks and the Boys Do Not Have Ice Cream
Chapter 8 - In Which We Float, Shop, and Get Our First Dose of Disney Magic
Chapter 9 - In Which We See Our Room, Bump into Some Friends, and Have Dinner
Chapter 10 - In Which We Have a Morning of Ups and Downs
Chapter 11 - In Which a Volcano Hits the Island and We Have a Speedy Luau
Chapter 12 - In Which We Tear Ourselves Away from Aulani to Visit the North Shore
Chapter 13 - In Which We See the Starlit Hui and I Take Some Morning Photos
Chapter 14 - In Which We Play in the Lagoon and the Twins Fall in with a Bad Crowd at Aunty’s
Chapter 15 - In Which There is Ice Cream, an Adventure™, and an Un-Magical Visit to Aunty’s
Chapter 16 - In Which We Enjoy our Last Night and Morning at Aulani, Despite My Vain Attempts to Remain Annoyed
Chapter 17 - In Which We Fly to the Big Island
Chapter 18 - In Which We Hit the Road and Explore
Chapter 19 - In Which We Go Where Molten Hot Lava Has Gone Before
Chapter 20 - In Which We Climb on Lava, Sink Our Toes in Black Sand, and Reluctantly Fly Away


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## mickeyd78

Planning our first trip to  Aulani in November. Looking forward to reading about your visit!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

mickeyd78 said:


> Planning our first trip to  Aulani in November. Looking forward to reading about your visit!



How exciting! I'm sure you'll love it. I learned as I was planning that many people visit Hawaii from Australia, and a woman from Sydney was on a photography tour that I took. 

We learned a lot during our trip, so I'll pass along anything I think could be useful throughout. Our family is going to Pop Century in November for the first time. I see you have been there, too. If you want to throw any tips in that regard my way, feel free.


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## Captain_Oblivious

Hi Karin! 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I do hope our trip report may be a little help to someone else who is planning or considering a trip to Aulani. Yes, Im looking at you! And if you have been there, you know you need to go back.







MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> To make it affordable (yeah, right!), we rented DVC points for the Aulani portion of our trip. We also stayed at three other locations during our 11-night stay, including the big conference hotel and a dreamy vacation home on the Big Island. Im sure you all know which one was the best!



Yeah, those conference centers are pretty swanky.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> (Our oldest son just LOVES it when strangers we bump into ask if they are triplets. It actually has happened many times. Silly.)



We get that a lot with our two sons, too.  And I don't think they look anything alike. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Lets just say painstaking planning for over a year did not prevent mishaps and craziness, including an unfortunate happening that put our trip in jeopardy on the very morning we were to leave.







MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Next up: Chapter One  In Which Purposeful Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. (I read that in a fortune cookie once, so Im sure that its true.)



I thought it was: Man plans, God laughs.


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## ProudMommyof2

I am in! Great start! I hope to plan a trip for next year.


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## mmouseforpres

I'll be there in 4 weeks!  I look forward to reading your trip reports!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Hi Karin!




Hi, Mark! Thanks a lot for stopping by.




Captain_Oblivious said:


> Yeah, those conference centers are pretty swanky.



It probably looked a lot less swanky with us there! One of our boys practically cried the day we had to leave it to go to Aulani, because he liked the room so much. :





Captain_Oblivious said:


> I thought it was: Man plans, God laughs.



You got that right!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

ProudMommyof2 said:


> I am in! Great start! I hope to plan a trip for next year.



Welcome, and thank you! I hope you enjoy your planning.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

mmouseforpres said:


> I'll be there in 4 weeks!  I look forward to reading your trip reports!



Ooooh, how exciting! Happy for you.  
Let me know if you have any questions. I had many as I planned, and found so many answers on these boards.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Like most people on the DISboards, I am a planner. I planned like a maniac for this trip. In addition to the DIS and other online travel resources, a couple of books I found helpful were _Lonely Planets Discover Honolulu, Waikiki, and Oahu_ (Benson & Dunford) and _Oahu Revealed _(Doughty). We borrowed a big stack of library books about Hawaii to read with the kids. I also enjoyed reading _Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii _(not really qualifying as a resource, admittedly, but neither does The Brady Bunch Goes to Hawaii special and we made sure to see that as a family). 

I have had some anxiety with flying in the past, so another curious choice I made was to try out the TV series _LOST_, which of course is about survivors of a plane crash on a deserted (not really) island. I knew it was almost entirely filmed on Oahu, so justified that as "research" also. Plus I picked up some important survival tips that just might come in handy. I ensnared my husband a bit later and we flew through all 6 seasons within a few months, just before our vacation. Flying was easier for me than ever on our trip, and I think the show really desensitized me to the notion of crashing and all the awfulness that could theoretically result. So, tons of fun to watch and also a great help to me. Yay! 

Some planning was made easy by the conference I mentioned upfront. We knew when to go, and happily May is a good time for crowds and prices. We booked a room at the conference hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. Aulani was a goal right away, so I put in a request to rent points at 11 months out, and we were put on a waiting list for a couple of months. Last August we received confirmation that we had secured rooms at Aulani. We later added a stay on the Big Island and needed to find a place there near Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which was a bit tricky for a group our size. I happened to be enjoying Captain_Obliviouss Hawaii trip report at the time and he suggested looking for a vacation home rental. I did so, and we found the perfect place. Thanks again, Captain! The last bit of maneuvering we did was to add one more night on Oahu to allow additional time for Pearl Harbor. This meant a fourth hotel was needed, so we found one that would work just for a brief stay.

Everything was progressing nicely. Then one day a few weeks before the trip, I was walking down the stairs looking behind me while talking to my son, Kevin, (about Disney World, of all things) and I missed a step and fell It was only a sprain of two joints in my foot, but it did hurt quite a bit, especially when I put weight on it. I was fitted with a special shoe and boot to use as needed on the trip. I was worried about how the foot trouble would impact hiking and other activities. Would it ruin the trip? Is this the end of the story? Have you all (four) been duped into reading the worst trip report ever? Perhaps. But not really. (I hope, anyway.) 

Wow, I did ramble Enough of this planning talk! I have lots of pictures and they are much more interesting than this stuff. For now, here is Kevin with a map of Hawaii he and his brothers made.


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## disneypoor

I'm totally in and can't wait for the rest of your TR.  We will arrive at Aulani in about six and a half weeks and can't wait!

Susan


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## kelly3kids

We have three boys 9, 7, and 4. We will be at Aulani in 11 days. We are so excited. I am loving hearing your trip report. We too have books about Hawaii that we have checked out and learning what we can. We read Magic Treehouse #28 for fun. 

We want to snorkel, enjoy the beach, pools, slides, Aunty's, and we will be traveling to North Shore. We have been to Oahu a few other times and we love North Shore. We also eat at Jameson's By the Sea. 

Any packing tips would be great.


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## ProudMommyof2

Awesome start! My worse nightmare is that someone is sick or injured before a big trip


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## alohamom

WOW-Captain America did an incredible job with his 3D map. Good job Kevin!


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## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> In addition to the DIS and other online travel resources, a couple of books I found helpful were _Lonely Planets Discover Honolulu, Waikiki, and Oahu_ (Benson & Dunford) and _*Oahu Revealed *_(Doughty).



Good choice. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I have had some anxiety with flying in the past, so another curious choice I made was to try out the TV series _LOST_, which of course is about survivors of a plane crash on a deserted (not really) island.



Ok, this just cracked me up.  I've never, ever heard of anyone who worked on gettnig over their fear of flying by watching a show about a plane crash. 

Good show, though!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I happened to be enjoying Captain_Obliviouss Hawaii trip report at the time and he suggested looking for a vacation home rental. I did so, and we found the perfect place. Thanks again, Captain!







MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I missed a step and fell It was only a sprain of two joints in my foot, but it did hurt quite a bit, especially when I put weight on it. I was fitted with a special shoe and boot to use as needed on the trip. I was worried about how the foot trouble would impact hiking and other activities.



Well, I'm sure there's no good hikes on the islands anyway...



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Would it ruin the trip?







MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Is this the end of the story?







MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Have you all (four) been duped into reading the worst trip report ever?







MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> For now, here is Kevin with a map of Hawaii he and his brothers made.



Nice work!  It's very recognizably Hawaii!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

disneypoor said:


> I'm totally in and can't wait for the rest of your TR.  We will arrive at Aulani in about six and a half weeks and can't wait!
> 
> Susan



Welcome and thanks for reading, Susan! I trust you will have an amazing time at Aulani. The six and a half weeks will pass quickly, I'm sure. So fun to look forward to a new adventure.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

kelly3kids said:


> We have three boys 9, 7, and 4. We will be at Aulani in 11 days. We are so excited. I am loving hearing your trip report. We too have books about Hawaii that we have checked out and learning what we can. We read Magic Treehouse #28 for fun.
> 
> We want to snorkel, enjoy the beach, pools, slides, Aunty's, and we will be traveling to North Shore. We have been to Oahu a few other times and we love North Shore. We also eat at Jameson's By the Sea.
> 
> Any packing tips would be great.



Wow, you get to take 3 boys to Aulani, also!  Perfect ages to go, too. Oh, when is a bad age for Hawaii, anyway? Can't think of one.

We read that Magic Tree House book, too. Our boys also liked the "You Choose: History" books about Pearl Harbor and World War II. I don't know if you are planning on going to Pearl Harbor, but our guys really enjoyed them & it was nice preparation. 

We loved the North Shore, too (spoiler alert!). So hard to leave Aulani, but worth it to go to such beautiful places. 

Is this your first trip to Aulani? Nice that you have prior experience on Oahu to inform your planning.

Packing tips coming shortly....


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

ProudMommyof2 said:


> Awesome start! My worse nightmare is that someone is sick or injured before a big trip



I agree. But this time I think the worst part was the worrying about it in advance - that it would mess up the trip. I'm great at coming up with terrible "what if" hypotheticals. 

Last time we went to Disney World, my oldest son and I got food poisoning at a quick service in MK and were stuck in the room for two days. That was much worse.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Ok, this just cracked me up.  I've never, ever heard of anyone who worked on gettnig over their fear of flying by watching a show about a plane crash.
> 
> Good show, though!!



It was not my original plan. I just found it entertaining in the beginning, but I could tell as I watched it that the prospect of flying was seeming much easier. I also just loved seeing how amazing the island looked on the show, having never been there before. It's an intense show, but I could never get over how gorgeous the setting was, even with all the creepy stuff going on. Anyway, to bring us back to official Disney business, check this out: 



 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Nice work!  It's very recognizably Hawaii!



Thanks! He is planning on being a Disney Animator, so takes his artwork seriously. Oh, and thanks for the tip on Oahu Revealed. I believe you mentioned that in your TR. There were so many good tidbits there. You will see we learned a lot from you as you read this TR, I am sure.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

alohamom said:


> WOW-Captain America did an incredible job with his 3D map. Good job Kevin!



Thank you! We loved learning about Hawaii in advance of the trip. There are so many good books about it and we wanted them to learn about the land, the people, and the history. 

Love your screen name, by the way.  If you have not been to Aulani, you must go immediately. With a Mickey Hat with "Aloha Mom" stitched on it.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

I'll be posting a real update later today (had some trouble with Photobucket), but wanted to say a bit about packing ideas. Here are some things we found helpful to bring along (or in a few instances, things we wish we had brought along!):

swim goggles
snorkel sets
waterproof case (for room key, credit cards, cash when at ocean or pool)
laptop or portable dvd player for airplane, movies on dvd
headphones for plane
auxiliary cable (to connect smartphone or iPad to car stereo)
2 swimsuits for everyone (so one can have time to dry when you wear the other)
swim-shirts 
sunglasses
comfortable shoes for walking/hiking
flip flops &/or sandals
insulated bag and ice packs for bringing drinks for outings
large bag for outings to beaches
a few towels for the beach
fun stuff for kids on the plane
portable cell phone/ipad charger (I got a Jackery one and love it)  impt. especially for days when we were driving and using mapping apps
GyPSy Oahu driving app (not really a physical item you pack, but will share more on this item later)
travel book(s) with good maps
travel size packs of laundry detergent
quarters for laundry if staying in a room without a washer/dryer
cameras, including one for the kids 
video camera
waterproof camera & floating wrist-strap (we picked up a Canon Powershot D20 for the trip and loved it)
waterproof camera bag for regular camera or one with a rain cover (it rained more than we expected, so this was important)
tripod &/or gorillapod
extra camera batteries, memory cards
extra cash (incl. enough for tips and places that only take cash)
sunscreen
bug repellant wipes
travel packs of hand-wipes
small container of aloe vera gel (in case of sunburns)


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## alohamom

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Love your screen name, by the way.  If you have not been to Aulani, you must go immediately. With a Mickey Hat with "Aloha Mom" stitched on it.



LOL! We are on our way in early August but we have been to the islands quite a bit including getting married on the Big Island many moons ago. I just LOVE your suggestion for the hat, think I will do just that!


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## kelly3kids

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I'll be posting a real update later today (had some trouble with Photobucket), but wanted to say a bit about packing ideas. Here are some things we found helpful to bring along (or in a few instances, things we wish we had brought along!):
> 
> swim goggles
> snorkel sets
> waterproof case (for room key, credit cards, cash when at ocean or pool)
> laptop or portable dvd player for airplane, movies on dvd
> headphones for plane
> auxiliary cable (to connect smartphone or iPad to car stereo)
> 2 swimsuits for everyone (so one can have time to dry when you wear the other)
> swim-shirts
> sunglasses
> comfortable shoes for walking/hiking
> flip flops &/or sandals
> insulated bag and ice packs for bringing drinks for outings
> large bag for outings to beaches
> a few towels for the beach
> fun stuff for kids on the plane
> portable cell phone/ipad charger (I got a Jackery one and love it)  impt. especially for days when we were driving and using mapping apps
> GyPSy Oahu driving app (not really a physical item you pack, but will share more on this item later)
> travel book(s) with good maps
> travel size packs of laundry detergent
> quarters for laundry if staying in a room without a washer/dryer
> cameras, including one for the kids
> video camera
> waterproof camera & floating wrist-strap (we picked up a Canon Powershot D20 for the trip and loved it)
> waterproof camera bag for regular camera or one with a rain cover (it rained more than we expected, so this was important)
> tripod &/or gorillapod
> extra camera batteries, memory cards
> extra cash (incl. enough for tips and places that only take cash)
> sunscreen
> bug repellant wipes
> travel packs of hand-wipes
> small container of aloe vera gel (in case of sunburns)



This is a great list. Thank you. I have a couple questions. I hope you don't mind. Did you use your snorkel gear at Aulani? I know they have gear to rent, but is the rainbow reef worth the money? Were the bug repellant wipes needed at Aulani? I didn't even think of that but if it is needed, I am getting some for the night movies and activities. 

Does Aulani allow you to take towels to the beach or check them out for the beach? I know you stayed other places too so I just want to check on this for Aulani. 

Also, this is probably a dumb question that I should know the answer to but how much is a good tip for bellman?


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

On the morning of our departure for Hawaii, my father-in-law picked us up at 6:30 to take us to the airport for a 9am flight. We were dropped off at the curb, said goodbye, and headed on in with our many bags (5 to check and everyone had their carry-ons). When we got to the Delta check-in area, I started to work at the computer terminal entering our information and printing our boarding passes. Then, my normally unflappable husband exclaims in a panic, "I don't have my wallet!" We searched everywhere and confirmed it was gone. I calmly declare that we'll be okay, because I have mine and we can just use my credit card if we cannot find it. "No. You don't understand. They will not let me on the flight without my ID." Ohhhhhh.... no....  

More searching yields nothing, again. Jeff figures he left it in the car and his dad drove off with it, so calls his dad's cell phone. No answer. We’re starting to lose hope, but eventually I remember an announcement on the loudspeaker that we heard when coming into the airport, that someone with the same name as my husband should come to a particular security checkpoint to pick up a package. We have an incredibly common last name, so I remember laughing and observing the coincidence, certain it had nothing to do with us. But it was no coincidence at all! Jeff raced on over and returned triumphantly, wallet in hand. In hindsight, Jeff recalled he had set the wallet on top of some luggage he was wheeling in, so it must have fallen off right as he was entering the airport. His dad later said that a man approached him after he dropped us off to ask if he owned the wallet. He said no, but that it might belong to us, so the man then ran it inside.  We were so thankful!

What a relief that everything worked out! Our flight to Salt Lake City went smoothly, where we were to connect with another plane to continue on to Honolulu. Unfortunately, there was a mechanical problem with that plane that required a new part that had to be flown in. We were delayed in the airport three hours, but the airline provided pizzas, drinks, pretzels, and cookies, which helped to blunt the frustration about waiting and also was a welcome distraction for the kids. The next flight went well also, with the added perk of individual video screens for each of us (I was careful to select a flight with a 767 for the long leg of our trip, because it was a larger plane with two aisles and had the personal screens). I watched Saving Mr. Banks (again). The boys had good choices, including Frozen and The LEGO Movie. When we fly, we always pack some surprises for the boys that I hand out periodically. Some things we brought this time: LEGO minifigure packs, Disney character PEZ dispensers, "you choose: history" books about World War II & Pearl Harbor, Mad Libs books, and little Hawaiian Luau LEGO set for each boy, complete with a few vacationing minifigures, surfboards, grass skirt, aloha shirt, palm tree, etc.









Loved the breezy airport in Honolulu. We originally were to arrive in the early afternoon, but with the delay we rode the shuttle to Alamo car rental in the dark. Funny story about the car. When we gave our name at the counter the man helping us said that our reservation had been canceled. Strange, but they had a minivan for us so would honor the price quoted and we would be good to go. It took a few moments, but as I was signing the rental agreement I remembered I had canceled the rental because I had found a cheaper price at another place, Enterprise. Whoops! I was periodically checking rates on discounthawaiicarrental.com in the months leading up to our trip & found a better one, but neglected to print the new confirmation. Oh, well. We were in Hawaii and so happy to be there. 

We drove to Waikiki, where we would be staying for the first four nights. A mapping app on my iPhone led the way and would be invaluable for the duration of the trip. 

We stayed in a junior suite in the Tapa Tower of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort. We had booked a mountain view room and requested an upper floor. We got a bit of pixie dust - a corner room near the top floor with a partial ocean view including a nice view of Diamond Head, our destination for the next morning. 









We were tired, so ordered pizza and ate in the room. We had been up almost 24 hours, so sleep was our second priority. Our next day would be pretty jam-packed, because we had one full day with Jeff before the conference and wanted to make the most of it.


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## disneypoor

Loving the tips!!! Was the mapping guide you used on your phone the Gypsy guide? We used it in Maui for the Road to Hana, and it was great! Which app did you get? I looked for it for Oahu, but there seems to be a few different ones. Thanks so much!

Susan


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

kelly3kids said:


> This is a great list. Thank you. I have a couple questions. I hope you don't mind. Did you use your snorkel gear at Aulani? I know they have gear to rent, but is the rainbow reef worth the money? Were the bug repellant wipes needed at Aulani? I didn't even think of that but if it is needed, I am getting some for the night movies and activities.
> 
> Does Aulani allow you to take towels to the beach or check them out for the beach? I know you stayed other places too so I just want to check on this for Aulani.
> 
> Also, this is probably a dumb question that I should know the answer to but how much is a good tip for bellman?



Happy to answer questions! We did not use our snorkel gear at Aulani. We did snorkel in Rainbow Reef, where you use equipment Aulani provides. We enjoyed it and did not find is as cold as expected (perhaps only because I was warned about the chilly water in advance by a friend who went to Aulani previously). We used our own snorkel gear at Hanauma Bay (plus rented there, because not all of us have our own) and loved snorkeling there. After that, when we did Rainbow Reef it felt a little more like a big fishbowl, but still amazing. The fish were beautiful and we felt it was worth the money. 

Bug repellant wipes were used outside of Aulani, for example at Waimea Falls on the North Shore. Very important there! You should not need them at Aulani, in my opinion.

We only needed our own towels when we drove to beaches off property. Thanks for helping me clarify! At Aulani, you can use their towels anywhere. 

I am not an expert (and it is not a bad question to ask; I am always looking those kind of things up online ), but believe $1-2 per bag is recommended for tipping bellmen.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

disneypoor said:


> Loving the tips!!! Was the mapping guide you used on your phone the Gypsy guide? We used it in Maui for the Road to Hana, and it was great! Which app did you get? I looked for it for Oahu, but there seems to be a few different ones. Thanks so much!
> 
> Susan



We did use the GyPSy guide on the trip (not at this point in the TR yet; often we just used a couple basic mapping apps; we used Google Maps to get to the hotel, I think). 

We loved the GyPSy guide and used it as much as we could. I heard the Maui one is very good! That Road to Hana sounds amazing... For Oahu, we bought the Full Island Tour, which was only $6.99, which includes all the tours for the island. The only thing I did not like was that it is a one-way tour, so I had to make sure we were going the right direction in order to use it. I expect the Maui one is similar. I loved the detailed narration that it provided though. Very interesting. That is why we bought the auxiliary cable, so that everyone in the family could hear the tour. It made the driving much more fun.


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## disneypoor

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We did use the GyPSy guide on the trip (not at this point in the TR yet; often we just used a couple basic mapping apps; we used Google Maps to get to the hotel, I think).  We loved the GyPSy guide and used it as much as we could. I heard the Maui one is very good! That Road to Hana sounds amazing... For Oahu, we bought the Full Island Tour, which was only $6.99, which includes all the tours for the island. The only thing I did not like was that it is a one-way tour, so I had to make sure we were going the right direction in order to use it. I expect the Maui one is similar. I loved the detailed narration that it provided though. Very interesting. That is why we bought the auxiliary cable, so that everyone in the family could hear the tour. It made the driving much more fun.



Thank you for all of the info!!! The Gypsy worked great for Maui, but it was actually something that plugged in to our car and went through the radio. I've never had it on my phone, but it sure worked great in Maui! We are getting pretty excited--six weeks to go! 

Susan


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## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Then, my normally unflappable husband exclaims in a panic, "I don't have my wallet!" We searched everywhere and confirmed it was gone. I calmly declare that we'll be okay, because I have mine and we can just use my credit card if we cannot find it. "No. You don't understand. They will not let me on the flight without my ID."





Well, I guess you could promise to send him a postcard. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> He said no, but that it might belong to us, so the man then ran it inside.  We were so thankful!



I can only imagine the relief!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Funny story about the car. When we gave our name at the counter the man helping us said that our reservation had been canceled. Strange, but they had a minivan for us so would honor the price quoted and we would be good to go. It took a few moments, but as I was signing the rental agreement I remembered I had canceled the rental because I had found a cheaper price at another place, Enterprise. Whoops!



  I hope you didn't get charged by Enterprise!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We got a bit of pixie dust - a corner room near the top floor with a partial ocean view including a nice view of Diamond Head, our destination for the next morning.



Awesome!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

As I was researching for this trip, I found a TON of amazing things I wanted our family to try to do. We are not really beach people per se, but are more the type of people who run around a lot and wear ourselves out on vacations. Having fun, being together, and all that, but not really leisurely in how we approach things Anyway, I ran my ideas for Hawaii by Jeff, my mom, and the kids and prepared an itinerary and printed out copies for all the adults. It was a work of art, so lovely. Well, in reality, we needed to skip many of my must-dos, for a variety of reasons, like underestimating the amount of time it would take to drive from one place to another (yes, its an island, but it still felt pretty large, plus there is traffic, construction, and the usual challenges of driving around in an unfamiliar place). Sometimes the weather got in the way of our plans, or a tour ran really long, or other things happened that could not be anticipated. 

We got a later start than I had planned Wednesday morning, in part due to our late arrival the day prior. My itinerary had indicated that we would be at Diamond Head by about 6 for Rope Drop, but regrettably we ran about an hour and a half late. I had planned on everyone being up at about 5am, because of all Id heard about the advantages of jet lag. Not so for us that morning. When we did make it into the minivan and onto the road, we dropped off my mom, Jan, at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf coffee shop near Diamond Head and then a few minutes later were on our feet and beginning our hike. 

















The hike was great! The boys loved being explorers in a new place. The view at the top was gorgeous. Our twins are not in the photo, because they said it was too windy for pictures. Kevin wrote in his travel journal that when the wind came, it was like a witch with a bad temper. When we finished our hike, we treated ourselves to our first round of shave ice. Delicious! Sadly, Benji spilled most of his on this clothes, so - after picking up my mom - we had to drive back to the hotel to change before continuing on our drive up the windward coast. 

The drive was amazing. We pulled over several times, including at the Lanai Lookout. Here we were amply warned not to go past the stone barrier and onto the rocks, but we ventured out after seeing others go ahead. Not the best example for the boys, maybe, but the ocean was calm and one of the safety concerns is waves breaking too far up shore. Sam, Kevin, and Benji loved running around there. I wish I had taken a wider view photo of the place, because it was stunning. 









We were hungry, so decided to get a bite to eat. We went to Teddy's Bigger Burgers for lunch and to Agnes' Portuguese Bake Shop for malasadas for dessert. Lunch was so-so, but quick and that was important because we had to be at Kualoa Ranch in time for an afternoon tour. The malasadas (Portuguese doughnuts) were fresh, hot, and very tasty. Just what we needed to carry us through the rest of our drive. We did not make as many stops as we had planned, but still enjoyed the view as we drove along. It was breathtaking, with the Ko'olau mountain range to our left and the ocean to our right.





We took a hummer tour through KOS Tours at the ranch. It was a beautiful place, but the ride was way too bumpy for my husband.  The boys thought the rough ride was even better than the scenery. On several occasions I would say/think something like, "Are you going to go _there_?" or "You can't do _that_, can you?" and of course the driver could and did. And the boys would scream with glee. They loved the bumpiness. I had no idea Jeff was feeling as bad as he was, or I would have asked our guide to take it a bit easier. 













We did not take as many pictures as intended during our tour, because it was rainy much of the time. It is a huge ranch with so much to see. I am very glad we made the visit.


----------



## ProudMommyof2

Great update! Best laid plans. You can plan but still have to be prepared to go with the flow. I love hearing your son's thoughts fro his journal!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Well, I guess you could promise to send him a postcard.


I suppose  - if I wanted to sleep with one eye open for the rest of my life - that would have been one solution to the problem!



Captain_Oblivious said:


> I hope you didn't get charged by Enterprise!



We were not charged, thankfully. Love that about discounthawaiicarrental.com. No deposit or cancellation fee.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

ProudMommyof2 said:


> Great update! Best laid plans. You can plan but still have to be prepared to go with the flow. I love hearing your son's thoughts fro his journal!



Thanks! I find when I am planning our Disney trip for later in the fall, I am much more cautious not to overschedule. Admittedly, it is easier when I know we will be going back. Going into this trip, we approached Hawaii as once-in-a-lifetime, which had the unfortunate consequence of me trying to "do it all." Not possible.  My husband is very relaxed and doesn't have that problem, which is good. Now, back in Minnesota (opposite of Hawaii), if I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat because we never did take that outrigger canoe ride in Waikiki or the macadamia nut farm tour, his sanity is a good counterbalance.


----------



## disneypoor

Your family sounds just like mine! Although I could just lay on the beach or sit by the pool for hours people watching, the rest of my family has to constantly be on the go. They wear me out on vacation! Lol! I already know that We likely won't spend the time that we should at Aulani cause they will want to see and do everything they possibly can while we are there. I'm just glad there are other families like mine.  Thanks for the great update!

Susan


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## Captain_Oblivious

Somehow I missed this update.  Sorry about that.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> As I was researching for this trip, I found a TON of amazing things I wanted our family to try to do. We are not really beach people per se, but are more the type of people who run around a lot and wear ourselves out on vacations.



No wonder we get along! 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> My itinerary had indicated that we would be at Diamond Head by about 6 for Rope Drop, but regrettably we ran about an hour and a half late.



This sounds familiar too.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> The hike was great! The boys loved being explorers in a new place. The view at the top was gorgeous.



Such a great hike!  I'm glad you enjoyed it.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Our twins are not in the photo, because they said it was too windy for pictures. Kevin wrote in his travel journal that when the wind came, it was like a witch with a bad temper.







MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I wish I had taken a wider view photo of the place, because it was stunning.



So many gorgeous views around the island, it's hard to keep track of them all.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We were hungry, so decided to get a bite to eat. We went to Teddy's Bigger Burgers for lunch and to Agnes' Portuguese Bake Shop for malasadas for dessert.



Mmmmm...malasadas...



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> The boys thought the rough ride was even better than the scenery. On several occasions I would say/think something like, "Are you going to go _there_?" or "You can't do _that_, can you?" and of course the driver could and did. And the boys would scream with glee. They loved the bumpiness.



Sorry your husband didn't enjoy it, but it sounds awesome!  With the Jurassic Park signs, you could have pretended it was the Dinosaur ride at WDW.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

disneypoor said:


> Your family sounds just like mine! Although I could just lay on the beach or sit by the pool for hours people watching, the rest of my family has to constantly be on the go. They wear me out on vacation! Lol! I already know that We likely won't spend the time that we should at Aulani cause they will want to see and do everything they possibly can while we are there. I'm just glad there are other families like mine.  Thanks for the great update!
> 
> Susan



You never know... Aulani is so beautiful, with so much to do, your family might just slow down and surprise you! A vacation to Hawaii should probably be a balance of both - even though we admittedly tilt toward the busier side of things. Our son Kevin dreamily told me before the trip how he was so excited because _this_ vacation would be _all_ about relaxing. I had to straighten that misconception out a bit, of course.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Somehow I missed this update.  Sorry about that.



No problem! If that Father's Day picture is any indication, I am sure you are very busy these days with more important things. 

I have been slow to post updates, but am getting back to it now. I have a new appreciation for all the work that you and others put into trip reports here on the DIS. I had no idea how to do it, so am learning as I go...



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Mmmmm...malasadas...



They were excellent! We tried them at Leonard's, too, twice. Leonard's wins for me. I know your family liked them, too! I have a friend who went to Aulani before us and one of the first things she did was show me a picture of Leonard's red and white striped malasada truck and said, "You must find this!" 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Sorry your husband didn't enjoy it, but it sounds awesome!  With the Jurassic Park signs, you could have pretended it was the Dinosaur ride at WDW.



We rode that ride kind of by accident way back when it first opened. Wow, that is a scary one. No thanks on the pretending. My husband would not be helped by that!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

During my research on Oahu, I heard consistently strong reviews of Oahu Photography Tours, so I decided to take some time out on my own for the Sunrise Tour they offer. I arranged for my mom to take care of the boys on Thursday morning, when Jeff would be busy with the conference. Jeff was not interested in doing the tour, and we wanted to do lots of other things as a family, so this seemed like a wise use of time. The boys were eager to have special time with Grandma, who is very sweet to them and allows them a few extra privileges that we might not.  

Background on my mom: She and my dad are responsible for my family loving Disney World. Growing up, our family alternated between took two kinds of vacations: up north to a resort with pools, beach, paddle-boats, etc., or going to Disney World. This started when I was 7. We would stay at the same place every time, the Royal Plaza Hotel in the DT Disney area. Here we are at Cinderella's Royal Table (different name back then, though) back when one didn't need to make reservations 6 months ahead or put a second mortgage on the house to eat there. I'm on the right in the blue jacket.





We even went back as a big group for my 30th birthday. I won't say when that was, but we did not have any of the boys yet. This is a picture of my mom, my sisters, and me. Incidentally, even though my parents had divorced over ten years prior, they both made the trip and everyone had an awesome time.  



 

My mom joined Jeff and I for our first trip to Disney World with our sons. The next picture was taken during that trip. Apparently she is not discriminating in the company she keeps (good thing for us!).



 

So... Thursday morning I got up early to get ready for the tour which would be picking me up at the hotel at 5:00. The tour was amazing. We went to a variety of places and stopped to take photos at each one, with our tour guides, Alex and Chris, giving tips and providing guidance as needed. I love taking pictures, but recently got my first DSLR, so having this kind of help was well worth the cost of the tour. It was also an opportunity to meet some cool people. There was a couple from Ireland, a woman from Australia, a woman from Orlando (excellent gateway to discuss WDW, with one person on the tour planning a Food & Wine Festival trip ), and lastly, a sweet mother and son from Texas. Such friendly people. Great conversation and lots of laughter between stops.  

We started out with shots of the sunrise:




I turned to the right and took some of shots of this when I ran out of ideas for how to shoot the sunrise. 




This is near Makapu'u Lighthouse, at the overlook area:








Waimanalo Bay Recreation Area:












Near some farmland on our way to Kailua:








At about 8:30 we stopped for breakfast. Good thing, because I was famished! We stopped at a cute shop with a little restaurant in it, called Kalapawai Market. Here's whole our group, except one guide who took the photo: 



The only low-point of the tour was my breakfast burrito. It came highly recommended, but was loaded with piles of black beans, and I don't think there was any cheese in it. It did have bacon and eggs, but they could not overcome the abundance of beans. Oh, well. Others seemed to like them. I had to chase it with coffee and a pumpkin cookie, and then all was well.

Our last stop was Judd Trail. We needed insect repellant for this part. They brought enough for everyone.
















When I got back to the room after the tour (which lasted about 7 hours) Sam, Kevin, and Benji were all grins. Their report of their time with Grandma: chocolate chip pancakes and chocolate milk for breakfast, swimming in the pool, and when they were hot and tired out from that, returning to the room to jump on the beds.  I was happy they were so happy. I missed them while I was away. 

Next up: We have lunch (at a tea room - what could possibly go wrong...?) and enjoy some beach time...


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## alohamom

WOW-your pictures are amazing! You should enter them in the Hawaii Magazine photo contest. They run it every year and the grand prize is a trip to Hawaii, here is the link, the deadline is early August.

http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/photo_contest


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

alohamom said:


> WOW-your pictures are amazing! You should enter them in the Hawaii Magazine photo contest. They run it every year and the grand prize is a trip to Hawaii, here is the link, the deadline is early August.
> 
> http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/photo_contest



Thank you for your very kind words, alohamom!  I really have sooo much to learn and have to say the tourguides were amazingly helpful and patient. They get much credit for anything that turned out. Also, Hawaii's SO gorgeous, you kinda can't go wrong taking pictures, right?


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## ProudMommyof2

Awesome pictures!!! I love taking pictures as well but would adore someone behind me  giving tips! Great use of, I am sure, a well needed alone time!


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## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> The boys were eager to have special time with Grandma, who is very sweet to them and allows them a few extra privileges that we might not.



How much ice cream did they have for lunch? 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I turned to the right and took some of shots of this when I ran out of ideas for how to shoot the sunrise.



My wife would have loved doing this.  She's been taking classes and learning how to play with the DSLR as well.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> This is near Makapu'u Lighthouse, at the overlook area:



Gorgeous spot!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> The only low-point of the tour was my breakfast burrito. It came highly recommended, but was loaded with piles of black beans, and I don't think there was any cheese in it. It did have bacon and eggs, but they could not overcome the abundance of beans.



 I'm not a fan of beans, either.  Even if they are a magical fruit, and good for your heart.

Fantastic waterfall pictures!  Somebody remembered a tripod, I see.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

ProudMommyof2 said:


> Awesome pictures!!! I love taking pictures as well but would adore someone behind me  giving tips! Great use of, I am sure, a well needed alone time!



Thanks very much!  Yes, it was nice to treat myself to a special outing, since I am normally at home with my boys. I love it of course, but this was so good to do. Plus, I am generally taking pictures of them, so I figure I am investing in my family by taking the tour. Right?


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> My wife would have loved doing this.  She's been taking classes and learning how to play with the DSLR as well.


Cool! You guys have some amazing photos in your trip reports. You should perhaps keep an eye out for photo tours, since you love to travel. I hear there are many of these kinds of tours offered around the country.



Captain_Oblivious said:


> I'm not a fan of beans, either.  Even if they are a magical fruit, and good for your heart.


The funny thing is I forgot that the menu said there were beans in it, and for a long time I thought they were just heaps of mooshed, bland black olives. Gross. Had no idea there would be so many.



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Fantastic waterfall pictures!  Somebody remembered a tripod, I see.


Thanks very much! I sometimes forgot the tripod in the room during the trip, but it did come in handy on many occasions. I think about trying to bring one to Disney World next time for at least a couple of days in the parks. We'll see. Seems like it might be kind of a bother to carry it there on rides...


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

When I got back to the room, everyone was ready for lunch. We had reservations at A Cup of Tea, a tea room in Kailua, because my mom and I like that kind of thing for a special treat. I had found the place online at home before our trip. Our boys are good sports, so although it would not have been their first choice for a restaurant I was pretty optimistic they would find something they would like.

The drive to Kailua provided my first opportunity to drive on the island, and while it went okay, it made me even more appreciative of the Disney transportation system. I know it is not perfect, but for me, I really appreciate letting someone else drive when Im on vacation. Much more relaxing. We did find a fun Hawaiian music station (105.1). I was happy, because it just made me feel more like I was really in Hawaii.

I have to admit that while the tea room was cute and my mom and I found the food tasty, the choices proved to be inadequate for the boys. 




They shared a pot of hot chocolate in lieu of tea and ate the scones and dessert, but the tea sandwiches were not a hit with them. Oh, well. They were sweet and let us have our girly outing, so I cant really complain. 












After we finished lunch, we rewarded the guys with a swim in the ocean.  First time for them! (I realize there is also an ocean near Disney World, but it is oh so hard for me to consider leaving the Disney Bubble when there!) We went to Kailua Beach, which was just beautiful. They LOVED the ocean. At first they were a bit tentative.




That lasted just a moment. Then, they were loving it and just laughing and shrieking with delight. So fun!







Benji declared loudly, This is THE life! and I could get used to THIS! 

I took some photos with my new waterproof camera. This was a debate in advance of the trip, incidentally  whether it would be worth it to buy one. The conclusion: YES. It enabled us to get pictures we never would have gotten otherwise. One problem that we did not realize until later was after submerging the camera in the water, beads of water can easily sit on the lens and appear later in the photos, which generally ruined the affected photos. Most pictures I took this particular day were like that, but I learned my lesson and would wipe the lens off before taking photos if it had gotten wet. That usually worked.

Jeff had a reception for the conference he was attending and he wanted me to join him, so after our time at the beach we returned to the hotel. We left the boys in the room with Grandma watching National Treasure (and probably jumping on the beds) and went to the reception. We had a simple dinner in the room after that, because everyone was tired. I think we grabbed food from the ABC Store. There were several on the Hiltons property, which was convenient. We picked up a new Aloha shirt for Jeff while there, because the chair of one of the sessions in which he was presenting wanted everyone to wear them. 

Up next: Breakfast at Dukes Canoe Club, Waikiki Beach, and Fireworks on our last night before leaving for Aulani. Yes, we are finally getting to Aulani. I cant wait to re-live it.


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## alohamom

Kailua is tied with Hapuna (Big Island) for my all time, any where in the world favorite beach spot. It almost spoils you for any other beach you might go to afterward because the sand is so soft and fine my kids nick-named it "teddy bear sand". So glad your boys enjoyed it!


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## luvs2cruise

Following along and looking forward to more updates.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

alohamom said:


> Kailua is tied with Hapuna (Big Island) for my all time, any where in the world favorite beach spot. It almost spoils you for any other beach you might go to afterward because the sand is so soft and fine my kids nick-named it "teddy bear sand". So glad your boys enjoyed it!



That is so cute - teddy bear sand! Yes, the sand was amazingly soft.  We meant to go to Lanikai Beach, also, which is nearby, but did not make it there. I had heard it was excellent as well. Have you been there?


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

luvs2cruise said:


> Following along and looking forward to more updates.



Welcome! So glad you are here.


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## DisneyAngel05

Hi Karin!

Loving the TR so far. I'm one of those crazy Australians that loves to travel to Hawaii - it's actually super good value from here.

There are so many similarities with what I hope our trip will be! I have twins too - though they are boy/girl and are 4. They'll be turning 5 when we hope to go to Aulani next year. Like you, I love to vacation in the US in May - the weather is great and it's never too crowded.

We are actually looking at staying at Hilton Hawaiian Village in a suite when we start - we are travelling with my parents for my Mum's 60th birthday, and then they will go on to Canada after our Hawaii stopover. What did you think of the Hilton? I'm worried it will be too crowded, but I loved the idea of my twins getting to experience such a great kids club with other children from a different country.

We then hope to use DVC to book a 2-bed villa at Aulani, so any tips on vacation club rental would be appreciated! I've never done it before but it seems like great value. 

Really looking forward to the rest of your report! 

Thanks for sharing


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## alohamom

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> That is so cute - teddy bear sand! Yes, the sand was amazingly soft.  We meant to go to Lanikai Beach, also, which is nearby, but did not make it there. I had heard it was excellent as well. Have you been there?



Oh yes, we have been to Lanikai too and it is just as nice but a lot of it is fronted by homes so it almost feels like you are invading private space (even though all beaches in Hawaii are public) Also, parking is tough for Lanikai where Kailua has a great public parking area.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

DisneyAngel05 said:


> Hi Karin!
> 
> Loving the TR so far. I'm one of those crazy Australians that loves to travel to Hawaii - it's actually super good value from here.
> 
> There are so many similarities with what I hope our trip will be! I have twins too - though they are boy/girl and are 4. They'll be turning 5 when we hope to go to Aulani next year. Like you, I love to vacation in the US in May - the weather is great and it's never too crowded.


Welcome! Thank you so much for reading and for your very kind words!  It's always nice to meet another mom of twins. They will love the trip you are planning.  And I have to say up front that you are my hero - visiting all the Disney Parks around the world. Yay you!  I'll never achieve that level of Disney-awesomeness, but Disneyland is a couple years away for me cool1 I also would love to stay at all the Disney hotels at Disney World. (It's a very long-term goal. Score so far: 1. More coming soon, though!)

We loved that the crowds were so low in May - no trouble with lines for Auntie's in the morning, as I had heard is typical. And no trouble getting chairs by the pool ever.



DisneyAngel05 said:


> We are actually looking at staying at Hilton Hawaiian Village in a suite when we start - we are travelling with my parents for my Mum's 60th birthday, and then they will go on to Canada after our Hawaii stopover. What did you think of the Hilton? I'm worried it will be too crowded, but I loved the idea of my twins getting to experience such a great kids club with other children from a different country.



Wow, traveling with your mom [and dad], too?! This does sound familiar.

We were very pleased with the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I had read some good and bad things in advance, so was a bit concerned, but the service was decent and the room was great for our family.  The resort was very large, but easy to navigate and had lots to go and lots of shops, restaurants, etc. We liked using the Hilton as a convenient launching point to explore Oahu, knowing that when we arrived at Aulani we would want to relax and enjoy it and not do much off-site. 



DisneyAngel05 said:


> We then hope to use DVC to book a 2-bed villa at Aulani, so any tips on vacation club rental would be appreciated! I've never done it before but it seems like great value.


We used a company to handle the rental process for us (David's Vacation Club Rentals, but there are other similar places). The price was higher than renting from an individual directly ($14 per point), but we felt it was worth it, in part because our travel dates were inflexible & we wanted to maximize the chance of getting a room. We contacted them before the 11 month point at which vacation club points can be rented by people who have Aulani as their home resort, because we thought that would help our chances. We were still on a waiting list, as I said before, but not too long. We were SO happy when we heard we had the rooms.  The whole process was very smooth. One thing about renting the points through a broker like this: you cannot cancel them for any reason, and the entire cost must be paid when the reservation is made for you. We did make sure to get trip insurance that would have covered the cost of Aulani (and all our other nonrefundable expenses), if for some reason we needed to cancel or there was some other problem. It was worth it for the peace of mind it bought us.

I hope you are enjoying your planning... Love the planning.


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> When I got back to the room, everyone was ready for lunch. We had reservations at A Cup of Tea, a tea room in Kailua, because my mom and I like that kind of thing for a special treat. I had found the place online at home before our trip. Our boys are good sports, so although it would not have been their first choice for a restaurant I was pretty optimistic they would find something they would like.










MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I have to admit that while the tea room was cute and my mom and I found the food tasty, the choices proved to be inadequate for the boys.
> 
> They shared a pot of hot chocolate in lieu of tea and ate the scones and dessert, but the tea sandwiches were not a hit with them.



No shocker there.  Needs more bacon.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Oh, well. They were sweet and let us have our girly outing, so I cant really complain.



Your boys are nicer than me.  I would have been whining and moaning from the start. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> After we finished lunch, we rewarded the guys with a swim in the ocean.  First time for them!



Cool!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> That lasted just a moment. Then, they were loving it and just laughing and shrieking with delight. So fun!







MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I took some photos with my new waterproof camera. This was a debate in advance of the trip, incidentally  whether it would be worth it to buy one. The conclusion: YES. It enabled us to get pictures we never would have gotten otherwise.



I agree.  Although we didn't realize our camera was set for tiny photos through the whole trip. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> es, we are finally getting to Aulani. I cant wait to re-live it.


----------



## DisneyAngel05

Thanks Karin! I am an ex-Disney store cast member so some of the park travel was almost a requirement for work haha. When you live as far from many countries as we do, you just kind of have to live with the crazy flights. I live for the planning! We are headed to NYC in December for a wedding, but I am so focused on the Hawaii trip that I keep forgetting to organise basic things for this other trip 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We loved that the crowds were so low in May - no trouble with lines for Auntie's in the morning, as I had heard is typical. And no trouble getting chairs by the pool ever.



That's great to know! I was just reading on trip advisor that there have been crazy lines, but I suppose the summer holidays would be really busy times for everyone. Did your kids spend much time there? Is there much to do outside of the kids club?




MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We were very pleased with the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I had read some good and bad things in advance, so was a bit concerned, but the service was decent and the room was great for our family.  The resort was very large, but easy to navigate and had lots to go and lots of shops, restaurants, etc. We liked using the Hilton as a convenient launching point to explore Oahu, knowing that when we arrived at Aulani we would want to relax and enjoy it and not do much off-site.



So good to hear you liked it! I've been a bit worried - my DH and I went to Hawaii for our first wedding anniversary and loved it so so much that we raved about it when we got home. I want to choose somewhere everyone will love. My DS is SUCH a noisy sleeper that I don't think any of us could sleep if we only have the one room together. It seems like great value. Did you kids go to the kids club and did you hire a car?




MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We used a company to handle the rental process for us (David's Vacation Club Rentals, but there are other similar places). We did make sure to get trip insurance that would have covered the cost of Aulani (and all our other nonrefundable expenses), if for some reason we needed to cancel or there was some other problem. It was worth it for the peace of mind it bought us.



Thanks for the advice about David's rentals. I'm looking it up right now, seems like a good idea and such good value! 

Thanks again Karin - happy trip-reliving!


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## teslascar

I'm suffering from "missing Aulani a lot syndrome" after reading your posts. Thanks for this. Time to plan our 2nd trip.


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## CBEB

DisneyAngel05 said:


> Thanks for the advice about David's rentals. I'm looking it up right now, seems like a good idea and such good value!



We just booked our Aulani stay through David's rentals.  Was easy, very straight-forward to do.  We have our official documents now from Aulani and everything is exactly as we expected.  Really a great savings over booking directly with Disney if you aren't a DVC member!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

If you recall my prior post about the tea I subjected the boys to, here is a photo my son Sam took that I think captures their angle on the outing nicely.




On Friday morning we had an early reservation for breakfast at Duke's Canoe Club in Waikiki. My brother-in-law, who is in the Air Force, had been stationed on Oahu a couple years before & highly recommended the place. We were happy to get a seat right next to the railing with a great view of the beach.  The breakfast buffet was fantastic, one of our favorite meals of the trip. Made-to-order omelets, french toast, eggs, bacon, hash browns, tons of fresh fruit, and everything else you could want. I thought the price was reasonable at about $16 per adult. The atmosphere was as good as the food, with a beautiful view and fun music. A perfect beginning to the day.













Jeff and I drove to the convention center after we finished eating. I joined him, because he was presenting in a couple sessions, including the first one of the day at 9am. I used to go to these conferences with him years ago, before the kids, because we worked in the same field. (We even presented together once at a conference in San Diego. ) It was good to have a chance to see him in action again. Unfortunately, I had not slept well the night before (woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep) and made the mistake of drinking only decaf coffee and POG juice at breakfast, so.... guess who made made her man proud by struggling to stay awake during the other speakers' presentations? So embarrassing.  In my defense, it was a pretty technical kind of session, but I did feel dreadful about it. If I had sat in the back, it would have been better. After the first session ended I chugged a large CAFFEINATED coffee, pausing to apologize to Jeff between gulps. The second session was great and I had no further difficulties after the coffee.

Heres a photo we took at the convention center: 




The convention center was used as the airport in countless scenes in LOST. In case there any LOST geeks out there, heres another with more background. 




While we were busy, my mom took the boys to the Honolulu Zoo. They did not love it, I have to admit. They reported that there was a lot of walking and that the zoo at home was better. There was a cool, huge banyan tree, though:




We dont have these at the MN Zoo, so that was interesting:




Sam greeted me with this when I got back to the room.




Heres our view from one of the lanais:




Jeff had meetings in the afternoon, and my mom was taking the Sunset version of the photo tour Id done the day before. So, the boys and I gathered our beach supplies and set out for Waikiki Beach. We had lunch at Hale Koa, a military hotel near the Hilton. Sam tried Calamari and enjoyed it.




Our boys loved playing in the ocean again. 








After a while, we decided to head back to the room to get something and the strangest thing happened upon our return about an hour later: all along the shoreline was a line of random small pieces of garbage. It must have come in with the water. Wed noticed that the waves that were coming in were strong and sandy. It was really disgusting. Sad, and such a startling change. We played a little while and then just headed back to clean off and use the pool instead. On our way we saw some penguins.









Up next: Some fireworks!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Your boys are nicer than me.  I would have been whining and moaning from the start.



Ha! Nice photo. They really were polite and nice about it, but their true feelings were clear in the photo in today's installment of the TR. Yeah, my husband had no interest in the tea room either. Lesson learned. I was considering the tea room at the Grand Floridian for an upcoming trip, but I'll pass for now.




Captain_Oblivious said:


> I agree.  Although we didn't realize our camera was set for tiny photos through the whole trip.



Bummer!


----------



## ProudMommyof2

LOVE the picture from the tea! It is perfect! A little culture never killed anyone


----------



## luvs2cruise

I love Sam's take on the tea!  
Great update.


----------



## disneypoor

Totally love your son's picture from the tea room!!! Gotta hang on to that one! 

Susan


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

DisneyAngel05 said:


> Thanks Karin! I am an ex-Disney store cast member so some of the park travel was almost a requirement for work haha. When you live as far from many countries as we do, you just kind of have to live with the crazy flights. I live for the planning! We are headed to NYC in December for a wedding, but I am so focused on the Hawaii trip that I keep forgetting to organise basic things for this other trip



Yay for the required travel! 


Have fun in New York! I have never been there, but am scheming to get to Niagara Falls maybe next year. I too am planning for a couple trips, one not happening until about a year from now, so I know what you mean. Crazy overplanners! There should be a support group. Hey maybe the DIS is it.... However, that would imply we want a cure. 



DisneyAngel05 said:


> That's great to know! I was just reading on trip advisor that there have been crazy lines, but I suppose the summer holidays would be really busy times for everyone. Did your kids spend much time there? Is there much to do outside of the kids club?


My oldest son (age 12) did not do anything at Auntie's, as he had no interest. As for activities, twins did Stitch's Space Goo, & Benji did Eruption Disruption & Uncle's Canoe Races alone. They also spent a couple hours just playing there and liked it. There is TONS to do outside of Auntie's. I think I will scan the Daily Iwa's we received each day, so you can see what was available. It varies from week to week, but some activities are very regular, from what I understand. There were a variety of activities for the whole family, like crafts and storytelling. And you can rent kayaks and paddle boards for the ocean and snorkel in Rainbow Reef... So much to do! Will share about that more soon when we get to Aulani...



DisneyAngel05 said:


> So good to hear you liked it! I've been a bit worried - my DH and I went to Hawaii for our first wedding anniversary and loved it so so much that we raved about it when we got home. I want to choose somewhere everyone will love. My DS is SUCH a noisy sleeper that I don't think any of us could sleep if we only have the one room together. It seems like great value. Did you kids go to the kids club and did you hire a car?


We did rent a car. Invaluable in my opinion, but I know there is a concern from some people from Australia about driving on the other side of the road. Provided you are comfortable with that, I would consider a car a must, at least for part of the time. One negative with the Hilton HV was the cost of parking and also a resort fee. We did like it, but it was not close to Aulani in terms of overall theming and customer service. At Aulani you are greeted warmly with smiles and alohas, right from the start. We did still really like HHV; it was just different (not Disney). Our kids did not do the kids club there, so I do not really know anything about that.


DisneyAngel05 said:


> Thanks for the advice about David's rentals. I'm looking it up right now, seems like a good idea and such good value!
> 
> Thanks again Karin - happy trip-reliving!


You're welcome. It is fun to hear about your plans!  Loved the free parking with David's as well. Nice perk. Oh, in case it matters to you, please know with the vacation rental you would not get daily housekeeping. Unless you chose to pay for it separately.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

teslascar said:


> I'm suffering from "missing Aulani a lot syndrome" after reading your posts. Thanks for this. Time to plan our 2nd trip.



You're welcome! Yes, you must plan another trip now - it is the only cure.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

CBEB said:


> We just booked our Aulani stay through David's rentals.  Was easy, very straight-forward to do.  We have our official documents now from Aulani and everything is exactly as we expected.  Really a great savings over booking directly with Disney if you aren't a DVC member!



 Congratulations!! I loved getting the pretty Aulani welcome packet in the mail. And yes, it is a great deal compared the regular price. It still was a bit of a splurge for us, but SO very worth it.


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> If you recall my prior post about the tea I subjected the boys to, here is a photo my son Sam took that I think captures their angle on the outing nicely.





That says it all!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> On Friday morning we had an early reservation for breakfast at Duke's Canoe Club in Waikiki. My brother-in-law, who is in the Air Force, had been stationed on Oahu a couple years before & highly recommended the place. We were happy to get a seat right next to the railing with a great view of the beach.



Wow!  Great spot!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Unfortunately, I had not slept well the night before (woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep) and made the mistake of drinking only decaf coffee and POG juice at breakfast, so.... guess who made made her man proud by struggling to stay awake during the other speakers' presentations?



 Jet lag is a legitimate excuse.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> The convention center was used as the airport in countless scenes in LOST. In case there any LOST geeks out there, heres another with more background.



I do recognize it!  That was the Sydney airport, for sure!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Heres our view from one of the lanais:



You guys hit the jackpot with these views.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


>



I like this picture a lot!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

ProudMommyof2 said:


> LOVE the picture from the tea! It is perfect! A little culture never killed anyone



Thanks for the support! They did live through it and didn't break anything, so that's a bit of a success story.



luvs2cruise said:


> I love Sam's take on the tea!
> Great update.



Thanks! Going to the tea was worth it for the memories. 



disneypoor said:


> Totally love your son's picture from the tea room!!! Gotta hang on to that one!
> Susan



I love that picture, too. He is a funny kid. He carried the LEGOs everywhere and liked to photograph them "on vacation."


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Wow!  Great spot!



Thanks! It was just exactly what I thought of Hawaii being like when planning the trip. 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Jet lag is a legitimate excuse.



Yeah, I have many excuses, but still felt bad. I had hoped perhaps it was not obvious, but Jeff immediately teased me about it when I saw him afterward. 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> I do recognize it!  That was the Sydney airport, for sure!



Thanks. Glad you could tell! By the way, the waterfall picture from my photo tour was another place they filmed LOST. We saw it yesterday on the season 1 finale. They were all over the island, so I guess it should not shock me, but it is fun to notice those things.



Captain_Oblivious said:


> I like this picture a lot!



Thank you! I loved those trees. Amazing. I like how tall they look compared to the tiny people around them.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

After we finished at the pool, we returned to the room and the boys got cleaned up and changed. The hotel has fireworks every Friday night, so that was our plan for the evening. We made a couple of trips to ABC stores for snacks beforehand - potato chips, several bags of gummy bears, one banana, bottles of POG juice (made of passionfruit, orange, & guava juices blended together), & water. Aren't we healthy? We passed an ice cream shop which would have provided some welcome balance nutritionally, and the boys wanted to stop, but we did not have enough time, so we assured them we would be back after the fireworks. 

We walked over to the lagoon, which was an excellent spot for the fireworks. Not crowded, abundant seating on the grass, and a perfect view. (Please excuse my grainy low-light images.)





I did not remember my tripod, so the pictures did not turn out well, but here are a couple:









The show was short, but sweet. It felt kind of quiet without an epic soundtrack, like at Disney (the only place we ever see fireworks, because Disney World has ruined us for other ones). Still, it was an exciting and fitting end to our stay in Waikiki.

We stopped by the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor (another LOST location), which was near the hotel. You cannot see the boats in the background, because I needed to use a flash, but it was a nice place to see briefly.





With the fireworks out the of way, we decided to go get dinner. On the way to dinner, I am ashamed to report that we passed the ice cream shop without getting any ice cream. The problem was the lines. They were ridiculously & prohibitively long. I felt terrible, but we failed the kids on this one. We were really needing to get dinner, so we figured pizza would cheer them up. 

My mom was just back from her photography tour, so was able to meet us for dinner. There happily was no wait for a table at Round Table Pizza, which, as a troubled Kevin pointed out, has no round tables, just squares and rectangles. Our waiter appreciated our pointing this fact out to him and assured us that he has heard it a lot. Someone should put at least one round table in there. Really.





Next up: Hanauma Bay, Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, and the spectacular Aulani


----------



## MissDaisyofTexas

I love your photos! We are going to Waikiki/Aulani next March for the first time! 

Question about the fireworks: I saw them on a YouTube video and they sounded freakishly loud (maybe because of all the tall buildings around and the echoing)...were they that loud from the lagoon? I'm hoping my kids aren't freaked out by the noise!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

MissDaisyofTexas said:


> I love your photos! We are going to Waikiki/Aulani next March for the first time!
> 
> Question about the fireworks: I saw them on a YouTube video and they sounded freakishly loud (maybe because of all the tall buildings around and the echoing)...were they that loud from the lagoon? I'm hoping my kids aren't freaked out by the noise!



Thanks! And congratulations on your upcoming trip!:

I do not think the fireworks at the Hilton are unusually loud, so I think your kids should be okay. Do they usually handle fireworks well? You could always bring earplugs in case. We did that when our boys were little at Disney World, because they hated loud noises. It helped.

Have a great time planning!


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We made a couple of trips to ABC stores for snacks beforehand - potato chips, several bags of gummy bears, one banana, bottles of POG juice (made of passionfruit, orange, & guava juices blended together), & water.



Breakfast of champions!  I do miss the POG juice out there.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We walked over to the lagoon, which was an excellent spot for the fireworks. Not crowded, abundant seating on the grass, and a perfect view. (Please excuse my grainy low-light images.)



That looks like a lot of fun!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> There happily was no wait for a table at Round Table Pizza, which, as a troubled Kevin pointed out, has no round tables, just squares and rectangles. Our waiter appreciated our pointing this fact out to him and assured us that he has heard it a lot. Someone should put at least one round table in there. Really.



That does seem like a major fail.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> That looks like a lot of fun!


It was a perfect way to spend our last night. And can't beat the convenience! Just a short walk. 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> That does seem like a major fail.


Yeah, Disney would never pull that kind of thing on their guests!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

I was prepared for some jet lag on our trip, but initially felt that it wasnt much of a problem for us (early in the trip, the twins would wake up a couple hours early, but went right back to sleep when we asked them to). Friday it began being a problem, with me waking up by 3am, unable to get back to sleep. My more normal waking time on the first night was apparently due to sheer exhaustion from our marathon travel day. Anyway, I struggled again on Saturday morning, so rather than wasting the time tossing and turning, I gave up and went out to sit on the lanai. It really was beautiful sitting there enjoying the perfect weather and looking out at a charcoal black panorama of Waikiki all speckled with tiny points of light like a Christmas tree. I am not really a fan of big cities normally, but it was a perfect way to spend my last morning in Waikiki. Even at 4:30. I took some photos as the sun came up, then got the family up and ready. We were headed to Hanauma Bay for our first time snorkeling! Its important to get there early, to get a parking space before the lot fills up.









We saw the required educational video and then got outfitted with our snorkel gear. We went out in twos, Jeff or I with one of the boys while the other three played on the beach. That system worked well, allowing some relaxation time and keeping everyone happy. It took a couple minutes to get used to breathing the right way (through the mouth, not the nose, and not too quickly) but then it was easy to do. Of the boys, Sam liked snorkeling the best. Kevin enjoyed it after he got used to it. Benji gave it a try, because we encouraged (read: nagged) him, but preferred playing on the beach. We were all impressed with the variety and quantity of colorful fish. Sam excitedly reported that he swam over a moray eel. (I was swimming with him, but was not excited to hear the news and am glad I was looking in the other direction. I am pretty sure I would rather see a shark than an eel. No thanks. )





































We ended our happy visit at Hanauma Bay with some tasty ice cream treats. (In case you are wondering, it was made clear to us that this did not make up for the failure to get ice cream the night before.) We originally planned to go on an outrigger canoe ride after the snorkeling, but sadly concluded that we did not have time for it. Hanauma Bay took longer than expected, as did most things on the trip, compared to my optimistic plans that did not consider variables like road construction, weather, shave ice attacks, and the simple fact that a group of five or six move slowly (shocking!). Anyway, time was tight on Saturday and we had a choice: Aloha Stadium Swap Meet or the outrigger canoe ride. My dear mother, who is sweet and accommodating and really did not ask for much at all during the trip, really wanted to go to the Swap Meet, so we picked that one. I consoled myself and the boys with the promise that we could go on our last day in Waikiki, after our Pearl Harbor Tour. (I apparently failed to learn the lesson when we failed on the ice cream on Friday, because I continued to throw around promises like cheap cologne.)

So, back at the hotel, we showered, finished packing, and hopped into the minivan to race to Aloha Stadium. Unfortunately, we arrived about 45 minutes before the Swap Meet was scheduled to end, so we zipped around looking for the items on our list: aloha shirts for the boys and Jeff, kukui nut leis, and a few other things. Sadly, the sellers were already packing up when we arrived (this is a huge pet peeve of mine in life; packing up before the end of a sale is very sinister and must be universally condemned as evil), so I would strongly recommend planning to arrive earlier in the day than us.

Once our shopping was completed, we were all smiles and glee as we got back on the road. Next stop: Aulani in Ko Olina. Yippeeeeee! 

But first, a quick stop for malasadas at Leonards, a red and white striped truck off of the freeway on the way. 





I had heard so much about these malasadas (thank you, Captain_Oblivious again, and also my DVC-owning friend Angie!) and could not wait. We did have Agness malasadas in Kailua, as I mentioned, but we found Leonards to be the best. The ones we had at Agness were good, but doughier. We chose a variety of regular and filled malasadas. Personally, I think the unfilled are tastiest, but you cant go wrong with any of them, really. Yum!









We were thrilled to come to the end of our drive and see this:





We were greeted by cast members with warm alohas wave2 and refreshing, ice cold, fruity water (a welcome treat on a hot day). My mom and I were presented with beautiful flower leis flower3:, made of alternating orchid and tuberose), Jeff received a kukui nut lei, and the boys were given Menehune necklaces. It was a perfect Hawaiian welcome, and set the tone for what would be an amazing stay. 

We stopped for a couple of photos. First, Jeff & me with the boys:





Next, with mom:





We were given key cards for our rooms. We were in room 1555, an Island Gardens View room in the Ewa Tower. As I mentioned earlier, we rented DVC points for our stay. I did not take many pictures of the view, because honestly it was not interesting. It felt more like a Standard View, but we knew we would not be in the room much so didnt bother inquiring about it. We were thrilled to be at the resort and all was well. 

Next: Room photos, rodents, and dinner


----------



## disneypoor

Rodents??? You definitely have me on the hook now. We requested a high floor in the long wing of the Ewa tower. We also have island view and are staying in a 2 bedroom. I'm praying for pixie dust and that we will have a small glimpse of the ocean, but I will be happy regardless as long as we are in Hawaii. 

Susan


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

disneypoor said:


> Rodents??? You definitely have me on the hook now. We requested a high floor in the long wing of the Ewa tower. We also have island view and are staying in a 2 bedroom. I'm praying for pixie dust and that we will have a small glimpse of the ocean, but I will be happy regardless as long as we are in Hawaii.
> 
> Susan



Oh, no, Susan! Not rodents like that. Rodents like this:





I could not let you worry for a second, if you were at all concerned. Just happy things in Hawaii.  You will have an amazing time! We also requested a high floor and loved our location in Ewa tower. Easy distance to everything. Easy walk to the lobby & shops. Character greetings were often close by, as well as the community room (always close by; it never moved). Re: our view, no glimpse of the ocean, but didn't expect it. We were on the 15th floor, but the roof of some large structure interrupted our view looking down, making it less than ideal. Still pretty apart from that.


----------



## disneypoor

Oh thank goodness! I can handle those kind of rodents. Haha! Were you in a two bedroom also?

Susan


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

disneypoor said:


> Oh thank goodness! I can handle those kind of rodents. Haha! Were you in a two bedroom also?
> 
> Susan



We were actually in a studio. My mother had a room right next to us, and the boys took turns staying with her, one at a time. They loved it, because they adore their grandma. We saved a lot of money doing it this way, and since (as I mentioned before) we knew we would not be in the room much, it worked well. 

The thing is, offtopic we took the big step of finishing our basement last year, which put a big dent in our savings account. That, combined with our plan to do a trip to Disney World later this year, meant we tried to save money where we could, while being sure to invest in the things that mattered most. 

The one-bedrooms look fantastic, so if we go again with the boys when they are older we would go with a one-bedroom. Expensive, but soooo worth it. In my opinion.

Excited for you getting a 2 bedroom!  It will be beautiful. You must be leaving soon, aren't you? I hope you come back and report about how it all went for you.  I would love to hear.


----------



## disneypoor

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We were actually in a studio. My mother had a room right next to us, and the boys took turns staying with her, one at a time. They loved it, because they adore their grandma. We saved a lot of money doing it this way, and since (as I mentioned before) we knew we would not be in the room much, it worked well.  The thing is, offtopic we took the big step of finishing our basement last year, which put a big dent in our savings account. That, combined with our plan to do a trip to Disney World later this year, meant we tried to save money where we could, while being sure to invest in the things that mattered most.  The one-bedrooms look fantastic, so if we go again with the boys when they are older we would go with a one-bedroom. Expensive, but soooo worth it. In my opinion.  Excited for you getting a 2 bedroom!  It will be beautiful. You must be leaving soon, aren't you? I hope you come back and report about how it all went for you.  I would love to hear.



We had a one bedroom booked initially but then switched to a two bedroom. I'm excited to see the rooms. I will let you know how our trip goes. We leave a week from this Saturday. 

Susan


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

All caught up!  Hooray for Aulani!  I really liked your sunrise pictures as well.


----------



## DisneyAngel05

Hello! 

I'm still reading  I have the slowest internet connection in the entire world so I had to wait for that to get fixed (again).

Loving EVERYTHING. I love the looks on your boys' faces at the snorkelling - what a great morning that looked like! But I think my favourite is little lego man not coping too well at the high tea. I think it's great for boys to get some culture! hehehe  I think they don't know what they're missing out on! I would love to take my Mum there.

Looking forward to the Aulani section very much, but I have to ask - what is the little donut thing you bought from the red-and-white striped truck? I have never seen it before.

We have finally booked our flights and the Hilton for next year! Wahoo. I have requested a 2 bedroom at Aulani for 5 nights (to share with my parents, it was so much more affordable for us that way). I just got an email saying to go on the wait list, and I remember you saying you did that and got what you wanted - how long did you wait before you got confirmation? 
I wonder if I am wishfully thinking with this and will not get it? 

Anyways, just saying how much I am enjoying reading along! Can't wait for the next installment.


----------



## Dugette

How did I miss this?! I'm in and off to catch up...Aulani and a fellow Minnesotan (I'm guessing from your username, at least)...perfect! We're going in 3 months and cannot wait. Trip is very much a dream come true. We got price-glitch first class flights for $70/each and a steal of a deal on point rental at Aulani (just applied the 5-nights-points-for-7-night-stay deal to it too!). Anyway, off to start reading over lunch here...


----------



## Dugette

All caught up! Great report so far and lots of good tips! Looking forward to more and the Aulani part of your trip!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> All caught up!  Hooray for Aulani!  I really liked your sunrise pictures as well.



Thanks! And I trust your very recent family vacation was amazing. Can't wait to read the TR!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

DisneyAngel05 said:


> Hello!
> 
> I'm still reading  I have the slowest internet connection in the entire world so I had to wait for that to get fixed (again).


Thanks so much for checking in! Good to hear from you. Sorry to hear about the internet trouble. I know what you mean. I battle my computer regularly. 



DisneyAngel05 said:


> Loving EVERYTHING. I love the looks on your boys' faces at the snorkelling - what a great morning that looked like! But I think my favourite is little lego man not coping too well at the high tea. I think it's great for boys to get some culture! hehehe  I think they don't know what they're missing out on! I would love to take my Mum there.


 And thanks for the support on the tea. It must be a girl thing! My mom, my sisters, and I just went out for tea last week. Fun, but definitely not for everyone. 



DisneyAngel05 said:


> Looking forward to the Aulani section very much, but I have to ask - what is the little donut thing you bought from the red-and-white striped truck? I have never seen it before.


They are Portuguese doughnuts called malasadas. They are prepared fresh, while you wait, so they are hot and delicious. They can be ordered with or without a variety of fillings. Leonard's Bakery is well-known for them. Agnes' Portuguese Bake Shop in Kailua also sells them. I personally think they should be a Must Do for any trip to Oahu. 



DisneyAngel05 said:


> We have finally booked our flights and the Hilton for next year! Wahoo. I have requested a 2 bedroom at Aulani for 5 nights (to share with my parents, it was so much more affordable for us that way). I just got an email saying to go on the wait list, and I remember you saying you did that and got what you wanted - how long did you wait before you got confirmation?
> I wonder if I am wishfully thinking with this and will not get it? t.


Wow! Congratulations.  I waited two months for confirmation of our DVC rental request, which I placed at 11 months (so 9 months from departure). It was hard waiting and not knowing for sure if it would come through, but I would be hopeful. You are in line and doing all you can. I hope you get good news soon!



DisneyAngel05 said:


> Anyways, just saying how much I am enjoying reading along! Can't wait for the next installment.


Thank you so much for reading! Sorry for being such a slacker in keeping up. There will be an update tomorrow.


----------



## SingingMom

Ok all caught up!  ;-)
We leave in 2 weeks!  Reading your report has me very excited about our trip!! 

Wish Aulani had afternoon tea!  It is a favorite of dd20 and mine. We love tea at the Plaza in NYC and the Grand Floridian in WDW!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Dugette said:


> How did I miss this?! I'm in and off to catch up...Aulani and a fellow Minnesotan (I'm guessing from your username, at least)...perfect! We're going in 3 months and cannot wait. Trip is very much a dream come true. We got price-glitch first class flights for $70/each and a steal of a deal on point rental at Aulani (just applied the 5-nights-points-for-7-night-stay deal to it too!). Anyway, off to start reading over lunch here...



Welcome, fellow Minnesotan! You understand just how dreamy a Hawaiian holiday is to us with the kind of winters we can get! Amazing deal on your flights!!!  I heard about Delta making a mistake and that some people got crazy low flights to Hawaii. Was that the case for you? And nice deal on the room, too! Well done.

Three months away... How exciting! It will go fast.  If you have any specific questions, shout them out! I would love to be of any help.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

SingingMom said:


> Ok all caught up!  ;-)
> We leave in 2 weeks!  Reading your report has me very excited about our trip!!
> 
> Wish Aulani had afternoon tea!  It is a favorite of dd20 and mine. We love tea at the Plaza in NYC and the Grand Floridian in WDW!



I'm sure you will have an amazing time! Wow, that is coming up fast... You will be in single digits soon!  

I have been after that Grand Floridian Tea, since I heard about it a couple of years ago. Sounds fantastic! I plan to subject at least some of my family to it for a big birthday of mine a number of years from now. Then they can't say no and I won't feel guilty.


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## Dugette

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Welcome, fellow Minnesotan! You understand just how dreamy a Hawaiian holiday is to us with the kind of winters we can get! Amazing deal on your flights!!!  I heard about Delta making a mistake and that some people got crazy low flights to Hawaii. Was that the case for you? And nice deal on the room, too! Well done.
> 
> Three months away... How exciting! It will go fast.  If you have any specific questions, shout them out! I would love to be of any help.


Yep, I was crazy lucky and just happened to be looking at airfare during the Delta price glitch. I wasn't planning to buy tickets that day or anything - only looking to get an idea of prices, since the in-laws had mentioned wanting us to join them in Hawaii (I posted here on it, if you want more detail (second half of post): http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=50336964&postcount=17)

Cannot wait to go and I'll let you know if I have questions...just really starting to get down to planning now!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

I apologize for being so slow to update! I have had family in town  my sister from Louisiana & her family  so have been busier than usual. I promise to keep more on track from now on! Thanks for hanging in there. 

Lets see When I left off my story, we had arrived at Aulani and received our room keys. I cant tell you how excited we were to be there. It was just incredible. We rode the elevator up to our rooms on the 15th floor. We had a room next to my mom, which was perfect, as our plan was to have one of our boys stay with Grandma each night. They loved having a little extra one-on-one time with her, so it worked nicely. Here are some photos of the room:

































The room was beautiful, but felt a little bit small for four people with way too much luggage . I loved the details in the room and throughout the resort. It was just perfect, amazing attention to detail, very high quality, and a brilliant blend of Hawaii and Disney. Fun hidden Mickeys in places like the carpet and the quilt on the bed.

After checking out our rooms, we took the short walk back to the elevator and went to the lobby area to soak it in some more and then headed outside. When we stepped out the door, who do we see, but our twins favorite rodents Chip and Dale! 





And the obligatory head-as-armrest shot:





Benji even brought his Dale hat along on the trip, but unfortunately did not have it on him. (It's always fun to see characters when wearing their hats. They go crazy.) Anyway, it was fun to see them. And what a coincidence that they vacationed in the same spot as us!   Chip and Dale were friendly and very sweet to the guys. After hugs and pictures, we said goodbye and set out for Ulu Café for dinner. 

Ulu is the new quick service restaurant. We really enjoyed the food there. We started out by purchasing refillable mugs, which were well worth the money. We used them for coffee, pop, and hot chocolate (I know it sounds insane, but I cannot resist a little hot chocolate on vacation, in Orlando or Hawaii.) There was a nice variety of food available, and everything we had was tasty. Some pineapple was often included and as one would expect in Hawaii, it was spectacular. Way better than in Minnesota! I could eat that pineapple all day. There was a large selection of bakery items at Ulu, but sadly I forgot to take a picture. 

Here's my dinner. Note the many Mickey Rice Krispy treats. Yum!





After dinner, we explored a little outside.





Unfortunately, we were exhausted, so went up to our room soon after dinner. I fell asleep almost immediately. It had been a full day. We needed to rest up for a big day of fun the next day.

Coming soon: Breakfast, Aunties Beach House, & the exciting Waikolohe Valley.


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Thanks! And I trust your very recent family vacation was amazing. Can't wait to read the TR!



We had a lot of fun and very little sleep!  TR is coming soon.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Lets see When I left off my story, we had arrived at Aulani and received our room keys. I cant tell you how excited we were to be there. It was just incredible.



I know what you mean.  Very hard to describe that feeling!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> After checking out our rooms, we took the short walk back to the elevator and went to the lobby area to soak it in some more and then headed outside. When we stepped out the door, who do we see, but our twins favorite rodents Chip and Dale!



Our experience has been that Chip and Dale are usually the best at interacting with kids. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> And the obligatory head-as-armrest shot:



Like that, for instance. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Some pineapple was often included and as one would expect in Hawaii, it was spectacular. Way better than in Minnesota! I could eat that pineapple all day.



Me too!  Pineapple is in the Pantheon of Foods That Make Everything Better.


----------



## Dugette

The room looks really nice! I'm glad we only have two adults and a toddler, though - hoping it won't feel as crowded. 

Do you know if the room had a high chair? I'm pretty sure they all have a pack 'n' play, right? (Random toddler accessory questions...)

Dinner looks good also. I'm debating on the refillable mugs. We plan to do a Target run early in the trip, so we'll be able to stock up on pop and water, so not sure if they make sense or not for us.

I can't wait to get there and just look around and soak up the atmosphere. Maybe I missed it, but what time did you get in? Our flight arrives around 6pm, so I'm thinking we'll be a bit tired, but hoping to stay up for a bit to adjust (well, maybe not our daughter, but us) and explore the resort.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> We had a lot of fun and very little sleep!  TR is coming soon.


Glad to hear it! 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Our experience has been that Chip and Dale are usually the best at interacting with kids.


Agreed! I like how the pairs of characters play off each other, too.



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Me too!  Pineapple is in the Pantheon of Foods That Make Everything Better.


I am sure another one is chocolate. I have to say one exception to the pineapple thing for me is pizza. Can't do it.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Dugette said:


> The room looks really nice! I'm glad we only have two adults and a toddler, though - hoping it won't feel as crowded.


Oh, you'll be just fine in a studio. 



Dugette said:


> Do you know if the room had a high chair? I'm pretty sure they all have a pack 'n' play, right?


No high chair, but there was a pack 'n' play in the closet.



Dugette said:


> Dinner looks good also. I'm debating on the refillable mugs. We plan to do a Target run early in the trip, so we'll be able to stock up on pop and water, so not sure if they make sense or not for us.


If you drink coffee, the mug may be worth it, but otherwise perhaps not, since you will have other beverages. I did liked the convenience of it. There is also ice water available free outside at the pools. 

We did a Target run also (the next day), but it was so hard to be away from Aulani for the errand. 



Dugette said:


> I can't wait to get there and just look around and soak up the atmosphere. Maybe I missed it, but what time did you get in? Our flight arrives around 6pm, so I'm thinking we'll be a bit tired, but hoping to stay up for a bit to adjust (well, maybe not our daughter, but us) and explore the resort.


We landed at around 6 and we were pretty tired by the time we got to our first hotel in Waikiki. I think how energetic you feel can depend upon the length of time you'll be traveling. I know it is not a direct flight, because those sadly ended (for Delta anyway) from MSP, so the length of time between connecting flights would be the issue. We had a several hour delay due to a problem with the plane (as I said earlier in the TR), so that made our day longer. I think without that it would have been much easier for us that first night. I bet you will have several hours at least without getting too tired.


----------



## Dugette

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We did a Target run also (the next day), but it was so hard to be away from Aulani for the errand.


Did you happen to notice if they had a decent stock of Disney Gift Cards at that Target? 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I think how energetic you feel can depend upon the length of time you'll be traveling. I know it is not a direct flight, because those sadly ended (for Delta anyway) from MSP, so the length of time between connecting flights would be the issue.


We leave around 11:30am and have a 1-hour layover at LAX. Hoping things run on schedule and we should be okay.

Thanks!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Dugette said:


> Did you happen to notice if they had a decent stock of Disney Gift Cards at that Target?


I did not notice. Sorry! By the way, I brought some Disney gift cards with me that I had purchased when Target allowed people to use their Pharmacy Rewards 5% discount on top of the 5% off (yay!), but I forgot to use them until it was too late (check out). It is nice to use them at the resort if you can remember better than me.  Of course, using your room key card is very convenient. Just don't lose your card. (More on that to come...)



Dugette said:


> We leave around 11:30am and have a 1-hour layover at LAX. Hoping things run on schedule and we should be okay.


I expect it will be just fine, provided you don't have any big delays. I would recommend getting a good night sleep in case it takes longer than you think. We failed on that one and it was not smart.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

On Sunday morning I got up early, because I needed to do laundry.  While my family slept, I threw the clothes I needed to wash into a couple of our bags and headed down to the first floor. The laundry room was conveniently located near the elevator, which was a good thing, because this was the first of many trips to the laundry room that morning. I will say that the elevators at Aulani are delightful, which made an otherwise monotonous chore much more tolerable that morning. There is always fun music playing:  special versions of Disney favorites sung in Hawaiian. Examples of songs I heard were When You Wish Upon a Star, Be Our Guest, and it's a small world, There was a lot of variety, which made it fun to try to name that tune whenever taking a ride during our stay.

Anyway, back to the ups and downs of my morning I made Trip #2, because I forgot my laundry detergent in the room. After I returned with it, I realized I needed to pair of scissors to open it, so that was Trip #3. Then, when I saw that I had room for more laundry in both washing machines I was using, I couldnt resist going to the room to get some more: Trip #4. I moved the laundry to the dryer on Trip #5. With the laundry set for a while, I made a coffee run to Ulu with my handy refillable mug and afterward went to the lobby and picked up a copy of the Daily Iwa, so I could check on activities and characters for the day. Finally, I was able to collect my clean laundry, fold it, and return to our room (Trip #6). Whew! Relaxing morning in paradise My family was all ready to start the day by that point, so we went to Aunties for their open house (at least my 7th trip down on the elevator before 8am). 

On our way, Sam reported that he got lost in the bathroom after using it at 4:00 in the morning. He says he turned off the light (when finished) and couldn't see anything. It apparently took him a while to figure things out and get back to bed. Silly. 

Sam was not interested in spending time at Aunties Beach House (12 is the maximum age for it, and most kids there were much younger), but the twins wanted to check it out. There are two sides to Aunties: Uncles side and Aunties side. When we were looking around at the open house, a couple cast members stood in the doorway of one side, saying that we would not be interested in that side at all, and strongly discouraged our even coming near it, because it was only for little kids. They were firm about this (which seemed a little odd to me), so we didnt spend more than a minute or so peeking into the area. (Benji would have plenty of time for a closer look on another day, as it turned out More on that later.)





We ate breakfast at Ulu, since we had enjoyed the dinner there the night before. We all had either the breakfast platter or the French toast. Yummy & generous portions. 

Sam with his French toast:




My breakfast platter: 




I know theres a lot of complaining about the (powdered?) eggs at Disney quick-service restaurants, but I really like their eggs. I may as well go ahead and admit something awful early on in the Aulani portion of our stay: we considered eating at Ama Ama and Makahiki, but did not. I had read some reviews in advance of the trip and found them to be really so-so. The cost of the meals for a family of five was a factor, but also we really felt satisfied with the other options at the resort and nearby. More on other food adventures later There will be great news and terrible news on that front.

We decided we should go to Target to pick up some essentials: more sunscreen, some food and beverages, a boogie board for Sam, a couple towels, etc.  Before leaving, we dropped our twins off at Aunties, because video games apparently rank higher than boring errands. 

On our way out, we grabbed a photo of the fun fruity water with the (not-so-very) Hidden Mickeys:




I guess it was worth the trip, but I have to say that it was very hard to be gone for so long (Target is not far away, but it took about an hour and a half). When we returned, we took the elevator up to the room to drop all our stuff off and then got the boys at Aunties. Kevin and Benji reported that they had fun, but they were eager to leave so we could all enjoy some pool time. 

Oh, quick note on the Target run: We needed to get towels, because we lost the beach mats we had purchased earlier in the trip. I had brought them to Hanauma Bay, set them down when I got there, and never saw them again. Theyre cheap mats, but I could not bring myself to bother buying new ones. I had meant to keep better track of our lost items in this Trip Report. I have never lost so many things on vacation! It was ridiculous. We have only really begun our list, but by this point in the trip, we had lost: 1) Jeffs drivers license (later found), 2) three beach mats (still lost).

Anyway, back to our story. After we got Kevin and Benji, it was time to change and get into the pool. So, you know what that means! More elevator music.  When we got back outside, we were greeted by more vacationing friends: Mickey and Minnie! It was another amazing coincidence, I guess. 





We loved the pools and the lazy river and the amazing theming of the Waikolohe Valley. It was beautiful. 





We had a great time swimming and playing in the main pool and then a pool party started, which was fun (and loud). A photopass photographer caught us watching the show in the water:




Later the boys went up with Mickey and friends and they did the hula and some other goofy things:




The boys are on the far left. Benji was the most into it, and Kevin did not want to be up there at all. He and Sam played it pretty cool.

Next time: A volcano erupts on Oahu!  And we try Rainbow Reef and go to a luau.


----------



## Dugette

Great update! That sure is a lot of ups and downs!  This is the first I've heard of the nice elevator music, though, so looking forward to that.

Huh, I'm curious about the Aunty's Beach House mysterious room now. 

Yeah, as much as I love Target runs and having everything conveniently there, I think it will be hard to carve out time being away from all the Aulani and general Hawaiian scenery.

Can't wait to see Mickey and Minnie there! Izzy frequently says, "I want go Hawaii, please. I want Minnie!"  Darn that youtube video from Aulani with Minnie in it, haha!

Looks like a fun time at the pool!


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> On Sunday morning I got up early, because I needed to do laundry.  While my family slept, I threw the clothes I needed to wash into a couple of our bags and headed down to the first floor. The laundry room was conveniently located near the elevator, which was a good thing, because this was the first of many trips to the laundry room that morning. I will say that the elevators at Aulani are delightful, which made an otherwise monotonous chore much more tolerable that morning. There is always fun music playing:  special versions of Disney favorites sung in Hawaiian. Examples of songs I heard were When You Wish Upon a Star, Be Our Guest, and it's a small world, There was a lot of variety, which made it fun to try to name that tune whenever taking a ride during our stay.



My wife and I firmly believe that one of the main reasons Disney feels so magical is because there's music everywhere you go.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Anyway, back to the ups and downs of my morning I made Trip #2, because I forgot my laundry detergent in the room. After I returned with it, I realized I needed to pair of scissors to open it, so that was Trip #3. Then, when I saw that I had room for more laundry in both washing machines I was using, I couldnt resist going to the room to get some more: Trip #4. I moved the laundry to the dryer on Trip #5. With the laundry set for a while, I made a coffee run to Ulu with my handy refillable mug and afterward went to the lobby and picked up a copy of the Daily Iwa, so I could check on activities and characters for the day. Finally, I was able to collect my clean laundry, fold it, and return to our room (Trip #6). Whew!



 Sounds like it's time for bed!  At least doing the laundry is better at Disney properties.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> On our way, Sam reported that he got lost in the bathroom after using it at 4:00 in the morning. He says he turned off the light (when finished) and couldn't see anything. It apparently took him a while to figure things out and get back to bed. Silly.



You didn't hear any loud crashes? 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I may as well go ahead and admit something awful early on in the Aulani portion of our stay: we considered eating at Ama Ama and Makahiki, but did not. I had read some reviews in advance of the trip and found them to be really so-so. The cost of the meals for a family of five was a factor, but also we really felt satisfied with the other options at the resort and nearby. More on other food adventures later There will be great news and terrible news on that front.



Uh oh.  Hope I didn't steer you wrong.  We didn't do either of those restaurants, mostly due to the cost.  Hawaii is already expensive; Hawaii + Disney markups = outrageous.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Before leaving, we dropped our twins off at Aunties, because video games apparently rank higher than boring errands.



I'm glad it's not just me! 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We loved the pools and the lazy river and the amazing theming of the Waikolohe Valley. It was beautiful.



Best.  Pool Facility.  Ever.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Dugette said:


> Great update! That sure is a lot of ups and downs!  This is the first I've heard of the nice elevator music, though, so looking forward to that.


You'll love the elevator music. I wish I could buy it on CD!



Dugette said:


> Huh, I'm curious about the Aunty's Beach House mysterious room now.


It is a nice room. All the rooms were nicely decorated and themed and looked like fun for the kids. The guards that day were a little strange, though. Wish they had not said what they did. The service we received from cast members was exceptional overall. We do have an issue with Auntie's coming up, but I'll get to that pretty soon... 



Dugette said:


> Can't wait to see Mickey and Minnie there! Izzy frequently says, "I want go Hawaii, please. I want Minnie!"  Darn that youtube video from Aulani with Minnie in it, haha!


Cute! You're raising that girl right.  You will have no trouble meeting Minnie. Characters were super-easy to find every day.



Dugette said:


> Looks like a fun time at the pool!


Yup. Amazing pools!!!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> My wife and I firmly believe that one of the main reasons Disney feels so magical is because there's music everywhere you go.


Correct! It makes a HUGE difference. 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> You didn't hear any loud crashes?


Nope. Good soundproofing. (He was with Grandma.)




Captain_Oblivious said:


> Uh oh.  Hope I didn't steer you wrong.  We didn't do either of those restaurants, mostly due to the cost.  Hawaii is already expensive; Hawaii + Disney markups = outrageous.


Yes, it is expensive... I forgot that your family did not do those restaurants either. We just did not see enough reason to do it, based on the price and what I had heard and the menus (we just are not into some of the more exotic stuff so many items on the menu weren't our thing). Plus, we were only at Aulani 4 nights and quick service there meant more time for pools, beach, & everything else. Ulu Café really was a GREAT option. I think that it  was not there yet on your trip?

I am sure others love the sit-down restaurants. Just not a fit for us.


----------



## DisneyAngel05

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I will say that the elevators at Aulani are delightful, which made an otherwise monotonous chore much more tolerable that morning. There is always fun music playing:  special versions of Disney favorites sung in Hawaiian. Examples of songs I heard were When You Wish Upon a Star, Be Our Guest, and it's a small world, There was a lot of variety, which made it fun to try to name that tune whenever taking a ride during our stay.



Ooh, the music sounds lovely! I just love how Disney goes so far above and beyond for its fans - the many layers of details for every type of fan - the newbie, to the fanatic. Something for everyone! I wonder if you could buy the music in the stores?



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Sam was not interested in spending time at Aunties Beach House (12 is the maximum age for it, and most kids there were much younger), but the twins wanted to check it out. There are two sides to Aunties: Uncles side and Aunties side. When we were looking around at the open house, a couple cast members stood in the doorway of one side, saying that we would not be interested in that side at all, and strongly discouraged our even coming near it, because it was only for little kids. They were firm about this (which seemed a little odd to me), so we didnt spend more than a minute or so peeking into the area. (Benji would have plenty of time for a closer look on another day, as it turned out More on that later.)



Were the children very young? I know you said it wasn't hugely busy, but did you still need to get there early to sign up for the daily activities?
That's so bizarre about the cast members! I wonder if they get overloaded in peak times and have started adjusting their attitudes because of it.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We ate breakfast at Ulu, since we had enjoyed the dinner there the night before. We all had either the breakfast platter or the French toast. Yummy & generous portions.
> 
> Sam with his French toast:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My breakfast platter:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I know theres a lot of complaining about the (powdered?) eggs at Disney quick-service restaurants, but I really like their eggs. I may as well go ahead and admit something awful early on in the Aulani portion of our stay: we considered eating at Ama Ama and Makahiki, but did not. I had read some reviews in advance of the trip and found them to be really so-so. The cost of the meals for a family of five was a factor, but also we really felt satisfied with the other options at the resort and nearby. More on other food adventures later There will be great news and terrible news on that front.



Bacon with french toast! That looks delicious and I've never had it together  I must be out of the loop on that one.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on nearby places to eat. A lot of the reviews I've read on Trip Advisor have said the buffet is way overpriced. My kids pick at their food and I can't see them ever eating their money's worth at a place like that. Apparently there is an ABC store nearby? Did you go there at all? 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We decided we should go to Target to pick up some essentials: more sunscreen, some food and beverages, a boogie board for Sam, a couple towels, etc.  Before leaving, we dropped our twins off at Aunties, because video games apparently rank higher than boring errands.
> 
> On our way out, we grabbed a photo of the fun fruity water with the (not-so-very) Hidden Mickeys:



Love the water jug!! That looks delicious 

This is going to sound so silly, but I'm actually excited to go to Target. I've never been to an American Target before, we have them here, but being a foreigner everything seems more exciting in America! Even just buying different brands of cereal and toothpaste is like a treat. 
Oh dear, a bit embarrassing! How far is Target and Costco etc from Aulani?




MNtwinsplus1mom said:


>



What a great family photo! Were the lines very long for character photos? 
Did you use the slides at all? I just wonder if maybe I should pack arm floaties for my twins to use, especially on slides etc - they are still very much learning to swim at this point. Can you buy floaties there?



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Later the boys went up with Mickey and friends and they did the hula and some other goofy things:



The pool party looks like fun! Good on your boys for joining in. Did they do the Chip and Dale dinner surf party thing at all?

Thanks for the update! Waiting in anticipation for the next one!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

DisneyAngel05 said:


> Ooh, the music sounds lovely! I just love how Disney goes so far above and beyond for its fans - the many layers of details for every type of fan - the newbie, to the fanatic. Something for everyone! I wonder if you could buy the music in the stores?:



You cannot buy the music in the stores there, but I am happy to say other Hawaiian music recorded especially for Aulani (the music you will hear in the lobby and other areas of the resort as you walk around) was wonderful and is available for purchase on Amazon. I got it before the trip & love it.

http://www.amazon.com/Aulani-Music-...ie=UTF8&qid=1409168026&sr=1-1&keywords=aulani



DisneyAngel05 said:


> Were the children very young? I know you said it wasn't hugely busy, but did you still need to get there early to sign up for the daily activities?:



Not super-young. Children need to be age 3-12 to be at Aunty's. I would grab a coffee at Ulu each morning and then go sign up for activities at Aunty's when they opened the door at 7am (just for that purpose; it does not open to drop off until 9:30). I was first in line when I went usually. No trouble getting into anything during our stay!



DisneyAngel05 said:


> That's so bizarre about the cast members! I wonder if they get overloaded in peak times and have started adjusting their attitudes because of it.:



I don't know what the deal was. We normally have such wonderful service with Disney. They were polite. Just firm that boys the age of ours would not be interested in the area AT ALL. They did not care, but it comes up later, so I wanted to share it in advance.




DisneyAngel05 said:


> Bacon with french toast! That looks delicious and I've never had it together  I must be out of the loop on that one.:



Mmmm... It was yummy. You'll like the food there, I think!



DisneyAngel05 said:


> Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on nearby places to eat. A lot of the reviews I've read on Trip Advisor have said the buffet is way overpriced. My kids pick at their food and I can't see them ever eating their money's worth at a place like that. Apparently there is an ABC store nearby? Did you go there at all?:



Yes, we would not have gotten our money's worth out of the buffet either. We did get to the ABC Store later. At least my husband did, twice. I went to many ABC Stores when we were in Waikiki, but not the one near Aulani. It has a slightly different name there, I recall, and a bit of a fancier touch to it.



DisneyAngel05 said:


> Love the water jug!! That looks delicious :



Yes! Gotta love the details. 



DisneyAngel05 said:


> This is going to sound so silly, but I'm actually excited to go to Target. I've never been to an American Target before, we have them here, but being a foreigner everything seems more exciting in America! Even just buying different brands of cereal and toothpaste is like a treat.
> Oh dear, a bit embarrassing! How far is Target and Costco etc from Aulani?:



Oh no, not embarrassing at all! I know what you mean. I was looking forward to going to a Hawaiian Target too, but didn't realize how strong the magnetic pull of the resort would be to bring me back... It is only one exit up on the freeway, I think. Not far at all. About 10 minutes away, if I recall correctly.



DisneyAngel05 said:


> What a great family photo! Were the lines very long for character photos?:



No. They were easy to see.



DisneyAngel05 said:


> Did you use the slides at all?:



Yes, the next day. (Jeff and Sam used the slides earlier.) They were fantastic!



DisneyAngel05 said:


> I just wonder if maybe I should pack arm floaties for my twins to use, especially on slides etc - they are still very much learning to swim at this point. Can you buy floaties there?:



I am not sure. I do not know if they are allowed in the pools... You could use them in the ocean, but I am guessing they may not let them on the slides. The curvy slide is easy, but I hear the straight slide is fast for some people. We did not ride that one, but should have! 



DisneyAngel05 said:


> The pool party looks like fun! Good on your boys for joining in. Did they do the Chip and Dale dinner surf party thing at all?:



No, we did not do that one. I bet it is very cute.



DisneyAngel05 said:


> Thanks for the update! Waiting in anticipation for the next one!



Thank YOU very much for reading!  Mega-update on its way...


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

In the morning (between trips to the laundry room) I had signed up Benji for "Eruption Disruption," an activity at Aunty's Beach House. I had no trouble getting a spot for him, as the resort was not crowded.

Immediately after the pool party I took Benji to a restroom to change for Auntys. Two things to remember with Auntys (in addition to remembering that it is spelled with a y not an ie as I have been doing): 1) children must be checked in half an hour before any scheduled activities, and 2) they must arrive dry and in regular clothes and shoes. We worked quickly and got him there nearly on time. 

We ran into this guy right outside Auntys. We saw the movie for the first time just before the trip, in the name of research.



 

On the way back to the main pool, I stopped a few times to take photos and look around and somehow along the way managed to lose my key card in the process. I searched everywhere I had been for about twenty minutes, eventually conceding defeat. I was told to go to the front desk and the cast member there issued me a new one, after canceling the old one (since there are charging privileges with the card). Next stop  on the way back  was to the Lava Shack, a cute little store that sold dry boxes (as well as shirts, ice cream, and lots of other things). This is something I considered buying before the trip, but neglected to do so. It was fantastic: just a small case on a strap that I could wear around my neck. The case was water-tight & big enough for room key, credit card, money, and other little items. 

So add that key card to our LOST tally.

While Benji was away, we snorkeled in Rainbow Reef, the manmade snorkeling lagoon. (Benji was not interested in going there.) Kevin took a picture of Jeff and me just before we got into the water. 



 

It was not as cold as I expected. It was cool, but okay, and in my opinion was worth the cost of admission ($15 for adults, $10 for children). Compared to Hanauma Bay, it was a bit strange, more like swimming in a big aquarium. 



 

The lighting was better than in a natural setting, but we were too busy enjoying it to take many photos. I hear that it is best to come during a feeding, and I am sure that would be better. Kevin and Sam liked it also, so we decided we would upgrade to length-of-stay passes. (I like that you can decide to extend after you have used your one-day pass.) Anyway, as it turns out, we never did make it back for another stay, so we should have passed on making that change. Whoops! Too many wonderful things to do, so ran out of time!

After the snorkeling, we picked up Benji and headed up to the room to get ready for a night out. He told us about the volcano activity on the way. Apparently Disney needs to improve their method of selecting cast members, because the professor they had running the show was insane. Lava hit the ceiling and was all over the place. He was quite ridiculous and had no control of his classroom. The kids were just howling! I am thankful the chaos did not extend past the doors of Auntys. 



 



 

We drove just a little bit up the road to Paradise Cove Luau. We had spent a while researching luaus on Oahu. It was a tough call. We had originally wanted to do one that was hosted by Chief Sielu once per week in Ko Olina, but the show was canceled shortly before our trip. We had heard he was a great host and thought about another show he does, the Chief's Luau at Sea Life Aquarium, but did not want to drive all the way to the other side of the island for it. Anyway, we settled on Paradise Cove, which looked more family-friendly anyway, and was very conveniently located in Ko Olina. We were able to get a better price (about $15 per person cheaper) than the one listed on Paradise Coves website, by going to savontourshawaii.com. It worked great. No complaints!

Unfortunately, the luau was held on a night when rain was expected later in the evening. We enjoyed the festivities in advance of the meal, but observed that it felt rushed and a little chaotic. One highlight of the luau was an opportunity to see some beautiful birds up close and have photos taken with them. Sam adores birds, so we could not resist. They placed the birds on us for the pictures. We got several of our whole family and also one of just Sam with all the birds on him. He loved it!



 



 

We participated in the Games of Skill and Daring (TM) but fared poorly. 



 

We took a bunch of pictures by the ocean:



 



 



 



 

Shortly after that we had to get to our tables for dinner. We had purchased the Orchid Package, so had seats in the middle section, but the back half. The front half is for table service, while we needed to go get our dinner at the buffet. 

Benji was happy to find some healthy selections:



 

Here's my plate:



 

They're smiling because they have not tried much of the food yet. 



 

I have to be honest - I thought the food was pretty awful. I am not picky, but really cannot think of anything good to say about it. Did not even like the desserts. In fairness to Paradise Cove, a few members of my family said they thought it was okay. Anyway, I hear that the food is often bad at luaus, because it is very difficult to make quality food for that large a group. It was our first one, so I have no personal knowledge of any other, but I found it to be true in this case. Now, I would say the show was very enjoyable.  Nice variety, and the boys liked the fire dancing. Can't go wrong with fire! 



 

During the show, out of the blue it seemed, the rain came. About an hour before we expected the show to end, it was over. We ran to the gift shop for shelter. Of course that is the only place available to get out of the rain. Anyway, I learned while there that apparently they had stepped up the pace of the schedule to get dinner completed early, in anticipation of the rain. That helped make sense of the quick pace to the pre-dinner events. We missed several things, because the events nearly overlapped and we could not get from one place to another in time. 

Anyway, while we dried off in the store, we did a little shopping with the gift cards we received as part of our package. The boys found some cute items and Jeff even seemed to enjoy the store. 

Look! Honey, I found just what you were looking for! he says: 



 

We paid for our purchases (which did not include the above item) and then stepped out into a drizzly night to walk to the minivan. 

It was delightful to get back "home" to Aulani early. There was a brief, but lively, discussion about which boy would get to stay in Grandma's room. Kevin tried to sway the jury with his most pathetic face 





but somehow the prize went to Benji. 





I do not recall how we decided. Anyway, we grabbed our mugs and went on a walk to get some pop, which seemed to cheer him up a bit. 



 

Later that night, Kevin struggled with Benji being gone. He was extremely sad, because as he pointed out to us, it was the first time he had slept in a room "without his twin. He decided later when it was his turn for Grandmas that Benji could come with him. That worked well. 

Next time: A drive to the legendary North Shore. Gorgeous!!


----------



## torrey

DisneyAngel05 said:


> Did you use the slides at all? I just wonder if maybe I should pack arm floaties for my twins to use, especially on slides etc - they are still very much learning to swim at this point. Can you buy floaties there?



I haven't been, but from my research they have life vests that you can check out (for free) to use at the pool area for little ones.  Just have to return them at night or there is a $45 fee.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

torrey said:


> I haven't been, but from my research they have life vests that you can check out (for free) to use at the pool area for little ones.  Just have to return them at night or there is a $45 fee.



Great tip! We did use the lifejackets for paddle-boarding and also on another occasion for our twins, so they could just relax and float in a deeper pool.


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> On the way back to the main pool, I stopped a few times to take photos and look around and somehow along the way managed to lose my key card in the process. I searched everywhere I had been for about twenty minutes, eventually conceding defeat.
> 
> So add that key card to our LOST tally.



D'oh!  Sounds like it ended up on the LOST island, wherever that is.  Look for a polar bear.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> The lighting was better than in a natural setting, but we were too busy enjoying it to take many photos. I hear that it is best to come during a feeding, and I am sure that would be better. Kevin and Sam liked it also, so we decided we would upgrade to length-of-stay passes. (I like that you can decide to extend after you have used your one-day pass.) Anyway, as it turns out, we never did make it back for another stay, so we should have passed on making that change. Whoops! Too many wonderful things to do, so ran out of time!



Another D'oh!  But I'm glad you enjoyed it.  We were too cheap to try it.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Apparently Disney needs to improve their method of selecting cast members, because the professor they had running the show was insane. Lava hit the ceiling and was all over the place. He was quite ridiculous and had no control of his classroom. The kids were just howling!



 Looks like a lot of fun.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> They placed the birds on us for the pictures. We got several of our whole family and also one of just Sam with all the birds on him. He loved it!



Fantastic pictures!  All of the ones from the beach are terrific.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> They're smiling because they have not tried much of the food yet.



Uh oh. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	






MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Now, I would say the show was very enjoyable.  Nice variety, and the boys liked the fire dancing. Can't go wrong with fire!



Agreed!  Pyrotechnics are always welcome!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> The boys found some cute items and Jeff even seemed to enjoy the store.
> 
> Look! Honey, I found just what you were looking for! he says:



 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We paid for our purchases (which did not include the above item)



Party pooper. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Kevin tried to sway the jury with his most pathetic face



Wow.  Bringing out the big guns there.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Later that night, Kevin struggled with Benji being gone. He was extremely sad, because as he pointed out to us, it was the first time he had slept in a room "without his twin. He decided later when it was his turn for Grandmas that Benji could come with him. That worked well.



Poor guy.


----------



## DisneyAngel05

torrey said:


> I haven't been, but from my research they have life vests that you can check out (for free) to use at the pool area for little ones.  Just have to return them at night or there is a $45 fee.





MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Great tip! We did use the lifejackets for paddle-boarding and also on another occasion for our twins, so they could just relax and float in a deeper pool.



Thanks for the great tips!!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> D'oh!  Sounds like it ended up on the LOST island, wherever that is.  Look for a polar bear.


You got that right! No polar bears were seen, though, fortunately. 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Another D'oh!  But I'm glad you enjoyed it.  We were too cheap to try it.


I would not call it a Must Do, especially with so many other great options at the resort (which is why we only got to it once!) but it was nice, especially as another easy opportunity to try some snorkeling, since we were just learning. 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Looks like a lot of fun.


Yeah. It was really nice to see the photopass photos after he had told me all about it. They did a great job entertaining the kids. 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Fantastic pictures!  All of the ones from the beach are terrific.


Thank you!  Can't go too far wrong with a setting like that. So amazing... 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Party pooper.


Yup. I'm sure he was not surprised. I do think he looks good with it, though. 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Wow.  Bringing out the big guns there.


He knows how to work a room!



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Poor guy.


It was sad, but nice in hindsight, too, because sometimes they do get on each others nerves of course. Good to see how much he really likes him, if you know what I mean.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

So.... I am a bad DISer.  Life sure got in the way of my Trip Report! I am sorry and plan to get back in the game now. One reason why I have not been posting is that I have been planning our next Disney World Trip. We leave in just a few weeks. (Woo hoo! ) It is our first time with MDE and FPP, and I have to say that this trip has taken way more time to plan than any previous one and has felt a little like a part-time job. Crazy! I made my FPPs at midnight 60 days out, have been working on our touring plans, working in a LEGOLAND visit, have changed resorts (due to a free dining PIN at Port Orleans Riverside! ), and am trying to get some elusive ADRs. Add school to the mix (we homeschool our kids, plus I am taking a class myself for the first time in a dozen years), a new binge-series on Netflix (Once Upon a Time) and that makes for a busy fall. (Wow. I need a nap after writing all that out...) Anyway, glad to be back! I am excited to get back to digging into others' trip reports again, too, because in my shame and chaos I have made myself stay mostly away.

So, where were we?...

On Monday we drove to the North Shore. We enjoyed using our GyPSy app on my iPhone to direct us on our travels and provide informative and entertaining narration. For example, during our drive we were instructed about the history of the "Shaka" hand-movement and how to do it, including cautions not shake your hand too quickly because that would make you look like a tourist, and not too slowly because that would just look weird. I remember the instructions because we got a bit lost and heard that segment of the tour a couple times.

Somehow, on our way to the North Shore we took a wrong turn and missed Haleiwa, a town well known for surfing that is a must-do on any trip to the area. We decided to visit it on the way back and instead made our first stop at Laniakea Beach, also popularly known as "Turtle Beach," due to the amazing green sea turtles that can be seen there. We joined a small crowd of people standing around waiting for one turtle several yards from shore to come on in for us to admire him. We waited a long time, but eventually gave up and left. I know others have had great success seeing turtles there, but unfortunately it just wasn't the case for us that day. This is the best photo I got:


 

Next we got back in the car to continue our coastal drive. We stopped at Waimea Bay Beach Park. 






 

We loved this beach. It was beautiful! Soft, fluffy, deep sand. Sam tried boogie boarding, but was sad not to have any big waves. Jeff got in the water with the boys and then there was a strong series of waves in one portion of the beach. A bunch of people hung out there and rode them. The boys had a blast! 


 



 

We continued up the road for a while until we reached Kahuku, where we visited an obligatory shrimp truck. Jeff, Sam, and my mom ordered shrimp from Giovannis and liked it. 


 

The twins and I just had smoothies and watched them. I enjoyed the aroma of all the garlic and butter, but have to say it looked like way too much work to peel all that shrimp. I am a lazy eater. I do not eat things that make me work very hard or are really messy (no chicken wings or turkey legs or ribs or stuff like that). Anyway, the smoothies were stupendous. Mmmmm. Easily the best I ever had.


 

Jeff made the mistake of saying that while he liked the shrimp, next time he would pass on it (partly due to the long line). Whaaaat? Next time, you say....?! We had been saying this was our once-in-a-lifetime-trip-to-Hawaii, but after about two days in paradise, I was secretly scheming about a future trip someday. I had to seize this opening... My mom and I went on and on a little bit, saying how "We have to go back!" Jeff scolded us, saying, "You guys are crazy!" In fairness, taking a family of five to Hawaii is an expensive proposition, so we must be responsible and cannot run back on a whim So, he is not as mean as it first sounded. 

We had planned to go to Ted's Bakery so the non-shrimp eaters could have lunch and we could all enjoy some pie. They are well-known for their pie, and we are big pie fans. Unfortunately, Teds Bakery is not known for comfortable indoor seating, or much outdoor seating at all. And a downpour hit just as we pulled into the parking lot, so eating outside was not possible. We all rushed inside and grabbed some treats to eat on the road as we drove back toward Haleiwa: chocolate mousse, pie, and pastries. Our snacks were tasty, but it would have been nicer to have visited on a sunny day.

One place we were excited to see on the North Shore was Waimea Valley and it did not disappoint. Gorgeous flowers, trees, birds for the kiddos, and a dreamy waterfall swim. Ahhh... So nice. I knew I would be taking many photos, so the twins helped me out by carrying my tripod. Funny how boys make everything into a weapon...
















At the far end of Waimea Valley is a very nice waterfall that is seen in [geek alert!] LOST several times. We were not sure if we should swim under it (it was still a bit rainy), but could not resist. Sam and I slipped on the required lifejackets and got into the water. There is apparently a very abrupt and deep drop-off, so all must wear them. I loved it in the end, because it made is soooo relaxing and breezy. Very fun.












On the way out we happened upon this peacock. He was quite the show-off!




We ate dinner at the Grass Skirt Grill in Haleiwa. The skies had thankfully cleared up by then, enabling us to enjoy the outdoor seating. Our meal was delicious. I had a cheeseburger. Isnt it pretty?


 

As you can see, Sam was happy with his meal. 


 

I had read about this place online and it was as amazing as the reviews indicated. If you go, bring cash, as they do not take credit cards. After dinner, we happily drove back home to Aulani. 

Next up: Aulanis Starlit Hui and many Aulani photos


----------



## alohamom

I just love the last pic of your son and his hamburger and the truck with "Custom Surfboards" on it. It really captures how laid back and casual that area is as well as how ravenous one can get from a day of trippin' the north shore!


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> One reason why I have not been posting is that I have been planning our next Disney World Trip.



Well, that seems like a legitimate excuse!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We waited a long time, but eventually gave up and left. I know others have had great success seeing turtles there, but unfortunately it just wasn't the case for us that day.



Well, at least you didn't totally strike out!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I am a lazy eater. I do not eat things that make me work very hard or are really messy (no chicken wings or turkey legs or ribs or stuff like that).



I get that.  Ribs bother me.  It seems like an awful lot of work and and awful lot of mess for not very much meat.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Jeff made the mistake of saying that while he liked the shrimp, next time he would pass on it (partly due to the long line). Whaaaat? Next time, you say....?! We had been saying this was our once-in-a-lifetime-trip-to-Hawaii, but after about two days in paradise, I was secretly scheming about a future trip someday. I had to seize this opening... My mom and I went on and on a little bit, saying how "We have to go back!"



Just like LOST!   But I get it, believe me.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> At the far end of Waimea Valley is a very nice waterfall that is seen in [geek alert!] LOST several times.



 Beautiful spot!


----------



## jwgm2012

Yay! So glad you're writing again! We're at Aulani exactly one week from today, arriving on Halloween afternoon. I love to read everyone's island adventures as I'm still filling my days with must-do's... we won't be there long at all so I'm being very selective 

Can't wait to read the rest.

gina


----------



## OurDogCisco

I'm loving the trip report so far.  We go to Hawaii yearly (living in California makes that easy) but mostly to Maui and Kauai.  I've been to many luaus but never Paradise cove.   My favorite is on Maui at Old Lahainia.  I liked the food there the best.   I might of missed it but what tour company did you use for your photography class.   I'd love to do that next time I go...


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

alohamom said:


> I just love the last pic of your son and his hamburger and the truck with "Custom Surfboards" on it. It really captures how laid back and casual that area is as well as how ravenous one can get from a day of trippin' the north shore!



Thanks! It really is a beautiful area. We loved it. Too bad we did not have more time there! There was so much to do and see.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Well, that seems like a legitimate excuse!



Thanks! I am sure people around here can relate! I don't know how people can just show up at DW with no advance planning. It does help. And now it is basically required... I woke up members of my family early on a recent Saturday to make them pick out their lunch orders for Be Our Guest a month later (because it just opened up for our travel dates). That is a new thing for us. Even a crazy planner like me has to wonder if things have gone too far.  Oh, well. It'll be fun.



Captain_Oblivious said:


> I get that.  Ribs bother me.  It seems like an awful lot of work and and awful lot of mess for not very much meat.



Thanks for understanding! This is one of my firmest convictions in life. Chicken wings, too. Why bother. There are endless examples. Plus, by skipping the less desirable items, there's more room for butterfinger cupcakes. 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Just like LOST!   But I get it, believe me.



Yes! Jeff played "Kate" well, dismissing us totally. She did cave in the end, though. We'll see what happens in our case...  I can be patient.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

jwgm2012 said:


> Yay! So glad you're writing again! We're at Aulani exactly one week from today, arriving on Halloween afternoon. I love to read everyone's island adventures as I'm still filling my days with must-do's... we won't be there long at all so I'm being very selective
> 
> Can't wait to read the rest.
> 
> gina



You're so kind! Thank you so much for reading, Gina. I am SO excited for you. You will love it!  And just a few days away... Wow! I can't withhold my exclamation points on your behalf apparently. I found trip reports so helpful, too, including Captain Oblivious's report of his family's vacation (he posted above and the link is in his post). Outstanding report.

How long will you be at Aulani? If you have any specific questions, please let me know if I can be of any help. We had four nights at Aulani, of nine nights total on Oahu. I understand wanting to make the most of it. It went fast, but was amazing. I would be sure to save enough time just to relax at the resort, but I expect you are already planning that.  Have fun planning and counting down!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

OurDogCisco said:


> I'm loving the trip report so far.  We go to Hawaii yearly (living in California makes that easy) but mostly to Maui and Kauai.  I've been to many luaus but never Paradise cove.   My favorite is on Maui at Old Lahainia.  I liked the food there the best.   I might of missed it but what tour company did you use for your photography class.   I'd love to do that next time I go...



Thanks so much for reading! You are kind.  

Happy for you that you make it to Hawaii so often! Nice. I can see how it would be much easier (and harder to resist!) from California. I have heard that Maui and Kauai are gorgeous. I can see why you would keep going back. 

I took my photography tour through Oahu Photography Tours. I'd highly recommend checking them out. Our guides were fantastic. Here's their website:

http://www.oahuphotographytours.com/


----------



## AussieMumma

Oh I'm in, I hope you've got more coming soon! We are headed to Aulani for our first visit in April


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

AussieMumma said:


> Oh I'm in, I hope you've got more coming soon! We are headed to Aulani for our first visit in April



Thanks so much for reading, AussieMumma! Welcome! I am posting an update tonight. I really fell behind, in part because I had a major software problem that prevented me from accessing my Hawaii photos. It's all resolved now, so I am back in business and hope to post an update regularly, about once a week.

I hope you are enjoying planning! Yippee for you with a trip coming up so soon!  Please send any questions you have my way. I would love to help in any way possible. You're traveling near the same time of year we did. I am sure you will have an amazing time.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

We reluctantly left the North Shore after dinner, because we needed to be back to Aulani in time for the Starlit Hui show. The resort was a welcome sight as we approached.





Ahhhh, so nice to remember on a cold night at home in Minnesota.

At about 7:00, we arrived down at the Halawai Lawn where the Starlit Hui is held. We were greeted by a cast member who provided us with a large mat for our group to sit on. We were directed to a spot and got settled. The mat was surprisingly comfortable. We left a few items there to mark our spot and wandered around the area, checking out the several stations set up with activities for the kids to do before the show began at 7:30.

We loved the show. There was singing and hula dancing. There were dueling ukuleles. There were Disney characters. There was fire. I think in hindsight that I personally would have been fine with passing on the luau we attended earlier, since this was an excellent, albeit shorter, show that was a nice substitute for the same general kind of entertainment you have at a luau. When I told my children this today, they disagreed vigorously. They enjoyed the luau (because there was food and much more fire) and did not see the Aulani show as a substitute. The fact that money is no object to them may also have been a small factor. 

















After the show we were pretty exhausted and went back to the room to get everyone to bed. My mother had passed on the Starlit Hui, but thankfully was awake when we knocked on her door to drop off her guest for the night. 

I woke up bright and early Tuesday morning. Once I am up, I can't get back to sleep, so at about 5:45 I decided to go outside and take some photos while the resort was still quiet. I did not make it in time for the sunrise, but it was amazing. I saw just a few cast members, but mostly had the place all to myself. Aulani really is beautiful... Here are some of the photos, which hopefully give a sense of what I mean.

This is a view of the main building, including Makahiki to the left and the Olelo Room to the right.




We never ate here, but I think it's cute.
































The new (at the time) Infinity Edge pool:




















I ended my little solo tour in a chair on the beach, reading my Daily 'Iwa.  





Up Next: An almost perfect day of enjoying Aulani, so why does my face look like this?


----------



## Dugette

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


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



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



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



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



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> The new (at the time) Infinity Edge pool:



Wish that was there when we'd visited!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Dugette said:


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



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

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


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


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



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





Captain_Oblivious said:


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



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





Captain_Oblivious said:


> Wish that was there when we'd visited!



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

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


----------



## Robin"D"

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

Robin  & Angel " D".


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

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

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

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




Kevin had a chocolate chip muffin.




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

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












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




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




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




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




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




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




And this guy!




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

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








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


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Robin"D" said:


> Great report.....
> Question, now that you had your taste if you will, of DVC, do you think that you will become owners?
> 
> Robin  & Angel " D".



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

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


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## Robin"D"

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Thank you so much for reading and chiming in!  I think owning DVC sadly does not make a lot of sense for us, because of our lower frequency of visits and the fact that we need a larger room with our group of 5. We loved Aulani and our first time at a DVC resort, but for us we generally try to keep costs down lower than that per night so we can stay longer periods of time (since we only go to WDW every 2 or 3 years). For us, the Free Dining promos have been an amazing deal. Plus, I have a silly dream of staying at all the Disney World resorts eventually and to do that we'd need a lot of flexibility.
> 
> I assume you are enjoying being a DVC owner, Robin? I see you are at BLT. I hear that is a great resort! I am eager to try Animal Kingdom Lodge sometime, and I think renting points would be our best bet there. Ahhh, fun to plan!




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

Robin & Angel "D"


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## mrsR123

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


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

mrsR123 said:


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



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


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

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

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

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


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## Dugette

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

Glad the boys had fun making Goo with Stitch! 

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

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


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## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



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



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



Because what the heck. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



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



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



Nice shot of everyone!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



I don't see a problem with this. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



Looks like a lot of fun!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



Hey, a good cliffhanger never hurts the story.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Dugette said:


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


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



Dugette said:


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


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



Dugette said:


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


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


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


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


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



Captain_Oblivious said:


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


Another reason for you all to go back! 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Nice shot of everyone!


Thanks!



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Looks like a lot of fun!


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


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## sager1969

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


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

sager1969 said:


> Loving your family and the pictures!


And thanks so much for reading!



sager1969 said:


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


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

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

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


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

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

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

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

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









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

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

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





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




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





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




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





And also this…





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

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


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## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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







MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



Much later, after taking out a second mortgage. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



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



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



Very cool!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


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



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

Looking forward to Monkeypod!


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## Dugette

Wow, those animation cels you colored look really cool!

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


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## Mduff

I am thoroughly enjoying your trip report!   We are heading to Aulani for our first visit there in 120 days!   I love seeing all your pictures - you have a beautiful fun family!    Thanks for all the effort in posting!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Much later, after taking out a second mortgage.



Yeah, their prices can be high. We did find an extra t-shirt that was 1/2 off for the twins, so that was a nice surprise. I guess because it was white, which means it won't last long. I had to get some shirts, because we hadn't gotten any t-shirts at the Swap Meet. Bad planning, but I am a sucker for the fun Disney shirts.



Captain_Oblivious said:


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



Thanks for sympathizing, Captain! It was disappointing. I'll share more about it soon, but the funny thing is that since Benji still liked the other time he spent at Aunty's, he isn't negative about it overall if you were to ask him today (not that day, of course). I'm glad that it didn't sour the memories there for him. 



Dugette said:


> Wow, those animation cels you colored look really cool!



Thanks! It's easy to do (and hard to mess up, thankfully) and was a fun experience. You should consider it next time, you lucky girl!



Dugette said:


> I hope you all can still enjoy Monkeypod - we loved it there!



Mmmmm... it was tasty. More on that soon.



Mduff said:


> I am thoroughly enjoying your trip report! We are heading to Aulani for our first visit there in 120 days! I love seeing all your pictures - you have a beautiful fun family! Thanks for all the effort in posting!



so much for your very kind words! And thank you for reading. How thrilling for you to be anticipating your trip. You will LOVE it. Will this be your first time in Hawaii?

I felt bad having to share the last part about the sad Aunty's experience. That was really our only bad experience there. Phenomenal customer service and beautiful place with so much to do. You'll be finding out soon...


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## Mduff

This is our first trip to Hawaii.  So glad we can do it Disney style!   No worries about Aunty's - my DD is 12 and I think aged out of the activities there.  DS is 16, he'll be off on his own I'm sure


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## mrp4352

Hi!  Just checking in!  I've been saving off a bunch of your info for our trip in 2017 (I know - it's a long way, but never too early to start planning!)   Thanks for all the info!


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## sdKT

OMG im so sad for Benji on that bad auntys day  only cuz my DD is same age, and i know how upset she would be  jeez...

i wanted to add, as a fellow mom. the pix u think are silly (w Goofy adn just u, etc) - they are so not.  they look v cute and ur so happy.  so i suck being in pix, im the taker - i feel uncomfortable, etc.  so its so great ur in so many photos even ones you are critical of!


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

mrp4352 said:


> Hi!  Just checking in!  I've been saving off a bunch of your info for our trip in 2017 (I know - it's a long way, but never too early to start planning!)   Thanks for all the info!


Hello! Thanks so much for reading. I am very happy to be of any help. I agree: never too early to plan! I plan a long way off, too (I am working on an Alaska cruise in 2019, which is pretty crazy far out). 2017 will be here before you know it. We loved planning ahead with Hawaii to save up points for airfare. That is a huge, huge advantage. I love free airfare.



sdKT said:


> OMG im so sad for Benji on that bad auntys day  only cuz my DD is same age, and i know how upset she would be  jeez...
> 
> i wanted to add, as a fellow mom. the pix u think are silly (w Goofy adn just u, etc) - they are so not.  they look v cute and ur so happy.  so i suck being in pix, im the taker - i feel uncomfortable, etc.  so its so great ur in so many photos even ones you are critical of!



Thanks so much for your understanding about Aunty's. I guess it is okay that someday when we get back there, as I hope to do, our guys will be way too old for it.

Thanks for the kind words about the goofy photo. I think the uncropped image is much sillier, but I just could not post it that way. It's a nice perk having full editorial control. And I guess it is kind of fun to have something different than the traditional pose. About the very common problem of moms not being in photos, you are so not alone! My mom was rarely in photos when I was young. I have a photographer friend who is a mom who really encourages women to get in their family photos instead of always just taking them, so I have done more of that in recent years. So, I would encourage you to do the same.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Chapter 16: In Which We Enjoy our Last Night and Morning at Aulani, Despite My Vain Attempts to Remain a Little Annoyed

We had made a reservation at Monkeypod for 4:45pm on Tuesday, in order to take advantage of their Happy Hour specials: 50% off all appetizers and $9 pizzas. Monkeypod is right across the street, close enough to walk, but we were running late so drove over instead. We were seated right away at a large round table with a pretty view. The twins ordered cheese quesadillas, and the rest of us chose individual pizzas and one order of garlic truffle oil fries to share.

Jeff and my mom each ordered a Mai Tai. They reported that they were strong. Jeff didn’t really like his, and said that the one he had at the luau was better. Neither one ever drinks much, so one was enough.





We tried to cheer Benji up and keep the mood light. Sam brought some of his vacationing LEGO guys along, which was a little photographic diversion. Our food came quickly, and everything was delicious. I had the Proletariat Pizza, which did not photograph well but was good: pepperoni, sausage, onions, green peppers, olives, and fresh mozzarella. We finished it off with some tasty cream pie for dessert.









After dinner, we hurried back to Aulani where it was time for a swim.





Just before bed, Jeff made a run across the street for some Aloe Vera gel for some sunburns we observed among the boys as they were getting ready for bed. Aulani does not sell Aloe Vera in their gift shops, but it can be found at the Island Country Markets store nearby (a slight variation of the ABC stores seen all over Hawaii). It felt important (to me, the always over-cautious one) at the time, but we actually used very little of it, because by morning it did not really seem needed. I was happy that we really had done very well avoiding sunburns. Jeff rarely burns, but the boys have my pale skin, so you never know.


Wednesday morning was bittersweet. It was disappointing to realize that we only had a few hours left at Aulani, but we were eagerly anticipating fresh adventures to come on the Big Island. Once again, because I was too excited to sleep, it was an early morning for me. I left the room at 5:30 and wandered around the resort with my tripod for about an hour, taking random photos.

















I wanted to talk to a cast member about my concerns about our experience the day before at Aunty’s, so inquired at the desk when I was picking up my Daily 'Iwa. The appropriate manager was not there, but they cheerfully took my name and number and promised that she would be calling me.

My view from the window on 15th floor on my way to our room:





We again had a satisfying and convenient breakfast at Ulu at about 8:00. I loved that we could eat a quick meal in such a pretty, open air setting.





Afterward, we hit the pools. We enjoyed having the Infinity pool all to ourselves. Loved this pool!









My mom played photographer and stayed dry. There were lots of free chairs for relaxing.





The boys like to ride Jeff, like Mr. Ray taking his students to school:









I joined Sam on the tube waterslide next. Here’s my attempt at capturing it photographically:





The lazy river was next:





After we finished swimming, we headed back to the room. On the way, we saw a PhotoPass photographer, so had to stop.





This sign was near the refillable mug station. For some reason I found it very entertaining. Yes, more candy! More pop! Mmmmm.





We took a peek at the splashy area for smaller kids.





It was always so pleasant walking around the resort, with warm smiles and alohas from every cast member who made eye contact. Happy mahalos blunted the pain of spending money at the shops. I remember laughing to myself that day after yet another friendly greeting, because I realized I could not hold a grudge about the Aunty's incident for Benji's sake. Oh, well.

Once we were all back in our room, we ran around finishing up our packing and checking to make sure we did not forget anything. We had been searching for Sam’s stuffed buffalo for days, an item he LOST in our room at Aulani or possibly the Hilton. No idea exactly when, but we’re guessing it may have gotten lost when housekeeping collected sheets one day. We had hoped when we had the room all emptied out it might turn up, but no…nothing.

At some point I noticed the cozy Aulani robe that I had neglected to try out still untouched on its hanger, so threw it on over my dry swimming suit. We did not have any photos of the lanai, so I asked Jeff to take a quick picture of a relaxing scene out there. I assure you that I did not relax on the lanai at any point (I guess if we had an ocean view I would have, but we are more the type to get up and out pretty quickly in the morning when there is so much fun stuff to do). Anyway, this is how it would look if I were relaxing with my delicious morning coffee on the lanai instead of running around taking photos. Ahhh…





Look who insisted on saying goodbye!





We finally appeared to be ready to go, had the car all loaded and were nearly on our way, when my mom exclaimed she had left her hat in her closet. Since it was past our check-out time, the room was locked, so we needed to get help from a cast member to get back into her room to pick it up. After that was over with, we actually left for the airport. Hooray!!! Onto our next phase of the trip…


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## Amw1064

Thank for such a great report and pictures.  We leave in about 3 weeks.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Amw1064 said:


> Thank for such a great report and pictures.  We leave in about 3 weeks.



 Hello, and thank you for reading! I am sure I took more pictures on this trip than any other vacation I have had. It's just so beautiful there. I hope you have a wonderful time! 

I am trying to wrap up my report this month, so if you would like to read the rest of it, you should have the chance before you leave. Are you visiting any other islands or sticking to Oahu? You can't go wrong, either way, of course. The next installment has us on the Big Island, but we do return to Oahu for another night and see Pearl Harbor, which was amazing. Our boys loved it, too.

I must comment briefly on your signature... 25 cruises. Woweee! We are planning to take my first ever in a few years (my DH went on a Disney cruise long ago). So excited. To see people enjoy Disney cruises repeatedly, like yourself, makes me optimistic that we will all love it.


----------



## Amw1064

We are just staying on Oahu.  We are staying at Aulani for 10 nights.  This is all new territory for me.  We live very close to WDW so we are there quite a bit and then only a few hours away from Port Canaveral which is why so many cruises.  I am sure you will love it.  I am picturing Aulani as being on a stationary Disney cruise! (minus no free food)  Being in Florida we can get some cheap rates when the ships do not fill up whereas going to Aulani is expensive!!!!! Thanks to people like you who have taken the time to do in detail reports I am feeling a bit more confident on things we are planning on doing.  I also loved your Goofy pic!!!!

I have a thread in the DVC resorts thread called Aulani Help if you have anything to add!


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We had made a reservation at Monkeypod for 4:45pm on Tuesday, in order to take advantage of their Happy Hour specials: 50% off all appetizers and $9 pizzas.



 for Monkeypod!  I really miss that place.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> After dinner, we hurried back to Aulani where it was time for a swim.



It's always time for a swim there.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I was happy that we really had done very well avoiding sunburns. Jeff rarely burns, but the boys have my pale skin, so you never know.



I know that feeling.  I tell people I only come in two colors: fire-engine red and blinding snow white.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I left the room at 5:30 and wandered around the resort with my tripod for about an hour, taking random photos.



Nice shots!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We enjoyed having the Infinity pool all to ourselves. Loved this pool!



It looks amazing!  



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> At some point I noticed the cozy Aulani robe that I had neglected to try out still untouched on its hanger, so threw it on over my dry swimming suit.



My wife loved that robe.  She really wanted me to "accidentally" put it in the luggage.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> After that was over with, we actually left for the airport. Hooray!!!



I don't recall saying "Hooray!" upon leaving...


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Amw1064 said:


> We live very close to WDW so we are there quite a bit and then only a few hours away from Port Canaveral which is why so many cruises.


Oooh. Lucky you!  My husband's employer has an office in Tampa, and I have repeatedly offered to move there, purely to be closer to WDW. Not happening.



Amw1064 said:


> I am sure you will love it.  I am picturing Aulani as being on a stationary Disney cruise! (minus no free food)  Being in Florida we can get some cheap rates when the ships do not fill up whereas going to Aulani is expensive!!!!! Thanks to people like you who have taken the time to do in detail reports I am feeling a bit more confident on things we are planning on doing.  I also loved your Goofy pic!!!!


Thanks! And yay for you getting cheap resident rates! Makes sense, because they might as well fill up the ships. One of my sisters is living in Tampa right now and loves having a Florida resident-rate AP to WDW. I enjoy living vicariously through her - just like through all you fun people on the DISboards!
 



Amw1064 said:


> I have a thread in the DVC resorts thread called Aulani Help if you have anything to add!


I will definitely check it out. Thanks!


----------



## Amw1064

I live in Sarasota, about an hour below Tampa.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> for Monkeypod!  I really miss that place.


I know what you mean. I received an email from Monkeypod promoting their Mother's Day brunch and (_mostly_ in jest) I immediately checked to see if they had a table for 5 available, confirmed that I liked the offerings on the brunch menu, and found a reasonably priced flight for all of us to take an impromptu trip. (Their email assured me that as a Mother, I deserved it, so I felt empowered.) Of course we did not do it, but this all really made for an enjoyable 20 minutes for me.

Oh, and thank you, Mark, for your review of Monkeypod in your trip report! We all appreciated it.  



Captain_Oblivious said:


> I know that feeling.  I tell people I only come in two colors: fire-engine red and blinding snow white.


I am the same. I have a sunburn right now, as a matter of fact. Bummer.



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Nice shots!


Thank you! You have to work pretty hard not to get fun photos in Hawaii, I think. We will often be watching a Hawaii Five-O episode about a horrible murder, and I can't stop yapping all about just how beautiful everything is there. Was the same with LOST.  



Captain_Oblivious said:


> My wife loved that robe.  She really wanted me to "accidentally" put it in the luggage.


Congratulations on your restraint! 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> I don't recall saying "Hooray!" upon leaving...


Well, I did not actually say that out loud... We were looking forward to seeing a new island, but of course were VERY sad to leave. Aulani really is breathtaking. I really hope we get to go back for our 20th or some other great excuse.


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## MNtwinsplus1mom

Chapter 17: In Which We Fly to the Big Island

Our drive to Alamo to return the car was easy, and we made it to the airport on schedule for our 2:40pm flight. In order to save some money on luggage fees, I had arranged to have some of our bags (that we would not be needing) stored during the Big Island portion of our trip. After I called Aloha Airport Delivery and Storage from the airport, a driver came to meet us and take our bags away. The bags would then be stored in their facility nearby for a few days, to be delivered back to us when we called them upon our return to the airport. The fee for their service was much less than the luggage fees would have been, and it would save us the unwelcome hassle of moving all the extra bags around. However, I have to say I felt a little nervous handing our stuff off to someone I did not know, who I had difficulty communicating with (due to language barriers), and who was driving an unmarked car. I paid in cash, as required, and took my handwritten claim check (and a quick photo of my bags for good measure) and hoped for the best. The man was friendly and seemed fine, but I just worried a little. It all went perfectly, though, I am glad to report, and I would highly recommend them to anyone having a similar need.

The flight to the Hilo on the Big Island was smooth and quick (50 minutes long). We got a few photos from the plane of beautiful Oahu, and felt sad to be leaving so soon.

Waikiki:



The Hilton we stayed at can be seen on the bottom left, on the shoreline.

I like this view of Diamond Head:




I am remembering this as a sad-to-leave-Aulani face, not a grumpy travel face. I think I have it right.




Hey, this guy’s happy!



He's wearing my mom's hat, the one that resisted leaving Aulani at the last minute. Not his manliest moment, maybe, but I like it, so into the report it goes.

Upon landing in Hilo – the airport nearest Volcanoes National Park – we picked up our second minivan at Alamo and headed in the direction of our vacation home in Volcano Village, very nearby the national park. We stopped on the way at a Walmart for some food, because we would have a full kitchen and planned to eat some meals there. We also picked up Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner. I realize this is not an adventurous or interesting choice, but we honestly just felt kind of tired and wanted to relax at the house and do nothing for a while. Our past eight days had been amazing, but tiring. Plus, KFC chicken is always yummy. This was my plate:




Oh, but I am getting ahead of myself. Here’s a little tour of the house, known on VRBO as the Ohia Plantation House.

Dining area:




My mom’s room:



Our room was similar, but with a king bed.

The twins loved their room with twin beds:




Sam’s room:



He used the fold-out sofa and enjoyed having the living room to himself.

Breakfast was provided for the next morning:




We LOVED the house. It also had a nice wrap-around porch with chairs and a table, a hot tub outside, a (free) washer and dryer, complete with detergent and fabric softener, and POG juice in the refrigerator. I hope we can get back to the Big Island someday and stay there again. We appreciated the outstanding personal service from the owners, a fantastic rate (cheapest of all the places we stayed), and their roomy, well-appointed home. It was interesting for me to note later how the square footage of this place compared to the others. The house was 1300 square feet, which felt indulgent coming from our standard Aulani room (356 square feet), and our Hilton Hawaiian Village room (550 square feet). Square footage is only one part of the story, of course, but we felt spoiled having room to spread out. We enjoyed every place we stayed, of course, and they were all very different kinds of places with different perks. One big difference with this location was that my mom would be together with us. The boys loved that idea.

After we got all settled in and dinner was over, we decided to have a movie night, so popped some popcorn and put The Muppets (the one with Amy Adams, of Enchanted fame, and we are huge Enchanted fans) in the DVD player. Shortly after it started, I got sleepy and decided to go rest for "half an hour," while the rest of our group watched. Friends had loaned us a bunch of movies for our trip, and this was one of them. It was a great blessing on plane rides and at moments like this.

I fell asleep immediately, and didn't get up til morning. I think the early mornings were finally catching up to me, and that the travel day was more tiring than I expected. I had a great night of sleep, which was a good thing, because there was much to come the next day.

Up next: The Hamakua Coast, Waterfalls, and Volcanoes National Park


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We got a few photos from the plane of beautiful Oahu, and felt sad to be leaving so soon.



Great aerial photos!  These are the type I had envisioned and was never able to get!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> He's wearing my mom's hat, the one that resisted leaving Aulani at the last minute. Not his manliest moment, maybe, but I like it, so into the report it goes.



Future blackmail material!  Good work.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We also picked up Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner.



Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We LOVED the house.



Great!  I'm glad the VRBO experience worked out so well for you!


----------



## amjj81832

Amw1064 said:


> We are just staying on Oahu.  We are staying at Aulani for 10 nights.  This is all new territory for me.  We live very close to WDW so we are there quite a bit and then only a few hours away from Port Canaveral which is why so many cruises.  I am sure you will love it.  I am picturing Aulani as being on a stationary Disney cruise! (minus no free food)  Being in Florida we can get some cheap rates when the ships do not fill up whereas going to Aulani is expensive!!!!! Thanks to people like you who have taken the time to do in detail reports I am feeling a bit more confident on things we are planning on doing.  I also loved your Goofy pic!!!!
> 
> I have a thread in the DVC resorts thread called Aulani Help if you have anything to add!


 
We live in Florid too and love Disney cruises. Deciding on either doing another disney cruise or hawaii trip.. Just out of curiosity is there a specific website you go thru to get the cheap rates for the cruises when they are not filled up? I can never seem to find deals like that. lol


----------



## Amw1064

amjj81832 said:


> We live in Florid too and love Disney cruises. Deciding on either doing another disney cruise or hawaii trip.. Just out of curiosity is there a specific website you go thru to get the cheap rates for the cruises when they are not filled up? I can never seem to find deals like that. lol


The Disney cruise site lists the Fl Res rates when they are having them.  I also check allseastravel.com  a lot.  There is a forum on here for Disney cruises and there is a guy who updates quite a bit.  (justacruiser) or something like that.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Great aerial photos!  These are the type I had envisioned and was never able to get!


You got so many other amazing photos, though! 



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Great!  I'm glad the VRBO experience worked out so well for you!


 again for the great advice! Could not have been better & never would have thought of it on our own.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Chapter 18: In Which We Hit the Road and Explore

The next morning, we had breakfast at the house and got ready for our only full day on the Big Island. Weather dictated a change in our plans, because rain was expected on the Hamakua Coast the following day. We decided to flip days and got into the minivan and started driving north. We had many stops planned for the day, and enjoyed unplanned pauses on our drives when the scenery demanded our attention.





We spotted some surfing.





We visited the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, where we enjoyed wandering around, admiring the many tropical plants, trees, waterfalls, and breathtaking ocean views.





























We saw a little wildlife.





Even though it looked like paradise, there was danger lurking... Kevin managed to survive the threat of falling mangos.





The only downside to the gardens was the very hilly terrain. Due to her recent knee replacement surgery, my mom elected to pay for a golf cart to drop her off and pick her up from the main gardens. This was an excellent decision. The boys enjoyed chasing it and trying to catch Grandma.





After about 2 ½ hours, we were pretty tired, hot, and hungry, so we got back in the minivan and on the road toward our next big stop: Akaka Falls. We stopped at the Woodshop Gallery Café, located on the way to the Falls, in Honomu.





The café was attached to an art gallery and shop and had fun, quirky signs in it.





The signs cracked me up. As it had been a bit of a full day already with lots of time on the road, and hungry bodies causing patience to wear a bit thin, this was especially funny to me.









When my mom saw this last one, she declared, “We won’t have any money left!” Then, when I later searched for a few dollars for a serving of “volcano” ice cream (banana and strawberry ice cream and Oreos), I observed we were almost out! Ha.

Here is a pretty view of my Hawaiian burger. It was yummy.





Everyone enjoyed their food.





I believe I need to thank the book, Hawaii The Big Island Revealed, for this gem. Without their recommendation, I never would have known to stop.

Akaka Falls was beautiful. Unfortunately, the walk to the falls from the parking lot is quite long, so my mom decided to skip it when she realized it was more than her knees could take.





Bonus waterfall on the way to the big one:





Akaka Falls, so pretty:





Well worth the trip to see it. The picture does not begin to do it justice. Extremely tall (and loud).

Our next stop for next time: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, our main reason for coming all the way to this island. Woohoo! We were so excited to visit the park.


----------



## Dugette

Boo, so sad to leave Aulani!

But I'm enjoying seeing the Big Island. Definitely want to get there someday.

Gorgeous pictures!


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We visited the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, where we enjoyed wandering around, admiring the many tropical plants, trees, waterfalls, and breathtaking ocean views.



Looks like a very nice spot.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Kevin managed to survive the threat of falling mangos.



If I had a dollar for every time I heard that...



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> The café was attached to an art gallery and shop and had fun, quirky signs in it.



Reminds me of Bubba's Burgers on Kauai!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Akaka Falls was beautiful.



Yes!  So glad you got to see it!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Our next stop for next time: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, our main reason for coming all the way to this island. Woohoo! We were so excited to visit the park.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Dugette said:


> Boo, so sad to leave Aulani!
> 
> But I'm enjoying seeing the Big Island. Definitely want to get there someday.
> 
> Gorgeous pictures!



Thanks!  Yes, it was sad to go. We loved Oahu, but the Big Island was well worth the visit. With three boys age 9-12, we simply could not pass up an opportunity to visit an active volcano. That said, when we get back to Hawaii some day, I think I could be very happy just visiting Oahu and doing new things that we missed the first time as well as revisiting favorites. There was a ton to do there & it is easier to get around, because it is smaller. More traffic, though... Oh, well. It's Hawaii! It's all good, of course!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Reminds me of Bubba's Burgers on Kauai!


Yeah, so fun to find cool restaurants like that! One thing I appreciate about your trip reports is the fun restaurants you are always visiting (e.g., Slaters 50/50 or that crazy place with the X-wing). Love getting tips like that.



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Yes!  So glad you got to see it!


We loved it! The size of it is just stunning, isn't it? Pictures do not capture it well... Just a bit sad my mom could not walk all the way there. We took many photos to show her, and she could hear the waterfall, but not the same as seeing it.


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

LIFE UPDATE

So sorry that I am glacially slow in posting sometimes! I am determined to finish this report soon and appreciate your patience and your sticking with me.  I had intended to post a report about our awesome trip to Disney World last November, too, but wanted to finish this one first. I considered adopting Dugette's approach of writing multiple TRs at the same time, but wasn't sure I could pull it off... I may just do it. It is so fun to look back and remember the details, and interact with you fine DISers who "get it."

I also have been busy the past month with another fun project: a surprise bonus trip to England with Jeff!  He received an email from a co-worker one Saturday several weeks ago letting him know that (due to a new role he has taken on at work) he would need to fly to London for a meeting in late August. He asked me to accompany him, because he hasn't ever been to Europe before and also knew that I would enjoy it. He'll be working part of the time, of course, but we added some time to the back end of the trip, so we can see London together & call it a 15th anniversary celebration.

We had enough FlexPerks points (love, love that card!) for a free ticket for me, so we went ahead and booked it before we could think about it further. Truth be told, I have never liked the idea of flying away from the kids for a "couple trip" since they are still young. But, all things considered, I thought this was a good opportunity to be brave and trust that all will be well. It'll be good to have an extended date of sorts, and the boys are over-the-moon about an extended visit from Grandma who will be taking care of them. (Seriously. They are at least as excited to be home with her as we are to go to Europe.) Upon our return, I know I will just hug them till they break into pieces, though! I love being their mom. 

Anyway, back to plans: So, we were all excited to see London, which is all very nice and good. But, wait, what? London is awfully close to Paris, where there is some Disney fun to be had! Sooooo, now we are going to Disneyland Paris for three days!  I booked travel on a train through the chunnel (something I never thought I'd do!) and a stay at Disney's Sequoia Lodge. We will be making a visit to the "real" Paris also, but it honestly was not the #1 priority motivating us to go to France. You understand, I know. 

So, I am in the thick of planning for this trip, which is quite a task to do quickly. We applied for passports, got everything important booked (including a cool day tour to Oxford and other sites for me while DH works; I'm a big C.S. Lewis fan, so cannot wait), but much remains to do.

I guess that's it for the little update. I plan to make a regular post soon about Hawaii, too. Thanks so much for reading.


----------



## Dugette

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> So sorry that I am glacially slow in posting sometimes! I am determined to finish this report soon and appreciate your patience and your sticking with me.  I had intended to post a report about our awesome trip to Disney World last November, too, but wanted to finish this one first. I considered adopting Dugette's approach of writing multiple TRs at the same time, but wasn't sure I could pull it off... I may just do it. It is so fun to look back and remember the details, and interact with you fine DISers who "get it."


Not surprisingly, I say GO FOR IT!  I know some people seem to have high expectations of regular and frequent posting, but to my knowledge, there are no time limits on TRs - I'm certainly slow-paced at times, but people still seem to enjoy reading along, so I keep plugging away. Heck, I still have a June 2014 trip report to co-write (with DIS-er Lauren/Imagineer5 that I went with)- and I don't know when that will happen, but I know it WILL! 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> we added some time to the back end of the trip, so we can see London together & call it a 15th anniversary celebration.


That sounds like an awesome way to celebrate a big anniversary! 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We had enough FlexPerks points (love, love that card!) for a free ticket for me


We love ours too. Plus you get a free onboard spending credit when you use your free ticket. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> It'll be good to have an extended date of sorts, and the boys are over-the-moon about an extended visit from Grandma who will be taking care of them.


Sounds like a great arrangement. I know you'll miss them, but they'll be having a good time while you're having a good time too. 



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Sooooo, now we are going to Disneyland Paris for three days!


Wow! Yay!  Super excited for you! Now I know two people heading there soon (Lauren is going in September). Hope you have a great time! (If you haven't already seen it, Kristy (khertz) just finished writing up an Adventures by Disney Italy TR that ended with a visit to Disneyland Paris. Looks like a beautiful park and so much fun!)


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Chapter 19: In Which We Go Where Molten Hot Lava Has Gone Before

I know it has been a long time, but I would like to finally finish my account of our Hawaii trip, so here goes... I have had a number of computer issues  that led to my long pause, but I am hoping I can fare better in this new year.

When we last left off, we were headed for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It was amazing, so I am excited to share it with you. We arrived at around 5:00 and were immediately overwhelmed by the other-worldly sights and terrain. We found many dramatic steam vents from a distance, and also got to feel the warmth up close.









Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes. It was incredible to see its caldera. The scope of it was just massive and impossible to capture with a photo, but here are some attempts.













Sam is holding a stuffed Nene, the Hawaiian state bird, that we picked up at the Visitor Center.

The Jagger Museum near the caldera was fantastic and had exhibits that presented the history of the volcano we were observing. Amazing and well worth spending the time there. There were a couple of park rangers speaking outside the museum and we enjoyed listening to them as we wandered.





It was hard to leave, but we got back into the minivan and drove to the Thurston Lava Tube. This was incredible. It was formed by a river of lava that came from Kilauea about 600 years ago. As the outer portion of the flowing lava cooled and hardened, the river continued to flow, eventually leaving a large tunnel that you can see today. It was fun for the guys to explore.





What a way to close out the day! We next headed back to our house, just a short drive away, for a decadent dinner of hot pockets, vegetables, and sweet bread. We rested a little and then returned to see Kilauea at night, when it treats visitors to a spectacular red glow.






It was kind of funny stumbling around in the dark, nearly missing countless strangers admiring the same show. We stayed quite a while and then drive back home to enjoy a movie night and warm chocolate chip cookies. Then, we went to bed, with everyone eager to get up and see more of the park in the morning.

Next time: More Volcano fun! And a black sand beach. And a critical lost item on the way to catch our flight.


----------



## Dugette

Other than your last line, that all sounds wonderful! 

I really hope to get to the Big Island (and the other islands) someday! Guess I need to set some more airfare alerts and snag some deals. 

Glad you are back to updating!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Dugette said:


> I really hope to get to the Big Island (and the other islands) someday! Guess I need to set some more airfare alerts and snag some deals.
> 
> Glad you are back to updating!


I am sure you would love the Big Island! You amaze me with your ability to get a good deal. So yes, you should try sometime. 

Thanks so much for sticking around and reading! Hope you and your family are all well.


----------



## Captain_Oblivious

Hey, welcome back!  Sorry I missed your little summer update.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> I also have been busy the past month with another fun project: a surprise bonus trip to England with Jeff!



Sounds awesome!  I hope it was a blast!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> Truth be told, I have never liked the idea of flying away from the kids for a "couple trip" since they are still young.



My wife worried about that too, but once we went she said, "I'm so glad we did this."



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> But, wait, what? London is awfully close to Paris, where there is some Disney fun to be had! Sooooo, now we are going to Disneyland Paris for three days!



Can't wait to hear about it!



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> When we last left off, we were headed for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It was amazing, so I am excited to share it with you. We arrived at around 5:00 and were immediately overwhelmed by the other-worldly sights and terrain.



It really is an amazing place.  Such a unique experience.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> It was hard to leave, but we got back into the minivan and drove to the Thurston Lava Tube.



Glad you got to see that.  It felt like being in an Indiana Jones movie.



MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> We rested a little and then returned to see Kilauea at night, when it treats visitors to a spectacular red glow.



So cool!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Captain_Oblivious said:


> Hey, welcome back! Sorry I missed your little summer update.


Hi Mark! Thanks very much for checking in. I've been reading TRs at the gym in the mornings, so I have been awful at posting replies although I always am thinking of what I would say. Funny.



Captain_Oblivious said:


> My wife worried about that too, but once we went she said, "I'm so glad we did this."


I think this is totally a female thing. My husband was much more easygoing about it than me. So glad we did it! The boys loved being with my mom so much they're already conspiring to get rid of us again.

By the way, I'm looking forward to hearing about the trip you and Julie took, also! Sounds amazing. I believe you said you stayed at the Poly?



Captain_Oblivious said:


> Can't wait to hear about it!


I can't wait to post a short trip report about it. It was amazing. Spoiler alert: We liked Disneyland Paris better than Paris Paris. May make us sound kinda simple, but we have our reasons (some are our own fault).

I thought the castle was stunning.









Captain_Oblivious said:


> Glad you got to see that. It felt like being in an Indiana Jones movie.


I completely agree. Our boys get it too, although we haven't let them see the actual movie yet. (No need. All PG13 movies are explained in LEGO sets and LEGO magazines anyway.)


----------



## SuperRob

MNtwinsplus1mom said:


> The Jagger Museum ...



I hear that's a real experience!


----------



## MNtwinsplus1mom

Chapter 20: In Which We Climb on Lava, Sink our Toes in Black Sand, and Reluctantly Fly Away

On Friday morning, my mom chose to relax at the vacation home, because we had a lot of walking planned. We headed back to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and took a drive down Chain of Craters Road, stopping periodically to get out of the car to take a closer look at the destruction that has been caused by the volcano over the years and the subsequent rebirth of new life that has followed. It was just overwhelming – the scope of the devastation.

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Lava has flowed over this road repeatedly, as recently as 2003, making the end of the road impossible to use, as it is covered in huge masses of black lava rock.

We drove as far as we could, until a road block prevented us from continuing. We then got out of the minivan, because we would need to walk the rest of the way to the end of the road where the lava covers it.

I made a quick stop in the bathroom, and as I was washing my hands was startled to see this visitor pop into view. (I did let him know afterward that in the future doing such things is not a good idea!)














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The boys loved climbing all over it. After I took a bunch of photos, we headed back in the direction we’d come from, this time at a leisurely pace, enjoying all of the scenery. 

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We stopped at Holei Sea Arch on our way. Formed over the past 100 years through a process called differential erosion, this arch is about 90 feet tall today. It will eventually crumble and sink into the ocean, so we’re thankful we got a chance to see this dramatic work of nature.





Everyone was feeling pretty hot by this time, because we had dressed too warmly for this section of the park. We’d worn layers of clothes for our visit to park, because we knew it would be cool in some places.

We continued driving around the park afterward, and then saw the cooler temperatures that we’d expected. According to my notes from the trip, at the lowest point of the drive it was 82 degrees, but as we the minivan climbed 3700 feet higher, we hit a low temperature in the mid-60’s.

At one of our last stops as we were returning to the visitor center, Kevin realized he had lost the boys’ camera.   We turned the minivan around and attempted to retrace our steps, pausing at the overlooks that we thought we’d stopped at before. Eventually we gave up and drove back to the visitor center to report the missing item to a park ranger. We completed the required form, but had little hope.

We drove back to the house and picked up my mom. She had clearly been enjoying herself.

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We then drove to Punalu’u Black Sand Beach, which is on the south-eastern part of the island, about a 35-minute drive away from the house in Volcano village. 

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It was a beautiful beach, but, sadly, it was raining when we arrived there. We saw four sea turtles there, in a little roped-off area to protect them from any over-eager fans.

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I took off my shoes and walked in the soft, pretty sand for a little while, until I was forced to admit we needed to go.









The rest of the family had returned to the car due to the rain, and was surely getting hungry and itching to get on the way.

While we were driving back, I noticed that I had received a voicemail from an unusual area code, so I ignored it. When I did finally bother to check it, I was stunned to hear a message from the visitor center at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Our camera had been found! We were SO relieved, partly because I had not backed up any of the photos from the trip and we really did not want to lose them.

We enjoyed a snack of Maui Style potato chips and cookies on the way to lunch. I guess our exciting day had everyone famished!

We consulted our trusty guidebook for a restaurant for lunch near Volcanoes National Park and decided to take a chance on Lava Rock Cafe in Volcano... It turned out the mixed review was spot-on: several mistakes were made with our orders, but the food was good overall. While there, I enjoyed my 4th burger of the trip (and I almost never eat burgers at home!), but my malt unfortunately didn't live up to the hype (from the review).





After lunch, we dashed back to the vacation home to grab our bags and take a few final pictures, before saying good bye to our sweet, cozy home-away-from-home, because we had to get to the airport for our flight back to Oahu. That’s right! We are not done with Hawaii yet. We get one more day on Oahu!

On our way to the airport, we stopped at a gas station, where I realized I did not have my driver’s license. Oh no!! Of course, as we covered in the beginning of this Trip Report, identification is required when flying. So I was concerned… Eventually, I was able to locate it in one of my bags, and we got on the road and reached the airport on time. We had to say goodbye to my mom at this point, because she was staying another couple of nights on the Big Island without us.






She was headed to the western side of the island, to Kona. Funny thing, though: because she does not drive, the best way for her to get there time- and money-wise was to fly there with a stop in Waikiki (a completely different island!) because there are no longer direct flights between the two airports on the Big Island. Anyway, after our family said our sad goodbyes, we enjoyed a short, pleasant flight to Honolulu.





Once there, we rented our third and final minivan of the trip and drove to our hotel, the Doubletree Alana Waikiki.

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I was so thankful that we’d decided to visit the Big Island during our trip. We knew it would be a whirlwind visit due to our limited time there and it truly felt like we just grazed the surface, but we loved it and it was well worth the extra flights and cost. Someday I hope we can return and see the other side of the island.

Before closing out the day, I think it’s worth taking a look at my tally of LOST items on our trip thus far:

Jeff’s wallet
3 beach mats
Sam’s stuffed buffalo
Aulani Key card
Boys’ camera
My driver’s license

We certainly made a habit of losing things in Hawaii! And there's more to come, even though we only have about a day left. 

Next time: Pearl Harbor!


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## justafigment27

I hopped on over here from your Disneyland TR!  We were in Hawaii in summer 2014 and spent a week on the Big Island (most of it on the Kona side with an overnight in VNP) before heading to Oahu.  I absolutely loved VNP and think your description as "other-worldly" is spot on!  Unfortunately, a tropical storm was in the area so it was very rainy during our time in the park and night time views of the caldera were really obstructed and hazy.  

Can't wait to hear about Pearl Harbor.  Weather also impacted our visit there ... it was too windy during our timed admission and, while we were allowed to board the shuttle boat, they just did a quick little turn around and would not let us get off at the USS Arizona Memorial.  Disappointment city.  I guess I really need to go back to Hawaii one day!!!


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## Captain_Oblivious

My goodness, you really were having trouble keeping track of your stuff on this trip!

Still, Volcanoes and black sand makes for a pretty memorable day.  

Your place in Honolulu looks nice!  But it's not Aulani, though...


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