15th Anniversary trip....trip report

[jtba]

I would have been ok with it had they asked, but they didn't and just pushed their way in between our table and the couple next to us and proceeded to take a ton of photos with the picture takers rear end basically right in my face. [snip] they came back for more photos a couple min later, again without asking. Oh well. I

wow, that is horrible!!!

 

[crystal1313]

It was frustrating, but there's always one person who has to do something like that. I didn't let it ruin my night, just still in disbelief someone would do that, especially in such a high end restaurant.

 

[crystal1313]

Day 5, another resort day, I sense a theme here! Lol. We got up and We're a bit later than normal to get our chairs and had trouble finding one for the first time all week. Should have figured on a Friday! We finally found one near the fire pit. Score. DS6 wanted to go to the beach and DS8 wanted to go to the lazy river. So my dad took DS6 to the beach and me, my mom and DS8 headed to the lazy river. DH was going to meet with us later. Hope he finds us as we never brought our phones to the pools.



I think we went around three times and decided to head to the beach to see what was going on. We checked on our stuff and I realized one of the boys hats were missing and was hoping my dad had grabbed it. He had, and totally read my mind because I said to my mom I should have given DS6 his hat! DS6 was as happy as can be with his sand toys. My dad found nice chairs at the beach so we moved our stuff down there. We all went in the ocean and not too long after that DH found us! My dad had scored a boogie board (had to wait for someone to turn one in) and the boys loved it. The waves were a bit larger on Friday and they liked surfing on the waves.



We pretty much stayed at the beach the rest of the day. It was gorgeous! The boys were covered in so much sand! The master bedroom shower really came in handy for that. We showed and headed over to monekypod for dinner. Our first time trying it. DH had made a reservation earlier in the day.

 

[kungaloosh22]

It was frustrating, but there's always one person who has to do something like that. I didn't let it ruin my night, just still in disbelief someone would do that, especially in such a high end restaurant.

My husband and I once had people come up and lean on and over our table and food, right in between us, at 'Ohana, in order to get pictures of the coconut race. We might have shifted our chairs and food to accommodate them if they'd asked, but it was like, BAM, they were suddenly between us and leaning over our food, not even acknowledging that we were there.

 

[crystal1313]

Oh my goodness @kungaloosh22 !!! That is insane!!!! So rude. I just will never understand not being aware of other people and their enjoyment as well. It's sad that others just don't seem to notice or care.

 

[crystal1313]

Ok. So Monkeypod was as great as we heard. We loved it!! We showed up during the last part of happy hour. We were seated outside and they had amazing live music that wasn't blasting, and we could actually hold a conversation over it. So nice!!! Our waitress was super sweet and DH found a beer he adored and they had the pineapple hard cider I love! Yay. And it was happy hour prices. Double yay!! My dad had fish and chips, mom had gnocchi, DH had margarita pizza, I had Asian noodles, ds8 had cheese pizza and a surprise twist for DS6 he went for the saimin noodles. I was concerned because he loves chow mein type noodles but these were in a broth and he's not used to that. He insisted he would eat them. And he did! Yay!!



We didn't get dessert as we wanted to try a dole whip finally!!! My dad bought the boys ice cream at the shop by Monkeypod. They loved it and the size was perfect for them and they didn't make a huge mess!!



Headed back to Aulani and ran down to Ulu to grab a dole whip vanilla swirl. Heaven!!! Came back to the room and added the ace hard pineapple cider we had bought at island country market and it was an amazing adult treat!! So yummy!!! My DH makes beer and he makes hard cider for me so now we are on the hunt to make our own dole whip and add his homemade pineapple cider!!



I think the boys played iPad for a bit before bed. We stayed up for awhile on our balcony, which is where we spent the most of our time in our room. We loved the weather and loved sitting outside enjoying the scenery from our balcony. So relaxing!!!

 

[scrappydew]

Ok. So Monkeypod was as great as we heard. We loved it!! We showed up during the last part of happy hour. We were seated outside and they had amazing live music that wasn't blasting, and we could actually hold a conversation over it. So nice!!! Our waitress was super sweet and DH found a beer he adored and they had the pineapple hard cider I love! Yay. And it was happy hour prices. Double yay!! My dad had fish and chips, mom had gnocchi, DH had margarita pizza, I had Asian noodles, ds8 had cheese pizza and a surprise twist for DS6 he went for the saimin noodles. I was concerned because he loves chow mein type noodles but these were in a broth and he's not used to that. He insisted he would eat them. And he did! Yay!!

View attachment 183733 View attachment 183734 View attachment 183735

We didn't get dessert as we wanted to try a dole whip finally!!! My dad bought the boys ice cream at the shop by Monkeypod. They loved it and the size was perfect for them and they didn't make a huge mess!!

View attachment 183749

Headed back to Aulani and ran down to Ulu to grab a dole whip vanilla swirl. Heaven!!! Came back to the room and added the ace hard pineapple cider we had bought at island country market and it was an amazing adult treat!! So yummy!!! My DH makes beer and he makes hard cider for me so now we are on the hunt to make our own dole whip and add his homemade pineapple cider!!

View attachment 183738

I think the boys played iPad for a bit before bed. We stayed up for awhile on our balcony, which is where we spent the most of our time in our room. We loved the weather and loved sitting outside enjoying the scenery from our balcony. So relaxing!!!

Great trip report!

 

[kungaloosh22]

Oh my goodness @kungaloosh22 !!! That is insane!!!! So rude. I just will never understand not being aware of other people and their enjoyment as well. It's sad that others just don't seem to notice or care.

Yes, like you say, though, there's always one....

But not to dwell on this. I'm absolutely loving your recap and all your photos! It sounds like an amazing trip.

 

[crystal1313]

Thanks @scrappydew ! I'm loving yours as well!

 

[crystal1313]

Thank you @kungaloosh22 !

I'm so excited, I finally got around to checking our photo pass photos and there are so many cute ones! We didn't take many, but the ones that are there are cute. Now to decide which to purchase!

 

[cmph]

I'm glad you and your family had such a wonderful trip! I try not to look at the Aulani board too much b/c it makes me sad to not be there, LOL! It really was the best vacation ever.

 

[crystal1313]

I'm glad you and your family had such a wonderful trip! I try not to look at the Aulani board too much b/c it makes me sad to not be there, LOL! It really was the best vacation ever.

I totally understand @cmph !! We are already planning a return trip!! Lol. And thank you!!! Best trip ever!!

 

[crystal1313]

I made a more detailed report about day 1! Page 2, post 23.

 

[cgattis]

grab a dole whip vanilla swirl. Heaven!!! Came back to the room and added the ace hard pineapple cider we had bought at island country market and it was an amazing adult treat!!

Shut. Your. Mouth. You had me at pineapple hard cider, but making a Dole whip float out of it??!!?! You are my new hero.

There are SO many things I've read just on the DIS that I may not get to sleep at ALL on this trip!! Woohooo!!!

 

[alohamom]

Headed back to Aulani and ran down to Ulu to grab a dole whip vanilla swirl. Heaven!!! Came back to the room and added the ace hard pineapple cider we had bought at island country market and it was an amazing adult treat!! So yummy!!! My DH makes beer and he makes hard cider for me so now we are on the hunt to make our own dole whip and add his homemade pineapple cider!!

HELLO! This is awesome. Between this and the suggestion in another report to mix your own rum and POG juice I think I might never want to leave!

 

[BCV23]

Loving your trip report. So glad all the planning paid off for you and your family.

 

[crystal1313]

Shut. Your. Mouth. You had me at pineapple hard cider, but making a Dole whip float out of it??!!?! You are my new hero.

There are SO many things I've read just on the DIS that I may not get to sleep at ALL on this trip!! Woohooo!!!

LOL! I love it!! Yes, the pineapple cider is amazing!! Called Ace Hard Pineapple cider. Island Country market had it, but only in the large bottles, not in a six pack. DH and I split a bottle to make the Dole Whip float It wasn't too sweet either, I think the vanilla helped balance that out.

Headed back to Aulani and ran down to Ulu to grab a dole whip vanilla swirl. Heaven!!! Came back to the room and added the ace hard pineapple cider we had bought at island country market and it was an amazing adult treat!! So yummy!!! My DH makes beer and he makes hard cider for me so now we are on the hunt to make our own dole whip and add his homemade pineapple cider!!

HELLO! This is awesome. Between this and the suggestion in another report to mix your own rum and POG juice I think I might never want to leave!

SOOOOO yummy! And I totally stole the rum and POG juice idea, and it was amazing as well! Got the coconut rum at Costco and the POG juice too!

Loving your trip report. So glad all the planning paid off for you and your family.

Thank you!!!!!!! Me too!! =)

 

[crystal1313]

Day 6. We are starting to get sad because we don't want to leave in two days!!! Today was a resort day. Boys had their last free activity at Aunty's at 3pm. It is the Aloha party. We hang at the pools all day. Got our same chairs at the Menehune area. It's finally open! They opened it a bit on Friday. But today DS6 cannot get enough of this area. It opens at 9am instead of 8 like everything else. His favorite thing too do is dump water onto the heads of unsuspecting people walking under the play area. DH would walk under just so DS6 could get him. He would just laugh and laugh. Lol. We are aware that it is a bit more crowded today than other days and usually one of us stays at our chairs just in case. No issues ever came up.



DS6 asked to take some photos.

lol!

DS8 and DS6 were on the fence about going to Auntys. Not that they didn't think they would have fun, but because at this point, they are tired. Especially DS6. Eventually DS8 decided to go but DS6 decided to stay. DS6 relaxed back at the room. I think he may have take a bath in the jetted tub. Both boys loved the jetted tub and want one at home. Lol. We cooked dinner in our room, tri tip and Mac n cheese. Mmmm! So yummy. Boys were tired and were asleep before 9. We were relaxed on their bedtime while in Hawaii. At home we are strict. DH and I went for a walk around the resort after sunset. It was so pretty and the lobby was gorgeous at night. We are sad tomorrow is our last full day at Aulani.

 

[crystal1313]

I forgot to add, dropping DS8 off at Aunt's was the second time I saw a rude guest. This time not to me, but to the poor cast members at Aunty's. This dad basically threw a fit when the Aunty's employee told him he had to give him his room key to enter Aunty's. The dad was arguing that he was just entering to help his kids wash their hands, and didn't see why they needed his room key. Ugh. Really? They have these policies in place to keep ALL the children safe, including your own. I was not happy at all with the way he talked to the CM's there. The CM's of course handled it very well, but still. It was disheartening. Overall though, I was really happy to see most guests were in fantastic moods. I have seen much worse guest behavior at the parks.

I also went shopping at some point. It was later in the night. I grabbed some items for my co-workers. I just loved the store there! A couple days prior I had been in there and they actually had some items on sale!! I got an Aulani photo frame for $7.99 and got the boys the Aulani Chip and Dale for $7.99 too! Score!! I really wanted some of the gorgeous jewelry in the more high end store (I am so bad with store names!) but never got myself anything. Maybe next trip!

 

[crystal1313]

I need to finish our last day and departure day...but I thought I would post some tips before I get to that! It's been about a month since we returned and not one day has passed that I didn't wish I was still at Aulani. In fact, the whole family feels that way!!

Listen to people on here and pack light! I packed really light for me, and I still did not use a couple of items I packed (long skirt and flannel pj pants). I get chilled easily, so I thought I might need a set of pj pants. I was SO wrong! Never needed pants or a sweatshirt the entire time. I only wore a sweatshirt and jeans on the plane. I did laundry a 2 times to wash the 3 shirts I brought for the kids and myself.

Get a waterproof camera! I got the highly recommend on the Dis, Fuji XP80 and was SO glad I did. Initially, I did not want to spend the extra money for it, but I took so many photos throughout the week because of it! Was totally worth it!!! I also attached a small waterproof wallet (big enough to fit room key and CC) to the floaty strap I got for the camera, and that was all I had to carry around while at the pools and beach. Came in really handy.

Don’t buy a big container of condiments! We grabbed the small packets of mayo, mustard and ketchup at Ulu café and we never needed anything else. Worked out perfectly for making our daily sandwiches! They also had jam, if you wanted to make a PBJ or have jam on some toast in the morning.

DH and I brought our own tea bags to make iced tea in the mornings. We also brought 2 big plastic cups, that worked out great for the tea and later in the day for our adult beverages. The refillable mugs aren’t as big as you think and it was nice to have a larger plastic cup sometimes.

Bring lots of ziplocs!! We used them for all sorts of things, and all sizes too. Came in really handy! We also brought salt and pepper for the room.

Aunty’s: I registered my boys at exactly 90 days out and got them into 3 free activities (Aunty’s Aloha party, Stitch’s Space Goo, and the comedy show). We were there 7 nights. We were there in July, and never had any issues getting the boys into Aunty’s for free play. It was one of the things we were most worried about, and it was never an issue. I felt totally at ease leaving them there and they loved it, and asked to go quite often.

Pool chair issues: I had read and read and read about the pool chair issues at Aulani. We only experienced an issue one day and that was the day we didn’t get down to the pools until later and knew we would probably have an issue. That day we ended up at the beach anyway, and chairs there were always plentiful. So it worked out! As long as we got down there by 9am, we never had an issue.

Costco or a grocery store are a must stop!! We saved a ton of money. First of all, cocktails are $14 at Aulani. I got a bottle of coconut rum at Costco for $22 and was able to make my own drinks with some POG juice and saved a lot on that. Got my DH a case of beer that he and my dad split, they almost finished the whole thing! Only a couple left at the end. We also made our own breakfast and lunches. We bought muffins for breakfast and I had brought cereal from home. We also bought a fresh pineapple. For lunch, we bought sandwich rolls and lunch meat. We also bought a bag of kettle bbq chips to have at lunch. I would go make sandwiches for everyone in the room and bring them down to our pool chairs in a gallon zip lock along with a gallon ziplock of chips. I had brought a ton of other snacks from home that I took in our beach bag to the pool daily. We had a shave ice or dole whip every couple of days.

If you can, try to go to the DVC spiel…I know, I know, who wants to do that on vacation? But, it was really informative (we are actually seriously considering it), absolutely ZERO pressure to buy, we got free treats while in the meeting (hello delicious chocolate chip cookie!), and they sent us a lithograph in our room. PLUS, we got $100 room credit! SCORE!!! I think it took about an hour and a half, if that. We did not get shown the rooms since we were already in a two room villa, but I wish I could have seen a studio now that I think about it. We would most likely be in a studio on our next trip since it will most likely be the four of us.

If you have any questions, ask away!