A Tale of Two Trips: Disneyland and Hawaii July 2014 Long Way Home: The End 9/13 p.40

[natebenma]

Everyone dines al fresco in Hawaii. The breezes are the best part. But they still should have been a lot more attentive to your table.

Not us

We've never had a problem with the bags on the way home, but the bags from home to Hawaii sometimes arrive on a different flight, especially when taking one of those small, inter-island flights.

We have only had trouble with baggage not arriving once- another situation when the plane from Nasssau to Boston (with a stopover somewhere) was full and they were looking for volunteers to gate check carryon luggage. We did that and the bags did not arrive when we did. But we were able to go home and it was delivered to our home overnight.

I hope you get a chance to return someday. There are still more islands to explore.

I totally agree! More islands and more to do on the islands we did visit. I wouldn't mind going on the road to Hana (with someone else driving), but we didn't think the boys would be interested in that long trip just to see scenery! Kauai remains the island I have wanted to visit the most, but again, it does not have the types of activities the boys want.

Thank you so much for joining me as I relived our trip!

Sniff, sniff! I'm sad to see this report end! What an great trip and what a great report - I really enjoyed all of your pictures and your play by play descriptions. Thanks for sharing!!!

Thank you so much for joining in and for all of your kind comments!

 

[jenseib]

Glad the flight was uneventful and you made it home safely!!!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Aw I'm a wee bit sad to see this trip report end with a not-so-great meal
I've loved reading along and seeing the sights with you and your family.
Sorry I haven't commented as much as usual but as you know life has been chucking a few wobbly moments my way-still I'm hanging in there and surviving
Glad that you and the bags (oh and the boys too) made it home safely and without incident

 

[teekathepony]

Wow Dee, what an amazing trip! Thank you so much for sharing it all with us! Sure makes me want to see Hawaii some day.

 

[natebenma]

Glad the flight was uneventful and you made it home safely!!!

Thanks! We are glad that it was an anti-climatic end to our family trip of a lifetime!

:

Aw I'm a wee bit sad to see this trip report end with a not-so-great meal
I've loved reading along and seeing the sights with you and your family.
Sorry I haven't commented as much as usual but as you know life has been chucking a few wobbly moments my way-still I'm hanging in there and surviving
Glad that you and the bags (oh and the boys too) made it home safely and without incident

I think we had a pretty bad attitude about the resort due in large part to our exhaustion at the end of our long, busy trip, but that last meal was really a let down.

Thank you so much for following along and for all of your great comments!

Wow Dee, what an amazing trip! Thank you so much for sharing it all with us! Sure makes me want to see Hawaii some day.

I do hope you and Johnny make it to Hawaii some day and I hope even more that I will get to see your awesome photos from the trip!

 

[KatMark]

I know I've not posted in a long time, but I did finish reading and thoroughly enjoyed, once again, reading your TR. Thanks for sharing Dee.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I come over to get caught up and the trip report is done. over. finished. The helicopter ride looks amazing but I'd be pooping my pants because of my fear of heights. The tour sounds and looks like the perfect way t end the trip. Notice I didn't say your final meal was a good way. Too bad that the food wasn't good and the service was even worse.

 

[natebenma]

I know I've not posted in a long time, but I did finish reading and thoroughly enjoyed, once again, reading your TR. Thanks for sharing Dee.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey, my friend!

:

I come over to get caught up and the trip report is done. over. finished. The helicopter ride looks amazing but I'd be pooping my pants because of my fear of heights. The tour sounds and looks like the perfect way t end the trip. Notice I didn't say your final meal was a good way. Too bad that the food wasn't good and the service was even worse.

Yeah, even the trip reports that stretch out more than a year after the trip have to end sometime. KWIM?

I don't have an issue with heights but there was definitely a moment when we were strapped in, before we took flight, that I thought- "What am I doing with my family?"

Yes, I think I will consider this the beautiful end to the trip and try to forget the last meal that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Thanks so much for joining me while I re-lived our trip!

 

[glennbo123]

I had a few chapters to catch up on, but finally finished this puppy! Thanks for writing it -- it was so enjoyable and informative. I still hope to make it to Hawaii someday.

Had to quote this one:

But I have been to Disney. I am friends with Disney. You, sir, are NO Disney!

I was just thinking about the quote you're referencing here, what with the recent presidential debates. Who was it that that made the original quote, "You, sir, are no John F. Kennedy"?

 

[natebenma]

Thanks so much for reading!

I do hope you get to Hawaii. I also hope that mark and I make it back there someday.

That quote was from Lloyd bentson, mike Dukakis's running mate, directed to Dan Quayle at the 1988 VP debate.

Yes I had to look it up. I knew it was said to Dan Quayle and I could picture the speaker but couldn't remember his name.

 

[glennbo123]

That quote was from Lloyd bentson, mike Dukakis's running mate, directed to Dan Quayle at the 1988 VP debate.

Yes I had to look it up. I knew it was said to Dan Quayle and I could picture the speaker but couldn't remember his name.

Okay, I looked it up too. YIKES - 1988!! I am not supposed to remember anything from the year I was born.

 

[natebenma]

Chapter posted below is the edited combination of two previous chapter- for a link to the Beach & Yacht Club FAQ discussion about scary taxi rides.

 

[natebenma]

Taxi Driver

Coming up in this update, we will encounter the scariest adventure of our entire trip.

No, it was not Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Death at Disneyland.

Not going up in a helicopter.

15 hour travel day on the way home? Nope!

It was not even opening our Visa bill after the trip...


When we were finished our hike at Diamondhead, we made our way to one of the cabs waiting out in the parking lot. As we were about to get in, a guy came over and said

“Hey! What are you doing? I am next.”

We didn’t want to get in to the middle of a taxi turf war, and the first cab driver didn’t seem to care, so we went with this new guy to his cab.

Which resulted in the weirdest cab ride I have ever been a part of.

The car was cluttered and I think there were rips in the upholstery. The radio was tuned to some doomsday station telling listeners what they needed to have on hand for the upcoming storm.

The driver was not actually paying a lot of attention to what was going on in the road and a couple of times he did not immediately proceed when a stoplight turned from red to green.

He was too busy trying to sell us stuff.

He held up a big jug of water “Have you purchased water yet?”

“We’re good!”

“I can give you a tour of the Island. I have been here for 30 years and I can take you to places that even the locals don’t know about.”

That scared me a little. No, make that a lot!

We passed by a guy on the road who tried to flag down the car.

Taxi Driver asked us “Do you want to share a ride?”

Heck no! I can’t remember how large the car was, but there were already 5 of us riding. Let’s leave the extra stranger on the side of the road. In reality, we actually did that guy a favor!

“Have you seen the movie America? (He said it like ‘Merica?) Makes me feel patriotic.”

What?!?

He pulled the car over to the curb and said “We’re here.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t our hotel.

I think there are two Hiltons on Waikiki, and I think I told him the correct one at the start of my journey (Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach). Maybe I didn’t. But my money is on me.

He sighed and we were underway again. We probably should have just gotten out there and found our way back on our own, but by some miracle we actually ended up at the correct resort.

I paid the driver. Cash. No WAY was I giving this guy my credit card.

In retrospect, we should have stuck with the first cab driver we approached. I’m sure as we left, he was shaking his head at the dumb tourists. Was this the stupidest thing we have ever done on vacation? I’d like to say yes, but unfortunately the answer is no. But this was probably one of the poorer decisions we have made while the kids were with us.

Nonetheless, we made it back and had the rest of the afternoon ahead of us.


Next up: Walking Wonderful Waikiki- Click Here

 

[natebenma]

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