Aulani - WKORV Trip report

eagle29

Mouseketeer
DVC Silver
Joined
Apr 3, 2003
This is my 1st trip report. I have been on countless trips to the Caribbean, Disney World, and other great places. I got some great tips and advice from this forum so I wanted to give back. I hope this is helpful to anyone planning a trip to Hawaii!

The group was myself Mike (48), my daughter Alyssa (14), Significant Other Becky (46) SO’s daughter Caroline (17), SO’s daughter’s boyfriend Cam (17)

We spent 5 nights at Aulani and 5 nights at the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas-North on Maui

Thursday 4/11

We left home at 1am (a 2 hour ride to the airport) for a 5am flight out of Boston connecting through Dallas/Fort Worth (35 minutes between flights…yikes!). The real scary part was that because Cam came late to the team, he did not have a seat assignment from DFW to HNL. A little back story: I would generally have avoided bringing the “boyfriend” however, Cam was the captain of the high school hockey team that I am the assistant coach for and have coached this wonderful young man for the past 4 years. He has never been on a plane or had a vacation like this so I was very happy to provide this opportunity for him!

DFW is a huge airport and the 1st time I have ever connected thru here (I did have Dallas as a destination a number of years ago). I did extensive research ahead of time to figure out the best way to get from Terminal A to Terminal D. I settled on the Skylink (internal shuttle/train fast and efficient). Our flight from Boston arrived a few minutes early but I didn’t want to take any chances so the Captain of this trip (ME…not you CAM) took off like a Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins defenseman for non-hockey fans) slapshot to get to the gate and secure Cam a seat! Lo and behold, not only did Cam get a seat, he got a 1st class-lie flat seat for the trip to Paradise while the rest of us flew premium economy (American Airlines 777-200 – what a great plane!) The flight, though long (around 8 hours), was uneventful and quite comfortable in premium economy.

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Upon landing at HNL I headed to Alamo (off-site) to get our 4 door-Jeep while the team waited for our luggage. I used skip-the-line and was out of there in less than 5 minutes! I picked up the team and we were on our way to Aulani!



It was a short ride to Aulani (30 minutes or so). Check in was a little clunky (my fault not Aulani’s) as I did on-line check in but our room wasn’t ready (as expected and not an issue) and between having bell services hold our luggage, wanting to move the jeep to the parking lot and everyone’s excitement to see the property, I did a bit of running around. Finally, everyone had changed into their “Hawaii” clothes and when I caught up to them about a half hour later with our 1st of many Mai Tai’s (for Becky and I), the teens had ALREADY FINISHED their 1st of MANY cold treats (this was mickey-ear shave ice…not the best of the trip according to them but a great start!) After a dip in the lagoon, we headed to the great pools and hot tubs that Aulani has to offer. A quick shower and we were headed across the street to Monkeypod for dinner. We are a pretty simple group when it comes to eating so Monkeypod was pleasing to all (especially for Becky and I…Mai Tai #2 of the trip and maybe the BEST!) The teens got ice cream next door and Becky and I headed to Target for supplies for our 5 night stay in a dedicated 2 bedroom oceanview villa!

We were in room 1280 (I had requested a high floor with a room ending in 86, 80 or 74). It did not disappoint. We had a great view of the pool area, the lagoon, and sunset! I have been a DVC owner (1st BWV and now BCV) so I new what to expect from the villa and it served our purposes perfectly!

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After a long day of travel and getting a taste of Aulani, we were ready to crash for the night before 9pm!

more to come...
 

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Thanks for sharing your trip with us all. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your adventures. My daughter and I are visiting Aulani for the first time in December, so keen to absorb all I can.
 


Thanks for following...


Friday 4/12

We were all awake by 5am (6 hour time change from East coast) and out of the room by 6am. We went to what would become our go to place for coffee and breakfast – the Island Country Market in the plaza across the street from Aulani. After getting our coffee and breakfast bowls (scrambled egg with ham cheese over rice which was tasty and reasonably priced!) we headed back to the villa to prepare for our 1st full day with the plan being to have a lazy day at Aulani to enjoy the beach, pools, hot tubs etc. We found a group of chairs together that would suit our needs. We are a pretty active group (pool/beach/explore) so a “prime” spot isn’t a deal breaker…just some shade and a place to have our “stuff” is sufficient.



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After a while I needed to “explore” and I dragged Becky along for a walk North, past the Four Seasons along the shore. I tend to push the proverbial envelope (at least according to her) when I “explore”. We found a “path” along the shore which included a sandy area as well as some shallow water and various rocks/lava-coral. We made it to a shallow cove and couldn’t resist taking a dip. I noticed another cove a little further North so we of course headed in that direction. It was a bit tricky to navigate through the shallow water over slippery rocks but we managed and were rewarded at what I believe is called paradise Cove (The Paradise Cove Luau is located just to the North of this beautiful beach/cove). I believe it is also know as secret beach (or at least it was to us) SSHHHHH!!!

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What an incredible place! We swam here for a bit but were anxious to head back to get the teens to come to see this place! We went back and had lunch separately together…Teens getting counter service from Mama’s Shack and Bec and I grab and go from Little Ophi Kiosk by the beach. Meals were typical Disney – not top quality but tasty and no one complained!

After lunch we headed back to “secret beach” (this time following the route that Bec and I took when we had returned…sidewalk, thru parking lot and down a sandy path…Bec was much happier with me )

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The teens were surprisingly as impressed as we had been. We brought our snorkel gear (which we had brought from home) and were rewarded with many fish and the bonus of a turtle sighting!

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The turtle was so peaceful and inquisitive…clearly a regular visitor of the cove! We had a great afternoon here!


We headed back to the room to shower and watch sunset from our balcony with a glass of wine (for Bec) and a homemade Mai Tai-ish (for me) with supplies from target. After sunset we headed to the plaza across the street to Pizza Corner for dinner. Service was fast and pizza was good. We got 2 large pizza’s, garlic knots and drinks for $70ish…Brought the leftovers back to the room and again crashed by 9pm…a rowdy bunch indeed
 
Oh I just love "secret beach"!

We met a little boy who was playing in the tide pool there and he showed us what Opihi look like


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Joining in here. The cove looks breathtakingly beautiful. Great pictures, looks like a fantastic trip! :flower:
 


Monkey Pod Mai Tai's are well known throughout Oahu. They are basically 100% alcohol with very little fruit froth on top. Many people not used to drinking have become wasted on just one of them. All the food that we have had there has been good. Later in the evening, I think around 8 or 9, they have special prices on appetizer dishes including their pizza, kind of like a late Happy Hour. When our daughter got married at Aulani 4 years ago, some of their friends would hang out at the pool until sunset and then shower and get ready to go eat. They would then wander over there for some drinks and/or wine and get something to eat.
Thanks for sharing your trip. We love Aulani.
 
Monkey Pod Mai Tai's are well known throughout Oahu. They are basically 100% alcohol with very little fruit froth on top. Many people not used to drinking have become wasted on just one of them. All the food that we have had there has been good. Later in the evening, I think around 8 or 9, they have special prices on appetizer dishes including their pizza, kind of like a late Happy Hour. When our daughter got married at Aulani 4 years ago, some of their friends would hang out at the pool until sunset and then shower and get ready to go eat. They would then wander over there for some drinks and/or wine and get something to eat.
Thanks for sharing your trip. We love Aulani.

That is great to know! Thanks so much for sharing!
 
I got some great tips and advice from this forum so I wanted to give back. I hope this is helpful to anyone planning a trip to Hawaii!

Thanks so much for sharing! Loving your report so far!
 
Thank you all for following..."real life" has temporarily interrupted my report...I hope to be back at it soon!
 
Thanks for sharing. I'm heading back after 6 years and my daughter will be 14 while the cousins and my younger DD will be young enough for Auntie's - looking forward to getting some ideas for the teen. And I can't wait to explore Secret Beach.
 
Finally made it back here...


Sat 4/13:
North Shore!
Up again early Saturday morning for our trek to the North Shore. It was a nice ride with little traffic. Our 1st stop was Kaiaka Bay Beach Park.
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It was early (8am) and we were pretty much the only ones there. We wandered around this large grass park that had shorefront on 2 sides. The area that we stopped at had lava/coral-like rock formations all along the shoreline. It was breezy and the water was rough. We didn’t swim here but there was calmer water and beach a little further North of where we explored. Back in the car we headed for Waimea Falls Park. We arrived just before the 9am park opening. I recall the entry fee being $18 for adults and $14 for students. It was a couple mile walk to the falls through the gardens. The walk was pleasant and we took a meandering route. The walk was well worth it as we arrived at our destination…
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We rented lifevests (required) and jumped (walked) right in! Entry was slippery but once in the water was easily navigated and the water was refreshing! Swimming right up next to the falls was awesome (tip: there is a ledge just to the right where we sat/stood for pics). We dried off and changed out of wet cloths (a small changing area available) for our walk back out. We were again thankful for our early arrival as the crowds were growing substantially on our way out. We headed further north and made a stop for Acai bowls at the Sunrise Shack and took in some surfers at the Banzai pipeline (Pupukea Beach)
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We drove further north to Turtle Bay Resort and parked in the area designate dfor the public and spent a short time at the public access beach. I walked out on the coral/lave formation to explore while the other sat on the beach. It was very windy and we didn’t stay long. It may be nice under different circumstances but we were all underwhelmed.
We made our way back to the Haleiwa Beach House for lunch. We had a great meal which I felt was reasonably priced (for Hawaii) and would definitely return in the future! After another beach stop (don’t remember name) we made a quick stop for shopping before heading to Matsumoto’s for Shave Ice!
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It was amazing! There was a very long line but the teens all agreed that it was well worth the wait. While they waited, Bec and I walked through the shops. Alyssa and Cam said it was by far the BEST shave ice EVER while Caroline loved it but preferred Ululani’s (on Maui).
We headed back to Aulani for our afternoon swim/hottub. We were all tired so if was leftover pizza for dinner and a couple of adult beverages for Bec and I at Off the Hook.
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Tomorrow…Diamondhead!!
 

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