momof2TNboys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2009
It was the stream recording, I think since it would have been dark in Hawaii when I watched and it was light outside.
DVCCorry's "La ho'omana'o" Trip to Aulani - May 17th - 26th LIVE
- Thread starter DVC_Corrys
- Start date
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
wdrl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 15, 2009
Thanks so much for the live feed. Aulani looks fantastic!
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
Saturday - May 18th
I know, I know, I said it would be up two days ago, but I am on vacation.
I couldn't sleep all night. I was over tired, over excited, and already over sleeping with 5 people in one room. If I had a complaint about the studios in DVC is the queen bed. I think a king bed is way more versatile. I have very practical reasons for wanting a king bed on this trip.
My two year old has just gotten his "big boy bed" and the notion of sleeping in a crib is just horror to his pride. We knew it would be difficult to get him into a pack and play as this was just like a crib. Friday night he cried and cried so we kept him in our queen bed. Had it been a king it would have been much better but alas we were in a queen.
My son rolls and tumbles in a bed like sheets in a dryer. It was a long night.
I slept maybe 2 hours. I waited until just long enough to justify geting up and touring the resort. I think it was 5:30am. I took a tour to see how my "home" was looking. Things were looking pretty good.
SIDE NOTE... I don't have an adapter for SD cards for the new lightning plug so the only photos will be from my iPhone for the time being. I didn't bring a computer, just an iPad mini.
I remembered that we had a Pohaku and went to find ours. Based on the layout I was the 30 member to own at Aulani. Don't try and argue, I know the truth!!
The saying means "you have my love always".
I will say that being ahead 3 hours helps in Hawaii. You can start your day early and things quiet down earlier than at home. I actually think I am keeping my normal 730-8am to 12am routine.
I think this applied to my family too because they called at 7am wondering where I was..... It was time to get this thing started.
Aulani has worked out a bit different that our trips to WDW. At WDW we get in about 5pm and head to the grocery store and then check in. Most of the pre-work is done the first night we arrive so we can hit the ground running. Both times we have been to Hawaii we don't get in until 9-11pm so the pre work happens on our first full day. My wife and I agreed that going forward we will take the morning flight out of Seattle. There doesn't seem to be a noon flight on Alaska which would be better. Oh well...
The big events for today were going to be getting the collection of food for the room. I had mentioned early on in planning that there was a swap meet at Aloha Stadium that people recommended and all in my family wanted to go, we decided to hit that up early in the trip.
Our first stop on the way out was breakfast which was Starbucks and McDonald's. I tried the "local plate" and found it to be good. Eggs, Rice, Spam, and Portuguese Sausage. Nothing says Hawaii like SPAM!!!!
After we got that out of the way we headed to the swap meet. I highly recommend this!! The items are super cheap. It is a great place to pick up gifts for your trip. They have a range of items and most of the people barter. I hate bartering but some people love it....
No hat cooler than dad's.
His new COOL DUDE glasses
When in Hawaii
It was nice out then it started raining....
When that hit we decided it was time to hit the road. Next stop COSTCO!!!
I love Costco..... The one in Kapolei (5 minutes from Aulani) is great. They have a range of everything you need from food to Hawaiian clothes, gifts and more. May I recommend the Mauna Loa variety pack. It is AMAZING!!!
The rest of the day was pretty boring. We wrapped up at Costco, went to Target then unloaded at the resort. I took a swim in the lazy river because that is going to happen EVERY DAY!!
For dinner we went to Monkey Pod. VERY GOOD. However, the service is very slow. This isn't normally a problem unless you have a 2 year old. Try the fish and chips!! YUM. We missed the happy hour but it looks like a great way to save money. The server told me it is available in the entire restaurant. You can make reservations on opentable.com
By 8pm we were all dead tired. We wrapped up the day on the balcony taking it all in. We love this place!!!!
I know, I know, I said it would be up two days ago, but I am on vacation.
I couldn't sleep all night. I was over tired, over excited, and already over sleeping with 5 people in one room. If I had a complaint about the studios in DVC is the queen bed. I think a king bed is way more versatile. I have very practical reasons for wanting a king bed on this trip.
My two year old has just gotten his "big boy bed" and the notion of sleeping in a crib is just horror to his pride. We knew it would be difficult to get him into a pack and play as this was just like a crib. Friday night he cried and cried so we kept him in our queen bed. Had it been a king it would have been much better but alas we were in a queen.
My son rolls and tumbles in a bed like sheets in a dryer. It was a long night.
I slept maybe 2 hours. I waited until just long enough to justify geting up and touring the resort. I think it was 5:30am. I took a tour to see how my "home" was looking. Things were looking pretty good.
SIDE NOTE... I don't have an adapter for SD cards for the new lightning plug so the only photos will be from my iPhone for the time being. I didn't bring a computer, just an iPad mini.
I remembered that we had a Pohaku and went to find ours. Based on the layout I was the 30 member to own at Aulani. Don't try and argue, I know the truth!!
The saying means "you have my love always".
I will say that being ahead 3 hours helps in Hawaii. You can start your day early and things quiet down earlier than at home. I actually think I am keeping my normal 730-8am to 12am routine.
I think this applied to my family too because they called at 7am wondering where I was..... It was time to get this thing started.
Aulani has worked out a bit different that our trips to WDW. At WDW we get in about 5pm and head to the grocery store and then check in. Most of the pre-work is done the first night we arrive so we can hit the ground running. Both times we have been to Hawaii we don't get in until 9-11pm so the pre work happens on our first full day. My wife and I agreed that going forward we will take the morning flight out of Seattle. There doesn't seem to be a noon flight on Alaska which would be better. Oh well...
The big events for today were going to be getting the collection of food for the room. I had mentioned early on in planning that there was a swap meet at Aloha Stadium that people recommended and all in my family wanted to go, we decided to hit that up early in the trip.
Our first stop on the way out was breakfast which was Starbucks and McDonald's. I tried the "local plate" and found it to be good. Eggs, Rice, Spam, and Portuguese Sausage. Nothing says Hawaii like SPAM!!!!
After we got that out of the way we headed to the swap meet. I highly recommend this!! The items are super cheap. It is a great place to pick up gifts for your trip. They have a range of items and most of the people barter. I hate bartering but some people love it....
No hat cooler than dad's.
His new COOL DUDE glasses
When in Hawaii
It was nice out then it started raining....
When that hit we decided it was time to hit the road. Next stop COSTCO!!!
I love Costco..... The one in Kapolei (5 minutes from Aulani) is great. They have a range of everything you need from food to Hawaiian clothes, gifts and more. May I recommend the Mauna Loa variety pack. It is AMAZING!!!
The rest of the day was pretty boring. We wrapped up at Costco, went to Target then unloaded at the resort. I took a swim in the lazy river because that is going to happen EVERY DAY!!
For dinner we went to Monkey Pod. VERY GOOD. However, the service is very slow. This isn't normally a problem unless you have a 2 year old. Try the fish and chips!! YUM. We missed the happy hour but it looks like a great way to save money. The server told me it is available in the entire restaurant. You can make reservations on opentable.com
By 8pm we were all dead tired. We wrapped up the day on the balcony taking it all in. We love this place!!!!
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
MinnieInMI
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2004
Just loving your reports and streaming. How long are you at the resort? 
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
Just loving your reports and streaming. How long are you at the resort?
Thank you!!
We are here until Sunday morning!!
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
Sunday 5/19/13
Anniversary day!! Today was our 6th wedding anniversary. The entire reason for this couple turned family trip!! What better way to celebrate then a day at Aulani??
I once again couldn't sleep. I kid you not my son and FIL were snoring in sync. It was loud and in stereo!! I was up at 5:30am on the dot.
I decided to head down and watch the ocean for a bit. I have my favorite spot on the pool deck, front and center.
There is a little half circle in front of the chairs which makes for a nice make shift toddler play area.
It was another beautiful morning:
I decided to just stake my claim at 5:45am, since I wasn't going back up to the room for a while. NOW, before I get attacked here is my rules for reserving chairs:
- ONLY RESERVE THE AMOUNT YOU NEED
- ALWAYS HAVE ONE PERSON ONSITE WHILE HOLDING THEM
I saw several people at 6am drop stuff off and not return until 9am. THAT IS NOT COOL. Now, I will tell you no one even came close to the chairs until about 9am, after we were already all down there.
My FIL joined me at about 6:30 and we had a quite morning watching planes come into HNL... This is another nerdy hobby of mine. I love big jets (if you have a toddler that has double meaning).
I got a text about 7:30am the others were stirring and getting ready. I waited until 8 to grab some towels and I headed up while my FIL stayed at the chairs. By 8:30am we were fed and hanging out at the pool.
Random side tangent, hot tub warnings seem especailly dangerous in Japanese.
The weather today was perfect. Almost no clouds the entire day, 82 and a low breeze.
We took the two year old in the Lazy River. He did not like it first but I think it was the water temp, it was pretty cold. He seemed to do better sitting in mommy's lap in a tube. We searched for Menehune and pretended I was a shark. As an adult child I think I had more fun then he did.
We saw stitch and took a picture. I was worried he might not like the characters since it had been a while but that was not the case. He LOVES THEM. He runs up and kisses them on the nose. I all of them.... and he is not shy about it. Then he wants to sit in their lap. It melts my heart. Most of the characters kneel down and let him lean against them. He has the biggest smile.
I have great photos of all this and will add after the trip.
It was nap time which meant I got to enjoy the sun and a Maui IPA. For my Pacific Northwest friends, it tastes just like a Mac N Jacks.
I finally went on the slide today!! My son is too young so I have had a limited window of slide time. It is a great slide but is very crowded. Sine I am writing this on Wednesday I can tell you Mon-Fri the pool is DEAD compared to the weekend I talked to the CMs and they said they get packed with locals on the weekend.
This evening was our anniversary dinner. My MIL & FIL took our son for the night so we could go out. We headed over to the JW Marriott and went to Azul. The food was very good, albeit very pricey. If any of you use Open Table Azul is on there and will take any credits you have earned. Just make sure you request the dining check about a month before your trip. We had a $100.00 one and we still payed $80 bucks after tip.
I told them in advance it was for our anniversary so they gave us a private table on the water, very nice.
After the great meal it was time to head back home. We decided to look at the gift shop and walk the property. We wound up on the balcony off the lobby overlooking the valley. There is a large couch/chair out there. We laid down to look at the stars and fell asleep. My wife woke us up to go back upstairs but I was ready to camp there for the night.
It was another great day here at Aulani.
Anniversary day!! Today was our 6th wedding anniversary. The entire reason for this couple turned family trip!! What better way to celebrate then a day at Aulani??
I once again couldn't sleep. I kid you not my son and FIL were snoring in sync. It was loud and in stereo!! I was up at 5:30am on the dot.
I decided to head down and watch the ocean for a bit. I have my favorite spot on the pool deck, front and center.
There is a little half circle in front of the chairs which makes for a nice make shift toddler play area.
It was another beautiful morning:
I decided to just stake my claim at 5:45am, since I wasn't going back up to the room for a while. NOW, before I get attacked here is my rules for reserving chairs:
- ONLY RESERVE THE AMOUNT YOU NEED
- ALWAYS HAVE ONE PERSON ONSITE WHILE HOLDING THEM
I saw several people at 6am drop stuff off and not return until 9am. THAT IS NOT COOL. Now, I will tell you no one even came close to the chairs until about 9am, after we were already all down there.
My FIL joined me at about 6:30 and we had a quite morning watching planes come into HNL... This is another nerdy hobby of mine. I love big jets (if you have a toddler that has double meaning).
I got a text about 7:30am the others were stirring and getting ready. I waited until 8 to grab some towels and I headed up while my FIL stayed at the chairs. By 8:30am we were fed and hanging out at the pool.
Random side tangent, hot tub warnings seem especailly dangerous in Japanese.
The weather today was perfect. Almost no clouds the entire day, 82 and a low breeze.
We took the two year old in the Lazy River. He did not like it first but I think it was the water temp, it was pretty cold. He seemed to do better sitting in mommy's lap in a tube. We searched for Menehune and pretended I was a shark. As an adult child I think I had more fun then he did.
We saw stitch and took a picture. I was worried he might not like the characters since it had been a while but that was not the case. He LOVES THEM. He runs up and kisses them on the nose. I all of them.... and he is not shy about it. Then he wants to sit in their lap. It melts my heart. Most of the characters kneel down and let him lean against them. He has the biggest smile.
I have great photos of all this and will add after the trip.
It was nap time which meant I got to enjoy the sun and a Maui IPA. For my Pacific Northwest friends, it tastes just like a Mac N Jacks.
I finally went on the slide today!! My son is too young so I have had a limited window of slide time. It is a great slide but is very crowded. Sine I am writing this on Wednesday I can tell you Mon-Fri the pool is DEAD compared to the weekend I talked to the CMs and they said they get packed with locals on the weekend.
This evening was our anniversary dinner. My MIL & FIL took our son for the night so we could go out. We headed over to the JW Marriott and went to Azul. The food was very good, albeit very pricey. If any of you use Open Table Azul is on there and will take any credits you have earned. Just make sure you request the dining check about a month before your trip. We had a $100.00 one and we still payed $80 bucks after tip.
I told them in advance it was for our anniversary so they gave us a private table on the water, very nice.
After the great meal it was time to head back home. We decided to look at the gift shop and walk the property. We wound up on the balcony off the lobby overlooking the valley. There is a large couch/chair out there. We laid down to look at the stars and fell asleep. My wife woke us up to go back upstairs but I was ready to camp there for the night.
It was another great day here at Aulani.
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
The DVC guides all say September.
lovetotraveltx
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2011
Love your report. Have you seen the price list for the family dinners you can have sent to your home?
Thank you!
Thank you!
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
I will look tonight and post pictures.
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
lovetotraveltx
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2011
lovetotraveltx
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2011
We don't use Costco, are there reasonable places nearby to by coffee and breakfast and lunch items for the villa?
Would you rent a car for a one-week visit?
Would you rent a car for a one-week visit?
DVC_Corrys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
There is a target and a Safeway in the same area as the Costco.
You really need a car unless you are 100% sure you will never leave the resort. I think a cab would be expensive each way. Might end up costing more than a car.
I got a 9 day rental from Priceline for $200.
Share this page
GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
