Day 8 - our last day at Aulani!
We only had about a half-day before we had to head to the airport - back home to New York and back to reality! I got up early and walked across the street to the "square" to get DH some coffee, and myself an acai bowl, from Island Vintage Coffee Co. This was a great acai bowl - nothing came close to Haleiwa Bowls on the North Shore but this was better than most of the others we tried during the week!
After some quick packing, we headed to the beach and the pools one last time. During our trip, we had especially loved the adults-only infinity hot tub which overlooked the beach, so we spent a ton of time there before, and also played one last game of giant Connect 4 by the beach. After showering and getting cleaned up, we checked out of our room. We shared a poke bowl and a spam musubi from Ulu Cafe for lunch, and then it was unfortunately time to say goodbye to Aulani. We caught a cab to the airport using the flat-rate Charley's Taxi (which are just waiting around at Aulani during the day, so you don't have to worry about making a reservation), and said see ya real soon to Hawaii!
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Saying aloha and mahalo to beautiful Hawaii!
Overall Thoughts
It was top-to-bottom an amazing vacation. We loved the beaches and had eaten some really great food. The air was so much cleaner than back home, and everything was so casual, and so easy, during our whole trip. Will we be coming back to Hawaii? Without a doubt. I'm not sure we'll be returning to Aulani, though. We paid cash for our reservation, and while we had a lot of fun, it wasn't really worth the (extremely) high price. The slides are fun, but it's easier (and way cheaper) for us to fly to Orlando and go to Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, or Volcano Bay as the slides at Aulani are not too thrilling and were very crowded. The beach at Aulani isn't too exciting -- we had experienced some really fun beaches during our trip which we thought were way better, but we did enjoy the "resort experience," and liked not having to worry about our valuables and cell phones and things while enjoying the ocean. We might try a different luxury resort in Hawaii on our next trip!
The merchandise at Aulani is pretty cute, but unlike our trips to Tokyo and Tokyo Disney, we didn't come home with our bags jam-packed full of souvenirs. I did ship some fragile things home, though (I regularly ship fragile things home, because if they break in transit, you can just call Disney and they'll send you another. If I pack it and break it on the way home, there's nothing I can do to get a resort-exclusive item!) and was impressed by their speedy and prompt service - it was shipped out the next day (I got an email with the tracking # and everything) and arrived in New York swiftly 2-3 days later. But we did come back with a whole bunch of happy fun Hawaii memories!
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Wish I still had this incredible view of the beach from the adults-only hot tub at Aulani!
Helpful Packing Items
I'm not an influencer or anything, nor do I make money off recommending any of these products, but I thought I'd put on here some helpful packing items as I spent a lot of time trying and finding lots of different products for items for our vacation, so I figured I'd summarize my winners here for you in case it helps!
- Foldable beach blanket (
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J65KXML)
This is a waterproof, super compact and light beach blanket. I'd bought a few to test from
Amazon before the trip - the sand just fell right off this one, and it didn't get damp when splashed constantly with water. It's pretty small, though - fits 2 people at max. I would just recommend you buy multiples for more people or individual ones if people like to lie down!
- Anker waterproof phone case (
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077TFJMQ4)
I am super risk-averse so I wanted a waterproof phone case from a reputable brand. I tested these in my bathtub by putting a paper towel inside, and then submerging it underwater, moving it up and down in and out of the water, and more for about 30-45 minutes. The paper towel came out dry, so I knew it was safe to use at Aulani! During one of our many trips on the Aulani lazy river, both DH and I did some reading on our phones - and DH also played some games on his phone while at the beach - because the touchscreen works through the case. DH called this a game-changer!
- Lululemon Water-resistant Backpack (
https://shop.lululemon.com/p/bags/City-Adventurer-Backpack/)
Given the time we'd be spending at the beach, I wanted a water-resistant backpack for the trip, but I wanted it to be a small knapsack. I know they have special "dry bags" for those who do water sports, but I just wanted something simple that could also be used in the city every day. I was pretty happy when I found this backpack - they have two sizes, this one and one larger - it looked nice, was comfy, and also has a separate small section for shoes. It's not entirely waterproof (the zippers are the culprit) but is largely water resistant.
- Arden Cove anti-theft crossbody purse (
https://ardencove.com)
I am always so paranoid about losing my wallet and valuables while on vacation. I'm not as worried in places like Hawaii or Japan, but I get anxious when I travel to Europe! This is the best anti-theft purse I've found yet - it's waterproof, slashproof (including the straps), has locking zippers, RFID protection, and interior zippers, pockets, and card slots. It also still looks pretty stylish, unlike some other anti-theft purses on the market! They have a ton of different designs, but I like the crossbody one best. I managed to fit in a large wallet, my cell phone, a small bottle of lotion, my sunglasses, and my lip balm (and probably could have fit in a few more things if I wanted to!) I used this when I didn't need to take my whole backpack with me (eg. just going to lunch/dinner, or to the luau) and also used it to keep my valuables safe and close to me during the plane journey.
- Insulated Water Bottle (
https://www.swellbottle.com/)
I never go to Disney World without one of these - it keeps the water cold for 12+ hours, which is a must in the Hawaii heat!
- Bamboo shirts (
https://www.tascperformance.com/)
While cotton shirts are really nice, they can get sticky in humid weather, so I decided to try bamboo shirts, which are moisture-wicking and don't stick to your body in sweat, really breathable, and have UPF 50+ protection. There are two popular brands I tried, Tasc and Freefly. I found Tasc to be slightly better - it's easier to wash as it can be tumble-dried (Freefly needs to be line-dried), and was also more affordable and had more designs than Freefly. I am actually going to get DH a ton of these as he often runs hot!
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That's about all I can think of (other than the usual basics!) Feel free to reach out with any questions at all and I'll try my best to help you plan your vacation!
Thank you so much to everyone for following along! This is a wonderful community to be a part of.
from upstate NY
