PARADISE LOST… AND FOUND – Our family’s first trip to Aulani & Hawaii - updated 9/2/16

I am thoroughly enjoying your trip report! We are heading to Aulani for our first visit there in 120 days! I love seeing all your pictures - you have a beautiful fun family! Thanks for all the effort in posting!
 
:thumbsup2
Much later, after taking out a second mortgage. :rotfl:

Yeah, their prices can be high. We did find an extra t-shirt that was 1/2 off for the twins, so that was a nice surprise. I guess because it was white, which means it won't last long. I had to get some shirts, because we hadn't gotten any t-shirts at the Swap Meet. Bad planning, but I am a sucker for the fun Disney shirts.

:thumbsup2Wow, that really stinks. I'm sorry he had such a crappy time there. And really amazed that nothing was done about it.

Thanks for sympathizing, Captain! It was disappointing. I'll share more about it soon, but the funny thing is that since Benji still liked the other time he spent at Aunty's, he isn't negative about it overall if you were to ask him today (not that day, of course). I'm glad that it didn't sour the memories there for him.

Wow, those animation cels you colored look really cool!

Thanks! It's easy to do (and hard to mess up, thankfully) and was a fun experience. You should consider it next time, you lucky girl!

I hope you all can still enjoy Monkeypod - we loved it there!

Mmmmm... it was tasty. More on that soon.

I am thoroughly enjoying your trip report! We are heading to Aulani for our first visit there in 120 days! I love seeing all your pictures - you have a beautiful fun family! Thanks for all the effort in posting!

:thanks:so much for your very kind words! And thank you for reading. How thrilling for you to be anticipating your trip. You will LOVE it. Will this be your first time in Hawaii?

I felt bad having to share the last part about the sad Aunty's experience. That was really our only bad experience there. Phenomenal customer service and beautiful place with so much to do. You'll be finding out soon... :flower1:
 
This is our first trip to Hawaii. So glad we can do it Disney style! No worries about Aunty's - my DD is 12 and I think aged out of the activities there. DS is 16, he'll be off on his own I'm sure :)
 
Hi! Just checking in! I've been saving off a bunch of your info for our trip in 2017 (I know - it's a long way, but never too early to start planning!) Thanks for all the info!
 


OMG im so sad for Benji on that bad auntys day :( only cuz my DD is same age, and i know how upset she would be :( jeez...

i wanted to add, as a fellow mom. the pix u think are silly (w Goofy adn just u, etc) - they are so not. they look v cute and ur so happy. so i suck being in pix, im the taker - i feel uncomfortable, etc. so its so great ur in so many photos even ones you are critical of! :)
 
Hi! Just checking in! I've been saving off a bunch of your info for our trip in 2017 (I know - it's a long way, but never too early to start planning!) Thanks for all the info!
Hello! Thanks so much for reading. :flower:I am very happy to be of any help. I agree: never too early to plan! I plan a long way off, too (I am working on an Alaska cruise in 2019, which is pretty crazy far out). 2017 will be here before you know it. We loved planning ahead with Hawaii to save up points for airfare. That is a huge, huge advantage. I love free airfare.

OMG im so sad for Benji on that bad auntys day :( only cuz my DD is same age, and i know how upset she would be :( jeez...

i wanted to add, as a fellow mom. the pix u think are silly (w Goofy adn just u, etc) - they are so not. they look v cute and ur so happy. so i suck being in pix, im the taker - i feel uncomfortable, etc. so its so great ur in so many photos even ones you are critical of! :)

Thanks so much for your understanding about Aunty's. I guess it is okay that someday when we get back there, as I hope to do, our guys will be way too old for it.

Thanks for the kind words about the goofy photo. I think the uncropped image is much sillier, but I just could not post it that way. It's a nice perk having full editorial control. And I guess it is kind of fun to have something different than the traditional pose. About the very common problem of moms not being in photos, you are so not alone! My mom was rarely in photos when I was young. I have a photographer friend who is a mom who really encourages women to get in their family photos instead of always just taking them, so I have done more of that in recent years. So, I would encourage you to do the same. :thumbsup2
 
Chapter 16: In Which We Enjoy our Last Night and Morning at Aulani, Despite My Vain Attempts to Remain a Little Annoyed

We had made a reservation at Monkeypod for 4:45pm on Tuesday, in order to take advantage of their Happy Hour specials: 50% off all appetizers and $9 pizzas. Monkeypod is right across the street, close enough to walk, but we were running late so drove over instead. We were seated right away at a large round table with a pretty view. The twins ordered cheese quesadillas, and the rest of us chose individual pizzas and one order of garlic truffle oil fries to share.

Jeff and my mom each ordered a Mai Tai. They reported that they were strong. Jeff didn’t really like his, and said that the one he had at the luau was better. Neither one ever drinks much, so one was enough.



We tried to cheer Benji up and keep the mood light. Sam brought some of his vacationing LEGO guys along, which was a little photographic diversion. Our food came quickly, and everything was delicious. I had the Proletariat Pizza, which did not photograph well but was good: pepperoni, sausage, onions, green peppers, olives, and fresh mozzarella. We finished it off with some tasty cream pie for dessert.





After dinner, we hurried back to Aulani where it was time for a swim.



Just before bed, Jeff made a run across the street for some Aloe Vera gel for some sunburns we observed among the boys as they were getting ready for bed. Aulani does not sell Aloe Vera in their gift shops, but it can be found at the Island Country Markets store nearby (a slight variation of the ABC stores seen all over Hawaii). It felt important (to me, the always over-cautious one) at the time, but we actually used very little of it, because by morning it did not really seem needed. I was happy that we really had done very well avoiding sunburns. Jeff rarely burns, but the boys have my pale skin, so you never know.


Wednesday morning was bittersweet. It was disappointing to realize that we only had a few hours left at Aulani, but we were eagerly anticipating fresh adventures to come on the Big Island. Once again, because I was too excited to sleep, it was an early morning for me. I left the room at 5:30 and wandered around the resort with my tripod for about an hour, taking random photos.









I wanted to talk to a cast member about my concerns about our experience the day before at Aunty’s, so inquired at the desk when I was picking up my Daily 'Iwa. The appropriate manager was not there, but they cheerfully took my name and number and promised that she would be calling me.

My view from the window on 15th floor on my way to our room:



We again had a satisfying and convenient breakfast at Ulu at about 8:00. I loved that we could eat a quick meal in such a pretty, open air setting.



Afterward, we hit the pools. We enjoyed having the Infinity pool all to ourselves. Loved this pool!





My mom played photographer and stayed dry. There were lots of free chairs for relaxing.



The boys like to ride Jeff, like Mr. Ray taking his students to school:





I joined Sam on the tube waterslide next. Here’s my attempt at capturing it photographically:



The lazy river was next:



After we finished swimming, we headed back to the room. On the way, we saw a PhotoPass photographer, so had to stop.



This sign was near the refillable mug station. For some reason I found it very entertaining. Yes, more candy! More pop! Mmmmm.



We took a peek at the splashy area for smaller kids.



It was always so pleasant walking around the resort, with warm smiles and alohas from every cast member who made eye contact. Happy mahalos blunted the pain of spending money at the shops. I remember laughing to myself that day after yet another friendly greeting, because I realized I could not hold a grudge about the Aunty's incident for Benji's sake. Oh, well.

Once we were all back in our room, we ran around finishing up our packing and checking to make sure we did not forget anything. We had been searching for Sam’s stuffed buffalo for days, an item he LOST in our room at Aulani or possibly the Hilton. No idea exactly when, but we’re guessing it may have gotten lost when housekeeping collected sheets one day. We had hoped when we had the room all emptied out it might turn up, but no…nothing.

At some point I noticed the cozy Aulani robe that I had neglected to try out still untouched on its hanger, so threw it on over my dry swimming suit. We did not have any photos of the lanai, so I asked Jeff to take a quick picture of a relaxing scene out there. I assure you that I did not relax on the lanai at any point (I guess if we had an ocean view I would have, but we are more the type to get up and out pretty quickly in the morning when there is so much fun stuff to do). Anyway, this is how it would look if I were relaxing with my delicious morning coffee on the lanai instead of running around taking photos. Ahhh…



Look who insisted on saying goodbye!



We finally appeared to be ready to go, had the car all loaded and were nearly on our way, when my mom exclaimed she had left her hat in her closet. Since it was past our check-out time, the room was locked, so we needed to get help from a cast member to get back into her room to pick it up. After that was over with, we actually left for the airport. Hooray!!! Onto our next phase of the trip…
 
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Thank for such a great report and pictures. We leave in about 3 weeks.

:wave2: Hello, and thank you for reading! I am sure I took more pictures on this trip than any other vacation I have had. It's just so beautiful there. I hope you have a wonderful time! :goodvibes

I am trying to wrap up my report this month, so if you would like to read the rest of it, you should have the chance before you leave. Are you visiting any other islands or sticking to Oahu? You can't go wrong, either way, of course. The next installment has us on the Big Island, but we do return to Oahu for another night and see Pearl Harbor, which was amazing. Our boys loved it, too.

I must comment briefly on your signature... 25 cruises. Woweee! We are planning to take my first ever in a few years (my DH went on a Disney cruise long ago). So excited. To see people enjoy Disney cruises repeatedly, like yourself, makes me optimistic that we will all love it.
 
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We are just staying on Oahu. We are staying at Aulani for 10 nights. This is all new territory for me. We live very close to WDW so we are there quite a bit and then only a few hours away from Port Canaveral which is why so many cruises. I am sure you will love it. I am picturing Aulani as being on a stationary Disney cruise! (minus no free food) Being in Florida we can get some cheap rates when the ships do not fill up whereas going to Aulani is expensive!!!!! Thanks to people like you who have taken the time to do in detail reports I am feeling a bit more confident on things we are planning on doing. I also loved your Goofy pic!!!!

I have a thread in the DVC resorts thread called Aulani Help if you have anything to add!
 
We had made a reservation at Monkeypod for 4:45pm on Tuesday, in order to take advantage of their Happy Hour specials: 50% off all appetizers and $9 pizzas.

:woohoo: for Monkeypod! I really miss that place.

After dinner, we hurried back to Aulani where it was time for a swim.

It's always time for a swim there.

I was happy that we really had done very well avoiding sunburns. Jeff rarely burns, but the boys have my pale skin, so you never know.

I know that feeling. I tell people I only come in two colors: fire-engine red and blinding snow white.

I left the room at 5:30 and wandered around the resort with my tripod for about an hour, taking random photos.

Nice shots!:thumbsup2

We enjoyed having the Infinity pool all to ourselves. Loved this pool!

It looks amazing!

At some point I noticed the cozy Aulani robe that I had neglected to try out still untouched on its hanger, so threw it on over my dry swimming suit.

My wife loved that robe. She really wanted me to "accidentally" put it in the luggage.

After that was over with, we actually left for the airport. Hooray!!!

I don't recall saying "Hooray!" upon leaving...
 
We live very close to WDW so we are there quite a bit and then only a few hours away from Port Canaveral which is why so many cruises.
Oooh. Lucky you! :thumbsup2 My husband's employer has an office in Tampa, and I have repeatedly offered to move there, purely to be closer to WDW. Not happening.

I am sure you will love it. I am picturing Aulani as being on a stationary Disney cruise! (minus no free food) Being in Florida we can get some cheap rates when the ships do not fill up whereas going to Aulani is expensive!!!!! Thanks to people like you who have taken the time to do in detail reports I am feeling a bit more confident on things we are planning on doing. I also loved your Goofy pic!!!!
Thanks! And yay for you getting cheap resident rates! Makes sense, because they might as well fill up the ships. One of my sisters is living in Tampa right now and loves having a Florida resident-rate AP to WDW. I enjoy living vicariously through her - just like through all you fun people on the DISboards!
:disrocks:

I have a thread in the DVC resorts thread called Aulani Help if you have anything to add!
I will definitely check it out. Thanks!
 
:woohoo: for Monkeypod! I really miss that place.
I know what you mean. I received an email from Monkeypod promoting their Mother's Day brunch and (mostly in jest) I immediately checked to see if they had a table for 5 available, confirmed that I liked the offerings on the brunch menu, and found a reasonably priced flight for all of us to take an impromptu trip. (Their email assured me that as a Mother, I deserved it, so I felt empowered.) Of course we did not do it, but this all really made for an enjoyable 20 minutes for me.

Oh, and thank you, Mark, for your review of Monkeypod in your trip report! We all appreciated it. :)

I know that feeling. I tell people I only come in two colors: fire-engine red and blinding snow white.
I am the same. I have a sunburn right now, as a matter of fact. Bummer.

Nice shots!:thumbsup2
Thank you! You have to work pretty hard not to get fun photos in Hawaii, I think. We will often be watching a Hawaii Five-O episode about a horrible murder, and I can't stop yapping all about just how beautiful everything is there. Was the same with LOST.

My wife loved that robe. She really wanted me to "accidentally" put it in the luggage.
Congratulations on your restraint!

I don't recall saying "Hooray!" upon leaving...
Well, I did not actually say that out loud... We were looking forward to seeing a new island, but of course were VERY sad to leave. Aulani really is breathtaking. I really hope we get to go back for our 20th or some other great excuse.
 
Chapter 17: In Which We Fly to the Big Island

Our drive to Alamo to return the car was easy, and we made it to the airport on schedule for our 2:40pm flight. In order to save some money on luggage fees, I had arranged to have some of our bags (that we would not be needing) stored during the Big Island portion of our trip. After I called Aloha Airport Delivery and Storage from the airport, a driver came to meet us and take our bags away. The bags would then be stored in their facility nearby for a few days, to be delivered back to us when we called them upon our return to the airport. The fee for their service was much less than the luggage fees would have been, and it would save us the unwelcome hassle of moving all the extra bags around. However, I have to say I felt a little nervous handing our stuff off to someone I did not know, who I had difficulty communicating with (due to language barriers), and who was driving an unmarked car. I paid in cash, as required, and took my handwritten claim check (and a quick photo of my bags for good measure) and hoped for the best. The man was friendly and seemed fine, but I just worried a little. It all went perfectly, though, I am glad to report, and I would highly recommend them to anyone having a similar need.

The flight to the Hilo on the Big Island was smooth and quick (50 minutes long). We got a few photos from the plane of beautiful Oahu, and felt sad to be leaving so soon.

Waikiki:

The Hilton we stayed at can be seen on the bottom left, on the shoreline.

I like this view of Diamond Head:


I am remembering this as a sad-to-leave-Aulani face, not a grumpy travel face. I think I have it right.


Hey, this guy’s happy!

He's wearing my mom's hat, the one that resisted leaving Aulani at the last minute. Not his manliest moment, maybe, but I like it, so into the report it goes.

Upon landing in Hilo – the airport nearest Volcanoes National Park – we picked up our second minivan at Alamo and headed in the direction of our vacation home in Volcano Village, very nearby the national park. We stopped on the way at a Walmart for some food, because we would have a full kitchen and planned to eat some meals there. We also picked up Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner. I realize this is not an adventurous or interesting choice, but we honestly just felt kind of tired and wanted to relax at the house and do nothing for a while. Our past eight days had been amazing, but tiring. Plus, KFC chicken is always yummy. This was my plate:


Oh, but I am getting ahead of myself. Here’s a little tour of the house, known on VRBO as the Ohia Plantation House.

Dining area:


My mom’s room:

Our room was similar, but with a king bed.

The twins loved their room with twin beds:


Sam’s room:

He used the fold-out sofa and enjoyed having the living room to himself.

Breakfast was provided for the next morning:


We LOVED the house. It also had a nice wrap-around porch with chairs and a table, a hot tub outside, a (free) washer and dryer, complete with detergent and fabric softener, and POG juice in the refrigerator. I hope we can get back to the Big Island someday and stay there again. We appreciated the outstanding personal service from the owners, a fantastic rate (cheapest of all the places we stayed), and their roomy, well-appointed home. It was interesting for me to note later how the square footage of this place compared to the others. The house was 1300 square feet, which felt indulgent coming from our standard Aulani room (356 square feet), and our Hilton Hawaiian Village room (550 square feet). Square footage is only one part of the story, of course, but we felt spoiled having room to spread out. We enjoyed every place we stayed, of course, and they were all very different kinds of places with different perks. One big difference with this location was that my mom would be together with us. The boys loved that idea.

After we got all settled in and dinner was over, we decided to have a movie night, so popped some popcorn and put The Muppets (the one with Amy Adams, of Enchanted fame, and we are huge Enchanted fans) in the DVD player. Shortly after it started, I got sleepy and decided to go rest for "half an hour," while the rest of our group watched. Friends had loaned us a bunch of movies for our trip, and this was one of them. It was a great blessing on plane rides and at moments like this.

I fell asleep immediately, and didn't get up til morning. I think the early mornings were finally catching up to me, and that the travel day was more tiring than I expected. I had a great night of sleep, which was a good thing, because there was much to come the next day.

Up next: The Hamakua Coast, Waterfalls, and Volcanoes National Park
 
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We got a few photos from the plane of beautiful Oahu, and felt sad to be leaving so soon.

Great aerial photos! These are the type I had envisioned and was never able to get!

He's wearing my mom's hat, the one that resisted leaving Aulani at the last minute. Not his manliest moment, maybe, but I like it, so into the report it goes.

Future blackmail material! Good work.

We also picked up Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner.

Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do.

We LOVED the house.

Great! I'm glad the VRBO experience worked out so well for you!
 
We are just staying on Oahu. We are staying at Aulani for 10 nights. This is all new territory for me. We live very close to WDW so we are there quite a bit and then only a few hours away from Port Canaveral which is why so many cruises. I am sure you will love it. I am picturing Aulani as being on a stationary Disney cruise! (minus no free food) Being in Florida we can get some cheap rates when the ships do not fill up whereas going to Aulani is expensive!!!!! Thanks to people like you who have taken the time to do in detail reports I am feeling a bit more confident on things we are planning on doing. I also loved your Goofy pic!!!!

I have a thread in the DVC resorts thread called Aulani Help if you have anything to add!

We live in Florid too and love Disney cruises. Deciding on either doing another disney cruise or hawaii trip.. Just out of curiosity is there a specific website you go thru to get the cheap rates for the cruises when they are not filled up? I can never seem to find deals like that. lol
 
We live in Florid too and love Disney cruises. Deciding on either doing another disney cruise or hawaii trip.. Just out of curiosity is there a specific website you go thru to get the cheap rates for the cruises when they are not filled up? I can never seem to find deals like that. lol
The Disney cruise site lists the Fl Res rates when they are having them. I also check allseastravel.com a lot. There is a forum on here for Disney cruises and there is a guy who updates quite a bit. (justacruiser) or something like that.
 
Chapter 18: In Which We Hit the Road and Explore

The next morning, we had breakfast at the house and got ready for our only full day on the Big Island. Weather dictated a change in our plans, because rain was expected on the Hamakua Coast the following day. We decided to flip days and got into the minivan and started driving north. We had many stops planned for the day, and enjoyed unplanned pauses on our drives when the scenery demanded our attention.



We spotted some surfing.



We visited the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, where we enjoyed wandering around, admiring the many tropical plants, trees, waterfalls, and breathtaking ocean views.















We saw a little wildlife.



Even though it looked like paradise, there was danger lurking... Kevin managed to survive the threat of falling mangos.



The only downside to the gardens was the very hilly terrain. Due to her recent knee replacement surgery, my mom elected to pay for a golf cart to drop her off and pick her up from the main gardens. This was an excellent decision. The boys enjoyed chasing it and trying to catch Grandma.



After about 2 ½ hours, we were pretty tired, hot, and hungry, so we got back in the minivan and on the road toward our next big stop: Akaka Falls. We stopped at the Woodshop Gallery Café, located on the way to the Falls, in Honomu.



The café was attached to an art gallery and shop and had fun, quirky signs in it.



The signs cracked me up. As it had been a bit of a full day already with lots of time on the road, and hungry bodies causing patience to wear a bit thin, this was especially funny to me.





When my mom saw this last one, she declared, “We won’t have any money left!” Then, when I later searched for a few dollars for a serving of “volcano” ice cream (banana and strawberry ice cream and Oreos), I observed we were almost out! Ha.

Here is a pretty view of my Hawaiian burger. It was yummy.



Everyone enjoyed their food.



I believe I need to thank the book, Hawaii The Big Island Revealed, for this gem. Without their recommendation, I never would have known to stop.

Akaka Falls was beautiful. Unfortunately, the walk to the falls from the parking lot is quite long, so my mom decided to skip it when she realized it was more than her knees could take.



Bonus waterfall on the way to the big one:



Akaka Falls, so pretty:



Well worth the trip to see it. The picture does not begin to do it justice. Extremely tall (and loud).

Our next stop for next time: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, our main reason for coming all the way to this island. Woohoo! We were so excited to visit the park.
 

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