Taking the Long Way Around: Aulani Trip Report 1/1-1/6 via New Zealand and Australia

[tink1970]

I might also mention that my 10-year old son had morphed into a super-moody teenager who wanted NOTHING to do with Pearl Harbor.

We had all worn our gifts from Aulani (lei for me and Kukui Bean necklaces for the boys) because we had gotten them so late that I wanted to enjoy mine before it wilted. As we got close the Arizona, my son got really emotional. Being there truly moved him. They said you could leave flowers or throw them in the water so DS and I thought this was the best thing to do with my lei. My son placed it on the memorial and I think it made him feel better to show tribute to all those effected that day.

We got back from the Arizona, talked a bit about what we had seen and how incredible/tragic/significant, it all was and then headed back to Aulani. I am so glad my husband pushed hard to go to Pearl Harbor. It was really a great experience and after seeing more about the war in the Pacific in New Zealand and Australia, it really made the story come together. I highly recommend you do it and take your kids! If you go at your own pace like we did, there is time to stop and process everything. We never felt rushed and felt as if we got to take it all in.

Haha! I am glad I have been to Pearl Harbor; I believe if you have the opportunity it is an important monument. That said, now I'd rather hang out at the beach/pool too. It reminded me of our next door neighbor when I was 8 years old who was a WWII veteran and on the USS Missouri when the Instrument of Surrender was signed. I remember the story being told (over and over) with photos being passed around and while I was polite (and still have a vague fuzzy memory of it all)...pretty sure I was b-o-r-e-d. Sounds like he was appropriately respectful and appreciative of the sacrifices made.

Really enjoying your TR, and it's giving me lots to consider while planning!

 

[acndis]

Day 20—Enjoying Aulani

Today we had scheduled a resort day topped by dinner in Ama Ama.

DH and I really wanted to try the fitness classes at Aulani. I am a yoga junkie so we had stopped by the spa the night before to sign up for Sunrise Yoga. It was full until Friday morning so we signed up for that and decided to attend the free class, Cardio Rush at 6 am.

We actually got up in time and headed down to the beach. We were there a little early but we had at least 10 people in our class and we got quite a workout! The class was not to my strengths (lots of running—I hate running!) but I loved it! It felt so good to get up early and get moving. I think DH and I will do a class every morning the next time we are at Aulani. There are free classes and for fee classes offered every day.

DS had another program at Aunty’s, Stitch’s Space Goo. When I dropped him off, I was also able to move his aloha party to later that afternoon. As I mentioned above, Aunty’s was packed every day and as I stood in line, some parents were annoyed at having to wait and face that some programs were full each morning. For our family, this was not really a problem. I had done the prebooking for DS and though he had not gotten his top choice initially, I was able to snag a spot for him on our first day. I found the staff to be extremely helpful and fun, very reminiscent of the staff at the Club/Lab on DCL. Our only issue with Aunty’s is that DS is aging out a bit. Most kids there were younger so he was thrilled to find out there would be a Tweens’ Choice Event this evening.

We picked up DS from Space Goo. He liked it but was not raving about it. He was eager to get to the pool/beach. Now, the beach at Aulani is a VERY big letdown after the beaches in Australia. DH still feels bad because he kept telling DS that the beaches in Hawaii would be so much better. Let’s just say that was not really fair. The beaches in Australia are AMAZING. The beach at Aulani is a lagoon. It is nice but not what DS had been picturing after Australia. No waves to speak of!

Because of that, we spent most of our time in the lazy river and it just great. We floated around for most of the morning/early afternoon. It was relaxing and fun and DS loved swimming against the current. We tried both slides and did not have to wait very long (you just had to be strategic). They were both a lot of fun.

DS had the Aloha Party in the afternoon. Again, he enjoyed it but was not begging to go back to Aunty’s for the rest of the day.

After all our fun at the pool and Aunty’s, it was time to get ready for early dinner at Ama Ama. I had booked in time for the sunset but I have to say that NO ONE in my group appreciated it. In fact, they complained about the sun being in their eyes. Ugh! Anyway, we thought Ama Ama was phenomenal. We loved the raw bar appetizer and then we all had fresh fish. It was wonderfully prepared and it was a beautiful place. DS was finally excited to get back to Aunty’s for Tween night so he skipped dessert and I took him over. This was his favorite event by far and he met many nice kids and got to know the counselors really well. He would love more tween events and cannot wait to participate in the teen events in the future.

After dinner, DH, my dad, his friend, and I went up to the shops. I loved both shops at Aulani. The higher end-clothing store had so many cute things! DS bought an Aulani Dri Fit Nike polo that is really cool and I found a black and white polka dot dress that was on sale for $30! I snagged it and even got the DVC discount.

After that, we went to pick up DS who was raving about his evening and went back to the room. It was still early and we all watched TV. Rambo was on. DS had never seen/heard of it but ended up staying up to watch it! We started referencing Rambo for everything but soon enough another cult movie of the 1980s would become our ‘film of the trip.’

After Rambo, we went to bed. We were headed for Kualoa Ranch the next day.

 

[acndis]

Day 20—Kualoa Ranch & Waikiki

While we were watching Rambo the night before, we were planning today! I really wanted to go the North Shore but while we were in Australia, we had booked the movie tour at Kualoa Ranch for the morning. I was having last minute fears about not loving Aulani (based on my previous Hawaiian experience) and thought we might be getting bored in our last few days before returning home. Those fears ended up being unfounded but we were all still very excited about heading to Kualoa Ranch.

Kualoa Ranch is nowhere near the North Shore but we had a car and we had all day so we were resigned to make it work. However, we could not figure out the best beach for my son’s strong desire to play in some big waves! December on the North Shore contains the biggest waves imaginable but many of those beaches do not make for the best swimming at that time.

There are so many fabulous beaches on Oahu but we could not hit upon one that we were sure would be 1. Swimmable 2. Wavey! 3. Fairly easy to get to from Kualoa. So, in a spark of genius, my husband said we should go to Waikiki! Of course! We had not been there yet. It is historic, has great swimming, is in a lively area and is easy to get to from Kualoa. Therefore, we had our plan and rose early the next morning to head to the ranch.

We left around 8 am for our 10 am tour. The drive was beautiful and again, we had almost no traffic. We arrived a Kualoa early (around 9:00) and they offered to put us on the 9:15 tour. That was great because it would give us more beach time later. We absolutely LOVED Kualoa and the tour. Our guide was fantastic (and I am so sad that I do not remember her name!). We did the basic tour on the bus and it was great fun. We saw areas used in Kong: Skull Island (I love that movie), Jurassic Park, and the just released Jumanji. We also saw sets and props from Lost and got to hear the history of the Ranch. We will definitely return to Kualoa and probably do the VIP movie tour and maybe the Zip Line or the Catamaran. It was a great place!

Next, we were off to Waikiki. We parked at the Royal Hawaiian (where my dad had spent New Year’s Eve—it is gorgeous!). It is about $20 per day to park there and I thought that was pretty fair. It is a great location and safe parking. There may be better deals but we had scouted that location the day before so it worked well for us. We parked and started checking out the surf shops. The shopping is great around the beach and if you have read my other trip report, you know we are addicted to ‘gear’ stores so we loved checking out all the cool swim/water sports gear in the shops.

Unfortunately, DS does NOT appreciate any shopping (especially when it is keeping him from the Beach). The surly teenager had returned! We were starving and decided to go to Duke’s. Just to show you how clueless we were and how little planning we had done, we did not know it was inside the Outrigger Hotel so it took us way longer than it should have to find it.

We LOVED Duke’s. The mai tais there cannot be beat! We love Monkeypod but this is a classic! DS and I split a burger (so so good!) and DH had fish tacos. We also split an order of nachos and shared Hula Pie. Duke’s was a BIG hit and DS and DH both bought T-shirts.

We hit a few more shops (DS started a full-scale protest at the Tommy Bahama store—he HATES it there because his dad and I love it!). So, we knew it was time for the beach! We actually changed in our car. We had a minivan but it was still ridiculous! We laughed but we got our suits on and headed to the beach. We cut through the Royal Hawaiian but their beach was really crowded so we put our towels down in front of the Sheraton. Waikiki is a public beach but hotels have areas with chairs you need to pay for, etc. We found an open spot of sand and parked.

I took DS out to the water and he went right in! As I said before, I am a TOTAL cold water-phobe to the point that it is ridiculous. The water at Waikiki was lovely but still too cold for me. I went in up to my knees and watched DS from there. I love swimming and the water but am really held back by my fear/hatred of being cold! I just got a riptide wet jacket, though and that should take care of me the next time we are in Hawaii.

In his frustration with my lame attempt at beach swimming, DH who hates swimming and is not particularly good at it (I can say that because he is literally good at everything else!) interceded and took DS out further. They played and had a terrific time. The waves at Waikiki were not as good as Australia but they were pretty awesome. I really want to try surfing!

We loved Waikiki. It is crowded and full of tourists but it is crowded for a reason. It is beautiful and it is a great swimming beach. We are city people and I loved the vibe of Honolulu. It so different from Ko Olina. They are both great and I am glad we got to experience both!

We wanted to try to beat the traffic so we headed back around four. We did not beat the traffic and got fairly stuck on our sojourn back to Ko Olina. Traffic was bad but we live in Austin, TX and I think it is worse here. We still made it back in pretty good shape and DS fell asleep in the back of the van. We were all getting tired so DH and decided to crank a surf mix we found on ITunes Music because at that point, we had dubbed the minivan, ‘the surf wagon.’ DS was jolted out of his peaceful slumber to the sound of his parents belting out Surfin’ USA. DH still had the music blaring when we pulled into Ko Olina. I thought we might be denied admittance. Once we were back, we had some dinner in the room and went to bed.

It had been a great day! My next entry will wrap it all up and give some final thoughts on the trip!

 

[heaven2dc]

I think it's great that you and your husband were able to take advantage of fitness classes early in the morning (and even greater his dad was there to watch the kids!). It seems on vacations that if my husband and I wanted to do something together, we couldn't when the kids weren't teens yet. Was great when the older ones turned 14 or 15 to be there for a little bit for the younger kids (plus we always treated them as a thank you )

Your trip report has been so informative - learned so much about explorations on the island that I didn't know before!

 

[BluesTraveler]

LOL at the "surly teenager." We have had a couple of those after each ABD as well when they are in withdrawal from their friends and the amazing guides.

 

[acndis]

Day 21—The Last Day!

Our plans for the day were to attend Sunrise Yoga and then to have breakfast at Ama Ama. My dad and his friend were set to leave that evening (@ 2:30 pm) but our flight did not leave until early the next day. I had booked Ama Ama for nine so we would have time to get to our Sunrise Yoga class while the rest of the group slept in.

Sunrise Yoga was at 6:30 am so DH got up and headed down to the beach. This was a paid class and as I mentioned, it was about $20 per person. I absolutely love Yoga and think I am a pretty advanced student (so is DH) and we loved the class. It was really challenging but the teacher was happy for students to do any modifications they needed to do. The classes are a real selling point for me with Aulani. I love being able to get up and get moving in such a beautiful environment. Both the classes we did were excellent and I did not notice a difference in quality between the paid and free classes. As I said, I plan to do a class every day on our next trip.

After Yoga, we got cleaned up and headed to Ama Ama. As reported on these boards, breakfast is EXCELLENT there. DH had the breakfast sandwich, which has a lobster claw, avocado, and egg. DS had the omelet (an unusual order for him but he LOVED it and ate every bite). I cannot remember what my dad and his friend had but they were also happy campers. I had the Japanese Breakfast (Broiled Fish, Poached Egg, and Miso Soup) and it was just exactly what I wanted! I wish I could have it every day for breakfast. Anyway, Ama Ama was an unmitigated hit and we will go there for breakfast and dinner on the next trip (maybe more than once for breakfast!).

After breakfast, we decided to play the Menehune game. I do not know if we tried to do too much or just did not get the game but it was NOT a hit. It was so long and many of the stops were pretty underwhelming. We love Sorcerers and Perry at WDW but this just did not seem as fun. It may really be that my son is getting too old but we finally just had to quit playing! Luckily, we had stopped for shaved ice while we played (it was great!).

We hit the pool next but it was slightly chilly outside so we decided to go back to the room for some light lunch and to say goodbye to my dad. Aulani arranged a car for him and he was off. They had no problem with the traffic and made it home without incident.

We hung around the villa bit and watched some TV. I also finished some laundry and started to pack for the last time. I cannot tell you how sick I was of our bags. By the end, we had been in 7 cities, 12 airports, and 7 hotels. We were ready to send these bags home! Luckily, we did not over pack and I washed everything so I had almost no laundry when I got home.

By the time we hung out a bit, we felt like a cocktail (mocktail for DS). Since it was Happy Hour, we headed to Monkeypod once last time. We got some appetizers and reflected on our trip. We looked at the shops at the shopping center and had a nice time.

When we got back to Aulani, we went for a stroll around the resort to see if we wanted to hang out any place else. For the first time, DS asked if he could go to Aunty’s. We sent him and said we would pick him up in a few hours. Being the party people that we are, DH and I went back to the room, watched more basketball, and drank some wine we still had in the villa.

We picked up DS at Aunty’s where he had a lot of fun and headed back to the room. We wanted to check FX to see if they were showing Rambo again but much to our luck, Conan, The Barbarian was on. I had not seen it since it came out and DS had never seen it. We LOVED it! We all talked about it for weeks after and even bought the DVD. We love Arnold and the movie is just insane. James Earl Jones turns into a SNAKE (sorry, spoiler alert!). It became the movie of our trip.

It was late by then so we went to bed because we planned to get up at 5:00 am to make our 8:00 am flight.

Day 22—We are finally outta here!

We left Aulani very early and even though everyone was ready to get home, we were really sad to leave. We had no problems getting to the airport. We had a very uneventful flight home. Thanks, Delta!

It had truly been the trip of a lifetime. The one thing that we knew is that we will be returning to Aulani as soon as we can. That one and done thing did not work out. We loved it and think it is our favorite Disney Resort. We went in with substandard planning (I was not on my game) at the very busiest time of the year and went away with nothing but positive feelings. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why I did not like Hawaii on my previous trips. The people are wonderful, the scenery cannot be beat, and the food is great! We loved it.

If you feel like me and are on the fence, I urge you try Aulani. It is wonderful! I will end the report with some final thoughts and tell you about our future plans for Hawaii! Thanks for reading along.

 

[hilarys]

Thanks for the great trip report. Being from California we rotate trips to WDW and Hawaii as it takes the same flight time to each. We love Aulani and love to do the trip like you do alternating resort days with exploring the island days. We love Kualoa ranch too. It is so fun seeing movie trailers now and recognizing where the filming had taken place. Can't wait to hear about your future Aulani adventures - still tons of great places to explore on the island. You should definitely hit Kailua beach next time.

 

[acndis]

Final Summary/Reflections

This trip was truly the trip of a lifetime and while it has definitely not burned us out on traveling, it has helped us focus more on what we want out of vacationing. With Hawaii and Aulani, I believe we found the perfect blend. Hawaii will be our vacation destination in the near future. We plan to go to Oahu/Aulani in summer 2019 and are already booked on NCL’s Pride of America in December 2019. We wanted to make a trip to the other islands but the Winter Holidays are an expensive time to visit Hawaii. Though it is not DCL, we thought the cruise would be a great way to sample the islands so we could plan a longer trip to our favorite in the future. And hey, it’s a great chance to hang out with Ken again in Hilo!

The Aulani Advantages

· The flight is a bit long but overall, it’s fairly easy to get to from Texas. No passport needed and your cell phone works!

· You can go anytime of the year. Weather is mostly consistently beautiful.

· Aulani reminds me of a cruise but without all the things I do not like about a cruise. (You are not trapped on the ship. Rooms are beautiful and large. You have food options. You can check your email!)

· If you have a villa, you can cook and have food in your room. Dining out on vacation is one of our great pleasures but it is so nice to have the option to eat in at Aulani. That is one thing we did not like about the resort in Gold Coast, Australia. The beach and pool were so beautiful you did not want to leave but every meal was astronomically expensive and only okay, nothing special. With Aulani, you have the best of all worlds.

· There was something for everyone. Our multigenerational group had a great time!


Aulani Disadvantages

· Ko Olina does not have as many exciting things to do as the Waikiki area (could also be an advantage) but you really need a car.

· Booking at 7 months was a nightmare for me. I am hoping it will be better this summer but another reason we booked the NCL cruise is because I could not face trying to get a room over the holidays. I would urge you not to book flights until you have rooms and remain flexible! You may need to plan a few days in the Waikiki area if there is no availability on your planned days.

· Aunty’s skews a bit young for my son and there are not many tween activities. This is a small problem but I would love to see them add more stuff for tweens.

Things we wished we had done and will do the next time:

· Brunch at Makahiki. We were put off thinking it was only characters but oysters on the buffet! How did we miss that??!!

· North Shore. Shrimp Trucks get ready!

· More beach time!

· Fitness classes every morning

· More time in Waikiki area.

Thanks for following along! We are on the Disney Fantasy next week for Star Wars Day at Sea. I will probably write up our trip for that, too!

My husband and I will have a better strategy for pictures! We realized that we did not take as many as we thought we had in Hawaii. I blame end of trip burnout.

Remember, always have Aloha Spirit or risk getting drop kicked!

 

[luvmychaos]

I thoroughly enjoyed your review! And will look forward to seeing another one soon! We have 185 days to go until Aulani, so I’m absorbing all I can! We have 3 kids - 1 girl that will be a fresh teen when we go, and 2 boys 10 and 8. Your perspective on Aunty’s might end up saving us some money I was thinking of booking the premium things, to ensure I got them in there somehow but now I’m thinking maybe not.
More pool and snorkel time for them!

 

[acndis]

I enjoyed your Auckland trip report! My family really wants to visit New Zealand soon!

You should definitely try to get there! It is such a wonderful place. I hope we can get back soon (maybe in conjunction with an Aulani trip!).

 

[acndis]

I thoroughly enjoyed your review! And will look forward to seeing another one soon! We have 185 days to go until Aulani, so I’m absorbing all I can! We have 3 kids - 1 girl that will be a fresh teen when we go, and 2 boys 10 and 8. Your perspective on Aunty’s might end up saving us some money I was thinking of booking the premium things, to ensure I got them in there somehow but now I’m thinking maybe not.
More pool and snorkel time for them!

I don't know if it was the time we were there or if this is the norm but all the activities had LOTS of very young kids and a few tweens. The premium activities seemed especially young. I saw the kids going to feed the fish, adorable, but they all looked about 4-6 years.

DS really LOVED the tween event and met some very cool kids He definitely preferred that evening. You don't have to sign up in advance and there's no additional charge.

Honestly, if your kids are not big 'kids club' fans, you may end up skipping it all together. For your teen, there seemed to be some very cool stuff so I would check into that in the Daily Iwa!

 

[acndis]

I have truly enjoyed your adventures so far! Would have loved to been able to sneak in one of your suitcases to join your family on this (for me at least) once-in-a-lifetime vacation So glad you are enjoying your visit to Aulani!

Aw, thanks! I enjoyed writing the report but wish we had taken more pictures! We thought we did but have realized we kind of failed! It was a once in a lifetime trip. I am so glad I got to experience that part of the world. It really leaves you with a different perspective.

However, after coming back from 'summer' in Australia/New Zealand and the weather in Hawaii, I have been miserable with our unusually cold, gray weather in Central Texas. Cold weather means everyone's mood really lacks 'Aloha Spirit' so I have missed Hawaii every day since we got back. That may be the downside of going during December!

Thank goodness we are on the Fantasy next week!

 

[acndis]

Loving the trip report. I live in New Zealand. There is so much to do here. Definitely the South Island including Queenstown. Taupo in the middle of the north island is good too. Plus the glaciers on the west coast of the South Island. I live in Wellington at the Bottom of the north island, it’s a pretty cool country to live in and this last summer has been some of the best weather we have ever had. For all those thinking about visiting you should definitely come if you can.

Must get back to NZ ASAP. I would have stayed there if you all would have let me! It's such a wonderful place.