The Trip I Thought I'd Never Take

[GatorChris]

Can I say.... I'm extra thankful for DisBoards today. Our computer crashed last weekend. And even though we had a Seagate drive backing everything up, it apparently stopped working correctly earlier this year. So every picture taken this year, every document saved, every video logged....it's all gone. So our Hawaii trip photos from my wife's DLSR camera went bye bye We unfortunately never shared them on FB (due to frequent vacation shaming ) and my wife cleared her memory card two months ago, thinking everything was double saved. There's always the few we took with our phones, but she's a beast with the super-camera she has.

BUT, I suddenly remember I posted a few photos here on the Aulani board. And even though they're shrunk in size to fit in these posts, at least I have them. I can't wait to let her see them this evening! Thanks, DIS!

Today's Tip: Get your photos developed!

 

[pharmama]

Oh no! Glad you were able to retrieve a few from this post!
Might want to look something like Backblaze if you aren't already. They will notify you if the backups aren't working too. There are also services that can try to recover data from your crashed hard drive.

 

[Nalshersmom]

I read the rest, and my question was answered Thank you for sharing your trip!

 

[poohgirl6]

Thank you for your very thorough and enjoyable trip report. We are booked at Aulani for Jan 12-19. We have been to Oahu several times, but never to Aulani (in fact we've never been to the leeward side of the island at all). DH and I are taking our grandkids on individual trips in 2019. We'll have our DGD age 5 1/2 with us at Aulani. She's a Moana superfan and loves all things Hawaiian (thanks to her grandmother ) I priced out staying at the Poly at WDW and we can actually stay for a week at Aulani for less that going to WDW (with tickets). We fly on points so airfare isn't a contributing factor. So excited to be in my favorite place and share the aloha with my DGD

 

[Rusty Coyte]

The title says it. My wife and kids would see the ads for Aulani and ask and beg and wish we could go. And I'd always say, "When I'm a millionaire". BUT....I had a friend who's a DVC owner who needed to get rid of 250 points by the summer and he wasn't using them. So he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. And my first thought were, "Let's go to WDW!!!!" That is, after all, my favorite place. But then I got to thinking how hot it gets in May in Florida...and the thought hit me that Hawaii is always the same temp year round. Let's see if we could get some nights there.

The rest is history. We locked up 5 nights in an ocean view room for the first full week in May. So I wanted to show some pics and drop some wisdom about the resort.

First bit of wisdom. If you live in the Central Valley of Cali and you want to catch a plane in San Jose on Monday morning, just go there the night before and get a hotel. The commute is always horrible, but this time it was a nightmare. Instead of easing into the vacation, we got to the airport 45 minutes before the flight departed. AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! So I dropped off the kids and wife with a SkyCab and they got everything aboard. I had to race to find a parking place and then run about a mile back to the Hawaiian Air desk. I made the 30 minute cut off by 2 minutes, according to the desk attendant. Then I ran through security and ran to the plane. And after all of that, we finally pull out of the gate, only to pull back in because "one of the passengers wasn't feeling well". So that took another hour to get out of the gate.

We finally landed in Honolulu an hour+ behind. Then waited half an hour (with about 20 other people) for the Budget rental bus to pick us up. And then I got lost about three times trying to find a place to eat before we went to the hotel. Things really started out poooooooorly.

But it's amazing how it all changes when you finally get to the hotel. Can I just say: Aulani is awesome. You ride in, the valet grab your bags for you, you walk in (if you're pre-registered) and an lady said, Here's your key cards and room! That easy. So we went into the Ewa tower and down the beautifully Hawaiian halls.
View attachment 324880

View attachment 324881

We walked into the room, and it was so amazing! A one-bedroom suite with a balcony that overlooked the Pacific.
View attachment 324882

View attachment 324883

When we got there, it was really cold! We all sweaters on and the wind was blowing like crazy. It felt like we landed on Pismo, not Oahu. For dinner, we decided to try out MonkeyPod. It had good ratings for Gluten Free food for the wife, so we tried it out. I can honestly say, it was OK. Not bad, and not great. But definitely cheaper than the Aulani main restaurants.

When we returned to the room, we realized that the Aulani luau was right below us. Well, waaaay below us. We were on the 15th floor. But we could see it from above and enjoy the music each evening. That was a real treat! To enjoy the show without forking out $125/person for hotel food.

View attachment 324891

View attachment 324892

The next day, we headed over to Pearl Harbor. It was a cooler day for Hawaii so it really worked out. I've hit Pearl when it was hot, so this was a welcome change. Here's a few shots. The first, is what you always go to see, the Arizona Memorial. This shot is from the USS Missouri.
View attachment 324893

I finally got to tour the USS Missouri, which I always wanted to do. And the Mighty Mo didn't disappoint. It was really the highlight of Pearl Harbor. I highly recommend it and definitely wait for a free tour. Lots of cool info.
View attachment 324894

More Pearl Harbor and the rest of the trip on the next post.

Great review Donald, thanks. Can I ask how you got around please ie going to Pearl Harbour etc, did you hire a car or use buses or other public transport? Is it still possible to rent DVC points? I wasn't sure as have not used them for 10+ years. Thanks, Dean from Australia

 

[Counting Stars]

Really great trip report, thanks for sharing. It looks like you had a wonderful trip! So sorry about your computer crash - I learned the hard way about backing up my computer to an external more often than I previously thought necessary

 

[GatorChris]

Great review Donald, thanks. Can I ask how you got around please ie going to Pearl Harbour etc, did you hire a car or use buses or other public transport? Is it still possible to rent DVC points? I wasn't sure as have not used them for 10+ years. Thanks, Dean from Australia

We rented a car to travel around the island. More freedom that way. And we rented points from a friend - back in 2018.