nkereina
Last chance to lose your keys.
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2009
Just back last week from an amazing 16 day honeymoon in Hawaii! DH and I are from Buffalo, NY and were married in the Finger Lakes in upstate NY at the end of August. DH used to have a job that allowed him to travel the world, but Hawaii was one of the few places he had never been! So we were excited to experience it together. We were also pumped for Aulani, since we are frequent WDW visitors.
Feel free to ask any questions, or ask for any other pics (I have A LOT more than what I'm posting). We did a lot of things that I read about here on the boards, and heeded a lot of the advice I always see here, so I'm happy to share my opinion or give advice of my own now that we have lived it!
Feel free to ask any questions, or ask for any other pics (I have A LOT more than what I'm posting). We did a lot of things that I read about here on the boards, and heeded a lot of the advice I always see here, so I'm happy to share my opinion or give advice of my own now that we have lived it!
Thursday September 15th
We left Buffalo at 6am on a Delta flight bound for Atlanta. Our flight was on time, arriving in the B terminal at the Atlanta airport. We had two hours to kill so we got breakfast and then headed over to the E terminal. Our flight from Atlanta to Honolulu was on an Airbus 330 - a wide body plane with a 2-4-2 seat configuration. Our travel agent messed up and booked us economy class, when we had requested comfort plus. I was nervous I'd be cursing her name during our 8 hour flight, but honestly, we could not have been more comfortable. Literally on the day we were flying, it was Delta's first day they were to begin providing meal service to all fare classes. And free alcohol to all fare classes too! Around lunch time, we had the choice of chicken or pasta so we chose the pasta dish. I was astonished at the amount of food they give you! Raviolis, a breadstick, caesar salad, shrimp, cheese & crackers, and a brownie. Throughout the entire flight, they frequently came by offering drinks, water, snacks, headphones, eye masks - whatever you needed. Everyone also had a pillow and blanket at their seat when they boarded. When we were about an hour out from Honolulu, they gave everyone a turkey sandwich. It was far superior service than what I was expecting, and we were very pleased with how quickly the flight seemed to go by. In addition to the great service, there were entertainment options galore - hundreds of movies and TV shows available to you for free on the TV at your seat. DH and I each watched two movies, slept a bit, and read a little - and then we were there!
We arrived on time in Honolulu, around 2:30pm local time. Hawaii is 6 hours behind us on the east coast, so it was really 8:30pm back home. We had a VERY difficult time adjusting to the time change, and I don't know if we ever fully did - we had a several early nights/early morning days throughout our whole trip.
I was a little surprised at how old and seemingly run down the Honolulu airport is. Much smaller than I anticipated and not what you picture when you see people stepping off the plane in movies, receiving a lei welcoming them to paradise. But, they got our luggage out very fast so we were in cab on our way to our resort in Waikiki within 30 minutes of landing.
A cab from the airport to Waikiki ran us about $50 including tip. We spent our first 3 nights at the Waikiki Beach Marriott. We did not have a rental car during our stay here. We had a partial ocean view room in the Kealohilani tower, which is the tower I'd recommend if you stay here. When you come off the elevator, your steps from Kalakaua Ave, which is the main drag of Waikiki. I think our tower also had refurbished rooms, but I can't confirm.
The Marriott was a good price point for us, and also in a great location on the strip. The pool was nothing to write home about, but we were not planning on pool time during our stay here. The hotel is also across the street from the beach, rather than right on it. Our room was large, as was the balcony which had two chairs, a small table, and a lounge chair. Our view was a true partial ocean view, and we also had a bottle of champagne in our room for a honeymoon gift. Our stay here was only 3 nights, but it was good and I would definitely recommend the hotel.
Our view from our room at the Waikiki Beach Marriott.
Sorry for the white borders. First time using Shutterfly to upload here
After checking in and getting settled in our room, we set out on foot to explore! We first walked over to the beach which was a little crowded.
Waikiki Beach
Eventually, we made our way to the Outrigger Resort for dinner at Duke's. I had made reservations by phone about two weeks prior, but did not realize the outdoor patio was separate from the dining room area. We preferred the outdoor patio, so we put our name on the list out there instead. It was about 7pm and we had about a 30 minute wait. DH had a chicken sandwich and I had the fish tacos. We also split the Hula Pie - highly recommend!!
Duke's patio/outdoor seating
Hula pie!
After dinner, we were exhausted so called it an early night. We wanted to be rested up for Diamond Head the next morning!
We left Buffalo at 6am on a Delta flight bound for Atlanta. Our flight was on time, arriving in the B terminal at the Atlanta airport. We had two hours to kill so we got breakfast and then headed over to the E terminal. Our flight from Atlanta to Honolulu was on an Airbus 330 - a wide body plane with a 2-4-2 seat configuration. Our travel agent messed up and booked us economy class, when we had requested comfort plus. I was nervous I'd be cursing her name during our 8 hour flight, but honestly, we could not have been more comfortable. Literally on the day we were flying, it was Delta's first day they were to begin providing meal service to all fare classes. And free alcohol to all fare classes too! Around lunch time, we had the choice of chicken or pasta so we chose the pasta dish. I was astonished at the amount of food they give you! Raviolis, a breadstick, caesar salad, shrimp, cheese & crackers, and a brownie. Throughout the entire flight, they frequently came by offering drinks, water, snacks, headphones, eye masks - whatever you needed. Everyone also had a pillow and blanket at their seat when they boarded. When we were about an hour out from Honolulu, they gave everyone a turkey sandwich. It was far superior service than what I was expecting, and we were very pleased with how quickly the flight seemed to go by. In addition to the great service, there were entertainment options galore - hundreds of movies and TV shows available to you for free on the TV at your seat. DH and I each watched two movies, slept a bit, and read a little - and then we were there!
We arrived on time in Honolulu, around 2:30pm local time. Hawaii is 6 hours behind us on the east coast, so it was really 8:30pm back home. We had a VERY difficult time adjusting to the time change, and I don't know if we ever fully did - we had a several early nights/early morning days throughout our whole trip.
I was a little surprised at how old and seemingly run down the Honolulu airport is. Much smaller than I anticipated and not what you picture when you see people stepping off the plane in movies, receiving a lei welcoming them to paradise. But, they got our luggage out very fast so we were in cab on our way to our resort in Waikiki within 30 minutes of landing.
A cab from the airport to Waikiki ran us about $50 including tip. We spent our first 3 nights at the Waikiki Beach Marriott. We did not have a rental car during our stay here. We had a partial ocean view room in the Kealohilani tower, which is the tower I'd recommend if you stay here. When you come off the elevator, your steps from Kalakaua Ave, which is the main drag of Waikiki. I think our tower also had refurbished rooms, but I can't confirm.
The Marriott was a good price point for us, and also in a great location on the strip. The pool was nothing to write home about, but we were not planning on pool time during our stay here. The hotel is also across the street from the beach, rather than right on it. Our room was large, as was the balcony which had two chairs, a small table, and a lounge chair. Our view was a true partial ocean view, and we also had a bottle of champagne in our room for a honeymoon gift. Our stay here was only 3 nights, but it was good and I would definitely recommend the hotel.
Our view from our room at the Waikiki Beach Marriott.
Sorry for the white borders. First time using Shutterfly to upload here
After checking in and getting settled in our room, we set out on foot to explore! We first walked over to the beach which was a little crowded.
Waikiki Beach
Eventually, we made our way to the Outrigger Resort for dinner at Duke's. I had made reservations by phone about two weeks prior, but did not realize the outdoor patio was separate from the dining room area. We preferred the outdoor patio, so we put our name on the list out there instead. It was about 7pm and we had about a 30 minute wait. DH had a chicken sandwich and I had the fish tacos. We also split the Hula Pie - highly recommend!!
Duke's patio/outdoor seating
Hula pie!
After dinner, we were exhausted so called it an early night. We wanted to be rested up for Diamond Head the next morning!