Lama pa'ipa'i on the Lanai – an Aulani TR -Aloha and Mahalo Aulani! Link to PTR 11/5

[natebenma]

I'm peeling pineapple and piling poi on a plate in preparation

I'm so in!!!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

This will be my first time on one of your TRs, except for your las trip with ME. Looking forward to this trip.

Couples trips are so fine, it's important to get away from the kids once in a while, keeps marriage healthy.

 

[MeMom]

I look forward to seeing pictures of a place I will most likely never get to. Glad you guys got to have some grown-up time to be refreshed and ready to face normal family chaos again.

 

[micandminforever]

Joining the fun.

 

[annmarieda]

I am so excited for this TR!!!

 

[carissanboys]

I'm here and very excited!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Can't wait to hear all about it!!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

So excited that you've started your report! I cannot wait to hear all about it. I am that your informal itinerary has more detail than my most planned trips. You are a superstar trip planner, that is for sure and I too may be saving this for future reference.

Very encouraging that you were able to get ocean view at 6.5 months out. Of course travel from the east coast not as economical but I would really love to find my way out there. Maybe if I buy an add-on with "extra" points that "need" using...

Forgot to add... my guess at the title is happy hour on the lanai? Looks like you had a gorgeous view!!

 

[conciergekelly]

I'm in!! Looking forward to it. Going there for our 25 th anniversary next year. Going away without the kids is couples therapy! I love your TRs by the way

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

I'm here too!! I can't wait to read this, since I have done literally NO research into this new resort. It will be like discovering it for the first time.

I love reading your updates on your kids. I can't believe the boys are moving up to Jr High and High School!!!

Question about Taylor : What can you tell me about this Digital Music major that he is doing? I've never heard of it before and depending on what it is, it might be up the right alley for my nephew.

 

[pooh'smate]

Joining in.

 

[Mickcruiser]

Ready for this, and wondering if you'll do a ptr for your nye trip.

 

[emmysmommy]

Yay! I made page 3!! Look what happens when I take 1 day off the Boards!

I'm looking forward to this TR!

 

[eandesmom]

First!

Jill in CO

Jill! So happy to have you here

I am here!!!

Magdalene! So glad you are here.

And now I have also read your long introduction. Which was quite wonderful!

I must say that I absolutely love the story about your mom - and feel very privileged that I have met her and truly can appreciate what a wonderful person she is. When you mention your parents I always remember our dinner together very fondly! That was a great evening!

They feel the same about you! She is pretty fabulous, I am very blessed.

Me too.

Hi Jenny! and !!!

Yeah! I am in!

Karin!

Found you! Can't wait to read all about it...

You will be there soon! Mark!

Wooo Hooo! I'm in on this one nice and early! You are fast on these things girl!

Sheree!!! I don't know about fast, it's more about not wanting to let too much time go by before I start or I'll have no hope of doing a PTR for the NYE trip. Assuming it happens...

I actually made it to one of your TR's before I'm 20 pages behind!

You did good Andy!

I look forward to following along and seeing the awesomeness that is Aulani.

It is AMAZING. We will be back.

 

[eandesmom]

I'm in!
Coming back later to read....




KIM

Kim!

How big is your garage?

Not that big. The deal is I get to keep my parking spot so he has to make it fit on his side. Which, while the wings aren't attached is doable. Tight...but doable. Once it's time to put them on it will get moved, probably to our local EAA hangar to get finished up and then down to a local seaplane base for permanent housing.

Forget the clue. How about some help with the pronunciation?

When I read "Lama pa'ipa'i" it is pronounced "Cynthia's Aulani TR."

Lama pa'ipa'i - "peeah-ee, peeah-ee" actually. Where the pause noted by the hyphen is like the sound in oh-oh.

What can I say, it sounded better than Kope – “koh-peh” on the lanai

Can't wait to hear about this trip!! Hee-Hee!

Millie!

Seriously

Whoo hoo I am here!!!! If I am lucky I may be stealing this itinerary.

We didn't do a lot of the typical things and would add some of those back in when we take the kids, Pearl at a minimum.

Cynthia, thanks for the heads up. I'll be back to read later (probably Monday as going out of town for bridal shower this weekend).

***Intros read and enjoyed, as always. You truly have a beautiful family.

And happy to see I made Page 1!

Kathy! so glad you made it

I will look forward to seeing pictures of the shower elsewhere and hope you have an amazing weekend!

 

[Misskitty3]

Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

 

[luvs2cruise]

Looking forward to reading more. My dh and I will be heading to Aulani in September to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.

 

[eandesmom]

Exactly.

I'm in!

Wendy!

Hoping to get a reservation for February at the 7th month window...can't wait to hear more!

When we originally were thinking of possibly adding on at Aulani, or even buying there as our original contract, feb was a prime month we targeted as when we might want to go. Looking hard at it for 2015 for a return trip (though I'd love to get back there sooner!). I hope your 7 month booking is painless.

Yay!! I'm here!! I reeeeeaaally want to go to Aulani!!!! I can't wait to see all the pictures and hear about your experiences!

Emma! So happy you are here.

I'm thinking you had a good view at Aulani and I noticed you have two of my favorite things on your verandah - coffee and wine (in no particular order).

Love the picture of Taylor. He looks great.

I love that picture of him too

We spent a LOT of time on that lanai, drinking both of those things. Well, wine for me anyway. Jeff went for beer or we both went for cocktails. We ate out there too occasionally...like every day... Seriously, we are lanai junkies.

I'm peeling pineapple and piling poi on a plate in preparation

I'm so in!!!

Mnnn! Pineapple!

Dee!

This will be my first time on one of your TRs, except for your las trip with ME. Looking forward to this trip.

! I am so happy you are here, I'm subbed to your TR but got horribly behind, need to get over there and see what's what.

Couples trips are so fine, it's important to get away from the kids once in a while, keeps marriage healthy.

So important we think. Not at the expense of not doing family trips but alternating is a perfectly fine thing to do and I'd like to think our kids understand and support that.

 

[eandesmom]

I look forward to seeing pictures of a place I will most likely never get to. Glad you guys got to have some grown-up time to be refreshed and ready to face normal family chaos again.

MeMom! It wouldn't be the same without you here.

Normal family chaos is right actually came home to full fledged Disney planning today with the ticket price increase tomorrow it's been a flurry of calls and emails to see if others are really ready to commit anything for the NYE trip. Combine that with the stomach bug Evan had while we were gone, that he gave to my dad who in turn gave it to me...yeah, we are out of the bubble.

Joining the fun.

thrilled to have you here!

I am so excited for this TR!!!

Yay, Ann's here!

I'm here and very excited!

Carissa! thrilled you can join on this adventure

Can't wait to hear all about it!!

Amy!!!

So excited that you've started your report! I cannot wait to hear all about it. I am that your informal itinerary has more detail than my most planned trips. You are a superstar trip planner, that is for sure and I too may be saving this for future reference.

Christine!

It was pretty funny. For me, while it wasn't the least amount of planning I've done before a couples only trip, it was up there. Before the weekend just prior I had 3 dining reservations and a spa appointment. That's it. A few notes on where grocery stores were and other dining options that I knew we didn't need ressies at. However it ended up being a very good thing that I'd done the activity research I did prior to the trip even if it was last minute, it really paid off.

I did way more planning on how we would eat meals in a studio without a full kitchen including packing shatterproof wine glasses

Very encouraging that you were able to get ocean view at 6.5 months out. Of course travel from the east coast not as economical but I would really love to find my way out there. Maybe if I buy an add-on with "extra" points that "need" using...

Forgot to add... my guess at the title is happy hour on the lanai? Looks like you had a gorgeous view!!

I think if you can avoid June-August and Xmas/Thanksgiving, chances at 7 months are pretty good. There are very few standard view rooms and those go fast but lots of the rest. I don't know the breakdown but there may be more ocean view than any other category. The pool view rooms are quite nice too, though I'd go for ocean view again next time personally. We spent so much time out there it was worth every point.

The kids were pretty funny about it when we got back...yeah...points that "need" using...nice excuse. To which our response was...we don't need an excuse.

And they agreed with that part, albeit reluctantly.

I'm in!! Looking forward to it. Going there for our 25 th anniversary next year. Going away without the kids is couples therapy! I love your TRs by the way

So happy to have you here! It is couples therapy and so important. .You will love it, honestly about 50% of the folks there, maybe more, were there as couples or larger adult only groups. It was a great mix of people. I am sure come June-August the number of kids will go up but it was a nice mix for us.

 

[WDW_Diane]

Welcome to the latest eandesmom trip report!

Notice it is not an and gang report. For those of you that know me, this is not my first TR and usually we have a gaggle of folks along whether it is some or all of our 4 kids, or in laws but this report is about a much needed couples only trip to the magical place known as

Aulani!

I believe this is something like my 10th TR if you include PTRs however it is my first one in the DVC TR section. Given that, I think some proper introductions are in order! This trip would be just myself, and my DH Jeff. I am the Disney Freak in the family as Jeff likes to call it but the reality is that the whole crew is pretty into it (thankfully).

Here we are!

http://s91.photobucket.com/user/ean...6-182FD68E2E2A-2499-00000246028C2703.jpg.html

http://s91.photobucket.com/user/ean...3-CCC1BB58DA2D-2499-000002461F7FE2F7.jpg.html

First up, me

Cynthia. Certified Disney nut. I fell in love with Disney when I was 10, thanks to my mom. Who is technically my stepmom but holds the full mom ranking in my heart and every way that matters. While dating my dad, she somehow convinced him to take his 4 kids, in one small car, on a road trip to California. We camped on the way down and in the days before seatbelts, I sat on her lap the entire way there and back. Not only did we all live, she survived the whole thing so well he proposed on the trip and I fell in love with Disney. You can read about it here:

A blustery day

I am a full time working mom in sales and marketing for an engineering firm. Which may explain a lot. While not an engineer, I like the geeky side of things and like to think I combine that aspect, with the marketing stuff and as a result have special affinities for things like fuzzy Disney math, spreadsheets and a little graphic design on the side. Ive been to DLR 5x, WDW 8x and on DCL twice now. Ive been known to ditch the family and do Disney girls trips on my own with other DISers. Oh and I like coffee. In cups. A lot. I have a thing about it, and pick my mug for the day based on my mood, the weather, the season. I especially like it on the verandah. The balcony, patio, deck and lanai also work pretty darn well!

http://s91.photobucket.com/user/ean...1-A1CA32616FBA-2499-000002474C7C9491.jpg.html

And, Jeff.

While reportedly not the Disney freak he says I am, he's been known to suggest retiring to Florida, getting jobs as CM's and recording Disney documentary type shows on TV (for me he says) that I didn't even know were on. For a guy who says a trip every 3 years is enough, hes managed to stomach a trip that has some kind of Disney element (be it WDW, DLR or DCL) pretty much every year since 2009. I have him beat on the WDW trips by several trips but he grew up in CA and went to college there and has me eating his dust when it comes to DLR. He is an aerospace engineer who is building a seaplane in our garage. I support him in this&which gives me a LOT of quid pro quo when it comes to Disney!

Jeffs idea of nirvana. Margaritaville and the Hemisphere Dancer (BIG Seaplane, owned and flown by Jimmy Buffet) at the Lone Palm Airport in Orlando.

http://s91.photobucket.com/user/ean...7-29 Margaritaville to Vero/IMG_0334.jpg.html

Between the 2 of us, we have 4 kids, "his and hers" if you will though we don't think of it that way. No "ours", it would have messed up a good thing and besides, 4 is plenty! We met in 2002, our first date at a local Jazz club as we share a love for music. Fast forward a couple years later and we got engaged at that same club. He survived his first trip to WDW in 2004 with my entire family (20 of us) and I knew he was a keeper! We married in 2004 and have been blessed with 4 kids that truly do act as siblings and no step drama. I'll introduce them all but they play a very minor role in this trip, other than we did bring the younger ones back presents (older ones just aren't into it at this point) and have spent some time plotting to get all of them back to Aulani with us for the next trip, the younger ones at a minimum.

First up, Taylor (20). Taylor is a sophomore (digital music major) in college and as a result, hasn't made the last few Disney trips. He was busy bumming around Europe last summer! This is more recent photo of him. Music is his life and passion, whether it is the guitar, singing, writing or mixing. He plays locally here and there and recently did a week as a roadie! Hes also a pretty darn good photographer and takes some pretty neat photos of his own, usually of the outdoors as he is an avid hiker and snowboarder. Technically as of tomorrow he will be a junior which is a bit mind boggling He goes to a private college in our city so we do get to see him occasionally. About as frequently as I saw my parents in college that is (and I too went to school 15 min away from my folks) which means holidays and the occasionally spur of the moment coffee or meal. We should see him for Fathers Day.

http://s91.photobucket.com/user/ean...cs/177435_4020023894342_1589898746_o.jpg.html

Then the lone girl, Kendall (16). Currently a junior in HS shes our soccer player and is in the midst of college craziness. As in shed like to play in college so its a whirlwind of ID camps, showcase tournaments, etc. Its not for everyone and I couldnt do it but shes got the drive and the passion and thankfully the grades to hopefully get a spot somewhere. So far shes had 4 schools express interest, one at the transcript level, so&we will see. Summer will tell. Our last family trip was really all about her. She turned 16 on it and we put together a 16 year old girls dream trip, knowing then that with soccer it was likely our last big family trip while she was in school. Heck at 16 it would have been my dream trip too! Lots of beach and pool time, a cruise and then a very special backstage safari (she is very interested in life sciences as a college major though is leaning away from veterinary school at the moment). She has an exciting summer between soccer and a trip to France with her school (French Class) but we are hoping to get at least a long weekend with her and Taylor, hopefully in Denver to see their grandma. Her instrument is her voice and she is very involved in the school vocal music program.

http://s91.photobucket.com/user/eandesmom/media/Travel/2012 Florida/8-2 Nassau/KatRP.jpg.html

The E's in the eandesmom user name

Evan (13). Evan is just finishing up middle school (8th grade) and will be off to HS next year, scary! He is a jack of all trades, interested in many things but a constant in his life is music, specifically the trombone both concert and jazz and has competed a local festival with a couple of small groups. This year he discovered a love of the theater and we expect to see more school play/musical activity and come fall, plans to give tennis a try at the HS so that should be interesting. He also happens to be a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do though middle school hasn't allowed as much time for him to continue and work on that 3rd degree belt, he does plan to get back to it. Currently hes busy plotting ways to earn money and attended a caddy class last week with the intention of doing that as a summer job. In his free time, hes a bit of a budding chef which is fun for me and also loves to design things although where I use the computer, that kid can sketch like no ones business. He is the one who gives me the most grey hairs but despite all of that, he manages to pull it all off and even made honor roll for the first time. And for a kid who we put in honors classes with the simple thought that hell go for B whether hes in honors or regular (not one to go the extra mile historically) we've been pleasantly surprised to see that his year, he started to care. And it shows.

http://s91.photobucket.com/user/eandesmom/media/Travel/2012 Florida/Intro/JoeCool.jpg.html

Last but not least Eric (12). Eric is also moving on, in his case from elementary to middle school. He is our most serious kid with life being fairly black and white&not much grey in Erics world. Its a pretty happy world most of the time, as long as it doesnt change to abruptly. He is arguably our biggest Disney fan, hes got a countdown calendar going for our next trip that he made back in February&and the trip isnt until 12/29/13! He will take it the hardest if that trip doesnt happen or gets postponed/pushed back. He is a planner, big time, and is busy plotting the ADRs for that trip. He is currently in a self-contained highly capable program which has been absolutely wonderful for him. We hope that middle school will continue to keep him challenged in that way and that he wont run into social issues, he is the one we worry about on that score. Hes very involved in boy scouts and is constantly on a hike or a camping trip, which makes him very happy. As with the rest of the gang, music is also a big part of his life, in his case piano and trumpet (yes&there is a theme here!).

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As you already know...we did NOT take the kids on this trip. Previous experiences have really taught us that the family is only as strong as the couple. To keep that intact, date nights and date trips as we like to call them, are key. It isn't always easy to pull off with busy kids, work and all the scheduling logistics that go along with it. We usually manage at least 1-2 long weekends a year but getting a whole week (or more) away is tricky. Our last long trip was in March of 2011 and was also to Hawaii, the Big Island for an amazing week. We are lucky, with where we live, Hawaii is about as accessible as it can be and we have been lucky enough to go there multiple times, both together and separately before we met. We have not taken the kids yet. The older ones have been once, with their mom, when Kendall had a soccer tournament there. When Disney first announced Aulani, we really considered buying there as wed been looking at DVC for some time. Ultimately we decided that with the flexibility we had, owning there wasn't critical, 11m booking advantage was more important to us elsewhere and wed take our chances at 7 months. We finally bought into DVC back in January of 2012..so not very long ago at all! We used our points for a magical first trip, staying at OKW, Vero and AKV. When we bought, we started small. I wanted THV advantage but didn't necessarily want all our points at SSR. So a small contract met our needs with the knowledge that wed be adding on within a year. And we did, this time at Boardwalk. Id had the opportunity to stay there in October on a girls trip and had been about to add on at SSR or OKW (which we LOVED). I changed my mind about the add on once I fell in love with the Boardwalk, it just felt like home. Wed needed to add on to have enough points for a planned larger trip for NYE 2013. However as our UY is Dec, our new contract came with 2011 points that we would have to use before that trip started. Not a lot of points, not enough for a 1b trip (and well, with the kids...I am not staying in a studio...thats why we bought in the first place! That and a family of 6 really dont fit in resort rooms as all of you know). Jeff was not keen on a long weekend at DLR though we could have pulled that off. That meant...date trip! yeah we could have rented the points but really, I'd rather use them! We looked into an RCI trade as an option and could have easily done a week in Cabo. Seriously considered it. I was not considering Aulani, feeling like it would be wrong to go there without the kids. As I looked at our options, especially our flight options, it became clear that Aulani was a bargain. At least a bargain to get and stay there...costs once there was of course a totally different issue! A bargain you say? Yes. A bargain. For the 2 of us to get there, using miles for 50% off one way and booking 2 separate one way tickets we spent a whopping $548 TOTAL to get there. Jeff was concerned it would be too "Disney" (aka too many little kids running around...too many characters) for his idea of a couples trip but he couldn't argue with the price and well, it was Hawaii! Even if it was Oahu, definitely our last choice island. Not that there is anything wrong with it, just spoiled west coaster thinking. I was able to book at 6.5m out, 6 nights in an ocean view studio. I also booked one night in an island/garden view studio and then waitlisted for standard. Our flight didn't land until 8:30 pm HST and it seemed silly to spend the points on the OV to just to sleep. It wasn't a huge point difference, 3 if the waitlist didn't come through, 6 if it did but 6 points is 6 points! About 2 months later, the waitlist came through.

I confess. I did very little planning for this trip. Wed both been to Oahu before, though never together. I have family there, quite a lot actually. As a result we were pretty laid back about the whole thing. A lot of the typical things that folks might do, we had already done and didn't feel the need to do. I read a few TR's, saintstickets, podsnel and lurkyloos probably being the ones that I paid the most attention to. I made a few reservations. The weekend before our trip, I knuckled down and did a bit more research specifically on the types of activities we were interested in and then changed some reservations, crunched the budget and packed. This left us with the following itinerary which honestly had very little that was set in stone; it was mostly full of ideas so that wed have options. I also got the kids schedules all mapped out for my folks who would be watching the younger boys, thats never fun. Kendall would be at a college ID camp and Taylor&studying for finals!

Tuesday 5/21:
C work, Jeff day off (brat)
Flight to HNL, eat dinner on plane, get car and check in.

Wednesday 5/22:
Breakfast at AMA AMA. As we'd be moving today and would not have hit the store yet, going out for breakfast seemed ideal and I didn't think Jeff would be up for a character breakfast on day one of a couples trip. Check out/in. Enjoy resort. Hit grocery store. Dinner in Villa.

Thursday 5/23:
Spa for both of us, Breakfast and Lunch in villa, Starlit Hui and dinner at Monkeypod

Friday 5/24:
Breakfast in villa, Ka'ena hike, lunch on the Northshore, afternoon on the Northshore, dinner in villa.

Saturday 5/25:
Breakfast in villa, Waimea Valley/Falls or hang out at resort or do a Northshore bike ride, lunch TBD, dinner at Makahiki.

Sunday 5/26:
Breakfast in villa, Diamond Head hike or bike ride, Hanauma Bay, lunch at villa, dinner at Roys.

Monday 5/27:
Breakfast in Villa, Koko head steps, Memorial Day BBQ at my cousins

Tuesday 5/28:
Breakfast in Villa, Lunch in villa, check out, enjoy resort, dinner at Aloha Beer or Gastropub, return car, fly home L

Wedneday 5/29:
Land in Seattle, C possibly go to work, Jeff day off (brat).

Oh and the title of this TR?

Here's a clue

http://s91.photobucket.com/user/ean...B-FA1D2A354B3A-2499-00000246E8FE011C.jpg.html

Did you do the north shore bike ride? My husband is a cyclist and would love riding on our trip.