A Tale of Two Trips: Disneyland and Hawaii July 2014 Long Way Home: The End 9/13 p.40

[natebenma]

Dee - Big Island is big! Looking forward to hearing about your alternate time saving, but expensive plan.

The grounds look beautiful. Agreed though your room does look tired. What a shame. The uncleanliness clues - very yucky.

Look forward to hearing more about your final days outside in beautiful surroundings!

Why couldn't there be some sort of description to let me know we were headed to a Big Island???

I don't think my time saving, expensive plan is a big secret since I have a picture of the helicopter on the first page of my report, but this was a relatively new tour offered and it was exactly what I wanted. It was the best excursion we have ever done. Just amazing!

Dee - So glad I have found your trip report! I remember reading one of yours before.

My fiance and I are also from the northeast (well, Pittsburgh), and we are planning our honeymoon. One of our ideas is DLR + Aulani.. So this is perfect! We are first time DL'ers too.. I am so excited to read all about your trip. And I just love your "through the years" pics in the first post. Too cute.

and Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

So glad to have you back for another report!

I would be happy to answer any questions you have, if I can. We totally loved visiting both Disneyland and Hawaii. It was a great way to break up the travel time and it was nice having the gradual adjustment to the time differences.

When would the trip be? The one recommendation I have right now is to book tickets to the Arizona Memorial 6 months before your trip if you are planning on visiting Pearl Harbor. There are a limited number of tickets offered in advance and it was nice for us to know we were all set.

The first time we went to the Big Island we only stayed in Kona and made that long round trip to Volcano National Park in one day. The second time we split the trip and stayed near Hilo for a night before flying to Honolulu.

As you know, not only is the island BIG, but there are limited roadways to get around.

We knew we didn't want to have a 6 hour road trip to Volcano National Park on the day we were flying back home. We certainly wouldn't have the luxury to stop along the way at any other attractions or areas to help break up the trip. I was so disappointed with the thought that we were not going to have the opportunity to visit VNP.

Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a solution to our problem. And honestly, it wasn't much more than a regular helicopter tour.

 

[Vernie822]

and Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

So glad to have you back for another report!

I would be happy to answer any questions you have, if I can. We totally loved visiting both Disneyland and Hawaii. It was a great way to break up the travel time and it was nice having the gradual adjustment to the time differences.

When would the trip be? The one recommendation I have right now is to book tickets to the Arizona Memorial 6 months before your trip if you are planning on visiting Pearl Harbor. There are a limited number of tickets offered in advance and it was nice for us to know we were all set.

Thank you SO much! Even reading through your trip report (and Cynthia's from when they went to Aulani), I have learned so much. I think a mix of some adventure at DLR plus relaxation (and more adventure) in Hawaii would be perfect.

Our trip will be September 2016. Our wedding is Sept 3rd (Labor Day weekend) so we are hoping to fly out Sunday or Monday. How many days would you suggest at DLR? We are thinking of arriving Sunday late afternoon/evening, and doing parks Mon-Tues-Weds, then leaving Thursday hopefully in the AM to get to Hawaii by late afternoon. Probably just exploring/getting our bearings/having a nice dinner on Sunday. It seems like you guys did about equal - would you say 3 full days is enough?

And I will definitely keep that in mind about Pearl Harbor, thanks for the heads up! We would love to see the memorial and learn all about it.

 

[saintstickets]

Nice update Dee! We've been to Hawaii twice (30 years apart) but never made it to the Big Island. If we ever make it back, I'd love to do some kind of volcano tour. That resort looks like they really were influenced by Disney.

Money can't buy happiness,

'Tis true but let me win the lottery and if I'm not somewhat happier, I can always give it away!

 

[momabbate]

What awesome trip. Thank you for sharing it all with us. Loved hearing the DL part from new eyes. I haven't been in 26 years. As for Hawaii, it is just a lovely place I am so glad you got to do so much. I never had any desire to go snorkeling, seeing your pics may have changed my mind.

 

[natebenma]

Thank you SO much! Even reading through your trip report (and Cynthia's from when they went to Aulani), I have learned so much. I think a mix of some adventure at DLR plus relaxation (and more adventure) in Hawaii would be perfect.

Our trip will be September 2016. Our wedding is Sept 3rd (Labor Day weekend) so we are hoping to fly out Sunday or Monday. How many days would you suggest at DLR? We are thinking of arriving Sunday late afternoon/evening, and doing parks Mon-Tues-Weds, then leaving Thursday hopefully in the AM to get to Hawaii by late afternoon. Probably just exploring/getting our bearings/having a nice dinner on Sunday. It seems like you guys did about equal - would you say 3 full days is enough?

And I will definitely keep that in mind about Pearl Harbor, thanks for the heads up! We would love to see the memorial and learn all about it.

Definitely pay attention to Cynthia's report(s)! She knows what she is talking about with Hawaii and won't steer you someplace like Red Lobster!

We were in DL for 4 nights. We arrived mid-day (CA time) on Saturday and left for Hawaii on Wednesday morning, so we had one half day on our arrival and 3 full days. I think that was the perfect amount of time.

Yes, we arrived in Hawaii in the afternoon and had enough energy to explore and have a simple dinner. We were pretty wiped out by the end of that day, though, but refreshed the next morning.

Nice update Dee! We've been to Hawaii twice (30 years apart) but never made it to the Big Island. If we ever make it back, I'd love to do some kind of volcano tour. That resort looks like they really were influenced by Disney.

You will have to read up on our volcano day. Definitely a great experience.

I hear that the snorkeling is pretty amazing on the Big Island, so I am a little disappointed that we didn't have a chance to do that. There are places you can snorkel with giant Manta Rays, and although we did that in Atlantis, it would be supremely cool to do that in the wild!

'Tis true but let me win the lottery and if I'm not somewhat happier, I can always give it away!

Excellent point!

What awesome trip. Thank you for sharing it all with us. Loved hearing the DL part from new eyes. I haven't been in 26 years. As for Hawaii, it is just a lovely place I am so glad you got to do so much. I never had any desire to go snorkeling, seeing your pics may have changed my mind.

Thank you so much!

We really enjoyed our time in Disneyland. I loved the way it was both familiar and different from what we were used to at WDW.

My husband had to convince me to try snorkeling many many years ago. I was sure that I wouldn't be coordinated enough to swim and breathe through the snorkel at the same time. But once I hit the water and was able to see beneath the sea, I was hooked. I spent that entire day face down in the water, which, for the record, is not a great idea unless your back is covered with a t-shirt and you are sunscreened really well.

 

[eandesmom]

Mark and I went to Puerto Rico for our 25th anniversary in 2012. We stayed at Las Casitas (El Conquistador). The boys did not accompany us on that trip.

There are a couple of RCI's I can trade into and they look lovely. Ideally I'd be doing wait list now but that's a $96 fee. My struggle is that it's a room that sleeps 4. Which means teens sharing a bed. We actually did survive this last weekend, amazingly, for 3 nights on the Oregon Coast. Which was encouraging after the disaster that was our one night at HHV. We surrvived because 1) it was a bigger room. Not huge but a little separation went a long way and 2) the bed, and pull out, were both queens. These seem to be both double beds. Which could be livable if we got 2 studios but as they only show dates through December, I really have no idea of how probable or possible it would be to get 2. Or to have them close to each other at the resort itself. So the idea of $96x2 to potentially hold something is a little scary. But the point value for it is fabulous. So...we will see.

February or April may be our last trip together. We came "this" close to booking a trip to Oahu again for Feb vacation because Ben said he wants to go back. But when we discussed it with the boys, they didn't want to do the same thing.

Of this year???? What grade is Ben?

They both, miraculously came to us with the same destination as a suggestion: Europe!

If we do this is may be for a week during April vacation or for longer in the summer. Ben wants to do the World War II tribute tour. His proposed itinerary has about a dozen military museums on it!

We shall see.

I would love to do that with the boys. Instead, they will be doing it without us. That is their trip this year, with school. Ireland. I'd love to go along (not chaperone but stalk lol) but I don't see it happening.

Here's the problem. The resort is on the opposite side of the island from the volcanoes! How could I have known that it would be a 3 hour trip, each way, to get to the other side of the Big Island to tour Volcano National Park on the one day we would be there? I suppose the name "Big Island" should have been a clue!!!

Had I done the proper research before booking, I would have flown into/out of Hilo on the east coast of the island for a stay in that area instead of Kona, but by the time I figured that out, it was too late (expensive) to make the changes.

We knew we wanted to take a helicopter tour over the volcanos, which we could easily do from the Kona area, but I also wanted a land-based volcano experience. And I couldn't figure out how we were going to accomplish this.

Fortunately, a few months before the trip, we found a solution. A really good one. A really EXPENSIVE one. But worth every penny!

Oh my word, I didn't even think about it and should have counseled you better. I think I forgot you were doing this for one day...and planning on volcano's. We stayed in Kona and yeah...it was a LONG day of driving there and back and you were much further into town than we were I think. DISfriend FAIL!

I have very mixed feelings about this resort. It is trying to be "Disney", but it is not. The resort is expansive and beautiful. It even has monorails and boats to help you get from place to place.

Reminiscent of Stormalong Bay at the Beach Club, the main pool is huge and even has a sand-bottom feature.

The welcome message on our room phone even told me to "Have a magical day"

But I have been to Disney. I am friends with Disney. You, sir, are NO Disney!

I had NO idea that place was so massive. No clue at all! We were in a condo, shoot. If you ever go back to the Big Island, the place we stayed at was fabulous.

But the resort was full of screaming kids, rude parents who didn't care and slobs- there was trash left all around by guests. Don't get me wrong, I love kids, I have two of my own, but I was appalled that parents let their kids climb all over things they shouldn't and to be so loud in enclosed spaces like the monorail, without asking them to use an inside voice.

We found our room to be a bit dingy and dated. When we were walking to our room after checking in, in the hallway near the elevator, we saw a blue rubber glove on a railing. That glove stayed there the entire time we were there.

I actually found a diamond earring on the floor of our room which made me seriously doubt the room had been vacuumed thoroughly.

It could also be that I was a crank, at the end of an amazing, but exhausting, 14 day trip, with a long day of touring (11 hours) and a punishing day of traveling home ahead of us, but I was not feeling it!

ick ick and I wouldn't have been feeling it either!

 

[natebenma]

There are a couple of RCI's I can trade into and they look lovely. Ideally I'd be doing wait list now but that's a $96 fee. My struggle is that it's a room that sleeps 4. Which means teens sharing a bed. We actually did survive this last weekend, amazingly, for 3 nights on the Oregon Coast. Which was encouraging after the disaster that was our one night at HHV. We surrvived because 1) it was a bigger room. Not huge but a little separation went a long way and 2) the bed, and pull out, were both queens. These seem to be both double beds. Which could be livable if we got 2 studios but as they only show dates through December, I really have no idea of how probable or possible it would be to get 2. Or to have them close to each other at the resort itself. So the idea of $96x2 to potentially hold something is a little scary. But the point value for it is fabulous. So...we will see.

Can't wait to hear what works out for you.

My boys are PITAs about sharing a bed, too, but we made them suck it up on the DL/Hawaii trip. At Universal we do give in and get a rollaway cot for Nate for $25 per night.

Of this year???? What grade is Ben?

Feb 2016- family vacation. We are thinking this may be the "last" big trip together. I know, we justified the DL/Hawaii trip with the same excuse, but again, one never know what circumstances might come into play- health, finances, part-time jobs. So we will just keep on traveling together as much as we can.

Nate will be a senior in HS this year, Ben will be a freshman.

I would love to do that with the boys. Instead, they will be doing it without us. That is their trip this year, with school. Ireland. I'd love to go along (not chaperone but stalk lol) but I don't see it happening.

Do they get to go together?

Oh my word, I didn't even think about it and should have counseled you better. I think I forgot you were doing this for one day...and planning on volcano's. We stayed in Kona and yeah...it was a LONG day of driving there and back and you were much further into town than we were I think. DISfriend FAIL!

NO, totally not your fault. I'm sure we had everything booked before I mentioned the trip to you. So it was already too late.

There were other clues I should have picked up on that would lead me to understand the size of the Big Island!

But it all worked out wonderfully.

I had NO idea that place was so massive. No clue at all! We were in a condo, shoot. If you ever go back to the Big Island, the place we stayed at was fabulous.

If we return to the Big Island, I'll probably hit you up for the info. We really liked the condo stay we had on Maui.

The resort was really too big for we needed. A place to crash for the night before our all-day excursion.

ick ick and I wouldn't have been feeling it either!

Could have been cleaner. My OCD urged me to pick up that glove and throw it away but my sense of hygiene wouldn't let me.



You may have seen on Facebook- Mark and I totally redeemed ourselves on this year's anniversary dinner.

1) No Red Lobster
2) No boys joining us
3)




Lobster and Corn Flatbread




Bleu Cheese Crusted Sirloin with Truffle Mashed Potatoes




Seared Scallops with Corn and Pancetta

 

[eandesmom]

My boys are PITAs about sharing a bed, too, but we made them suck it up on the DL/Hawaii trip. At Universal we do give in and get a rollaway cot for Nate for $25 per night.

Sucking it up is one thing but if they fight all night, it keeps us awake as we are in the same room. If it's a different room and I don't have to hear them, or more importantly hear Jeff getting mad at them and then keeping me awake, they can suck it up. LOL!. Jeff and I don't do that well in a double bed either so that's a bit of a concern. We will see. Cabo is an option as well but the hook (for me) for PR is that we could tack on WDW on one end and Universal on the other and use MCO as our layover/flight change spot which is what we did on our anniversary cruise. It isn't until July 2017 though...LONG ways away.

Feb 2016- family vacation. We are thinking this may be the "last" big trip together. I know, we justified the DL/Hawaii trip with the same excuse, but again, one never know what circumstances might come into play- health, finances, part-time jobs. So we will just keep on traveling together as much as we can.

Nate will be a senior in HS this year, Ben will be a freshman.

Ah yes, that's exactly our situation in 2017 except Eric will be a sophmore and Ev a sr.. You just don't know. And much as I hate to say it, we've not had a trip with K or T since they graduated HS. Doesn't mean it won't ever happen again but they have their own lives and it's just different, and schedules are even more complicated.

Do they get to go together?

Yes. It's another band trip. 12 nights in Ireland, March of 2016. They will march in the St. Patrick's Day parade. I would LOVE to go but it's a really pricey trip and chaperons pay more than the kids and have a lot less free time. Chaperoning doesn't sound remotely fun. I'd go on my own, or with Jeff but $$ wise I just don't see it happening. The school does this every 4 years. Evan is not happy it falls so that he and Eric go together. I think it's both a good and a bad thing. Cool for them to share the experience but ugly for my wallet. I've done week long trips for 4-6 for less than this will cost.

NO, totally not your fault. I'm sure we had everything booked before I mentioned the trip to you. So it was already too late.

You did, I am fairly sure you booked everything and then announced the details.

If we return to the Big Island, I'll probably hit you up for the info. We really liked the condo stay we had on Maui.

The resort was really too big for we needed. A place to crash for the night before our all-day excursion.

Jeff and I LOVED the big island. I would go back there for a week. It is so varied and so much to do. We stayed at Kanaloa at Kona by Outrigger. It was crazy, I booked a 1B ocean view. We got a 3 bedroom! It was huge, with a fabulous lanai. It did not have a beach...Big Island is pretty rocky as you know so it had seriously cool vistas and walks but no immediate beach. Lovely pools and close to a grocery store. The better beaches are definitely up where you were, we went up there a couple times for beach time. If it were just the 2 of us and we were splurging, I'd probably look at Mauna Kea...which is even further up! Or the Four Seasons, which is a bit further down. But our spot was great for heading into Kona Town for eats and then heading the other way to the Volcano, black beach, etc. Probably an hour closer than you were. Hilo is signficantly closer!

You may have seen on Facebook- Mark and I totally redeemed ourselves on this year's anniversary dinner.

1) No Red Lobster
2) No boys joining us

YAY!

That food looked yummy!!!!!!!!!!! You deserved a real do over.

 

[jenseib]

You look really tired in that monorail picture. The place looks decent, but compare to everything you have done I can see how this resort is not living up to it all. Still nice....and heck it's Hawaii!
Glad to see you had a better anniversary dinner this year.
We went to Habachi...and it was awesome....but we brought Claire with us. It didn't matter to me either way but my husband told her the day before she could come and then he got to thinking we could go to the casino and eat dinner there. We've never been to the local one and we hear the restaurants are good there..Too late Claire was not going to bow out on a good meal and night out with mom and dad.

 

[heybets30]

Can't wait to read the rest!! We will stay at the Fairmont Orchid in October, down the road from Waikoloa Village. We loved the Big Island from our honeymoon, and put 4 days there ahead of Aulani. We'll drive to VNP, not a big deal as we have a few days ... Letting the kids see the different areas of the island is why we chose it. That, and the littles love coffee!! We'll be at a coffee plantation possibly daily ;-) Great trip report!

 

[KatMark]

I am glad to see I wasn't too far behind on at least one or two TR's.

I hate parents who let their children just be absolute monsters when in places and do not use their "indoor" voice. And to let the kids just climb over everything...just blows me away.

I have to say that I'm not impressed with your room...looks like a hotel room anywhere. But your view sure isn't bad and I have to say the grounds look quite lovely.

 

[natebenma]

Sucking it up is one thing but if they fight all night, it keeps us awake as we are in the same room. If it's a different room and I don't have to hear them, or more importantly hear Jeff getting mad at them and then keeping me awake, they can suck it up. LOL!. Jeff and I don't do that well in a double bed either so that's a bit of a concern. We will see. Cabo is an option as well but the hook (for me) for PR is that we could tack on WDW on one end and Universal on the other and use MCO as our layover/flight change spot which is what we did on our anniversary cruise. It isn't until July 2017 though...LONG ways away.

We leave for our "camping" vacation to Yellowstone on Thursday. As my definition of camping it is a hotel without a pool, we are semi roughing-it. We share a pool with a neighboring resort. And there is only a two burner stove in our 2 bedroom cabin.

Ah yes, that's exactly our situation in 2017 except Eric will be a sophmore and Ev a sr.. You just don't know. And much as I hate to say it, we've not had a trip with K or T since they graduated HS. Doesn't mean it won't ever happen again but they have their own lives and it's just different, and schedules are even more complicated.

Are you any closer on figuring out your trips?

We haven't done any more planning for our "last family trip" or for our anniversary, but Mark actually suggested Disney when I told him there was a time when we could go to MNSSHP, Food & Wine and MVMCP in one trip! However, to do this would be a weeklong trip, so that may be a bit much to leave Ben with someone, or heaven forbid, to come along! I am trying to devise a way to maybe have him come for part of the trip.

Yes. It's another band trip. 12 nights in Ireland, March of 2016. They will march in the St. Patrick's Day parade. I would LOVE to go but it's a really pricey trip and chaperons pay more than the kids and have a lot less free time. Chaperoning doesn't sound remotely fun. I'd go on my own, or with Jeff but $$ wise I just don't see it happening. The school does this every 4 years. Evan is not happy it falls so that he and Eric go together. I think it's both a good and a bad thing. Cool for them to share the experience but ugly for my wallet. I've done week long trips for 4-6 for less than this will cost.

Then you have the right attitude as a chaperone! The worst kind I run into are the ones who think that a class trip is just a convenient way for them to have a family vacation with their child.

You did, I am fairly sure you booked everything and then announced the details.

Yes, I have learned my lesson. Before my next vacation to Hawaii, talk to Cynthia!

Jeff and I LOVED the big island. I would go back there for a week. It is so varied and so much to do. We stayed at Kanaloa at Kona by Outrigger. It was crazy, I booked a 1B ocean view. We got a 3 bedroom! It was huge, with a fabulous lanai. It did not have a beach...Big Island is pretty rocky as you know so it had seriously cool vistas and walks but no immediate beach. Lovely pools and close to a grocery store. The better beaches are definitely up where you were, we went up there a couple times for beach time. If it were just the 2 of us and we were splurging, I'd probably look at Mauna Kea...which is even further up! Or the Four Seasons, which is a bit further down. But our spot was great for heading into Kona Town for eats and then heading the other way to the Volcano, black beach, etc. Probably an hour closer than you were. Hilo is signficantly closer!

The way I think I would try to tackle the Big Island is to find a resort/condo on the beach, preferably one with decent snorkeling. Possibly a split stay with a place in Hilo, flying into Hilo and out of Kona, with a one day drive between the two where we could hit visit of the other attractions on the island. Although I know Mark would want to do the same tour we did this time.

YAY!

That food looked yummy!!!!!!!!!!! You deserved a real do over.

We had such a fabulous meal! Our town has come a long way in the dining scene since we moved here 20 years ago. At that time, everyone would cross the river into the next city for a night out, but now we have people coming here for some of the restaurants. We had a wait for our table, but instead of giving us a buzzer, the owner took my cell number and we walked to another restaurant for a drink first until he called (not creepy, he is the son of one of my dear friends/best real estate agent in town). We were too stuffed for dessert, so we walked to a new place downtown and took home fresh-made crepes.

Mmmmmm!

 

[natebenma]

You look really tired in that monorail picture. The place looks decent, but compare to everything you have done I can see how this resort is not living up to it all. Still nice....and heck it's Hawaii!
Glad to see you had a better anniversary dinner this year.
We went to Habachi...and it was awesome....but we brought Claire with us. It didn't matter to me either way but my husband told her the day before she could come and then he got to thinking we could go to the casino and eat dinner there. We've never been to the local one and we hear the restaurants are good there..Too late Claire was not going to bow out on a good meal and night out with mom and dad.

So.Very.Tired!

I don't think I have a picture from 30 hours later, though. Even worse!

I'm sure the resort is very nice and I was looking at it though tainted sunglasses. Like you said, we had incredible stays elsewhere and we were all so tired after 9 busy days. Still, hard to overlook some cleanliness issues and rude families who were getting on our nerves.

We (and by that I mean Mark), doesn't mind if the boys come along on our anniversary celebrations.

Glad you had a nice meal at Hibachi! Sounds like you probably had a decent chef. That can really make or break an experience. Have you ever been to Teppen Edo at EPCOT? It has been years for us, but we like it.

Can't wait to read the rest!! We will stay at the Fairmont Orchid in October, down the road from Waikoloa Village. We loved the Big Island from our honeymoon, and put 4 days there ahead of Aulani. We'll drive to VNP, not a big deal as we have a few days ... Letting the kids see the different areas of the island is why we chose it. That, and the littles love coffee!! We'll be at a coffee plantation possibly daily ;-) Great trip report!

Thank you so much and to my report!!!

I won't make promises, but I should be able to finish this up by October! Just a few more updates, but they are going to be full ones.



I will be interested in hearing your review of the Fairmont. Sounds like an awesome trip!

There really are a lot of great places to explore between Kona and VNP, ESPECIALLY if you all love coffee!!!

 

[natebenma]

I am glad to see I wasn't too far behind on at least one or two TR's.

I hate parents who let their children just be absolute monsters when in places and do not use their "indoor" voice. And to let the kids just climb over everything...just blows me away.

I have to say that I'm not impressed with your room...looks like a hotel room anywhere. But your view sure isn't bad and I have to say the grounds look quite lovely.

Thanks for keeping up. I am doing my part by only updating every 3 weeks or so...



We were just too tired to deal with parents who couldn't be bothered parenting their loud and unruly children. And when you are in an enclosed space like a monorail, it is even worse! And people were slobs! We found cups and trash all over the place, like the pool. I know you are on vacation, people, but you can still walk your garbage to a trash can!

There was a lot to do at the resort and the room was spacious, but it did not blow us away

 

[natebenma]

A Little More Waikoloa

Before I get to the Main Event, our volcanoes excursion, I'll post a little more about the Hilton Waikoloa Village.

After we settled into our room (well, not too settled since we would only be there one night), we took explored the resort.

This is the lobby/courtyard in the Palace, which was the building our room was in.





In front of each of the 3 resort buildings, there is a monorail stop and a boat dock to catch transportation. We waited for a boat to take us on a little ride to the main building.








This is the activities lagoon, where you can rent paddleboards, kayaks and other water toys.




We continued on past the area with the Dolphin encounter.





Across the way was the only beach we saw. Not sure if there is another beach elsewhere on the resort property.



We had changed into swimsuits when we were in our room and Mark, Ben and I went for a dip in the pool. You get towels at a shack inside a cave near the pool. I don't seem to have any pictures of that. We had to show some type of room key to get the towels.

The pool was huge and it felt really good, but it is no Stormalong Bay.





Ben and I swam over to the waterfall.






I was disgusted at the pool deck, though. People just left their empty cups and other trash under their chairs.

Continued in Next post

 

[natebenma]

Continued from Previous Post

Also on the grounds were some animal displays.



Flamingos- is that a hidden Mickey island? Nope, but close






Nene


Then, we made our way back to our room to change into dry clothes for dinner.

The hallways are filled with Hawaiian art and artifacts. Not sure which of these are authentic and which are reproductions.










We had scoped out some of the restaurants on our walk around the resort, and we settled on this one, which was conveniently located in our building.



The idea of this restaurant is to order a lot of different selections to share, family-style

Here are some really cruddy, blurry shots of the menu





Continued in Next Post- Dinner at Imari

 

[natebenma]

Continued from Previous Post









View from our table




Sushi- 3 California Roll, eel, octopus and sea urchin. We really didn't care for the sea urchin




Shrimp Tempura




Fried Rice- Portuguese sausage, bacon, peas, carrots, Kula onion, edamame, soy and oyster sauces





Shrimp and Pioppini Mushroom Yaki Udon- Pioppini mushrooms, Kula onions, cabbage, carrot, cilantro, oyster sauce




Tempura Banana Split- Crispy apple banana, Tropical Dreams vanilla ice cream, caramel and chocolate sauces, seasonal berries, toasted coconut and whipped cream.

I can't find my receipt for this meal, but the total according to my credit card statement, was $128.73 including the tip.

The meal was fantastic and very filling. YUM!



And even though we just had a fantastic meal, I am going to post the pictures from our breakfast now, so that we can get started bright and early tomorrow morning.

Friday July 25






I can't find my receipt for this breakfast from the coffee kiosk, but according to my trip notes, we got a coffee, a smoothie and some pastries.

After breakfast, we headed via monorail to the main lobby where we would be picked up at 7 am for our all-day tour.


Next Up, Up and Away- Lava Me Now, or Lava Me Not?

 

[hill6]

YHave a great time on you "camping trip" to Yellowstone.

 

[Wood Nymph]

That resort is huge. I would think it would take a few days to explore it all. We were on the Big Island back in the late 1990's and went over to explore the resort. It was lot smaller back then.

 

[MEK]

Once again - several updates behind.

So much amazing food porn on this TR, but how dare you asked for more syrup for your shaved ice? The nerve!

Too funny that Ben and the entire computer camp had the same orange shirt on. Yup - bet he was loving that. Not!

Love all the snorkeling pictures. Just lovely.

Cool pictures from the plane.

I am planning a long trip to California next spring and I can imagine that an the end of 14 days I will be pretty whooped, too. But I see what you mean about the room. It needs a face lift, although the rest of the resort looks cool and having a monorail run through it is definitely unique. Sorry you just weren't feeling the place.

Bring on the volcanoes!