5 Tickets to Paradise: Hawaii Pre-Trip Report (We're back!) Updated 3/17/15

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Welcome to my Pre-Trip Report! We are leaving for Hawaii in 24 days.

I haven't done a lot of trip reports on the DIS because I can't stand photobucket. But now that I can post pictures right in the post, I'm going to give it a try!

First of all, this is us:

DH, DS Joshua age 7, DS Nathan age 10, DD Alyssa age 4, and me. We have been to Disney World several times, but our favorite vacation is a Disney Cruise. We have been on 4 Disney cruises with another one planned for 2016.

This is our first time going to Hawaii!

The fun fact about this trip is that our airline tickets and hotels are almost 100% paid for by miles and points. A few years ago I started reading various miles and points blogs that taught me how to collect hotel and airline points for trips. Mostly, it involves switching out our credit cards for new ones a few times a year based on sign-up bonuses being offered by banks. It's a tricky hobby for sure, but we would not be going on this trip without those free airline tickets!

We used American Airlines miles for 5 round-trip tickets combined with Southwest Airlines miles from Las Vegas to get back home. Total cost was $50 ($10 for each ticket) in taxes.

We are staying 2 nights in Waikiki on hotel points, and 5 nights at Aulani for (almost) free using rewards from a few travel reward credit cards. And also 1 night in Las Vegas on points for an overnight layover on our way home.

We are staying in a 1-bedroom standard view Villa at Aulani (booked on "cash", not DVC points). Our stay includes a free breakfast for all 5 of us. We're planning to do some grocery shopping and eat some meals in our room.

Here is what we have tentatively planned for our week in Hawaii:

* Sunday--flight lands, overnight in Waikiki
* Monday--Hike up Diamond Head in the morning before heading to Aulani
* Tuesday--Surfing lessons for my boys (Christmas present from Grandparents) and Spa treatment for me (using Disney gift cards I received for my birthday last year)
* Wednesday--Dole Pineapple Plantation/North Shore
* Thursday--Whale watching/snorkeling on catamaran, Keiki Wahine experience for my daughter (Christmas present from Grandparents)
* Friday--nothing planned! Last day at Aulani
* Saturday--Kualoa Ranch: 2-hour ATV ride for my husband and Jungle Tour Expedition for me and the kids (staying in Waikiki)
* Sunday--our flight leaves in the afternoon

DH and I have dinner reservations at Ama Ama and Roy's. We are planning on having the kids enjoy Aunty's Beach house during those times.

We've also signed the kids up for the two premium experiences at Aunty's (Surf's Up with Chip and Dale and Fish are Friends).

 

[alohamom]

WOW-I am in Canada and I am often envious of all the points and rewards Americans are offered. I would LOVE to be able to get a Disney Visa, a Southwest Visa, a Hawaiian Airlines Visa-well you get the picture.
Good for you for learning how to use them to your advantage! I am sure you will enjoy Aulani and Hawaii...

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

WOW-I am in Canada and I am often envious of all the points and rewards Americans are offered. I would LOVE to be able to get a Disney Visa, a Southwest Visa, a Hawaiian Airlines Visa-well you get the picture.
Good for you for learning how to use them to your advantage! I am sure you will enjoy Aulani and Hawaii...

Thanks!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

We have 19 days until our trip! Right now, the majority of my family is sick with colds/sinus infections. Blah! My only wish is that we are all healthy to enjoy this trip.

Something we do before all of our trips is try to educate our kids about where we are going. For past Disney cruises, we have checked out books from the library on ship terminology and the islands we were visiting.

Getting information on Hawaii was really easy! We checked out a few books from the library that are kid-friendly and easy to understand:



We also found videos on Amazon Prime and youtube that talked about Hawaiian history and Aulani. But you know what ended up being my kids' favorite pre-trip activity??? Watching old episodes of the Brady Bunch when they went to Hawaii! I found them online and wasn't sure what my kids would think of that show...but it turns out they thought it was hilarious! And the episodes (there are 3 episodes for the trip to Hawaii) showed a lot of Oahu (of course, how it looked in the early 70s).

My oldest told me he is done watching Hawaii videos and he just wants to go already!

Still to do: buy some things to pack (water shoes, sunscreen, etc.) and get things to entertain our kids for 9 hours on the plane.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

WOW-I am in Canada and I am often envious of all the points and rewards Americans are offered. I would LOVE to be able to get a Disney Visa, a Southwest Visa, a Hawaiian Airlines Visa-well you get the picture.
Good for you for learning how to use them to your advantage! I am sure you will enjoy Aulani and Hawaii...

Alohamom--I saw this post for Canadians on one of the blogs I read: http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/07/25/canadian-miles-points-blogs/
Not sure if it will be useful to you, but it's worth a try!

 

[alohamom]

Awesome! thanks so much for the link. I have been to that blog but I didnt go far enough in to see the Canadian section!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

13 days to go and we are facing an ice storm here in Dallas over the next couple of days! It's unusual for us to get bad weather this close to Spring. Really can't wait to feel that Hawaii sunshine! If school is cancelled, we plan to watch Lilo and Stitch.

We hung up a countdown chain the other day. I had to label each day with a kid's name so there is no fighting over who will rip off the link. Can anyone else relate?

 

[lgpav1]

sounds like lots of fun!!!

 

[sager1969]

We are going on December. I hope you have a great time! They closed school were we live in DFW a area. However, my kid is homeschooled so no snow days for him! You will love it at Aulani. Just make sure you take some relaxation time by the pool or in the spa..... I may or may not have had an hour long nap in the relaxation room in the spa once. I really am interested in Roy's. We are celebrating our 20th anniversary there and can't decide between Roy's and AmaAma.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

We are going on December. I hope you have a great time! They closed school were we live in DFW a area. However, my kid is homeschooled so no snow days for him! You will love it at Aulani. Just make sure you take some relaxation time by the pool or in the spa..... I may or may not have had an hour long nap in the relaxation room in the spa once. I really am interested in Roy's. We are celebrating our 20th anniversary there and can't decide between Roy's and AmaAma.

Our school just announced it's closing tomorrow, too. I guess we will be watching Lilo and Stitch!

20th anniversary--congrats! I'll let you know if we end up enjoying Roy's or Ama Ama better.

 

[sager1969]

Thank you! It is hard to believe that we have been married that long. I really liked AmaAma. Roy's had a big fire the day before we arrived so our reservation was cancelled.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Thank you! It is hard to believe that we have been married that long. I really liked AmaAma. Roy's had a big fire the day before we arrived so our reservation was cancelled.

Bummer about the fire! I ate at a Roy's in Tokyo (on a business trip years ago) and it was mouth-watering delicious! That's why we are going to the one near Aulani. I know there is also one in Plano, but I heard it's not as good so we haven't tried it yet.

 

[alohamom]

Roys is wonderful! We have been to the ones in Hawaii Kai (Oahu), the West Maui one, the Waikiki Beachwalk location, one on the mainland in California and numerous times to the one in Waikoloa on the Big Island. The food is very good and I dont think you can really go wrong, the short ribs are outstanding.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Roys is wonderful! We have been to the ones in Hawaii Kai (Oahu), the West Maui one, the Waikiki Beachwalk location, one on the mainland in California and numerous times to the one in Waikoloa on the Big Island. The food is very good and I dont think you can really go wrong, the short ribs are outstanding.

I can't wait to try it!!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

2nd day home from school here due to ice! And it's supposed to snow overnight...hopefully school will be in session tomorrow!

This morning my kids watched Lilo & Stitch Part 2. And some Aulani videos on YouTube:



Being in the ice and (potentially) snow has made us ready to catch a plane to Hawaii more than ever!!!

I haven't started packing yet. I was hoping to do that this week while the kids were in school, but that hasn't worked out so far. I ordered my daughter a Disney-inspired dress from Etsy in January and it still hasn't arrived yet! It's not the end of the world if it doesn't arrive before our trip. 1st world problems, right?

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Over the last 2 months we've been stockpiling gift cards to use on our trip. I have a Chase Ink Plus credit card which gives 5X rewards at office supply stores. Staples sells Disney gift cards as well as many other gift cards, so when I buy them there and use the right card, we earn a lot of Chase Ultimate Reward points (which we can exchange for Hyatt or Southwest points, among others). In addition to Disney gift cards for spending at Aulani activities, we also purchased Outback gift cards which we can use for our dinner at Roy's.

9 more days!!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

8 more days to go!

I've started packing my kids' stuff. Normally I can't pack in advance since we're wearing the clothes we'll need to take, but it's 26 degrees here, so we won't be needing our shorts here.

The dress I ordered for my daughter from etsy came yesterday! I actually ordered 2 dresses, one came last month. I love etsy Disney clothes!

 

[AZMermaid]

Following! We are doing a lot of the same things. Especially looking firward to hearing about Surfs Up (my kids are signed up) and the Keiki Wehine (considering this, DH isn't sure, but my son is likely doing surf lessons, and I thought it'd be fun for my daughter). My kids are a little younger 3 and 4.75 when we go!

And.... I talked myself out of those same Etsy dresses. Now you are enabling me!

 

[sager1969]

Etsy is a dangerous place for a Disney addiction! Also, look onto Redbubble when your kids get older. They have some nerdy stuff! We are a house of nerds. I bought a Nerd enterprise short that looks like WED enterprises for a ABD trip we took last year. It got lots of attention from the Imagineers. My hubby is ready to go to Hawaii!. Hope you have fun getting out of this cold! Can't wait to hear all about when you get back.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

Following! We are doing a lot of the same things. Especially looking firward to hearing about Surfs Up (my kids are signed up) and the Keiki Wehine (considering this, DH isn't sure, but my son is likely doing surf lessons, and I thought it'd be fun for my daughter). My kids are a little younger 3 and 4.75 when we go!

And.... I talked myself out of those same Etsy dresses. Now you are enabling me!

Sorry if I'm a bad influence on the Etsy! I don't buy a lot of special clothes for my kids, but I figured this might be a once-in-a-lifetime trip.