A Tale of Two Trips: Disneyland and Hawaii July 2014 Long Way Home: The End 9/13 p.40
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natebenma
Beach Club Dee
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Around 5, we had finished packing and we were ready to return to the parks. We have Fast Passes for later for Indiana Jones but we decided to start out at California Adventure.
We pulled FPs for California Screaming which would come due in 30 minutes. The standby line for Toy Story was 30 mintues, so that was the perfect thing to do while we waited.
We are flashing the Hawaiian shaka sign in anticipation for the next part of our trip.
We started texting with the friends we were trying to meet up with earlier:
5:20: “We are now at California Adventure. In line for Toy Story now and we have Fast Passes for 5:50 at California Screamin’ Then heading to Disneyland. We have Indiana Jones FP 6:40 to 7:40. Will probably try to catch early Fantasmic and then the fireworks. We have had an awesome time. Got lots done.”
They responded at 6:05:
“Heading to Soarin’. Just got off Tower. We have Indy passes for 8 so might see u guys at Fantasmic or fireworks. This place is a blast.
6:10 “Nate wants to do Soarin’ so we are headed there now from Paradise Pier”
6:18 “Walking past Soarin’. Thirty min too long. We have done it a lot.
7:05 “We have 5 Soarin’ FP good for rest of night if you want them. It shut down while we were in line.”
We headed into Disneyland around 6:30.
It was pretty crowded.
We checked the lines for Space Mountain and the Matterhorn, but they were both too long. We continued on to Big Thunder to pull a fast pass.
At that point, it was time to use our FP for Indy. We were in the line and it was not moving at all. They were making an announcement that there was some sort of issue, but no indication of when (or if) it would be starting up again. After about 10 minutes of that we decided to bail and see if they would give us a FP to use for later. We talked to a couple of CMs at the entrance and said we didn’t know what was going on, so we left the line. They told us that since we left voluntarily, they would not return our FPs to us. We knew that our friends had FP for Indy at 8 and it would have been awesome to be able to experience that attraction with them.
This really aggravated us. So far things had not been going well that evening at DL.
We were also hungry but couldn’t agree on what to get.
We split up- Mark went over to Royal Street Veranda (New Orleans Square) to get a chowder in a bread bowl. Nate said he wanted a turkey leg. I tried one once, back in 2004 and found it to be really greasy and sinewy. We thought he was kidding, because we always make fun of the turkey legs in WDW. But he was serious and we found a cart and got one. We met back at Rancho del Zocalo, where Ben got the Beef Taco and I ordered the Chicken with Mole Sauce. The ordering system at the Mexican place was weird and took a long time. I think we had to go to different places for the two meals, then someplace else for drink, then to the line to pay. It seemed to take forever.
The chowder was good. I don’t think I tried the tacos. The mole was good (not as good as mine, though) but it was difficult to eat because it had a bone in it. We were all surprised and blown away by how good the turkey leg was. Who knew?!? It was very smoky, and tasted a lot like ham.
Eating helped improve our moods.
I tried to get in touch with our friends again.
7:30 “At Mexican restaurant near Big Thunder.”
7:42 “We are on Flying Tires and heading over. We also have 4 Radiator Springs FP good for 9-10 if u guys want them. We are heading back to DL for Indy FP and fireworks."
7:47 “Not sure we would use racers so make some family’s day if you can.”
7:48 “We have FP for Big Thunder right now.”
When we were done at Big Thunder, we stopped for a Dole Whip and I got a Mickey Bar.
8:22 “Heading to Indy”
8:25 “In line for Jungle Cruise”
After Jungle Cruise, we were absolutely done. We were exhausted and the crowds were getting to us. We walked out the gate.
8:55 “We just finished Indy. R U guys anywhere around there?” (unfortunately, we had JUST left the area)
8:57 “Bummer. We just checked out of DL. We are toast”
I considered going back in to meet them. I asked Ben if he wanted to, but he didn’t.
9:10 “K. Fantasmic is a horror show. Super packed. We are gonna do pirates. Any tips on fireworks viewing?”
9:11 “No. We haven’t seen the fireworks in the park. We can see them from our balcony but no castle. Have fun on pirates. Love it. If you are anywhere Grizzly River Run in CA tonight I can meet you with Photopass lanyard. So sorry we missed you all. See you in the fall and lets do Disneyworld together!”
10:14 “Sorry we missed you guys, too. We walked out of Pirates and caught last half of fireworks. Was very good.”
As I mentioned earlier "Joe" is one of the teachers in charge of the 8th grade class trip to Disney and I have been helping the last few years to plan the trip with them. Since this is Ben's year, I will be going along as chaperone.
We had returned to our room and watched the fireworks from the balcony of our room. I didn’t take any pictures while we watched, but since I took 140 from the show on our first night there, I’ll share a couple of those with you.
With that, it was time for bed. Our trip to Disneyland was over, but the next day we would be on our way to Hawaii for the first time.
I thank you so much for following us as we experienced Disneyland and I hope you will join me for the continuation of our adventures to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island.
If not, I will bid you “Aloha” which means Goodbye as well as Hello.
Next up: “You Must Be the Sequoias”
We pulled FPs for California Screaming which would come due in 30 minutes. The standby line for Toy Story was 30 mintues, so that was the perfect thing to do while we waited.
We are flashing the Hawaiian shaka sign in anticipation for the next part of our trip.
We started texting with the friends we were trying to meet up with earlier:
5:20: “We are now at California Adventure. In line for Toy Story now and we have Fast Passes for 5:50 at California Screamin’ Then heading to Disneyland. We have Indiana Jones FP 6:40 to 7:40. Will probably try to catch early Fantasmic and then the fireworks. We have had an awesome time. Got lots done.”
They responded at 6:05:
“Heading to Soarin’. Just got off Tower. We have Indy passes for 8 so might see u guys at Fantasmic or fireworks. This place is a blast.
6:10 “Nate wants to do Soarin’ so we are headed there now from Paradise Pier”
6:18 “Walking past Soarin’. Thirty min too long. We have done it a lot.
7:05 “We have 5 Soarin’ FP good for rest of night if you want them. It shut down while we were in line.”
We headed into Disneyland around 6:30.
It was pretty crowded.
We checked the lines for Space Mountain and the Matterhorn, but they were both too long. We continued on to Big Thunder to pull a fast pass.
At that point, it was time to use our FP for Indy. We were in the line and it was not moving at all. They were making an announcement that there was some sort of issue, but no indication of when (or if) it would be starting up again. After about 10 minutes of that we decided to bail and see if they would give us a FP to use for later. We talked to a couple of CMs at the entrance and said we didn’t know what was going on, so we left the line. They told us that since we left voluntarily, they would not return our FPs to us. We knew that our friends had FP for Indy at 8 and it would have been awesome to be able to experience that attraction with them.
This really aggravated us. So far things had not been going well that evening at DL.
We were also hungry but couldn’t agree on what to get.
We split up- Mark went over to Royal Street Veranda (New Orleans Square) to get a chowder in a bread bowl. Nate said he wanted a turkey leg. I tried one once, back in 2004 and found it to be really greasy and sinewy. We thought he was kidding, because we always make fun of the turkey legs in WDW. But he was serious and we found a cart and got one. We met back at Rancho del Zocalo, where Ben got the Beef Taco and I ordered the Chicken with Mole Sauce. The ordering system at the Mexican place was weird and took a long time. I think we had to go to different places for the two meals, then someplace else for drink, then to the line to pay. It seemed to take forever.
The chowder was good. I don’t think I tried the tacos. The mole was good (not as good as mine, though) but it was difficult to eat because it had a bone in it. We were all surprised and blown away by how good the turkey leg was. Who knew?!? It was very smoky, and tasted a lot like ham.
Eating helped improve our moods.
I tried to get in touch with our friends again.
7:30 “At Mexican restaurant near Big Thunder.”
7:42 “We are on Flying Tires and heading over. We also have 4 Radiator Springs FP good for 9-10 if u guys want them. We are heading back to DL for Indy FP and fireworks."
7:47 “Not sure we would use racers so make some family’s day if you can.”
7:48 “We have FP for Big Thunder right now.”
When we were done at Big Thunder, we stopped for a Dole Whip and I got a Mickey Bar.
8:22 “Heading to Indy”
8:25 “In line for Jungle Cruise”
After Jungle Cruise, we were absolutely done. We were exhausted and the crowds were getting to us. We walked out the gate.
8:55 “We just finished Indy. R U guys anywhere around there?” (unfortunately, we had JUST left the area)
8:57 “Bummer. We just checked out of DL. We are toast”
I considered going back in to meet them. I asked Ben if he wanted to, but he didn’t.
9:10 “K. Fantasmic is a horror show. Super packed. We are gonna do pirates. Any tips on fireworks viewing?”
9:11 “No. We haven’t seen the fireworks in the park. We can see them from our balcony but no castle. Have fun on pirates. Love it. If you are anywhere Grizzly River Run in CA tonight I can meet you with Photopass lanyard. So sorry we missed you all. See you in the fall and lets do Disneyworld together!”
10:14 “Sorry we missed you guys, too. We walked out of Pirates and caught last half of fireworks. Was very good.”
As I mentioned earlier "Joe" is one of the teachers in charge of the 8th grade class trip to Disney and I have been helping the last few years to plan the trip with them. Since this is Ben's year, I will be going along as chaperone.
We had returned to our room and watched the fireworks from the balcony of our room. I didn’t take any pictures while we watched, but since I took 140 from the show on our first night there, I’ll share a couple of those with you.
With that, it was time for bed. Our trip to Disneyland was over, but the next day we would be on our way to Hawaii for the first time.
I thank you so much for following us as we experienced Disneyland and I hope you will join me for the continuation of our adventures to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island.
If not, I will bid you “Aloha” which means Goodbye as well as Hello.
Next up: “You Must Be the Sequoias”
ddluvsdisney
DIS Veteran
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Wow Dee sounds like you had a fabulous time in DL. to bad you missed Ben's teacher and friend. I agree w the turkey leg... I always said that it tasted like I was eating ham. The boys usually share one. Looking forward to reading about Hawaii.
I just noticed your ticker... Are you going for Feb. vacation?? Me and DH will be there for 4 days. Just a little getaway for me from the cold.
I just noticed your ticker... Are you going for Feb. vacation?? Me and DH will be there for 4 days. Just a little getaway for me from the cold.
ProudMommyof2
DIS Veteran
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Sounds like an awesome Disneyland trip! Sorry you missed your friends. Can't wait to get to the Hawaii portion of the trip!
DisneyKid4Life
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I think that's one thing I really miss about legacy FP. Having one for one park and still being able to pull in another. Granted, it's much easier in Disneyland given their closeness, but still, what a huge thing.
That's so not right regarding your Indy FP. If the ride's not running, just because you left "voluntarily" should make no difference. I guess you had to be pulled away kicking and screaming?
Ah yes, the famous theme park Turkey Leg. This used to be the bargain of the century. I remember paying around $5 for it a few years ago and it was every bit a meal. And yes, it does taste like ham.
That's too bad you missed out on Fantasmic and in park fireworks. But nevertheless, clearly a great visit with the original Disney park.
That's so not right regarding your Indy FP. If the ride's not running, just because you left "voluntarily" should make no difference. I guess you had to be pulled away kicking and screaming?
Ah yes, the famous theme park Turkey Leg. This used to be the bargain of the century. I remember paying around $5 for it a few years ago and it was every bit a meal. And yes, it does taste like ham.
That's too bad you missed out on Fantasmic and in park fireworks. But nevertheless, clearly a great visit with the original Disney park.
eandesmom
I'm with Beast
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Well that's a bit of a frustrating evening on several levels but I am glad the food worked out and you were able to have one last fireworks on the balcony. We had a similar FP experience with RRC where they wouldn't give us FP's for later even though it was really clear it wasn't coming back online. That's frustrating.
Aloha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aloha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KatMark
DIS Legend
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Dee, I'm sorry your last night at DL wasn't so magical. 
I've never had a turkey leg...they just look disgusting to me.
I would have had a Mickey Bar with you.
I'm sorry you weren't able to hook up with your friends.
But I love your fireworks pictures.
I can't wait to hear about Hawaii.
I've never had a turkey leg...they just look disgusting to me.
I would have had a Mickey Bar with you.
I'm sorry you weren't able to hook up with your friends.
But I love your fireworks pictures.
I can't wait to hear about Hawaii.
luvpoohandcompany
DIS Veteran
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- Sep 30, 2009
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- 4,778
Such a shame your last night was a frustrating one but at least you ended with some great fireworks on the balcony. I'm sure that soothed you all a little before bed. I always look at those turkey legs when we are in florida but I can never imagine eating one in the heat 
I'm definitely a Mickey Bar kind of girl
I'm definitely a Mickey Bar kind of girl
natebenma
Beach Club Dee
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Wow Dee sounds like you had a fabulous time in DL. to bad you missed Ben's teacher and friend. I agree w the turkey leg... I always said that it tasted like I was eating ham. The boys usually share one. Looking forward to reading about Hawaii.
I just noticed your ticker... Are you going for Feb. vacation?? Me and DH will be there for 4 days. Just a little getaway for me from the cold.
We really did have a great trip. Meeting up with our friends would have been wonderful, but if that is the worst thing that happened, I can't complain!
I am really glad we tried the turkey leg. I had such a bad experience with one a few years ago, but was pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed this one. Still not on my must-do list, though.
Yes, we will be at Universal (Hard Rock) during Feb Vacation, Monday-Friday. Will not be making a visit to WDW, though. We are really looking forward to seeing what it is like to go at a time when we won't be melting from heat. Trying to figure out if we will be able to meet with Teena for dinner somewhere. She won't drive to the Darkside and we won't have a car.
It was a great trip.
I'm excited to start sharing our trip to Hawaii!!!
It will be very sad if (when) they switch over to Magic Bands at DL.
We were really surprised that the CMs were not more accommodating to our request- really, it wouldn't have done any harm.
I really thought we would be able to catch the night shows at DL since we were there 4 nights. But the first night we were exhausted, the next night we had Radiator Springs Racers night FP, then World of Color. That last night turned our to be our last chance and unfortunately, we couldn't make it work.
As you said, still it was a fantastic visit. WDW still remains "our home park", but we are so glad we made it to the place that started it all, and reliving it has just made me want to go back that much more.
We couldn't believe it when everything just seemed to be going wrong. We were SO close to meeting up with our friends a few times, but it just didn't happen.
We were close to blows when we were trying to decide what to do about dinner, but it all worked out and having food proved to be the trick to get us through the next couple of bumps.
Aloha coming up soon!
Dee, I'm sorry your last night at DL wasn't so magical.
I've never had a turkey leg...they just look disgusting to me.
I would have had a Mickey Bar with you.
I'm sorry you weren't able to hook up with your friends.
But I love your fireworks pictures.
I can't wait to hear about Hawaii.
It was not the perfect ending to a trip that up to that point had bee pretty darn great!
The turkey legs really do look disgusting. I had to try one once, a long time ago, to see what the fuss was and I didn't enjoy it. But this time it was surprisingly good.
Mickey Bars NEVER disappoint!!!
Watching the fireworks helped end the night on a positive note. With a "Bang" if you will.
Sounds like I better get my hips in a hula and get shaking on the next part of this report!
natebenma
Beach Club Dee
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Such a shame your last night was a frustrating one but at least you ended with some great fireworks on the balcony. I'm sure that soothed you all a little before bed. I always look at those turkey legs when we are in florida but I can never imagine eating one in the heat
I'm definitely a Mickey Bar kind of girl
Oops! Missed your reply!
Things really did hit a downward spiral that evening. I am thankful that we were able to watch the fireworks from the balcony, but it wasn't enough to keep me from a restless night.
That's a good point about the turkey legs in the heat- they are just so heavy (looking and tasting). That was one of the great things about DL- unlike Florida, it was pleasantly not humid.
Wood Nymph
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I love the way everyone has to get something different to eat, especially once they get to be teenagers.
jenseib
Mommy to Claire
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I know what you mean about just being too tired to go on. Sometimes you just have to take some time to actually sleep. it sucks!
It sounds like a great trip though and glad you got to do so many things.
I can't wait to here about the next part!
It sounds like a great trip though and glad you got to do so many things.
I can't wait to here about the next part!
natebenma
Beach Club Dee
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I love the way everyone has to get something different to eat, especially once they get to be teenagers.
It certainly made feeding everyone that night a little more difficult.
I know what you mean about just being too tired to go on. Sometimes you just have to take some time to actually sleep. it sucks!
It sounds like a great trip though and glad you got to do so many things.
I can't wait to here about the next part!
I had absolutely hit the wall that night. Unfortunately, even though I was exhausted I did not sleep very well that night.
Thank for following along, but mostly thank you for all of the helpful hints in your report. I learned and used a lot of the info I read in your report in preparation for our first time trip to Disneyland.
I really appreciate you being here and reading along.
Thank you!
Hawaii coming right up!
natebenma
Beach Club Dee
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Wednesday July 16
It was the morning of our first trip to Hawaii. We will be staying on Oahu at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach for 4 nights, then flying to Maui to stay at Honua Kai Resort (condominium) for 4 nights and finally one night at the Hilton Waikoloa on the Big Island where we will be immersing ourselves in volcanoes. Well, not literally.
Our flight from LAX to Oahu was at 9 am, scheduled to land at 11:40 am (almost 6 hours travel time). We got ready and had breakfast in our room, then checked out, met our driver from DK Livery and had an uneventful trip to the airport.
While on the plane, the flight attendants came around with customs forms.
We have traveled often to the Caribbean and Mexico so we are familiar with these. At one point I wondered about the rules when flying to Hawaii. Although it is technically a domestic flight since we were travelling within the United States, we were going to tropical islands with a large agricultural industry.
But it is not like we were carrying large amounts of cash, or any restricted food, or any contraband agricultural items.
Or were we???
We got to the question about whether we were travelling with any plants or seeds.
We remembered that we had taken the souvenir sequoia seed left for us by housekeeping at the Grand Californian. Does that count? How about the packet of Texas blue bell seeds given to us by the DIS friend we met in Disneyland?
We debated. Do we play dumb and not declare what we have? Do we ‘fess up and then risk having to go to a long lines at the “Agricultural Regulation Station”, thus delaying the start of our Hawaii trip?
We asked one of the flight attendants if what we had counted as restricted product, but she didn’t know.
We decided to be honest and filled out the form listing the items we had.
We are getting close!!!
That’s Diamond Head!
We landed at the Honolulu airport- really pretty views from here of Diamond Head and the mountains.
Aloha!
We collected our luggage and then found the Agricultural Inspection desk. There was one guy behind the counter and as we walked up, he said
“You must be the sequoias.”
We nodded.
“You are all set.”
Phew.
We did not rent a car for the time we were on Oahu, but we had a few options for getting to our resort. There were plenty of taxis, but we had arranged for a ride to and from the resort from Hawaii23, a company we had had read about on Trip Advisor. They were ok, but we later found out that the resort has an arrangement and set rate with Charley’s Taxi. Our driver was not there when we arrived, but we called, and he came along in a few minutes.
We were soon off to our resort, the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach.
HHV is a very large hotel complex on Waikiki Beach. It is in a great location for everything we wanted to do on Oahu and there are numerous shops and restaurants on property, making it a vibrant and active place to stay.
If you saw the recent movie “Godzilla”, the Rainbow tower of this hotel was destroyed as the reptile came ashore in Hawaii.
Since this board is a forum for Disney lovers, I suppose I should mention Aulani. From what I have seen of Disney’s resort on Oahu, it is a little slice of heaven. But it was not right for us on this trip. For one, when we priced it out it was double what we were paying to stay at HHV. And as I mentioned earlier, the things we planned to do- Pearl Harbor, hiking Diamond Head and visiting Hanuama Bay for snorkeling- were all close to HHV. I think these places are probably about an hour or so from Aulani.
The resort rooms at HHV are located in a few different buildings, but everyone checks in at the same lobby. We had no idea which building we would be in, but we didn’t have high hopes since we didn’t pay extra for a particular view or location. We didn’t put in any room requests but we were hoping for a high floor. So we were very disappointed to learn our room assignment was room 2034 in Kalia Tower- 2nd floor in the furthest building from the beach.
We dragged our luggage over to the building, got onto the elevator and got off on the 2nd floor. We saw the convention area, gym and other public spaces but we couldn’t see how to get to the hallway with the rooms. We took the elevator back to the building lobby and asked there.
“Your room is on the 20th floor.”
Cool!
Back onto the elevator, where we met a family who had the same confusion when they tried to get out on the 2nd floor looking for their room.
Up we went. We found our room and opened up the door for the reveal:
View from our room- we had a view of the city, mountains, some of Diamond Head and even a slice of the ocean if we looked closely or zoomed in!
Looking Down
Across the Street
We loved it!!!
It was so beautiful at night that we did not close the curtains and slept with the lights of the city gently illuminating our room.
Next up: Exploring the Resort and Splash!
It was the morning of our first trip to Hawaii. We will be staying on Oahu at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach for 4 nights, then flying to Maui to stay at Honua Kai Resort (condominium) for 4 nights and finally one night at the Hilton Waikoloa on the Big Island where we will be immersing ourselves in volcanoes. Well, not literally.
Our flight from LAX to Oahu was at 9 am, scheduled to land at 11:40 am (almost 6 hours travel time). We got ready and had breakfast in our room, then checked out, met our driver from DK Livery and had an uneventful trip to the airport.
While on the plane, the flight attendants came around with customs forms.
We have traveled often to the Caribbean and Mexico so we are familiar with these. At one point I wondered about the rules when flying to Hawaii. Although it is technically a domestic flight since we were travelling within the United States, we were going to tropical islands with a large agricultural industry.
But it is not like we were carrying large amounts of cash, or any restricted food, or any contraband agricultural items.
Or were we???
We got to the question about whether we were travelling with any plants or seeds.
We remembered that we had taken the souvenir sequoia seed left for us by housekeeping at the Grand Californian. Does that count? How about the packet of Texas blue bell seeds given to us by the DIS friend we met in Disneyland?
We debated. Do we play dumb and not declare what we have? Do we ‘fess up and then risk having to go to a long lines at the “Agricultural Regulation Station”, thus delaying the start of our Hawaii trip?
We asked one of the flight attendants if what we had counted as restricted product, but she didn’t know.
We decided to be honest and filled out the form listing the items we had.
We are getting close!!!
That’s Diamond Head!
We landed at the Honolulu airport- really pretty views from here of Diamond Head and the mountains.
Aloha!
We collected our luggage and then found the Agricultural Inspection desk. There was one guy behind the counter and as we walked up, he said
“You must be the sequoias.”
We nodded.
“You are all set.”
Phew.
We did not rent a car for the time we were on Oahu, but we had a few options for getting to our resort. There were plenty of taxis, but we had arranged for a ride to and from the resort from Hawaii23, a company we had had read about on Trip Advisor. They were ok, but we later found out that the resort has an arrangement and set rate with Charley’s Taxi. Our driver was not there when we arrived, but we called, and he came along in a few minutes.
We were soon off to our resort, the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach.
HHV is a very large hotel complex on Waikiki Beach. It is in a great location for everything we wanted to do on Oahu and there are numerous shops and restaurants on property, making it a vibrant and active place to stay.
If you saw the recent movie “Godzilla”, the Rainbow tower of this hotel was destroyed as the reptile came ashore in Hawaii.
Since this board is a forum for Disney lovers, I suppose I should mention Aulani. From what I have seen of Disney’s resort on Oahu, it is a little slice of heaven. But it was not right for us on this trip. For one, when we priced it out it was double what we were paying to stay at HHV. And as I mentioned earlier, the things we planned to do- Pearl Harbor, hiking Diamond Head and visiting Hanuama Bay for snorkeling- were all close to HHV. I think these places are probably about an hour or so from Aulani.
The resort rooms at HHV are located in a few different buildings, but everyone checks in at the same lobby. We had no idea which building we would be in, but we didn’t have high hopes since we didn’t pay extra for a particular view or location. We didn’t put in any room requests but we were hoping for a high floor. So we were very disappointed to learn our room assignment was room 2034 in Kalia Tower- 2nd floor in the furthest building from the beach.
We dragged our luggage over to the building, got onto the elevator and got off on the 2nd floor. We saw the convention area, gym and other public spaces but we couldn’t see how to get to the hallway with the rooms. We took the elevator back to the building lobby and asked there.
“Your room is on the 20th floor.”
Cool!
Back onto the elevator, where we met a family who had the same confusion when they tried to get out on the 2nd floor looking for their room.
Up we went. We found our room and opened up the door for the reveal:
View from our room- we had a view of the city, mountains, some of Diamond Head and even a slice of the ocean if we looked closely or zoomed in!
Looking Down
Across the Street
We loved it!!!
It was so beautiful at night that we did not close the curtains and slept with the lights of the city gently illuminating our room.
Next up: Exploring the Resort and Splash!
ProudMommyof2
DIS Veteran
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- Feb 21, 2007
- Messages
- 2,709
Ahhhh- Hawaii! You must of been sooooo excited to get to this leg of the trip!
Great view. I have heard good things about this hotel and look forward to your review. It would be hard for me to be on Oahu and not see Aulani.
Great view. I have heard good things about this hotel and look forward to your review. It would be hard for me to be on Oahu and not see Aulani.
eandesmom
I'm with Beast
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- Jan 5, 2009
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- 14,172
Score on the room location and view! I lucked out on my one work stay. I was back from the beach and interestingly enough my building had it's own check in desk which was lucky as that is where I went first. Now at least I know where the other one is lol!
Too funny on the Sequoia seeds. I have to admit it is likely we would not have even remembered we had them, or if we did mentioned them.
Aulani is a slice of heaven. But after many trips navigating the island, it is not ideal for seeing many of the city sights especially for a shorter trip. Given Honolulu traffic, I think you made the right call.
I'm now hoping my kids won't whine after only one night there followed by 5 at Aulani!
Too funny on the Sequoia seeds. I have to admit it is likely we would not have even remembered we had them, or if we did mentioned them.
Aulani is a slice of heaven. But after many trips navigating the island, it is not ideal for seeing many of the city sights especially for a shorter trip. Given Honolulu traffic, I think you made the right call.
I'm now hoping my kids won't whine after only one night there followed by 5 at Aulani!
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Walt Disney World Disability Information & Theme Park Maps
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Walt Disney World Passholders: Exclusive New Aladdin Photo Op
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'Cars' Piston Peak to Build on the Story of Magic Kingdom's Frontierland
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Increase Your Disney Cruise Line Placeholder Discount From 10% to 30%!
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Closing Date Announced for Rivers of America & Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom
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New Summer Pie Ice Cream Series in Disney's Dining Districts
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Walt Disney Imagineering Shares First Look at Test Track's New Marquee
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