dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Meeting Oswald was great. I am so glad that Disney got the rights to him back.
Corinna
Aloha, Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas
- Thread starter dolphingirl47
- Start date
Meeting Oswald was great. I am so glad that Disney got the rights to him back.
Corinna
Chilly
RIP Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 14,014
I missed quite a few updates but so far yor trip sounds amazing. It is making me want to go back to Disneyland.
Pinkocto
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2011
- Messages
- 9,446
Oh my, I was terribly behind.
What a fun breakfast to star off the trip!
And your tour, what fun! Sounds like your CM was much more informative than my CM. I still loved the tour though. How fabulous to see the Dream Suite! I'm glad you weren't disappointed with the change. Wow it is gorgeous!!! And all those fun magical touches, love it! I was suprised how much I liked the Jolly Holiday Bakery, I had a caprese sandwich which was very delicious. Too bad you weren't able to take your sandwich with you for later.
I'm sorry about the special World of Color, what a disappointment. And the service at dinner, how terrible. But you got lots of fun things done that day, Carsland is too cute all decorated.
Sneaky Halloween trip? Do tell, I'll be out there mid-October for DL and a cruise.
What a fun breakfast to star off the trip!
And your tour, what fun! Sounds like your CM was much more informative than my CM. I still loved the tour though. How fabulous to see the Dream Suite! I'm glad you weren't disappointed with the change. Wow it is gorgeous!!! And all those fun magical touches, love it! I was suprised how much I liked the Jolly Holiday Bakery, I had a caprese sandwich which was very delicious. Too bad you weren't able to take your sandwich with you for later.
I'm sorry about the special World of Color, what a disappointment. And the service at dinner, how terrible. But you got lots of fun things done that day, Carsland is too cute all decorated.
Sneaky Halloween trip? Do tell, I'll be out there mid-October for DL and a cruise.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Plenty of time. This trip report is not going anywhere.
The trouble is it is making me wanting to go back, too. Now, as far as Disneyland is concerned that is not too much of a problem. However, as of tomorrow I am in real trouble as this is when we will be hitting Aulani.
Welcome back.
I love the Surf's Up Breakfast. I was really spoiled on this trip and had 5 different character breakfasts, but this was by far my favourite.
I was incredibly lucky with all the tour guides I encountered on this trip. They were all full of stories and had a real passion for what they are doing.
I had read on the Disneyland Holiday Suer Thread back in September that Walt Disney's apartment was closed for a while and that it would be substituted with the Dream Suite. This was only going to be the case until October 20th and I have to admit that I was a little jealous. So one of the first questions I asked when I checked in was if Walt Disney's apartment was part of the tour again. When the tour guide checking me in told me that we would be visiting the Dream Suite instead, I could have bounced with joy. He seemed rather surprised and more than just a little relieved by my reaction. I think they were getting a lot of angry customers because of this.
Carsland was precious all dressed up for Christmas. Actually both parks are gorgeous during the holiday season. I will share more photos later in the trip.
Yes, a sneaky Halloween trip. I did not much like the idea that I am not getting to visit Disneyland during the Diamond Jubilee of all times, especially as I have a valid premium annual pass burning a hole in my pocket. This is still fluid at the moment in terms of dates, but it looks like September 22nd to October 1st is favourite.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Day 5
That day I had set the alarm call bright and early as we had an 8:30 flight to Honolulu. I had set the alarm for 5:00, but I still managed to wake up before the alarm went off. We got ready and put the last odds and ends into our suitcase and then we headed downstairs. I was a little nervous about Supershuttle after the experience that we had on the way in, but I did not need to be. Supershuttle arrived about 5 minutes before the beginning of our slot. We had one more person to pick up and then the driver said he wanted to just quickly check one hotel as his first pick up was a no show and there was another hotel with a very similar name and he wanted to make sure that the people were not waiting there. They were not there and soon we were on our way. The slight detour meant that we got to see the hotel where we would be staying for the final part of our trip.
The trip to the airport went pretty smoothly even though we did hit some traffic, as we were getting closer. As we entered airport property, Graham pointed towards where the cargo planes were parked. I spotted a very familiar tail. Even though I have been with my company for 9 years, I am still getting very excited when I see one of our aircraft. I have seen our planes in all kinds of interesting places, but never in Los Angeles. I know that this was just one of our freighters, but I was willing to take this. I was so excited.
We were the first people to be dropped off. There were hardly any people around the Delta terminal and we were able to head straight over to a desk to drop off our luggage. I was a little nervous as coming back from Hawaii, we were flying with a low cost carrier and had a very restrictive baggage allowance. I was exactly within the baggage allowance even though I had put my winter coat into the suitcase and Graham was quite a bit under so I figured that we would be OK especially as I was planning to put my shoes into the hand luggage on the way back. We were given our baggage claims receipts and pointed towards security and then we were on our way.
Graham had the TSA Pre Check notation on his boarding pass again and this time he decided to try this out. He waited for me at the other end. I don't think that this saved him too much time. Once we were both through security and had met up again, we headed towards our gate. Although we had checked in at the Delta terminal and were flying with Delta, the gate was actually in the US Airways terminal. The whole area was a giant building site and therefore a bit of a maze. By the time we made our way through there, we were definitely ready for some breakfast. We came past a place called Ruby's Dinette and this look good to us. Graham had a breakfast sandwich with egg and bacon and a coffee. I had the breakfast burrito, which contained beans, egg and cheese. I had an orange juice with this. We both enjoyed our breakfast.
After breakfast we headed towards our gate. We still had plenty of time. I had spotted a duty free shop on the way. I left my stuff with Graham and went to have a look. I wish I had not. One of my favourite drinks is Patron XO Cafe, which is a coffee flavoured tequila. I spotted that they now have a dark chocolate version of Patron XO Cafe. I so wanted to try this, but I was not in a position to buy this at the time. There was nothing else that took my fancy. So I headed back to the gate. There was free Wi-Fi and somewhere to plug my iPad in so I caught up with things online. Soon it was time to board.
The flight was very smooth. We had a Boing 767 for this flight with personal entertainment system. For some reason flights to Hawaii are classified as international flights so the entertainment was free. I still did not use this. The flight was half empty so Graham moved to an empty middle block once we were at cruising altitude. I stayed were I was as I was quite happy with my window seat. The flight was very smooth and I spent this finishing off my tourist guide to Oahu, working on my trip report, reading one of my eBooks and napping. As we got closer to Hawaii, we also had to fill out an agricultural declaration form. It was a beautiful clear day, but there was nothing to see apart from water. However, I got treated to a beautiful view when we approached Oahu. We actually flew straight over Aulani. I also got the first idea that I had been a bit harsh on Oahu. When we came to Oahu on our Hawaii cruise, I did not really like it. I did not feel it was anywhere near as beautiful as the other islands. However, as we were approaching Honolulu airport, I was treated to some absolutely stunning scenery. By the time we left Oahu again, it had stolen my heart.
I did not get much time to enjoy the view as we were soon descending into Honolulu airport. We arrived slightly early. Honolulu is probably the nicest airport that I have ever been to. It is more like a shopping centre than an airport and even comes with a beautiful Japanese garden. It is also pretty efficient. By the time we walked down to baggage reclaim and used the bathroom, our luggage had arrived. We got our suitcases and headed for the exit. Graham asked somebody where we would be able to find the shuttle for Thrifty and this was just opposite the exit.
The whole process really could not have been easier. We waited a couple of minutes and then the shuttle arrived. We had one more stop to pick people up that had come in on a United flight and then we were on our way. There was another couple on the shuttle that was also heading to Aulani. I was a little worried about the drive there. I had read that it is a bit confusing to get from the Thrifty depot to the H1 and I also read some trip reports stating that the Ko Olina turn off is difficult to find. Normally I rely on my iPhone to navigate, but this was not an option this time. I had two different maps plus printed out directions, but I was still worried. The shuttle driver gave some very easy directions on how to get to the H1 and told us to stick to it until it ended. By then Ko Olina would be signposted. This sounded easy enough.
We dropped some people off at the Dollar depot that was nearby and then we headed to the Thrifty depot. Even though quite a few people had arrived all at once, this was a very efficient operation. We had hired a car through Thrifty to drive from Orlando to Miami in 2013 and it turned out that they had all Graham's details already on the system. So we just had to pre-pay the fuel and then we were done. They also offered us an additional insurance package. Our car hire deal already came with a pretty good insurance package, but what they were offering there included breakdown cover and also would waive any excess on the insurance package we already had. At $7 per day, this sounded a good deal. We were doing quite a bit of driving and to some quite remote areas so having breakdown cover made sense. Adding this extra insurance cover turned out to be a real blessing.
With all the formalities out of the way, we were sent to pick up our car. I had booked an economy car, which was described as a Corsa or equivalent. We were both perfectly happy with this. What we ended up with a huge Nissan. This car felt like a sofa on wheels. This definitely was nice to have for our longer drives. We followed the directions that the shuttle driver had given us and a couple of minutes later we were on the H1 West. The exit for Ko Olina was signposted in plenty of time so this was a really easy drive. I had read on a number of occasions that they ask you for your name and where you are headed at the guard building at the entrance to Ko Olina, but as we approached, we were just greeted with a friendly Aloha and waved through.
I then got my first proper look of Aulani. I had dreamed of going there ever since it was first announced. I could not quite believe that I was actually there. We pulled up to the front of the hotel. A bellman started unloading our car and a valet took the car keys. We had done online check in. We were greeted with a lei and some water infused with various citrus fruits and pineapple. We were invited to come back at any time when they were out there to get more water. We made good use of this offer. I was given a birthday button and we received our first copy of the Daily Iwa. One of the cast members then took us inside the lobby. This is just breathtaking. She told us that our room was ready, marked the location of our room on a map and then handed us our keys. The bellman had been lurking with intend and followed us with our stuff to our room.
I took a few photos of the room before we started to mess it up. I was delighted with the room and the location. We were very close to the elevator lobby that went straight down to the pool area. We had ended up with one of the DVC hotel rooms. When I was able to book at 7 months out, there was no standard view studio that was available for the whole duration of our stay. There was however a DVC hotel room available for every night. As an added bonus, this cost fewer points. I had read that all the DVC hotel rooms had two queen beds, so it was a lovely surprise when we got to our room and found a king bed and a sofa. I think we have ended up with an accessible room as we had some grab bars in the bathroom. We loved the room. Our view was not so shabby either. Yes, we were looking out at the parking structure, but that was pretty well concealed and we had some beautiful mountains in the background.
Once we had a good look around our home for the next 10 days, we decided to go and explore the resort. We quickly checked out the DVC preview centre and then headed downstairs to the pool area. We had a quick wander around and checked out where everything was. We did not do too great a job with this that first day as we discovered something new virtually every day we were there. After we had some idea of the lay of the land, we headed over to Rainbow Reef. We are both passionate about snorkeling and wanted to get our length of stay pass for this. The length of stay pass is fantastic value and we got some discount for being DVC members, too. What made this even better is that it also included snorkel rentals down at the beach. I did not think we would need this as we had our own snorkeling gear, but it did come in handy later in the trip. We got our first wristbands and they added a Mickey head so that they could see that we have the length of stay pass. They also explained about the waivers that we had to fill out every day. With this take care of, we carried on exploring.
It did not take long until the water was calling to us. With all those fabulous water attractions, it was really a shame to spend too much time on dry land. It was rather warm as well. So we headed back to the room to get changed into our swim stuff. When we came back down, our first stop was the lazy river. I had visions on this being like the lazy river at Stormalong Bay at the Yacht and Beach Club. This is fun, but very short. The lazy river at Aulani is more like the lazy rivers at Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard beach. It is quite long and has added hazards like waterfalls and water spraying on you. We did a couple of laps around the lazy river and then we had enough. The water is actually quite chilly and a lot of it is in the shade. So we were in need of some sun.
There was something else we were in need of. By this time breakfast was a distant memory and we were quite hungry. So we made our way over to Mama's Snack Stop. Graham had a hot dog with Portuguese Sausage on crusty bread and I had the Buffalo-ranch fried chicken tender dog, which was surprisingly spicy, but very good. We both had some fries, too. This was dinner taken care of. While we were in the area, I decided to pop into the Lava Shack. I wanted one of the refillable resort mugs. I was surprised when Graham asked me to get him one as well. I went with the one with all the characters on it and this has now become my work mug. For Graham, I went with the more traditional Hawaiian design. I filled up our mugs and we were all set.
When we had finished our food and drink, we decided to check out the adult only hot tubs. They are infinity edge hot tubs so it looks like you are straight at the sea. They are also advertised as having great sunset views. It was too early for a sunset that day and indeed we never got around to experiencing a sunset in those hot tubs all trip, but we enjoyed our time just relaxing and warming up again after getting cold in the lazy river. After a while, we decided to move on. By then we had essentially had enough water, but on the walk back towards our building, we came across the grotto pool and that looked rather tempting. This pool has an infinity edge, too. It is also rather refreshing. So after we had swum a few lengths, we were in need of warming up again. Fortunately this pool has a rather neat hot tub attached to it, which is set inside the grotto. So we spent about 20 minutes in there warming up again and then we got dried off and really headed back to the room.
It was still only late afternoon, but between the early morning, the time difference and the fact that our body clocks were still essentially on UK time, we had enough for the day. We quickly unpacked and took turns to get showered before heading to bed. The next day was a rather special day for me.
That day I had set the alarm call bright and early as we had an 8:30 flight to Honolulu. I had set the alarm for 5:00, but I still managed to wake up before the alarm went off. We got ready and put the last odds and ends into our suitcase and then we headed downstairs. I was a little nervous about Supershuttle after the experience that we had on the way in, but I did not need to be. Supershuttle arrived about 5 minutes before the beginning of our slot. We had one more person to pick up and then the driver said he wanted to just quickly check one hotel as his first pick up was a no show and there was another hotel with a very similar name and he wanted to make sure that the people were not waiting there. They were not there and soon we were on our way. The slight detour meant that we got to see the hotel where we would be staying for the final part of our trip.
The trip to the airport went pretty smoothly even though we did hit some traffic, as we were getting closer. As we entered airport property, Graham pointed towards where the cargo planes were parked. I spotted a very familiar tail. Even though I have been with my company for 9 years, I am still getting very excited when I see one of our aircraft. I have seen our planes in all kinds of interesting places, but never in Los Angeles. I know that this was just one of our freighters, but I was willing to take this. I was so excited.
We were the first people to be dropped off. There were hardly any people around the Delta terminal and we were able to head straight over to a desk to drop off our luggage. I was a little nervous as coming back from Hawaii, we were flying with a low cost carrier and had a very restrictive baggage allowance. I was exactly within the baggage allowance even though I had put my winter coat into the suitcase and Graham was quite a bit under so I figured that we would be OK especially as I was planning to put my shoes into the hand luggage on the way back. We were given our baggage claims receipts and pointed towards security and then we were on our way.
Graham had the TSA Pre Check notation on his boarding pass again and this time he decided to try this out. He waited for me at the other end. I don't think that this saved him too much time. Once we were both through security and had met up again, we headed towards our gate. Although we had checked in at the Delta terminal and were flying with Delta, the gate was actually in the US Airways terminal. The whole area was a giant building site and therefore a bit of a maze. By the time we made our way through there, we were definitely ready for some breakfast. We came past a place called Ruby's Dinette and this look good to us. Graham had a breakfast sandwich with egg and bacon and a coffee. I had the breakfast burrito, which contained beans, egg and cheese. I had an orange juice with this. We both enjoyed our breakfast.
After breakfast we headed towards our gate. We still had plenty of time. I had spotted a duty free shop on the way. I left my stuff with Graham and went to have a look. I wish I had not. One of my favourite drinks is Patron XO Cafe, which is a coffee flavoured tequila. I spotted that they now have a dark chocolate version of Patron XO Cafe. I so wanted to try this, but I was not in a position to buy this at the time. There was nothing else that took my fancy. So I headed back to the gate. There was free Wi-Fi and somewhere to plug my iPad in so I caught up with things online. Soon it was time to board.
The flight was very smooth. We had a Boing 767 for this flight with personal entertainment system. For some reason flights to Hawaii are classified as international flights so the entertainment was free. I still did not use this. The flight was half empty so Graham moved to an empty middle block once we were at cruising altitude. I stayed were I was as I was quite happy with my window seat. The flight was very smooth and I spent this finishing off my tourist guide to Oahu, working on my trip report, reading one of my eBooks and napping. As we got closer to Hawaii, we also had to fill out an agricultural declaration form. It was a beautiful clear day, but there was nothing to see apart from water. However, I got treated to a beautiful view when we approached Oahu. We actually flew straight over Aulani. I also got the first idea that I had been a bit harsh on Oahu. When we came to Oahu on our Hawaii cruise, I did not really like it. I did not feel it was anywhere near as beautiful as the other islands. However, as we were approaching Honolulu airport, I was treated to some absolutely stunning scenery. By the time we left Oahu again, it had stolen my heart.
I did not get much time to enjoy the view as we were soon descending into Honolulu airport. We arrived slightly early. Honolulu is probably the nicest airport that I have ever been to. It is more like a shopping centre than an airport and even comes with a beautiful Japanese garden. It is also pretty efficient. By the time we walked down to baggage reclaim and used the bathroom, our luggage had arrived. We got our suitcases and headed for the exit. Graham asked somebody where we would be able to find the shuttle for Thrifty and this was just opposite the exit.
The whole process really could not have been easier. We waited a couple of minutes and then the shuttle arrived. We had one more stop to pick people up that had come in on a United flight and then we were on our way. There was another couple on the shuttle that was also heading to Aulani. I was a little worried about the drive there. I had read that it is a bit confusing to get from the Thrifty depot to the H1 and I also read some trip reports stating that the Ko Olina turn off is difficult to find. Normally I rely on my iPhone to navigate, but this was not an option this time. I had two different maps plus printed out directions, but I was still worried. The shuttle driver gave some very easy directions on how to get to the H1 and told us to stick to it until it ended. By then Ko Olina would be signposted. This sounded easy enough.
We dropped some people off at the Dollar depot that was nearby and then we headed to the Thrifty depot. Even though quite a few people had arrived all at once, this was a very efficient operation. We had hired a car through Thrifty to drive from Orlando to Miami in 2013 and it turned out that they had all Graham's details already on the system. So we just had to pre-pay the fuel and then we were done. They also offered us an additional insurance package. Our car hire deal already came with a pretty good insurance package, but what they were offering there included breakdown cover and also would waive any excess on the insurance package we already had. At $7 per day, this sounded a good deal. We were doing quite a bit of driving and to some quite remote areas so having breakdown cover made sense. Adding this extra insurance cover turned out to be a real blessing.
With all the formalities out of the way, we were sent to pick up our car. I had booked an economy car, which was described as a Corsa or equivalent. We were both perfectly happy with this. What we ended up with a huge Nissan. This car felt like a sofa on wheels. This definitely was nice to have for our longer drives. We followed the directions that the shuttle driver had given us and a couple of minutes later we were on the H1 West. The exit for Ko Olina was signposted in plenty of time so this was a really easy drive. I had read on a number of occasions that they ask you for your name and where you are headed at the guard building at the entrance to Ko Olina, but as we approached, we were just greeted with a friendly Aloha and waved through.
I then got my first proper look of Aulani. I had dreamed of going there ever since it was first announced. I could not quite believe that I was actually there. We pulled up to the front of the hotel. A bellman started unloading our car and a valet took the car keys. We had done online check in. We were greeted with a lei and some water infused with various citrus fruits and pineapple. We were invited to come back at any time when they were out there to get more water. We made good use of this offer. I was given a birthday button and we received our first copy of the Daily Iwa. One of the cast members then took us inside the lobby. This is just breathtaking. She told us that our room was ready, marked the location of our room on a map and then handed us our keys. The bellman had been lurking with intend and followed us with our stuff to our room.
I took a few photos of the room before we started to mess it up. I was delighted with the room and the location. We were very close to the elevator lobby that went straight down to the pool area. We had ended up with one of the DVC hotel rooms. When I was able to book at 7 months out, there was no standard view studio that was available for the whole duration of our stay. There was however a DVC hotel room available for every night. As an added bonus, this cost fewer points. I had read that all the DVC hotel rooms had two queen beds, so it was a lovely surprise when we got to our room and found a king bed and a sofa. I think we have ended up with an accessible room as we had some grab bars in the bathroom. We loved the room. Our view was not so shabby either. Yes, we were looking out at the parking structure, but that was pretty well concealed and we had some beautiful mountains in the background.
Once we had a good look around our home for the next 10 days, we decided to go and explore the resort. We quickly checked out the DVC preview centre and then headed downstairs to the pool area. We had a quick wander around and checked out where everything was. We did not do too great a job with this that first day as we discovered something new virtually every day we were there. After we had some idea of the lay of the land, we headed over to Rainbow Reef. We are both passionate about snorkeling and wanted to get our length of stay pass for this. The length of stay pass is fantastic value and we got some discount for being DVC members, too. What made this even better is that it also included snorkel rentals down at the beach. I did not think we would need this as we had our own snorkeling gear, but it did come in handy later in the trip. We got our first wristbands and they added a Mickey head so that they could see that we have the length of stay pass. They also explained about the waivers that we had to fill out every day. With this take care of, we carried on exploring.
It did not take long until the water was calling to us. With all those fabulous water attractions, it was really a shame to spend too much time on dry land. It was rather warm as well. So we headed back to the room to get changed into our swim stuff. When we came back down, our first stop was the lazy river. I had visions on this being like the lazy river at Stormalong Bay at the Yacht and Beach Club. This is fun, but very short. The lazy river at Aulani is more like the lazy rivers at Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard beach. It is quite long and has added hazards like waterfalls and water spraying on you. We did a couple of laps around the lazy river and then we had enough. The water is actually quite chilly and a lot of it is in the shade. So we were in need of some sun.
There was something else we were in need of. By this time breakfast was a distant memory and we were quite hungry. So we made our way over to Mama's Snack Stop. Graham had a hot dog with Portuguese Sausage on crusty bread and I had the Buffalo-ranch fried chicken tender dog, which was surprisingly spicy, but very good. We both had some fries, too. This was dinner taken care of. While we were in the area, I decided to pop into the Lava Shack. I wanted one of the refillable resort mugs. I was surprised when Graham asked me to get him one as well. I went with the one with all the characters on it and this has now become my work mug. For Graham, I went with the more traditional Hawaiian design. I filled up our mugs and we were all set.
When we had finished our food and drink, we decided to check out the adult only hot tubs. They are infinity edge hot tubs so it looks like you are straight at the sea. They are also advertised as having great sunset views. It was too early for a sunset that day and indeed we never got around to experiencing a sunset in those hot tubs all trip, but we enjoyed our time just relaxing and warming up again after getting cold in the lazy river. After a while, we decided to move on. By then we had essentially had enough water, but on the walk back towards our building, we came across the grotto pool and that looked rather tempting. This pool has an infinity edge, too. It is also rather refreshing. So after we had swum a few lengths, we were in need of warming up again. Fortunately this pool has a rather neat hot tub attached to it, which is set inside the grotto. So we spent about 20 minutes in there warming up again and then we got dried off and really headed back to the room.
It was still only late afternoon, but between the early morning, the time difference and the fact that our body clocks were still essentially on UK time, we had enough for the day. We quickly unpacked and took turns to get showered before heading to bed. The next day was a rather special day for me.
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
- Messages
- 108,012
YAY! You're at Aulani.
Your room looks terrific!
Your room looks terrific!
eeyorefanuk
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2009
- Messages
- 4,082
You have arrived 
loving the report x
loving the report x
Paula Sedley-Burke
Proud to believe in Rainbows and Unicorns...
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
- Messages
- 7,756
Such a nice surprise to see if there was an update on this TR and see you were at Aulani! Yeah! I am pleased you had a safe smooth flight. We thought Oahu was beautiful. Love Honolulu airport isn't it so welcoming! What a nice start getting an upgrade on your car. I love that when you arrived they gave you a drink and a lei.
Your room is lovely and oh my to have 2 bed side tables! Not just the usual one which drives us crazy! I wonder if this is because it is a hotel dvc room. The Rainbow reef sounds great. I look forward to hearing more about that.
Oh lucky ducks I just adore lazy rivers! My most favourite one has got to be Discovery Cove or the Wadi Wadi in Dubai. If it is as good as those I would be impressed. The one at The Atlantis in Bahamas is pretty neat too. Like you I don't like too much shade. I want my face in the sun!
Your room is lovely and oh my to have 2 bed side tables! Not just the usual one which drives us crazy! I wonder if this is because it is a hotel dvc room. The Rainbow reef sounds great. I look forward to hearing more about that.
Oh lucky ducks I just adore lazy rivers! My most favourite one has got to be Discovery Cove or the Wadi Wadi in Dubai. If it is as good as those I would be impressed. The one at The Atlantis in Bahamas is pretty neat too. Like you I don't like too much shade. I want my face in the sun!
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
I loved that room and the king-sized bed was a definite bonus.
You have arrived
I am glad that you are enjoying it.
Sounds like a smooth travel day. And you're at Aulani!!!! All the water exploring has me itching to go! I can not wait until I can book for next year
You are in for a real treat.
Yes, I am a water-baby at the best of times. On this trip I started to wonder if I would grow fins at some stage.
I have to check my photos regarding the bedside tables. We toured a two bedroom villa and a grand villa during the stay.
Rainbow Reef is amazing and there will be plenty of photos from there.
We love lazy rivers, too. My favourite one is the one at the Atlantis in Dubai. We have yet to visit Wild Wadi. The one at Aulani does not have the bells and whistles that Atlantis has, but it is still pretty neat.
There will be plenty more photos of the Christmas decorations at Disneyland. As far as Aulani is concerned, think of the most magical place you can imagine, double your expectations and then add some - this is Aulani.
Corinna
ACDSNY
Let the countdown begin!
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2005
- Messages
- 11,971
I love your description of Aulani above as it's one of my favorites resorts. We've only been home a week since our trip and I already want to go back, but I'll want some time on Kauai too.
Great pics throughout Disneyland and hearing about your tour makes me want to book one in May.
Great pics throughout Disneyland and hearing about your tour makes me want to book one in May.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Aulani is now my favourite resort. It has easily overtaken Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Grand Californian in my affections. It is just such a magical place.
We loved Kauai as well when we visited during our Hawaii cruise in 2012 and I definitely want to go back at some stage.
I would definitely recommend that tour.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Day 6
When I woke up this morning, I was a year older. This day was my 40th birthday and I was actually really excited about this. I had decided many years ago that I would never grow up so getting older does not bother me. My 30s were pretty spectacular and I have high hopes for my 40s. Of course I got to spend my special birthday in an all round magical place so I was very happy that morning. There was just one little issue. When I woke up, it was 3:00 AM. I got up and got dressed. I headed down to reception to pick up our Daily Iwa. I wandered around for a bit taking in all the beauty around me. Then I headed back up to the room. I had a quick read through the Daily Iwa and checked in online where I was greeted with birthday wishes from all around the world. I then came to the realization that 3:30 AM is really way to early to be up and headed back to bed. After a bit of tossing and turning, I managed to fall asleep again. When I next woke up, the sun was up and it was just gone 6:00 AM. This was a little more realistic. Graham was also awake and we decided to get up.
Getting up that morning was a fairly leisurely process. I soon realized that I had made a tactical error though. When I made a reservation for the character breakfast at Makahiki many months earlier, for some reason I thought it was a good idea to make that reservation for 8:30. I am really not sure what possessed me to do this. As we were up so early and had not eaten anything since mid afternoon the previous day, we were both hungry. So we decided to head down there as soon as they opened at 7:00 AM to check if they can fit us in earlier. Initially they told us that they could fit us in at 8:15, but that did not really make any difference. They then said that they had a cancellation for 7:15, which was perfect. We were sent outside to meet Mickey. I did not buy the photo package, but his escort took some photos with my camera and they came out rather nice. Once we finished with Mickey, we went back inside and were asked to sit down near the podium. Soon afterwards we were called and taken to our table.
Makahiki is a beautiful space. It is name after the Makahiki season. The Makahiki season is the ancient Hawaiian New Year festival. It is a holiday covering four consecutive lunar months, approximately from October or November through February or March. The focus of the season is a celebration of the bounty of the land. I suppose our closest equivalent would be the harvest festival. The whole of the back wall of Makahiki is taken up by a huge mural depicting the various traditions of the Makahiki festival. There are also beautiful blown glass ornaments of fruit, vegetables and fish on the ceiling.
Soon after we were seated, our server came to offer drinks. We both had some coffee. The coffee was utterly delicious. It was only a Kona coffee blend, but it was way better than anything else I have had on Disney property. I also found out that they had passion fruit, orange and guava juice so I was in my element. Graham stuck with orange juice. Then we headed for the buffet. First up we were drawn to the fresh fruit. I had some plain pineapple, melon and the best papaya I have ever tasted. Graham was more adventurous and had pineapple with all different kinds of toppings. He was especially enamored with the pineapple with Hawaiian salt. I was not too sure about this idea, but decided to try some and it was absolutely delicious. I also had some fruit salad that had some almond jelly in it. Then we headed for the hot food. Graham kept it fairly traditional, but I gravitated towards the things I could not get at home. I had candied bacon, Portuguese sausage; island fried rice and my personal favourite Loco Moco, which is a burger patty with poached egg and gravy.
In between trips to the buffet. Goofy and Minnie came over multiple times. I had hoped that Stitch would be there, but he was nowhere to be seen that morning. Towards the end of breakfast, our server brought me a special birthday dessert, which was a delicious chocolate mousse. Throughout breakfast, Aunty had made the rounds of the restaurant and interacted with the children. Towards the end of our breakfast, she was outside on the patio and was asking for people who were celebrating their birthday. I figured nothing good would come out of this and kept quiet. However, this was not an option. Our server came for me and took me outside to see Aunty. There was one other adult and a few children. Aunty taught us how to dance the birthday hula and then she posed for a photo with each of us.
Shortly after this we paid and headed out. We quickly used the bathroom. In the bathrooms near Makahiki, they have gorgeous bamboo sinks. I want one of those at home. Then we decided we would carry on exploring. There was one thing I really wanted to see. I had seen quite a few photos of a wooden Stitch statue. As Stitch is a firm favourite of mine, I had to see this. There was a Photopass photographer nearby and I asked her where I could find the Stitch statue. She started to give me directions and then she decided she would walk us over there. We got some photos by the Stitch statue and then she walked us over to the surf shack where one of her colleagues was taking photos. Once we were than there, she radioed her colleague who was down by the beach and told him that we were coming in his direction. It was almost like they were doing a relay with us. We got some very nice photos in that area and the Photopass photographer there gave us a map for the Photopass scavenger hunt and marked off the places that we had been to. We then said goodbye and continued exploring.
When I woke up this morning, I was a year older. This day was my 40th birthday and I was actually really excited about this. I had decided many years ago that I would never grow up so getting older does not bother me. My 30s were pretty spectacular and I have high hopes for my 40s. Of course I got to spend my special birthday in an all round magical place so I was very happy that morning. There was just one little issue. When I woke up, it was 3:00 AM. I got up and got dressed. I headed down to reception to pick up our Daily Iwa. I wandered around for a bit taking in all the beauty around me. Then I headed back up to the room. I had a quick read through the Daily Iwa and checked in online where I was greeted with birthday wishes from all around the world. I then came to the realization that 3:30 AM is really way to early to be up and headed back to bed. After a bit of tossing and turning, I managed to fall asleep again. When I next woke up, the sun was up and it was just gone 6:00 AM. This was a little more realistic. Graham was also awake and we decided to get up.
Getting up that morning was a fairly leisurely process. I soon realized that I had made a tactical error though. When I made a reservation for the character breakfast at Makahiki many months earlier, for some reason I thought it was a good idea to make that reservation for 8:30. I am really not sure what possessed me to do this. As we were up so early and had not eaten anything since mid afternoon the previous day, we were both hungry. So we decided to head down there as soon as they opened at 7:00 AM to check if they can fit us in earlier. Initially they told us that they could fit us in at 8:15, but that did not really make any difference. They then said that they had a cancellation for 7:15, which was perfect. We were sent outside to meet Mickey. I did not buy the photo package, but his escort took some photos with my camera and they came out rather nice. Once we finished with Mickey, we went back inside and were asked to sit down near the podium. Soon afterwards we were called and taken to our table.
Makahiki is a beautiful space. It is name after the Makahiki season. The Makahiki season is the ancient Hawaiian New Year festival. It is a holiday covering four consecutive lunar months, approximately from October or November through February or March. The focus of the season is a celebration of the bounty of the land. I suppose our closest equivalent would be the harvest festival. The whole of the back wall of Makahiki is taken up by a huge mural depicting the various traditions of the Makahiki festival. There are also beautiful blown glass ornaments of fruit, vegetables and fish on the ceiling.
Soon after we were seated, our server came to offer drinks. We both had some coffee. The coffee was utterly delicious. It was only a Kona coffee blend, but it was way better than anything else I have had on Disney property. I also found out that they had passion fruit, orange and guava juice so I was in my element. Graham stuck with orange juice. Then we headed for the buffet. First up we were drawn to the fresh fruit. I had some plain pineapple, melon and the best papaya I have ever tasted. Graham was more adventurous and had pineapple with all different kinds of toppings. He was especially enamored with the pineapple with Hawaiian salt. I was not too sure about this idea, but decided to try some and it was absolutely delicious. I also had some fruit salad that had some almond jelly in it. Then we headed for the hot food. Graham kept it fairly traditional, but I gravitated towards the things I could not get at home. I had candied bacon, Portuguese sausage; island fried rice and my personal favourite Loco Moco, which is a burger patty with poached egg and gravy.
In between trips to the buffet. Goofy and Minnie came over multiple times. I had hoped that Stitch would be there, but he was nowhere to be seen that morning. Towards the end of breakfast, our server brought me a special birthday dessert, which was a delicious chocolate mousse. Throughout breakfast, Aunty had made the rounds of the restaurant and interacted with the children. Towards the end of our breakfast, she was outside on the patio and was asking for people who were celebrating their birthday. I figured nothing good would come out of this and kept quiet. However, this was not an option. Our server came for me and took me outside to see Aunty. There was one other adult and a few children. Aunty taught us how to dance the birthday hula and then she posed for a photo with each of us.
Shortly after this we paid and headed out. We quickly used the bathroom. In the bathrooms near Makahiki, they have gorgeous bamboo sinks. I want one of those at home. Then we decided we would carry on exploring. There was one thing I really wanted to see. I had seen quite a few photos of a wooden Stitch statue. As Stitch is a firm favourite of mine, I had to see this. There was a Photopass photographer nearby and I asked her where I could find the Stitch statue. She started to give me directions and then she decided she would walk us over there. We got some photos by the Stitch statue and then she walked us over to the surf shack where one of her colleagues was taking photos. Once we were than there, she radioed her colleague who was down by the beach and told him that we were coming in his direction. It was almost like they were doing a relay with us. We got some very nice photos in that area and the Photopass photographer there gave us a map for the Photopass scavenger hunt and marked off the places that we had been to. We then said goodbye and continued exploring.
eeyorefanuk
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2009
- Messages
- 4,082
Lovely photos and a belated happy birthday . What a place to celebrate your birthday x
. What a place to celebrate your birthday x
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
This morning's explorations yielded two discoveries. We found the adult pool, which is a little tucked away. Indeed we never saw anybody in it and for the most part we swam elsewhere, too. I also realized that the resort is absolutely packed with Plumeria bushes. Plumeria is my absolute favourite scent so I was happy about this.
After a while we headed back inside. I wanted to stop by the DVC preview centre. I had seen a sign for a sundown mingle the day before and wanted to see if I could sign up for this. This was taking place that evening, but was unfortunately fully booked. The cast member jokingly advised that he could sign us up for the following Friday if we were still there. We told him that we would be. He seemed quite surprised by this and we were the first people to sign up. We also got our tickets for the Mahalo Member Mingle, which takes place on Monday mornings. He also signed us up for a tour of one of the Grand Villas. I also wanted to see if we could sign up for the new tour for members that they had introduced in September. He told us that we could only sign up for this on the day at the Pau Hana Room. We were all set and headed back to our room.
At that stage we were keen to explore the Rainbow Reef. We got changed into our swimming gear and grabbed our underwater cameras and snorkeling gear. We then headed over to the Rainbow Reef shack. We were issued with our wristbands and towels, signed the waivers for the day and picked up the life vests that we had to wear. They were strange things. We had to inflate them and they just did not sit right. By the time we had gone through all the motions, Rainbow Reef had still not opened so we sat down at a table on the patio. Shortly afterwards they opened up and we headed over. We were issued with some more rules. We had to shower before going into Rainbow Reef and while in there, we were only allowed to use our arms for swimming. This did alarm me somewhat as I have very little upper body strength, but by the end of the holiday I saw some real benefits from this. Then we were free to go in. Rainbow Reef is packed with colourful tropical fishes. Virtually with every stroke I saw something new. I also discovered some Menehune. I was surprised how cold the water was and after half an hour, we had turned into icicles and decided to come out. We had brought our wetsuits and I asked the cast member by the exit if wetsuits were allowed in Rainbow Reef. I was told that they were and we should bring them next time if we had them. This was definitely a game changer. On this occasion, we headed to the infinity hot tubs to warm up.
We headed back to our room and continued the warming up process by having nice warm showers. We then got changed and headed out again. We stopped by the concierge desk to find out where the nearest supermarket was. Graham had forgotten his sunglasses and also wanted a cheap cap. I was going to buy a new pair of flip-flops at Downtown Disney, but never got around to it. We also wanted to see if we could get some fresh pineapple for some breakfasts. The concierge provided us with a map to the closest supermarket. We found that there was a Chilis in the same complex so that was my birthday dinner sorted.
Then it was time to get my birthday present. Ever since Aulani opened, I had been lusting after the Aulani exclusive Dooney and Bourke bags and the tote in particular. So we headed towards the shop. The shop was pretty big and I saw just about everything one could possibly want or need, but no Dooney and Bourke bags. The closest thing I could see was some Disney Vera Bradley bags. I checked with a cast member and she advised me that the Dooney and Bourke bags were in the other shop. She pointed me in the right direction. It turned out that the shops at Aulani are organized similarly to on the ships insofar that they had one shop with character merchandise and one shop with more upmarket offerings. The Dooney and Bourke bags were with the more upmarket goods.
As I enter the shop, I had a bit of a surprise. There were some Dooney and Bourke bags on a table right by the entrance, but they were not the familiar design that I had lusted after for so long. It appeared that they had released a new Aulani exclusive design earlier that week. I really liked this. They had this design in a tote and in a smaller cross body. Apart from that it was a really nice and colourful design, it was also nylon and had a zip to close it, which are both distinct advantages in the wet weather that we tend to get. I then headed towards the back of the shop where the bags with the original design were sitting on a shelf. In the end I decided on the new design. The fact the cast member in the shop mentioned that this was the second delivery they had of that style and that the first one flew off the shelves may have done something to focus my mind. I pick one and took it to the till only for her to get a new one from the back. I was a bit worried as I really liked the placement on the one on display, but it turned out they were all identical. I thanked the cast member and then we headed back to the room.
After a while we headed back inside. I wanted to stop by the DVC preview centre. I had seen a sign for a sundown mingle the day before and wanted to see if I could sign up for this. This was taking place that evening, but was unfortunately fully booked. The cast member jokingly advised that he could sign us up for the following Friday if we were still there. We told him that we would be. He seemed quite surprised by this and we were the first people to sign up. We also got our tickets for the Mahalo Member Mingle, which takes place on Monday mornings. He also signed us up for a tour of one of the Grand Villas. I also wanted to see if we could sign up for the new tour for members that they had introduced in September. He told us that we could only sign up for this on the day at the Pau Hana Room. We were all set and headed back to our room.
At that stage we were keen to explore the Rainbow Reef. We got changed into our swimming gear and grabbed our underwater cameras and snorkeling gear. We then headed over to the Rainbow Reef shack. We were issued with our wristbands and towels, signed the waivers for the day and picked up the life vests that we had to wear. They were strange things. We had to inflate them and they just did not sit right. By the time we had gone through all the motions, Rainbow Reef had still not opened so we sat down at a table on the patio. Shortly afterwards they opened up and we headed over. We were issued with some more rules. We had to shower before going into Rainbow Reef and while in there, we were only allowed to use our arms for swimming. This did alarm me somewhat as I have very little upper body strength, but by the end of the holiday I saw some real benefits from this. Then we were free to go in. Rainbow Reef is packed with colourful tropical fishes. Virtually with every stroke I saw something new. I also discovered some Menehune. I was surprised how cold the water was and after half an hour, we had turned into icicles and decided to come out. We had brought our wetsuits and I asked the cast member by the exit if wetsuits were allowed in Rainbow Reef. I was told that they were and we should bring them next time if we had them. This was definitely a game changer. On this occasion, we headed to the infinity hot tubs to warm up.
We headed back to our room and continued the warming up process by having nice warm showers. We then got changed and headed out again. We stopped by the concierge desk to find out where the nearest supermarket was. Graham had forgotten his sunglasses and also wanted a cheap cap. I was going to buy a new pair of flip-flops at Downtown Disney, but never got around to it. We also wanted to see if we could get some fresh pineapple for some breakfasts. The concierge provided us with a map to the closest supermarket. We found that there was a Chilis in the same complex so that was my birthday dinner sorted.
Then it was time to get my birthday present. Ever since Aulani opened, I had been lusting after the Aulani exclusive Dooney and Bourke bags and the tote in particular. So we headed towards the shop. The shop was pretty big and I saw just about everything one could possibly want or need, but no Dooney and Bourke bags. The closest thing I could see was some Disney Vera Bradley bags. I checked with a cast member and she advised me that the Dooney and Bourke bags were in the other shop. She pointed me in the right direction. It turned out that the shops at Aulani are organized similarly to on the ships insofar that they had one shop with character merchandise and one shop with more upmarket offerings. The Dooney and Bourke bags were with the more upmarket goods.
As I enter the shop, I had a bit of a surprise. There were some Dooney and Bourke bags on a table right by the entrance, but they were not the familiar design that I had lusted after for so long. It appeared that they had released a new Aulani exclusive design earlier that week. I really liked this. They had this design in a tote and in a smaller cross body. Apart from that it was a really nice and colourful design, it was also nylon and had a zip to close it, which are both distinct advantages in the wet weather that we tend to get. I then headed towards the back of the shop where the bags with the original design were sitting on a shelf. In the end I decided on the new design. The fact the cast member in the shop mentioned that this was the second delivery they had of that style and that the first one flew off the shelves may have done something to focus my mind. I pick one and took it to the till only for her to get a new one from the back. I was a bit worried as I really liked the placement on the one on display, but it turned out they were all identical. I thanked the cast member and then we headed back to the room.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
We did not stay very long. We just grabbed our cameras and headed out again. My new bag of course had to come with me. We had an excursion booked for the next morning for which we needed to check in at the ungodly hour of 6:15. The check in for the excursion was at the Ko Olina marina, which is near lagoon 4 and we were at lagoon 1. So we figured we better to a test run. Well, you know what they say about good intentions. The walk along the lagoons is quite pretty, the area is full of interesting birds and there were quite a few weddings going on so the walk did not work very well in terms of research. We checked out where we needed to check in the following morning and then we headed back along the road. That was not quite as picturesque as the walk by the lagoons, but we still stopped and started. As we got closer, we got some rather nice photos of Aulani.
When we got back, we both needed something to drink. We stopped for some of the fruit water and then headed back to the room to pick up the car keys and assorted maps and directions. Initially we were just going to do the shopping and have a late lunch. However, Graham suggested that as were out and about anyway, we may as well check out where Pearl Harbor was. The directions looked quite complicated, but when I looked at the map, an easier route became apparent. This worked out very well getting there, but coming back, we ended up in the middle of the Friday afternoon rush hour. That was not much fun. I really had not expected that the rush hour started before 15:00.
Apart from the traffic, we had another issue. The map that the concierge had given us only showed how to get to the retail park when heading from Aulani towards Honolulu. We were now coming from the opposite direction. Well, it stands to reason that there would be a corresponding exit in the other direction. Not so. We ended up at an industrial port. This particular port became a bit of a standing joke for the rest of the trip. When we were nearly at the port, we knew that we were lost as there were no roads going beyond there. So we turned around and soon we saw colourful water slides in the distance. I realized that this must be Wet and Wild, which was marked on the map the concierge had given us and was right opposite of where we needed to be. So we used this for navigation. Shortly afterwards we saw the retail park we were looking for. There was just a further little issue. There was no access from the direction that we were coming from. So we ended up on the main road with nowhere to turn around. In the end we took a turn into a housing estate, where we were able to turn around and approach the retail park from the correct direction. Let's just say we ended up on a few housing estates that trip.
Once we had arrived were we had intended to be, Chilis was right there. So we decided to get some food first. We both had some mango ice tea. Fortunately this comes with free refills and they were being very generous with those. Graham went with the steak with broccoli and loaded mashed potato. I could not make up my mind what I wanted. In the end I had the Triple Play appetizer as a main course and chose the South-western Eggrolls, Big Mouth Bites (mini cheese burgers) and boneless honey Chipotle wings. We both enjoyed our dinner.
After dinner, we went to do our shopping. We got back into the car and got into another traffic jam. We decided to park the car and walk the rest of the way. The closest proper supermarket to Aulani is a Safeway. Although we used to have a supermarket chain by the same name, this was a new experience in the USA. I suppose the closest we would have in terms of style is Waitrose. This also reminded me of the Goodings supermarket that used to be on International Drive in Orlando. This comes firmly under the eclectic umbrella. They had all kinds of interesting things and if we had a kitchen, I could have done some serious damage to the credit card. We picked up some wine and I found some Kona coffee glazed macadamia nuts. I was going to enjoy them at Aulani, but they are still sealed until recently and came back with us. We were looking for a cheap knife that we could use and then leave, but knifes seem to be a lot more expensive in Hawaii than what we are used to. So in the end it worked out cheaper to buy a couple of boxes of ready to eat pineapple. We could not find any of the other things we were looking for. On the way we had seen a Long's Drugs, which looked very much like a Walgreens. So we decided to check this out. There we got lucky. I got my flip-flops and Graham got some sunglasses and a baseball cap. We also managed to get some washing detergent. With all the shopping taken care of, we headed back to the car and made it back to Aulani without further trouble.
We headed back to our room to put away the shopping and had some down time. I caught up with my emails and Facebook and Graham just chilled out. There was one last thing we had planned for that day. They offered tours of the spa every morning and evening. I really wanted to have a look so we decided to do this that evening. On the way we filled up our mugs with fruit water.
We got to the spa a little early and were asked to take a seat in the reception area. This also doubles as a shop for all kinds of spa products. It is a very bright and serene space. Shortly afterwards quite a few more people arrived. A couple of minutes before the tour was due to start, a cast member came out to welcome us and advised that we would wait a little longer to see if somebody else would join us. Five minutes later we were on our way. He explained a bit about the facilities and the treatments they offer. Our first stop was the reflection pool. This is a water feature in the middle of a corridor. When you come for a treatment you pick a river stone that has a word in English and Hawaiian engraved on it. You are meant to focus on that word throughout your treatment. As you head for your treatment you put the stone in the reflection pool. Next up we went to one of the relaxation rooms. They have comfortable loungers and healthy snacks there. Then we headed towards what interested me most: the hydrotherapy garden. We stopped at the various soaking tubs and he explained what they were for. He also demonstrated the special effects showers, which are all sensor operated. Next he showed us the family treatment room and then we headed back to the relaxation room where he invited us to help ourselves to some of the snacks. I ended up with a small dish with chocolate covered blueberries, a healthy mini muffin of some description and a green tea macaroon. I was really hoping that they would show us the rainwater suite, but this did not happen. He escorted us back to the front. We thanked him and left.
It was really strange. I had really liked what I had seen. Before the trip I had read a lot about the spa and had chosen my treatment. This was all budgeted for. However, after the tour I was no longer sure that I wanted to invest the time needed for a spa treatment. It almost felt that now that I had seen the spa, I had it out of my system and did not need to go back. In the end I never made it back to the spa and the money set aside for the treatment was used for a treat of a different kind later in the stay.
We headed back towards our room, but took a slight detour to pick up the Daily Iwa for the next day. Once we got back to the room, we gathered our stuff together that we would need in the morning. I had my snacks and then we got ready for bed. The day had been a far cry from what I had pictured before the trip, which was a lazy day at the beach or by the pool with a few cocktails. Still, it had been a very enjoyable day.
When we got back, we both needed something to drink. We stopped for some of the fruit water and then headed back to the room to pick up the car keys and assorted maps and directions. Initially we were just going to do the shopping and have a late lunch. However, Graham suggested that as were out and about anyway, we may as well check out where Pearl Harbor was. The directions looked quite complicated, but when I looked at the map, an easier route became apparent. This worked out very well getting there, but coming back, we ended up in the middle of the Friday afternoon rush hour. That was not much fun. I really had not expected that the rush hour started before 15:00.
Apart from the traffic, we had another issue. The map that the concierge had given us only showed how to get to the retail park when heading from Aulani towards Honolulu. We were now coming from the opposite direction. Well, it stands to reason that there would be a corresponding exit in the other direction. Not so. We ended up at an industrial port. This particular port became a bit of a standing joke for the rest of the trip. When we were nearly at the port, we knew that we were lost as there were no roads going beyond there. So we turned around and soon we saw colourful water slides in the distance. I realized that this must be Wet and Wild, which was marked on the map the concierge had given us and was right opposite of where we needed to be. So we used this for navigation. Shortly afterwards we saw the retail park we were looking for. There was just a further little issue. There was no access from the direction that we were coming from. So we ended up on the main road with nowhere to turn around. In the end we took a turn into a housing estate, where we were able to turn around and approach the retail park from the correct direction. Let's just say we ended up on a few housing estates that trip.
Once we had arrived were we had intended to be, Chilis was right there. So we decided to get some food first. We both had some mango ice tea. Fortunately this comes with free refills and they were being very generous with those. Graham went with the steak with broccoli and loaded mashed potato. I could not make up my mind what I wanted. In the end I had the Triple Play appetizer as a main course and chose the South-western Eggrolls, Big Mouth Bites (mini cheese burgers) and boneless honey Chipotle wings. We both enjoyed our dinner.
After dinner, we went to do our shopping. We got back into the car and got into another traffic jam. We decided to park the car and walk the rest of the way. The closest proper supermarket to Aulani is a Safeway. Although we used to have a supermarket chain by the same name, this was a new experience in the USA. I suppose the closest we would have in terms of style is Waitrose. This also reminded me of the Goodings supermarket that used to be on International Drive in Orlando. This comes firmly under the eclectic umbrella. They had all kinds of interesting things and if we had a kitchen, I could have done some serious damage to the credit card. We picked up some wine and I found some Kona coffee glazed macadamia nuts. I was going to enjoy them at Aulani, but they are still sealed until recently and came back with us. We were looking for a cheap knife that we could use and then leave, but knifes seem to be a lot more expensive in Hawaii than what we are used to. So in the end it worked out cheaper to buy a couple of boxes of ready to eat pineapple. We could not find any of the other things we were looking for. On the way we had seen a Long's Drugs, which looked very much like a Walgreens. So we decided to check this out. There we got lucky. I got my flip-flops and Graham got some sunglasses and a baseball cap. We also managed to get some washing detergent. With all the shopping taken care of, we headed back to the car and made it back to Aulani without further trouble.
We headed back to our room to put away the shopping and had some down time. I caught up with my emails and Facebook and Graham just chilled out. There was one last thing we had planned for that day. They offered tours of the spa every morning and evening. I really wanted to have a look so we decided to do this that evening. On the way we filled up our mugs with fruit water.
We got to the spa a little early and were asked to take a seat in the reception area. This also doubles as a shop for all kinds of spa products. It is a very bright and serene space. Shortly afterwards quite a few more people arrived. A couple of minutes before the tour was due to start, a cast member came out to welcome us and advised that we would wait a little longer to see if somebody else would join us. Five minutes later we were on our way. He explained a bit about the facilities and the treatments they offer. Our first stop was the reflection pool. This is a water feature in the middle of a corridor. When you come for a treatment you pick a river stone that has a word in English and Hawaiian engraved on it. You are meant to focus on that word throughout your treatment. As you head for your treatment you put the stone in the reflection pool. Next up we went to one of the relaxation rooms. They have comfortable loungers and healthy snacks there. Then we headed towards what interested me most: the hydrotherapy garden. We stopped at the various soaking tubs and he explained what they were for. He also demonstrated the special effects showers, which are all sensor operated. Next he showed us the family treatment room and then we headed back to the relaxation room where he invited us to help ourselves to some of the snacks. I ended up with a small dish with chocolate covered blueberries, a healthy mini muffin of some description and a green tea macaroon. I was really hoping that they would show us the rainwater suite, but this did not happen. He escorted us back to the front. We thanked him and left.
It was really strange. I had really liked what I had seen. Before the trip I had read a lot about the spa and had chosen my treatment. This was all budgeted for. However, after the tour I was no longer sure that I wanted to invest the time needed for a spa treatment. It almost felt that now that I had seen the spa, I had it out of my system and did not need to go back. In the end I never made it back to the spa and the money set aside for the treatment was used for a treat of a different kind later in the stay.
We headed back towards our room, but took a slight detour to pick up the Daily Iwa for the next day. Once we got back to the room, we gathered our stuff together that we would need in the morning. I had my snacks and then we got ready for bed. The day had been a far cry from what I had pictured before the trip, which was a lazy day at the beach or by the pool with a few cocktails. Still, it had been a very enjoyable day.
eeyorefanuk
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2009
- Messages
- 4,082
I LOVE your bag, love it and the fish photos
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
Lovely photos and a belated happy birthday
Thanks. I could not imagine a more magical place to spend a special birthday.
I LOVE your bag, love it and the fish photos
I love that bag, too. I am a big Dooney and Bourke fan and I use the bigger bags including this one on rotation as briefcase for work.
Rainbow Reef is one very special place.
Corinna
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