...And Then Scotty Happened. A Hawaiian Adventure (CHAPTER 32 Added 5/23--THE END)

[glennbo123]

Wow. Is this lieutenant oblivious?

I'd fit right in with the Oblivious's's's.

 

[WDW2012]

Subbing and sending congratulations your way!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Subbing and sending congratulations your way!

aboard and thank you!

 

[Poolrat]

Thanks! The only thing we can do is accept it and be excited for little Cletus to arrive. As I told Julie, it's not like we're dealing with something we haven't dealt with before.

The boy was known as " Otto" the little Palindrome. Occasionally he was called that after he was born. The ex had a problem remembering names.

Does anyone have a good airline story?

I believe it was 2007- Wedding in Dallas - Connecting flight in Atlanta with probably 30 minutes to make the switch. My OCD had me checking what the connection was going to be like ( 2 gates or 2 terminals ) for several days.


Atlanta has several terminals (A-E F is international ) connected by a train.

I was made fun of while doing this but I realized that our particular flight was landing consistently in Terminal B while the Dallas bound flight was leaving out terminal E.

So I knew the race would be on. A wedding meant suit bags and extra fancy stuff so extra bulk.
Direction were simple, Find the train and get to terminal E.
My youngest decides he would lead the way. WRONG.

I must have grabbed a half dozen times to correct him on the direction he was going (in the crowded either #1 or #2 busiest airport with no time to spare) to redirect him.

My ex- ( reason number 124 of why he is the ex) was saying -" let him go that will teach him." While I agreed with him on that fact I reminded him that now was not the time to teach him that lesson.

We made it to the train and had to wait and ride. It was like amazing race.
I don't think anyone spoke, we were too winded, but looks were exchanged and we were halfway there.

After what seemed like really long stops at terminal C and D the trip to E was twice as long.

Once the train stopped and the doors opened,( our noses were practically pressed against the door waiting), we ran up the stairs and began to look for the gate, again redirecting the boy at the top of the stairs.

After what seemed like a 5 mile jog, down the hall, past the bathroom, past the various food places, left the piano player ( I kid you not), grabbing the boy when he went right, down another long hall and around a corner we arrived.
The plane was boarding and we actually could catch our breath. The boy went to get water- while I watched so he wouldn't wander off again, and as soon as he returned we boarded. Confined again I could relax.

Now on the way home with 45 minutes this time..... our gate was 2 gates over from where we landed. Figures.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

The boy was known as " Otto" the little Palindrome. Occasionally he was called that after he was born. The ex had a problem remembering names.

I believe it was 2007- Wedding in Dallas - Connecting flight in Atlanta with probably 30 minutes to make the switch. My OCD had me checking what the connection was going to be like ( 2 gates or 2 terminals ) for several days.


Atlanta has several terminals (A-E F is international ) connected by a train.

I was made fun of while doing this but I realized that our particular flight was landing consistently in Terminal B while the Dallas bound flight was leaving out terminal E.

So I knew the race would be on. A wedding meant suit bags and extra fancy stuff so extra bulk.
Direction were simple, Find the train and get to terminal E.
My youngest decides he would lead the way. WRONG.

I must have grabbed a half dozen times to correct him on the direction he was going (in the crowded either #1 or #2 busiest airport with no time to spare) to redirect him.

My ex- ( reason number 124 of why he is the ex) was saying -" let him go that will teach him." While I agreed with him on that fact I reminded him that now was not the time to teach him that lesson.

We made it to the train and had to wait and ride. It was like amazing race.
I don't think anyone spoke, we were too winded, but looks were exchanged and we were halfway there.

After what seemed like really long stops at terminal C and D the trip to E was twice as long.

Once the train stopped and the doors opened,( our noses were practically pressed against the door waiting), we ran up the stairs and began to look for the gate, again redirecting the boy at the top of the stairs.

After what seemed like a 5 mile jog, down the hall, past the bathroom, past the various food places, left the piano player ( I kid you not), grabbing the boy when he went right, down another long hall and around a corner we arrived.
The plane was boarding and we actually could catch our breath. The boy went to get water- while I watched so he wouldn't wander off again, and as soon as he returned we boarded. Confined again I could relax.

Now on the way home with 45 minutes this time..... our gate was 2 gates over from where we landed. Figures.

Goodness gracious. I totally agree--it's great to let your kid fail occasionally to teach him lessons, but that was not the time!

Love the fact that you had to run past a piano player. It's the little details.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Everyone eventually hits the wall. Some of us can last longer than others, of course, but lack of sleep or window seats will take its toll on anyone. Add to that an early 4:00 a.m. wake-up time, a diet consisting mostly of PB&J sandwiches or crackers, and having to sit crammed into an airline seat built for someone 8 inches shorter and thinner than you, and hitting the wall becomes inevitable. In fact, I'm losing energy just reading about it in this paragraph. Hang on while I grab a Power Bar.

Ok, I'm back and refreshed. Also, Power Bars are nasty.

We had all hit the wall in the cavernous aisles of Costco. The malasadas we'd eaten had helped briefly, but as we left the Costco it was approaching 10:00 p.m. East Coast Time. It felt like bedtime to Julie and me, and the kids were already up way too late. The usual disputes over car seat-space began to arise in the back seat. I somehow found the willpower to refrain from uttering the immortal Dad line, "Don't make me come back there!"

And then we saw this:

Excitement level--rising. Troubles--melting away.

We found the exit for the Ko Olina resort area (careful--there's only one exit sign and it pops up just before the exit). The exit ramp loops past a rock wall lined with gorgeous blooming purple bougainvillea. This signifies that you are entering a swanky resort area, which is like invading a foreign country for us pigs-in-a-blanket-type families.

We drove over a bridge crossing the highway and then down past a guard house (another sign that this land is not for mere peasants). I'm not sure what the purpose of the guard house was, exactly. They had a sign up saying the left lane was for resort guests and the right lane was for residents, but I was in the right lane and couldn't get over and blew right past the guard house. I had no problem checking in or parking, and never stopped there once during our stay.

With the Magic Kingdom, Disney Imagineers designed it so you'd catch glimpses of the castle from far away but would be prevented from seeing it in its full glory until after entering the park and rounding the train station. It's meant to be a dramatic sight. Driving up to Aulani feels the same way. You can see glimpses from the highway, and then when you're driving on the entrance road it's mostly hidden by trees.

Even when you reach the entrance, you have to go up an incline around a nicely tiered garden.

And then you're finally hit with the reveal.

We pulled up under the carport (porte cochere for you fancy-pants people) and piled out. We were immediately swarmed by smiling cast members greeting us with a "Welcome home." Julie was given a flower lei and I was given one made from kukui nuts, which symbolized...something or other. I'll be honest, I wasn't really paying much attention because my brain was busy going, "Holy @#$%! I can't believe we're here!" We were also given cups of ice-cold flavored water, given a subtle Disney touch.

A young man gave us a short tour of the lobby area and the view of the Waikolohe Valley (which Im pretty sure is Hawaiian for "water park") below.

Apparently we were fascinated with this window.

Then he led us to the front desk for check-in, which went smoothly. The guy at the front desk didn't even flinch when I blatantly stole his Aulani pen. Julie and I had agreed ahead of time that we were basically going to swipe anything with the Aulani logo on it that wasn't nailed down.

See? I told you we were THAT family.

Room keys in hand, we went back out to the car to unload. A bell services guy met us and unloaded all of our luggage and food onto his cart with speed and precision that would make a German engineer weep with joy. He guided us to the elevators in the Ewa tower (east side) and we rode to the 15th floor. Right by the elevator was a bank of windows overlooking the resort:

Our room:

The bell services guy followed us in and I spoke with him while we unloaded. He was a native of the island, born and raised, and said most of the other employees were as well. He seemed genuinely happy, although I know Disney trains their cast members well. In any case, that training makes a difference, as the people working at Aulani easily met or surpassed the high standards of Disney customer service.

I gave him a tip and he left us to explore the room. The pictures are a little out of chronological order, but it's what we have. 'Im not always the most thorough person as far as taking pictures of rooms or food, so I'll apologize for that up front. Here's the living area (beyond a kitchen, which we did not photograph).

As most of you probably know, the bottom half of the entertainment center folds down as a murphy bed. Pretty ingenious furniture design, in my opinion.

The master bed:

Obligatory Hidden-Mickey-On-The-Runner shot:

Obligatory Mickey Surfboard Lamp shot:

The shower, which rivaled the ones in Kidani for roominess and luxury:

Now let me pause here to tell you the story of how we got this room. When we'd planned the trip to Hawaii, staying at Aulani felt like a pipe dream. Regular hotel rooms ran at least $400/night, and (I think Disney does this just to aggravate me) only allowed 4 people in a room. To fit my family, I'd have to rent a suite at $1,100/night. So, plan B: I put out a message on Facebook to ask any of my friends who are part of the Disney Vacation Club to see if they were not using their points for the year. I got a response from a friend in our church who were in the midst of adopting a child from India and obviously wouldn't be vacationing as a result. She said she'd be happy to rent us points, and the money would help them fund the adoption. Win-win!

Unfortunately, she called at her 7-month window and the place was already booked up solid. Our friend put us on the wait list for standard and island-garden view rooms. But we had pretty much given up hope and started researching alternate lodging.

In February, my friend and her family returned from India and sent me a message--the wait list had come through, and we had a 1-bedroom suite with an island/garden view. Sweet! Even better, the message only came to me, so Julie had no idea. The only downside was that even though renting points was a better deal, it was still more expensive than some other lodging possibilities wed found.

We had planned to take a short trip over spring break to Niagara Falls with the kids, so I gathered the kids together and explained the choice: we could still take the spring break trip, or I could use that money instead to fund a stay at Aul--

"Aulani!" they said, not even letting me finish the sentence. Mama didn't raise no dummies.

We hatched a plan and ended up surprising Julie with the Aulani stay as a gift for her birthday. Best birthday gift ever? Yeah, I think so.

Anyway, I told you all of that just to make the point that we'd never expected to stay here. We would gladly have accepted the room with the worst view onsite. Just staying there was enough. So we were pleasantly surprised when we walked out onto the balcony to check out our island/garden view:

No, not that, you putz. Turn to the right.

Remember, this is not an ocean view room. This is what is known around Disney parts as pixie dust. Woohoo!

(Continued Next Page)

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Once we'd explored the room sufficiently, we immediately headed back downstairs to explore the rest of the resort. The lobby is not quite as large, but is every bit as stunning as those found in the Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge at Disney World. And the theme is just as immersive and transporting.

There are some Hidden Mickeys and of course photo-ops with the characters, but that's about it as far as Disney stuff. The star of the show and emphasis of the theme is Hawaii itself. This is wholly appropriate, and the result is one of the most immersive and exotic Disney resorts anywhere. The Imagineers out-did themselves with this one.

One of the things I love about Disney properties the most is the way they engage all 5 senses. Not only is there plenty of eye candy, but there is background music all over the resort. Smells waft in from the various restaurants, and the open-air lobby lets the cooling breeze of the trade winds wash over the guest. And I already mentioned the fruit water, so you smart-alecks can make sure all 5 senses are mentioned.

These flowers are on the wall by the stairs leading down to the pool level. Don't you hate it when the picture looks fine on your camera view-screen, but you get home later and see it was ever-so-slightly out of focus?

Cool map of Oahu downstairs:

The pool area is beautifully landscaped, with exotic gardens and flowing water everywhere. It's just a stunning property, and I'm not sure the pictures really do it justice. It was amazing how much of a second wind everyone in the family got. We forgot about being tired, hungry and grumpy. Instead we were simply thinking, "Wow..."

After getting our wristbands allowing us to enter the pool area, we went back up to the room for dinner. We'd flown 6,000 miles for an exotic experience, so our first meal was Costco pizza. Which we kind of burned in the oven. But we were still hungry enough to eat it.

Were we ready for bed at that point? Heck no! Still on the Aulani (and burnt carbs) high, we put on our bathing suits. It was 6:00 p.m. Hawaii time, which meant it was midnight back home. We'd been awake for 20 hours at this point. A perfect time for a midnight swim!

The good camera was put away so we could all just enjoy the pool. And enjoy it we did. It was actually a little chilly out in the air due to some strong breezes and some clouds blocking the sun, but the water was great. And here's a spoiler on future chapters: the pool area is just plain awesome. I'll describe it some more later on with pictures. Suffice it to say, we had an absolute blast. Things were working out better than I'd dared hope as far as staying up late to adjust to the time zone change. You could not ask for a better start to vacation than this.

These pictures are from the small waterproof camera we got for the kids to share on this trip. For some reason, they came out really small. I think it was on the wrong setting the whole time. So I apologize for the size.

Pasty white guy alert! Avert your eyes!

We'll talk about/gawk at Aulani some more in the chapters ahead, but we knew right away that Aulani was special. From the moment we'd walked in the door, Julie and I were scheming about how we'd get back there someday. Now that the vacation is over and we've been home for a few weeks, that feeling hasn't changed. The Disney Imagineers have set a new standard. Move heaven and earth to get there. If we can do it, so can you.

Coming Up Next: Our first full day on Oahu begins with...more Aulani pictures. Because we couldn't stop exploring the place if we'd tried.

 

[KatMark]

I just called "my" Mark and told him that I better get more comfortable with flying because we are GOING BACK TO HAWAII. I can't wait to show him your pictures tonight. I will sacrifice and make that long flight just to stay at Aulani. Seriously, I am just in awe of what Disney has done.

And love the "pixie dust" of your suite location.

 

[yolie912]

Nice view! What room category is that?

 

[itskylesworld]

I love your post! You are certainly whetting my appetite for what to expect. I'm booked for a week at Aulani in February 2014. Can't wait to find out more about your trip. Keep it coming! @captainoblivious

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Chapter 2: Is This Heaven?

Yes… Yes it is.





There’s really no point is going any farther…
I could go back and attempt to multi -quote this update, but honestly I’m too overwhelmed by the pictures to even think about it straight. I’ll surely find places to give you a hard time once y’all start venturing out onto the islands moving from one (mis)adventure to another, but right now all I can come up with is: “Whoa…”

Glad y’all got to do this trip. Hope someday I can do something like it (but I’ve been hoping that for over thirty-five years so I’ve got’s me doubts).

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Julie and I had agreed ahead of time that we were basically going to swipe anything with the Aulani logo on it that wasn’t nailed down.

See? I told you we were THAT family.

hey i live by the same rules.


nice kukui nuts, i have a few pairs of those from our maui trip.

 

[lovesthebeach]

We'll be there a month from today!!! Can't wait to hear the rest of your trip

 

[eandesmom]

Everyone eventually hits the wall. Some of us can last longer than others, of course, but lack of sleep or window seats will take its toll on anyone. Add to that an early 4:00 a.m. wake-up time, a diet consisting mostly of PB&J sandwiches or crackers, and having to sit crammed into an airline seat built for someone 8 inches shorter and thinner than you, and hitting the wall becomes inevitable. In fact, I’m losing energy just reading about it in this paragraph. Hang on while I grab a Power Bar.

Ok, I’m back and refreshed. Also, Power Bars are nasty.

Almost ALL bars are nasty if you ask me.

Now let me pause here to tell you the story of how we got this room. When we’d planned the trip to Hawaii, staying at Aulani felt like a pipe dream. Regular hotel rooms ran at least $400/night, and (I think Disney does this just to aggravate me) only allowed 4 people in a room. To fit my family, I’d have to rent a suite at $1,100/night. So, plan B: I put out a message on Facebook to ask any of my friends who are part of the Disney Vacation Club to see if they were not using their points for the year. I got a response from a friend in our church who were in the midst of adopting a child from India and obviously wouldn’t be vacationing as a result. She said she’d be happy to rent us points, and the money would help them fund the adoption. Win-win!

Unfortunately, she called at her 7-month window and the place was already booked up solid. Our friend put us on the wait list for standard and island-garden view rooms. But we had pretty much given up hope and started researching alternate lodging.

In February, my friend and her family returned from India and sent me a message—the wait list had come through, and we had a 1-bedroom suite with an island/garden view. Sweet! Even better, the message only came to me, so Julie had no idea. The only downside was that even though renting points was a better deal, it was still more expensive than some other lodging possibilities we’d found.

We had planned to take a short trip over spring break to Niagara Falls with the kids, so I gathered the kids together and explained the choice: we could still take the spring break trip, or I could use that money instead to fund a stay at Aul—

“Aulani!” they said, not even letting me finish the sentence. Mama didn’t raise no dummies.

We hatched a plan and ended up surprising Julie with the Aulani stay as a gift for her birthday. Best birthday gift ever? Yeah, I think so.

VERY good bday present!

Anyway, I told you all of that just to make the point that we’d never expected to stay here. We would gladly have accepted the room with the worst view onsite. Just staying there was enough. So we were pleasantly surprised when we walked out onto the balcony to check out our “island/garden view”:

No, not that, you putz. Turn to the right.

Remember, this is not an “ocean view” room. This is what is known around Disney parts as pixie dust. Woohoo!

Those rooms are awesome! Kind of like the reclassified standard but really savannah view rooms at Jambo. So happy you got one of these and that's without a request at all! Love it.

The pool area is beautifully landscaped, with exotic gardens and flowing water everywhere. It's just a stunning property, and I'm not sure the pictures really do it justice. It was amazing how much of a second wind everyone in the family got. We forgot about being tired, hungry and grumpy. Instead we were simply thinking, "Wow..."

After getting our wristbands allowing us to enter the pool area, we went back up to the room for dinner. We'd flown 6,000 miles for an exotic experience, so our first meal was Costco pizza. Which we kind of burned in the oven. But we were still hungry enough to eat it.

Were we ready for bed at that point? Heck no! Still on the Aulani (and burnt carbs) high, we put on our bathing suits. It was 6:00 p.m. Hawaii time, which meant it was midnight back home. We'd been awake for 20 hours at this point. A perfect time for a midnight swim!

The good camera was put away so we could all just enjoy the pool. And enjoy it we did. It was actually a little chilly out in the air due to some strong breezes and some clouds blocking the sun, but the water was great. And here's a spoiler on future chapters: the pool area is just plain awesome. I'll describe it some more later on with pictures. Suffice it to say, we had an absolute blast. Things were working out better than I'd dared hope as far as staying up late to adjust to the time zone change. You could not ask for a better start to vacation than this.

Do I get to say I told you?

These pictures are from the small waterproof camera we got for the kids to share on this trip. For some reason, they came out really small. I think it was on the wrong setting the whole time. So I apologize for the size.

Pasty white guy alert! Avert your eyes!

We'll talk about/gawk at Aulani some more in the chapters ahead, but we knew right away that Aulani was special. From the moment we'd walked in the door, Julie and I were scheming about how we'd get back there someday. Now that the vacation is over and we've been home for a few weeks, that feeling hasn't changed. The Disney Imagineers have set a new standard. Move heaven and earth to get there. If we can do it, so can you.

I couldn't agree more, you just said it better.

Coming Up Next: Our first full day on Oahu begins with...more Aulani pictures. Because we couldn't stop exploring the place if we'd tried.

Told you. LOL!

 

[podsnel]

I just LOVE all of your happy faces! It really is so special at Aulani-

And I am THRILLED you found the malasada truck AND got the filled ones! Score! You did waaaay better than us!

Oh! And Congratulations on your future little tax deduction! How exciting!

 

[rentayenta]

Best. Birthday. Gift. Ever!

Great update. The resort looks stunning.

Burnt Costco pizza?

 

[MEK]

Wow Wow Wow! That view is fabulous! Love it! I didn't really know the story of how you got the room, so I am so glad the waitlist came through for you. Niagara Falls can totally wait!

I can certainly understand hitting the wall in Costco. I can hit the wall there on a good day.

Beautiful pictures. You really told the story well even though you claim your pics are in random order.

I am with Kathy. I really don't care for long distance travel, but that place looks simply fabulous.

More please!

BTW - I love Costco pizza. Seriously. I buy one everytime I'm in there.

 

[glennbo123]

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Do you think will like it as well, sans kids?

I'm glad that everyone's spirits were lifted upon arrival. Your pictures of the resort are great, and your description even better. (I can totally relate to taking a picture and finding out later that it's out of focus. But no worries, you made up for it!)

I have to say though, that your story about the waitlist has me worried about waitlisting. Maybe the studios are in less demand?

Oh and, Is this heaven? = Field of Dreams

 

[catherines_mama]

Oh wow! I just told DH all about your trip and your opinion that everyone should move heaven and earth to make it happen. He was born on Oahu and we've always wanted to go, with 3 kids the airfare is what keeps us from it- but we'll follow your advice and take them one day, even if its as college ages kids LOL

 

[DVCmom4]

You are really making me rethink my hatred of flying! I may need to put my big girl pants on and go!