At Aulani now - One & Done? The Answer is...

[sueg]

I didn't enjoy the Member Meeting. I think I had the wrong expectations. I thought they would talk about DVC and membership. But it really was a thinly disguised sales pitch with info on some pretty good sales incentives. Fine if you want to buy more points, but we do not. Some petty
annoyances were the Member Desk told us to get there for 7:45AM. Why? The doors clearly did not open until 8 AM & the presentation started 10 minutes later. Second, we got beverages and selected a table in the back, facing the presentation. DVC employee asked us to move forward because it was a "small crowd". We did, but ended up in seats where we had to turn around the whole time. Then the room filled and people sat in our original seats. We all "won" very ugly hats and got another nut lei. Not sure they are making trip home. After the meeting, there were no chairs in our preferred areas, looking at ocean, so we returned to our room. May go sit on the beach under an umbrella after lunch. We have dinner reservations at AmaAma tonight.
I wanted to follow up on the urgent care experience. While the front desk was helpful, their information was inaccurate/outdated. The first place they referred me to they said was open until 7PM. Luckily, I called only to find out that they were closing in 15 minutes, at 5PM. They then told me that Kunia was open to 8PM. They actually closed at 7PM. Goes without saying that if you are sick enough for urgent care, you need accurate closing times.

 

[cgattis]

I didn't enjoy the Member Meeting. I think I had the wrong expectations. I thought they would talk about DVC and membership. But it really was a thinly disguised sales pitch with info on some pretty good sales incentives. Fine if you want to buy more points, but we do not. Some petty
annoyances were the Member Desk told us to get there for 7:45AM. Why? The doors clearly did not open until 8 AM & the presentation started 10 minutes later. Second, we got beverages and selected a table in the back, facing the presentation. DVC employee asked us to move forward because it was a "small crowd". We did, but ended up in seats where we had to turn around the whole time. Then the room filled and people sat in our original seats. We all "won" very ugly hats and got another nut lei. Not sure they are making trip home. After the meeting, there were no chairs in our preferred areas, looking at ocean, so we returned to our room. May go sit on the beach under an umbrella after lunch. We have dinner reservations at AmaAma tonight.
I wanted to follow up on the urgent care experience. While the front desk was helpful, their information was inaccurate/outdated. The first place they referred me to they said was open until 7PM. Luckily, I called only to find out that they were closing in 15 minutes, at 5PM. They then told me that Kunia was open to 8PM. They actually closed at 7PM. Goes without saying that if you are sick enough for urgent care, you need accurate closing times.

I did the DVC thing on DCL and, like you, left with kind of a bad taste. Got there early, listened to the whole pitch, and then told them I'd need to leave 10 min before the end to pick up my kids from the club (can't remember why), and was told I wouldn't be eligible for door prizes if I was leaving before the very end. Gee thanks.

 

[sueg]

Dinner at AmaAma gave me my first Hawaii aha moment. The food was good. I had Taro Tacos for appetizer. Tiny but VERY tasty. DH enjoyed his crab cake appetizer. The entrees were different. We both had fish & you select how you want it cooked & add (for a charge) and accompaniment. I had mahimahi with corn miso. DH had the featured local fish with nut brown butter. We shared carmelized brussel sprouts He has a glass of wine and cup of coffee. We shared a delicious Mocha Chantilly dessert. Total bill before tip was $149. Very reasonable. But the aha moment came as we sat at our table and gazed at the beautiful sunset and the glow of the beach as the sun went down. Just perfect.
Since I'm feeling much better, I'm going to try for a chair in our favored spot early tomorrow. Then we are headed back to Pearl Harbor to tour the Battleship Missouri for the afternoon.
We plan on trying Longhi's in the Marriot for dinner.

 

[Aviator621]

As a heads up. we own at the Marriott and Longhi's doesn't have the best rep even with us owners (beautiful setting though). Would recommend you try one of the Four Seasons restaurants instead.

 

[sueg]

Thank you for that tip, Aviator. It got the typical mixed YELP reviews. When I asked at the front desk if it was walkable from Aulani, the cast member was interested in knowing "How dinner was" since she said that Longhi's used to have a place at mall which did a wonderful breakfast, but it closed suddenly. We considered Fish House and maybe we will cancel Open Table at Longhi's and go there. Hate to have a bad meal as one of our last dinners in Hawaii. I booked the luau for our last night.
Up early for a chair in a favored spot. Heading out as soon as I finish my coffee.

 

[sueg]

Because I didn't feel well on Monday, when we had our tickets for Pearl Harbor, I couldn't finish everything that we wanted to do. So we returned to tour the Battleship Missouri & we added the Aviation museum. Big Mo was great. They bus you over from the Arizona memorial. There's a guided tour and then you self tour the rest of the ship. You actually get to stand on the spot where the Japanese surrendered to end WW II. The Aviation museum wasn't as good. A number of old planes to view. We learned some things, but it probably wasn't worth the extra money.
Unfortunately, it was after 4 PM when we left Pearl Harbor and we hit really bad traffic. We had no dinner reservations, because originally, I planned to go to Honolulu for dinner. But we really were hot & sweaty and uncomfortable going straight from Pearl Harbor.
So we returned to Aulani. Tried for Ama Ama, but they couldn't accommodate us until 7:45. I was surprised since last night, the restaurant was not full.
So we took Aviator's suggestion and tried Fish House at Four Season's. They were able to seat us as soon as we could walk there. Beautiful setting. Good meal. Both DH & I had the avocado salad. I had MahiMahi in Lobster sauce and DH had red snapper with krispy kale. We shared a strawberry cheesecake parfait, DH had a glass of wine and a cup of coffee. Bill was $205 inc. tip We walked along the beach back to our unit.
The plan for tomorrow is to hike Diamond Head. Then we have reserved seating at the luau for our final night.

 

[sueg]

We hiked DiamondHead.
-should have brought more water (we only brought one bottle each)
-should have left earlier. We waited until end of rush hour & traffic wasn't terrible. But the official parking lot was full & we had to park outside the park. This added a lot of steps to the walk & involved walking through a tunnel.
- should have asked more questions about the level of intensity. Both DH & I are in pretty good shape but the uneven terrain was hard on his bad knee. Although I finished my course of medicine, I'm still not breathing normally.
It was a tough go, but we did it. We have spectacular pictures and a real sense of accomplishment.
So what better reward than to stop at Leonard's truck (Exit 7 off H-1 in a shopping mall - you can see the brightly striped truck from the highway) and get malasadas. Should have gotten one each, but we got 2 each and we finished them before we returned to Aulani. They live up to the hype. My husband suggested that Disney Springs should try to recruit Leonard's
We are resting and trying to decide if 2 malasadas will hold us until the luau.
Booked AmaAma for our send-off breakfast tomorrow.

 

[mouseclick1]

Enjoy your breakfast tomorrow! We are currently here as well and had breakfast yesterday morning. So far it has been the best meal of our trip! I had the mac nut pancakes with the vanilla sauce and DH had the cereal encrusted French toast. Both were incredible!

 

[buffettgirl]

it's been exceptionally hot this week. Not really the best day to hike diamond head, but I"m glad you accomplished it. For what it's worth, my first time up it was hot AND humid and I think I actually started crying when I saw that flight of stairs. I've done it in better weather and it's almost like a different hike.

 

[happymommy]

As a heads up. we own at the Marriott and Longhi's doesn't have the best rep even with us owners (beautiful setting though). Would recommend you try one of the Four Seasons restaurants instead.

We own at the Marriott also, and after reading reviews of Longhi's, I won't even consider it. Glad you had a nice dinner at the Four Seasons!

 

[sueg]

We enjoyed the luau. Sat with some nice people. I paid for preferred seating because I didn't want to "line up early to get good seats". A little crabby, I know but we did get good seats arriving at 5PM. We really don't drink much, so the unlimited bar drinks were no bonus for us. DH enjoys an occasional mojito, but I guess mint doesn't grow on the island so they substituted a pineapple/coconut drink, which was enough for one drink for him.
Pre show activities: I pounded poi. We both got tattoos, mainly to send pictures home so our kids (before realizing these must be temporary) could think that mom & dad lost their minds.
The luau wasn't exactly exactly what I expected. It seemed like more story telling (which Disney does well!) than fire twirling & dancing. Food was nothing special. We both enjoyed the pork. DH liked the banana bread pudding. Ended with a bad cup of coffee. Why does Disney saddle itself with Joffrey-Aulani blend? We had some great coffee throughout this trip, just not at Disney. I got some 100% Kona ground coffee to make for breakfast each AM & I'm bringing some beans home with me. There is no excuse for bad coffee in Hawaii.

 

[MeeskaMooska13]

We enjoyed the luau. Sat with some nice people. I paid for preferred seating because I didn't want to "line up early to get good seats". A little crabby, I know but we did get good seats arriving at 5PM. We really don't drink much, so the unlimited bar drinks were no bonus for us. DH enjoys an occasional mojito, but I guess mint doesn't grow on the island so they substituted a pineapple/coconut drink, which was enough for one drink for him.
Pre show activities: I pounded poi. We both got tattoos, mainly to send pictures home so our kids (before realizing these must be temporary) could think that mom & dad lost their minds.
The luau wasn't exactly exactly what I expected. It seemed like more story telling (which Disney does well!) than fire twirling & dancing. Food was nothing special. We both enjoyed the pork. DH liked the banana bread pudding. Ended with a bad cup of coffee. Why does Disney saddle itself with Joffrey-Aulani blend? We had some great coffee throughout this trip, just not at Disney. I got some 100% Kona ground coffee to make for breakfast each AM & I'm bringing some beans home with me. There is no excuse for bad coffee in Hawaii.

Did they have any fire dancing and dancing?

Great report!

 

[drcoulsey]

We had some great coffee throughout this trip, just not at Disney. I got some 100% Kona ground coffee to make for breakfast each AM & I'm bringing some beans home with me. There is no excuse for bad coffee in Hawaii.

Where is the best place to buy 100% Kona coffee? I am looking forward to getting some as soon as I arrive at Aulani.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

Where is the best place to buy 100% Kona coffee? I am looking forward to getting some as soon as I arrive at Aulani.

There's a great coffee place across the street and they sell beans and they also sell NorthShore Goodies Coconut Peanut Butter and let me tell you, it should not be missed ; )

 

[Midoria]

The luau wasn't exactly exactly what I expected. It seemed like more story telling (which Disney does well!) than fire twirling & dancing.

If you had a story then you actually went to a more authentic luau! You'll never see people performing dances at random with no connection at a decent Polynesian show. Their dance and vocalization are usually centered around some kind of story or commentary on something (gods, rulers, family, etc.) That's why many of the more respected hula dance performances/competitions have an announcer tell the audience what the dance is about since most can't understand the language.

 

[cgattis]

There's a great coffee place across the street and they sell beans and they also sell NorthShore Goodies Coconut Peanut Butter and let me tell you, it should not be missed ; )

Oh my......I need to know, though, does it have chunks of coconut or just made with the milk? Does it taste fairly coconutty? Just want my taste buds to know what to expect!! Lol

 

[hilarys]

Where is the best place to buy 100% Kona coffee? I am looking forward to getting some as soon as I arrive at Aulani.

There are at least two farms up on the north shore that you can tour and buy coffee directly. Yesterday we went up to Waialua and went to the Sugar Mill. It has a couple of different shops and you can tour the coffee roasting facility. They have several coffees and chocolates to try and the owner is great and loves to talk about his products.

http://www.sugarmillhawaii.com/

 

[CaliAdventurer]

Oh my......I need to know, though, does it have chunks of coconut or just made with the milk? Does it taste fairly coconutty? Just want my taste buds to know what to expect!! Lol

It's completely creamy and tastes like coconut and jif had a beautiful baby ; ). They also have a version with white chocolate also. And I'm pretty sure one without coconut. They do a grilled mango peanut butter sandwich with it there too. It's called Island Vintage Coffee. They also sell like a 64 oz tub of the stuff in case you fall in love and have carry on space. Enjoy!

 

[buffettgirl]

every store everywhere will sell 100% kona coffee. Supermarket. Target. ABC store. probably the 7/11, but I've never checked.

 

[sueg]

We are home, sadly to a gray, drizzling day in NJ. Just recovering from our red-eye and I will finish my trip report tomorrow. But I just wanted to quickly respond to the two questions posed.
There was beautiful dancing during the show and some fire dancing, which came at the very end of the show. I really don't know a lot about luaus and we booked the Aulani luau strictly on convenience. It followed a very touching storyline about the narrators who are brother & sister. They lost their mother early in life and spoke of how their father kept her memory alive.
Our coffee came from Island Vintage Coffee, which is next to MoneyPod and is a very easy walk from Aulani. In fact, I would suggest walking, since that parking lot really fills up. I was very impressed with the quality of the 100% Kona ground coffee which I used at Aulani. I bought 100% Kona beans for home, where we grind beans every AM.