Aulani TR - Sharks, Horses, a sub-scooter and Mickey!

[therussells08]

I’m here! I’m finally here! I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get here! John and I are hoping to go to Aulani for our fifth wedding anniversary next summer, so I am SO excited to read another one of your wonderful reports and see what you thought of it!

I love your honeymoon memories and pictures! John and I went to Disney World for our honeymoon (of course), but I would have loved to go to Hawaii!

Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t be sleeping on that flight either. I’ve seen one too many television shows with people getting sucked out of the emergency exit. No thank you.

YAY a light fixture picture! You know me so well!

So far I’m very impressed! The resort looks beautiful, and your room is awesome!

That traffic is insane! I will definitely remember that if we get to go next summer!

Okay, your tour of the USS Arizona gave me chills. That is a must do for us. Thank you for sharing your experience!

The underwater scooter thing sounds like a lot of fun, but I got freaked out when you had trouble breathing! I’m afraid I would panic if I did it. Although I would love to be that close to sea turtles!

We have those emergency exit ramps on the way down the mountains here in NC. They have giant dirt hills to help stop eighteen wheelers, but I’m guessing it would be a pretty bumpy stop!

That horseback riding experience looks like so much fun! I have been riding horses my whole life, so that’s definitely something I’d want to try!

Ooooh law breaker! I can’t believe that cop wouldn’t cut you some slack! Hahaha it’s so funny, John and I bicker with each other the exact same way!

I love all of your pictures around the resort! It makes me so excited to go there myself!

Starlit Hui looks fantastic! There’s certainly a lot of…interesting…performers….

 

[eandesmom]

Great update! I love the idea of a non food luau actually, having been to a few in Hawaii that were and always felt SO commercialized. This somehow, seems much much better. And free. How can you beat that?

So....we just booked Aulani, today, for a couples getaway over Memorial Day Weekend. Hoping for it to be 6 nights but have only booked 4 so far. I have to borrow and buy for the other 2 so need to figure out which day/which side of the weekend to do it on. I was honestly surprised at less than 7 months to see availability in all the studio categories. I'm not sure if it's due to their likely being more inventory then or not but am hoping it stays until we figure out the other 2 days. Booked the 4 in an ocean view and after this update, I think I'll need to request Ewa Tower! I'd love a 1B but it's not in the point cards this trip. Odd question for you, does Aulani use paper in the studios instead of real china like they do at WDW for plates, bowls and plastic for the silverware?

The buffet prices seem very in line with a lot of HI restaurants so that doesn't surprise me a bit. Glad to hear you really enjoyed it. We may well be one of those that doesn't leave the resort at all. It would be a different kind of Hawaii trip if we don't but I do like the idea of not dealing with it at all. Typically we rent condos and they aren't on a beach (but are on the ocean) so we do have to drive for a good beach (Big Island and Maui). Wouldn't have that issue here and that is hugely appealing to me.

 

[MEK]

Cool pictures. Great show. And not a single blurry topless male belly dancer. I like the men better with their shirts off....just sayin.

What a colorful show and thanks for the map. 100% occupancy during summer. Yikes. I wonder what the lowest season is? Or is every season high season there.

Anyway - more fun at Aulani!!!!!!

 

[saintstickets]

I’m here! I’m finally here! I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get here! John and I are hoping to go to Aulani for our fifth wedding anniversary next summer, so I am SO excited to read another one of your wonderful reports and see what you thought of it!

I love your honeymoon memories and pictures! John and I went to Disney World for our honeymoon (of course), but I would have loved to go to Hawaii!

Yea!! Glad you are here. I hope y'all are able to go for your 5th. Don't wait until your 30th like we did!

Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t be sleeping on that flight either. I’ve seen one too many television shows with people getting sucked out of the emergency exit. No thank you.

At first I was a little freaked out but then I thought that if the door was to blow, at least I would be the first out and not have to worry about it. Who knows, with my girth, I might have plugged the hole up and saved everyone else!

YAY a light fixture picture! You know me so well!

You were definately in my thoughts when I took that pic!

So far I’m very impressed! The resort looks beautiful, and your room is awesome!

It is very beautiful and the rooms we had were great.

That traffic is insane! I will definitely remember that if we get to go next summer!

That was the only downfall of the trip...well, that and the ticket!

Okay, your tour of the USS Arizona gave me chills. That is a must do for us. Thank you for sharing your experience!

You don't have to be from a military family to appreciate this tour but I doubt anyone with military experience or with family in the Armed Forces could visit and not be moved.

The underwater scooter thing sounds like a lot of fun, but I got freaked out when you had trouble breathing! I’m afraid I would panic if I did it. Although I would love to be that close to sea turtles!

It wasn't too bad but it did kind of unnerve me for a bit. I knew we were only 15' or so underwater but if we would have been REAL deep...

We have those emergency exit ramps on the way down the mountains here in NC. They have giant dirt hills to help stop eighteen wheelers, but I’m guessing it would be a pretty bumpy stop!

I guess if you have to use the emergency ramp, it serves a purpose but I sure wouldn't want to have to clean my vehicle AFTER I used one!

That horseback riding experience looks like so much fun! I have been riding horses my whole life, so that’s definitely something I’d want to try!

Those horses were so tame I don't think you would even have to hold the reins and yet there were still some newbies that couldn't keep them in a straight line!

Ooooh law breaker! I can’t believe that cop wouldn’t cut you some slack! Hahaha it’s so funny, John and I bicker with each other the exact same way!

Yup...that's me...I guess I'd better not tell about the time I was arrested for streaking!

I love all of your pictures around the resort! It makes me so excited to go there myself!

Starlit Hui looks fantastic! There’s certainly a lot of…interesting…performers….

As much as I would have liked to continue posting pics of my choosing, since there are probably more female DISboarders than male, I thought I would give y'all a little "happy"!

Great update! I love the idea of a non food luau actually, having been to a few in Hawaii that were and always felt SO commercialized. This somehow, seems much much better. And free. How can you beat that?

We did the whole roast pig thing on our honeymoon. That luau lasted about 4 hours. This was very nice but if someone wants the food, they can walk down the street to the Paradise Cove luau. But like you said, you can't beat the Aulani price!

So....we just booked Aulani, today, for a couples getaway over Memorial Day Weekend. Hoping for it to be 6 nights but have only booked 4 so far. I have to borrow and buy for the other 2 so need to figure out which day/which side of the weekend to do it on. I was honestly surprised at less than 7 months to see availability in all the studio categories. I'm not sure if it's due to their likely being more inventory then or not but am hoping it stays until we figure out the other 2 days. Booked the 4 in an ocean view and after this update, I think I'll need to request Ewa Tower! I'd love a 1B but it's not in the point cards this trip. Odd question for you, does Aulani use paper in the studios instead of real china like they do at WDW for plates, bowls and plastic for the silverware?

I'm so glad you are going to Aulani. I hope your extra days become available. If I remember correctly, all the silverware and dinnerware was the real thing. I don't recall seeing any plastic/paper for either.

The buffet prices seem very in line with a lot of HI restaurants so that doesn't surprise me a bit. Glad to hear you really enjoyed it. We may well be one of those that doesn't leave the resort at all. It would be a different kind of Hawaii trip if we don't but I do like the idea of not dealing with it at all. Typically we rent condos and they aren't on a beach (but are on the ocean) so we do have to drive for a good beach (Big Island and Maui). Wouldn't have that issue here and that is hugely appealing to me.

I can see why Disney is expanding the activity area. It just makes sense if you can keep guests onsite, you can also increase your non-room revenue. Aulani is definately nice enough and has plenty of activities to where one could stay there for the entire trip.

Cool pictures. Great show. And not a single blurry topless male belly dancer. I like the men better with their shirts off....just sayin.

Hmmmm...and this is the same person that gave me sass when I wanted to see a non-blurry belly dancer in her TR?

What a colorful show and thanks for the map. 100% occupancy during summer. Yikes. I wonder what the lowest season is? Or is every season high season there.

Anyway - more fun at Aulani!!!!!!

Dunno when their "off" season is. DD and DSiL are going to Aulani from 12/14-12/20/12 for their honeymoon. It will be interesting to see how crowded it is during that time.

 

[saintstickets]

Friday – September 7th

Today is the day we are to go swimming with the sharks. After we do our shark tour in the morning, we plan on going this afternoon to the Waimea Arboretum Botanical Gardens that is in the same area. We have to be on the northwest portion of the island at the dock in Haleiwa Harbor for 8:30. Mapquest said it would take 45 minutes to go the 30 miles but with our experience, we leave at 6:30am – 2 hours before our reservation time! We received a phone call from Hawaii Shark Encounters yesterday afternoon to confirm we were still coming. Oh yeah! I’m looking forward to this. I might scare the sharks away because once the first shark hits the underwater cage…well let’s just be polite and say the deep blue crystal clear waters of Hawaii might suddenly become brown and murky! DW is still not sure if she is going to get down in the cage but she will at least go out on the boat. I think that might be more to verify she can collect the life insurance should the shark win this encounter but that’s another story. Let’s just say with all the spouse disappearances off of cruise ships, I’m a bit hesitant for us to take a cruise. I can see it now…”C’mon honey. Let’s you and I take a midnight stroll along the deserted lido deck in the back of the ship and get frisky!” says DW in her most seductive voice. A few minutes later, all one hears is a distant scream and then a kersplash! DW sneaks back to the cabin and in the morning tells the Captain that I left the room by myself last night and she hasn’t seen me since! Uh huh…nope…not getting me on a cruise ship!! But I digress…

Nothing at Aulani is open this early in the morning so we decide to just stop along the way at a fast food place. DW woke up with a slight migraine so she took her medicine and figured it would get better if she could just get something to eat. We found a McDonald’s about 30 minutes from the resort but by the time we got our food and sat down to eat, the migraine was in full force. Those of you that have read my previous trip reports know that DW has migraines that at times can leave her totally incapacitated. She has headaches every day to some degree and most of the time she is a trooper and muddles her way through but sometimes it doesn’t ease off and when it hits hard, there is nothing to do but go to bed and keep the room dark, cool and quiet. It might last a few hours or all day long. Unfortunately, this was one of the days when it was not going to ease off. After 30 years of marriage, you know when you can push on and when you have to cancel any plans. This is the day to cancel plans. There is nothing to do but turn around and head back to the room. I called the tour operator and told them our situation and she informed me that because we did not cancel at least 48 hours in advance, we would be charged the full price of the tour - $220. Sighhhhh. DW tells me to see if I can get a reservation for a time later today and just go by myself. Hmmm…this is sounding kind of fishy (no pun intended-see previous explanation for me not taking a cruise and you can imagine my answer). “No dear. I’ll just do without the thing I was looking forward to the most during this trip so I can stay in the room and take care of you. It’s my duty as a loyal, loving, unselfish husband.” I said in my most contrived sincere voice possible. Yeah, right. Try that and migraine or not, the least I would get is “the look” (see previous TR at Discovery Cove) and the worse I would get is well…let’s just say I might be singing soprano for a while!

 

[saintstickets]

We make it back to the room okay. DW takes an Imitrex shot and immediately conks out. By now it is around 7:30am. I have nothing to do but sit around the room. I didn’t bring my laptop so I couldn’t update this TR like I have done on previous trips. All I could do is watch TV. Sometime around noon, DW was awake and wanted to try something to eat and look for a pharmacy to replenish her portable medicine cabinet. We got back on the road and found a K-Mart not too far from Aulani. It’s kind of strange because if DW can get some chocolate, it will often help with her migraines. With others, this will induce a headache but DW is a bit weird…after all, she married me, didn’t she?!?! Nevertheless, she got a few Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, some BC powders and some fries from a fast food place and it actually helped a bit. It was too late to try and reschedule the shark tour and I didn’t want to take a chance on being out on a boat if there was a relapse so we decided to head towards the Waimea Arboretum Botanical Garden and if she felt like it, we could spend a little time there. If not, we could just drive around and see some of the beautiful scenery.

Since we were outside the rush hour traffic time period, the drive was pleasant plus the northwest portion of the island is less populated and therefore less traffic congestion. As I have stated before, the north part of the island is much more tropical and today was a day for very overcast skies. Once we arrived at Waimea Valley, it was starting to sprinkle. DW was feeling much better now so we decided to give it a try. We purchased a couple of parkas and set out to see the gardens. Waimea Arboretum Botanical Gardens is basically a paved hiking trail for about ¾ of a mile from the gift shop/snack bar/pavilion to the Waimea Falls. Along the way there are numerous side paths. The main trail is actually a paved road where the alternate route side paths are either paved, gravel or dirt. The gardens are made up of different areas that have plants and self-toured exhibits that showcase various tropical areas of the world. There is flora from Central and South America, islands of the Pacific, Sri Lanka and of course Hawaii. There are exhibits depicting ancient living in Hawaii, terrace food farming and even a replica ancient Hawaiian games site. The end of the trail features the Waimea Falls with a pond that you can swim in if you desire. It is quite lush and tropical and today, even more so because as soon as we bought our tickets and started out, it started raining and did not completely stop the entire time!

 

[saintstickets]

It turns out that the rain (sometimes monsoon) was a benefit in disguise. The rainfall kept the temperature down. There was never any sunshine to trigger another migraine. It actually wasn’t that bad. I had to leave my main camera in the car and take my waterproof one for pictures but all in all, it was a nice afternoon. It started off by us receiving a 25% DVC discount on the admission tickets which was an unexpected surprise. We both had planned on possibly swimming underneath the falls so we were adequately dressed for water, albeit we expected it to be under our feet and not falling from the sky! So…it’s off we go. I took 196 pictures but I promise not to post them all. Most are of the different types of flowers and flora so if that doesn’t interest you, just scroll on down. If the pictures are a bit hazy, it is because of all the rain while we were there! All data and commentary are not the result of my knowledge of horticulture but the direct result of my ability to read signs! The entire trail has signs posted about the various plants and either their scientific or common name or a brief explanation of their origin or significance. So here we go…

Just past the entrance, there is a large lily pond. In the pond are giant Amazon lily pads that can grow up to 6 feet in diameter...

See...I told you I could read!

 

[saintstickets]

This is commonly called a cannonball tree for obvious reasons…

And within a few minutes, the rains came…

Hawaii is a world center for cross cultivating plant species. Hawaii has been doing this process since the 1870’s. One of the more familiar results is the Hibiscus…

 

[saintstickets]

Do you think you could live here…

This is a PA HOLOHOLONA or an animal pen. They would use these to contain pigs or dogs.

Hmmm…did these escape from their pen?

A Hawaiian staple – sugar cane

KAPU or burial ground

This was a game area

Where they played KONANE or their form of checkers

 

[saintstickets]

And more rain

DW trying to stay dry

With all the rain, it isn’t hard to understand why the area is so lush and tropical

 

[saintstickets]

And with all the rain, you can understand why the flowers are so beautiful

 

[saintstickets]

And more rain

I guess with all the rain, the root system doesn’t need to be underground

As you are making your way up to the falls, there are numerous runoff streams

 

[saintstickets]

And we finally make it to the Waimea Falls

This little guy was waiting for us

When it is not raining so hard, you can swim in the pond at the falls and even go behind the cascading water. Today however, there was no swimming because it was too dangerous. I’m not sure I would swim anyway because there is a sign posted that says there is a bacteria in the water due to the water source coming from the inactive volcano upstream. The sign states that some people might get a urinary tract infection due to this microbes!

Nope, not gonna get me in that water…not with my luck!!

 

[saintstickets]

The trail to the falls is not one single path although there is one main road. On our way back to the main complex, we took different trails and found more flowers

 

[saintstickets]

Does this look like a flower or a rack of ribs?

I’m not sure what this was

And once back at the visitor’s center, we happened upon some locals strutting their stuff

Naturally by the time we finished our trek, the rain started to subside and by the time we were back on the road, the sun was shining. Sighhhhh. Nevertheless, our visit to the Waimea gardens turned out to be very nice and made the day very enjoyable, especially considering how it started. I would recommend a trip here if you are on Oahu to see the “old” Hawaii with the lush tropical surroundings. The hike is not very long but if you get tired or decide that once you get to the falls, that you do not wish to walk back, there are shuttle carts constantly running the main trail and they will take you back to the visitor’s center for a small fee (I think it was $4).

 

[eandesmom]

It turns out that the rain (sometimes monsoon) was a benefit in disguise. The rainfall kept the temperature down. There was never any sunshine to trigger another migraine. It actually wasn’t that bad. I had to leave my main camera in the car and take my waterproof one for pictures but all in all, it was a nice afternoon. It started off by us receiving a 25% DVC discount on the admission tickets which was an unexpected surprise.

What a huge bummer on the migraine and the nonrefundable tickets, wise man though to just tough it put with your wife. major brownie points as frustrating as that must have been. So glad it improved and you were able to get out, looks like it turned into a lovely outing despite the rain. Hmm ok the possible Bacteria in the water would give me pause as well, how much was admission?

Gorgeous photos, it definitely going on my list of probable things to do.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Ugh. Sorry to hear about the migraine and subsequent loss of funds. That's never fun, but I'm sure it was the right call. Looks like the gardens were a worthy substitute activity!

 

[MEK]

Those darn migraines. How inconvenient. Your poor wife.

On the other hand, those pictures of the gardens are gorgeous. I looked at them all this morning before I left for work. The flowers remind me so much of the flowers were saw on Tahiti. (Yeah - we went to New Zealand many years ago and decided to stop in Tahiti instead of Hawaii on the way home).

That was some serious rain. Your luck lingers in that it finally stops once you get back to the visitor's center.

 

[TinksThree]

Sorry the morning didn't start too well but it seems like the day wound up okay! The pictures of the flowers are beautiful but that rain looks crazy! I would definitely not go into that waterfall pond water with a warning like that!!

 

[silmarg]

That 49er game gave me a migraine!