Aulani Trip Report: Going to Hawaii with a 4-year Old and a Baby

[Schmagurty]

Welcome to my trip report where I'll be reporting on our January 2016 trip to Aulani as well as other parts of Oahu. We traveled with a four-year old girl and a 7-month old boy. I will provide insights about traveling to Hawaii with young kids along with plenty of video and pictures to view. It's likely that you're reading this because you're also planning a trip to Aulani with kids. To that I say, congratulations and you're going to love it! As I progress with this report, I will add chapters, but here's what we have so far:

CHAPTER 1: Intro & How We Ended Up Going to Aulani DisBoards | Tumblr
CHAPTER 2: Packing for the Trip & The Flight There DisBoards | Tumblr
CHAPTER 3: The Room & the First Half-Day at Aulani DisBoards | Tumblr
CHAPTER 4: The First Full Day at Aulani DisBoards | Tumblr

CHAPTER 1
INTRO & HOW WE ENDED UP GOING TO AULANI

So, I’m an outlier to the DisBoards demographic and the Aulani customer base. Prior to our trip, I had no idea that Aulani existed. And Hawaii was not very high on our places to travel to. (Not because we didn’t want to go there, but because we always went to Europe when taking big trips and long flights. And because neither my wife or I had ever taken a vacation to a tropical island…ever.)

This is not to say I am not a fan of Disney or Hawaii. I am and have fond memories of going to Disneyworld as a child. I even went to Disneyland after a business trip in late 2014. And Hawaii was on my bucket list. But it was a place that was so far away from us that it seemed more like a anniversary trip down the road. (My how our perspectives have changed since our trip!)

So with this trip report, you’ll be getting a couple of unique perspectives. One is the perspective of somebody who really didn’t have Aulani on the map as a destination. And the second perspective is of one who is taking a baby along for the trip—who unfortunately was too young to remember his experience! (Another reason to go back!)

So, let me explain how we ended up planning a trip to Aulani. It all started with our daughter and her fondness for Disney princesses and movies. Since I fall under the “softie” category of fathers, I had begun spoiling her—er—purchasing Disney movies and toys on a frequent basis. Along the way, I would sign up for all of the lists that provide news and discounts on products—such as DisneyMovieRewards.com, Disney.com, etc.

In late May of 2015, with my wife due to deliver our son in early June, I was in the office on a Friday wrapping up all of my urgent tasks in anticipation of being out of the office for a few weeks to welcome our new son in to the world. I had just wrapped up when I received an email from Disney about a fan art competition with the grand prize being an Aulani vacation for four.

With an hour left in my workday, I realized there wasn’t any project I could get done in that time. So, I figured, for a trip to Hawaii…why not! Now, I’m not a master illustrator by any means. But I do know Photoshop and thought I would maybe submit something that could win a runner-up prize like a free toy or something.

A couple of months later, I get an email and it says something about the contest. Because my eyes glaze over at anything with text written by lawyers, I forwarded it to my wife and said “I think maybe I won something, but I don’t know.”

She quickly responded and said,“um, you won the trip to Hawaii!” Fast forward past submitting all the paperwork, going to a notary, etc. we were connected with the Disney travel folks who would help us plan our trip.

(Side note: It took awhile for me to believe this was all real. In fact, a part of me still wasn’t sure it was real until the plane’s wheels left the ground!)

So, long story short: we won a 5-day, 4-night stay at Aulani, round-trip flights four four and shuttle service to and from Aulani and HNL airport. We worked out the plans, extended our stay on the island a few days and set our dates for mid-January—because why not get out of the cold Chicago winters in mid-January!

So, let me introduce to you our travelers:


Myself – Creative type and the “spontaneous one.”

DG – The planner and Supermom!

Lily – 4 year old. Lil’ Miss Independent, comedic goofball and holder of seemingly infinite energy reserves

Alex – 7 months old at the time of the trip. The laid back one and celebrity of our group during our trip




I’ll try to break this up in the most logical way possible. And, I’ll be creating a video for each chapter that will summarize that section. This will be a working trip report as editing videos, sorting through photos and writing up all the details takes a long time!

 

[crystal1313]

Yay! Can't wait to read more =) Beautiful family!! And, I would love to see your entry that won you this amazing trip if you can share it.

 

[alohamom]

WOW-big congrats on a fantastic win! My hubby and I have been travelling to Hawaii on a regular basis pre and post kids for over 20 years-welcome to the club. Your report sounds like it will be terrific, cant wait for more...

 

[Schmagurty]

Yay! Can't wait to read more =) Beautiful family!! And, I would love to see your entry that won you this amazing trip if you can share it.

Thanks Crystal! I've attached the winning artwork. It was a pretty simple design with an abstract perspective of the character I suppose.

 

[Schmagurty]

WOW-big congrats on a fantastic win! My hubby and I have been travelling to Hawaii on a regular basis pre and post kids for over 20 years-welcome to the club. Your report sounds like it will be terrific, cant wait for more...

Wow, alohamom, lucky you to travel there so much! After this trip, we hope to get back soon...but will perhaps wait a little until Alex is old enough to remember it!

 

[crystal1313]

Thanks Crystal! I've attached the winning artwork. It was a pretty simple design with an abstract perspective of the character I suppose.

Thank you for sharing!!! I love it. Great job looking forward to the rest of your TR!

 

[Schmagurty]

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CHAPTER 1: Intro & How We Ended Up Going to Aulani DisBoards | Tumblr
CHAPTER 2: Packing for the Trip & The Flight There DisBoards | Tumblr
CHAPTER 3: The Room & the First Half-Day at Aulani DisBoards | Tumblr
CHAPTER 4: The First Full Day at Aulani DisBoards | Tumblr

_______________________________​

CHAPTER 2
PACKING FOR THE TRIP & THE FLIGHT THERE

We booked our trip about 6 months in advance. So when we booked it, there was that initial high of making the reservation. But over the next several months, we gradually began to forget about the fact that we were going. Then, as the holiday season arrived, our January trip became real again and we had to start buying stuff and thinking about packing. It really snuck up on us pretty quickly.

We knew that traveling to Hawaii with a 4-year old and 7 month old was going to require a lot of forward thinking and planning as well as a lot of purchasing of accessories to make the trip work. But…if you are currently or ever have been a parent of young ones, you know this is true if you are taking a trip to the local grocery store or are traveling to a far off exotic destination! So, we tried our best to think of everything we absolutely had to pack to make the trip work for our family of four! Here is a list of things we ended up buying to bring:

• Headphone port splitter – If you want to watch a movie at the same time as your little ones on an iPad.
• Bose sound isolating headphones – to make hearing movies better.
• Nose and ear plugs – If your family falls under the land loving column
• 2 swimsuits for Lily – One to wear while the other one dries
• 2 UV sleeved swim outfits for baby Alex – Protecting the baby’s sensitive skin
• 1 secondary swim trunks for me – One to hang dry while wearing one
• 1 secondary bathing suit for mom – One to hang dry while wearing one
• Anti-bug balm – We read a necessity if going to Waimea Valley
• Adult sunscreen
• Kids sunscreen
• Baby sunscreen
• Swim diapers
• Noise cancelling headphones – Electronic devices for your flight are a necessity
• Portable battery charger for devices – In case device batteries die
• Aquasocks/Water shoes for the adults and 4-year old – Protecting soft soles
• Sunhat for 4-year old and baby – Keeping young skin safe
• Beach towels – Needed for post-Aulani trips
• Beach toys – Aulani provides, but we heard they can run out quickly
• Inflatable baby floating raft – A necessity for baby pool fun
• Motion sickness pills for adults – If you don’t handle travel well
• Motion sickness write straps for mom – Anti-hurl strategies
• New cheap toys for the plane ride – These really work!
• Beach bag – Definitely a necessity
• Lots of different travel-sized snacks – For the plane and hotels

I’m sure I’m forgetting some things, but these were the ones I recall. Additionally, there were some things that were absolute necessities that may not seem as such. One, the aquasocks/watershoes were extremely valuable. If you’re not used to visiting beach areas or walking outdoors barefoot, I would highly recommend buying these. When there, you will likely traverse hot concrete, skin-tearing non-slip pool floors, beach sand with small, sharp rocks in it and hilly, rocky areas. After doing research on Amazon, we bought a pair for the three of us who who walk and opted for the Speedo brand shoes after reading lesser brands were known to fall apart pretty quickly.

The other thing that was great to have there was the baby-sized inflatable float. This allowed us to put baby in the lazy river or pools and let him float along with us. The one we brought with us was the “Disney Mickey Mouse Inflatable Kids Float with Optional Sun Cover Canopy.” We liked this one because we could totally deflate it for travel. Additionally, it was easy to inflate. It has a seat in it with holes for baby’s legs and a blow-up steering wheel that makes a noise when pressed--something Alex really enjoyed.

ANOTHER TIP: Hawaii is far away, so it can be very easy to pack as if you’re traveling to a distant universe. Try your best to avoid over packing! For one, they are serious about weight limits for baggage on the airlines. And, two, you’re going to a US destination. The money is the same. They have the same or similar stores that you have in your town. And it won’t be hard to buy things you need.

You’ve probably heard that everything in Hawaii is very expensive. I didn’t find this to be true for everything. If you live in or have visited a major city like New York or Chicago, you will find the prices to have that sort of mark up. And, you’re not going to be buying a ton of things, so the mark up isn’t hard to swallow.

THE FLIGHT

Above, I've provided a video I put together about our flight there. Below, I've provided additionally info.

The one element of this trip that caused me the most stress and anxiety was the 9.5 hour flights while traveling with a 4-year old and 7-month old who have never flown before. I planned. I diagramed. I came up with secondary plans. And if those plans fell through, I made emergency plans. Oh, and super backup emergency plans. And emergency backup plans for those super plans. And…I’m sweating just thinking about all that planning!

To our 4-year old—who is an expressive, independent girl—asking her to wait one minute can cause her to react like she’s being asked to wait for nine consecutive lifetimes. And…we had no idea if baby Alex was going to hate the flight and cry the entire way. We knew the children would survive in these cases, but we weren’t so sure our fellow passengers wouldn’t kill us for forcing them to hear a wailing baby and screaming little girl for 9.5 hours straight!

So, the day of our flight, I can say my emotions ranged from “oh my God, we’re going to Hawaii!” to “Nine and half hours? Are you CRAZY?!?!” Our flight was at 9 AM, so we had to plan to be out our door by 5:45 AM to account for Chicago rush hour traffic, the usual unending construction on our tollways and getting through the obscenely long gauntlet that is O’Hare airport.

DG’s dad was nice enough to drive us all. This was very helpful as we didn’t really have the option of hiring a cab or limo to get us there because both kids would need a car seat and we were only bringing one for Alex. Additionally, parking at the airport was an expense we didn’t want to waste our money on. Technically, you can park at O’hare for $10 a day. But that $10 lot is located in Cleveland, Ohio. Or, it might as well be. Convenient lots are more like $30/day.

Luckily, traffic was light on the roads and in the airport. And the kids were calm and okay with getting up so early. Lily was still waking up slowly. And, she gets shy and quiet when she’s around people she doesn’t know or is in places she is unfamiliar with. Alex, decided he wanted to get the sleep he usually gets before we woke him. As we waited in line, one of the security guys was very helpful at explaining the process for taking kids and a car seat through security. I appreciated this because I always find in O’hare that if you don’t know exactly what you’re supposed to do, the workers act like they’re insulted by your lack of knowledge about the process.

It wasn’t until we had neared the conveyor belt to put our stuff on it did I realize how much stuff we were lugging with us. I had my laptop with the electronics. I brought my MacBook so I could back up our photos. Of course, that laptop has to come out of the back and go in its own bin. We both had backpacks jammed with stuff. We had the car seat. We had our shoes. (Kids shoes don’t have to come off.) We had empty water bottles, Alex’s blanket, Lily’s backpack and breastmilk. I think we used approximately 18 bins to get our stuff through. Ha!

While the people immediately behind us in line were polite, you could tell it was a bit annoying for them to have to wait for us to gradually unload all of our stuff while juggling the kids.

Going through the body scanner/metal detector with a baby is a little weird. One of the parents goes through the metal detector holding baby. But immediately after, they must swipe your fingers and around your child with a cotton swab to check for explosives residue. And, because we brought breast milk, they had to run through some protocols for that as well. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what those protocols were.

After we finished that process, my backpack got flagged for getting a second round of security analysis. It’s probably because in it was the two tablets, several camera cards, a canon camera, camera accessories, a GoPro camera and a plethora of charging cords and wires. In the x-ray machine, it probably looked like I was bringing Baymax along for the ride. So, we’re pulled aside and they swab the bag to check for explosives again.

And then began the hectic process of trying to gather all that disassembled stuff back together again quickly enough so the conveyor belt could move again for those waiting behind us! The security process was quite an ordeal, but getting beyond that felt like we were crossing the threshold to the reality of our vacation and, collectively, our excitement began to grow.

The plane we'd be on for 9.5 hours​

So, let’s get to the plane ride itself. Since you are reading this, you have probably already gathered that the other passengers let us live! Joking aside, the flight itself was actually very uneventful, happy and peaceful!

Our daughter had plenty of toys and electronic devices to keep her happy. She was patient and surprisingly okay with sitting in the same seat for that long. And baby didn’t even realize he was on a plane and did a great job sleeping and being his normal happy little self. All of that fretting in hindsight seems silly now. But I’m glad we were at least ready to handle a meltdown if it had occurred.

The toys helped keep Lily happy during the flight​

We flew on United. It had been awhile since DG or I had flown a long flight like this and we expected multiple rounds of beverages as well as rounds of snacks and meals to be delivered. Wrong. Things have changed apparently. We only had one round of complimentary beverages. After that, they only came buy with water. Additionally, all food came with a price tag.

The good news was that the food wasn’t too bad. The bad news was it was pretty expensive. I didn’t mind not having the constant service coming by, but I thought there probably should have been more beverage service since it's so easy to dehydrate on a plane.

There’s not much else to report about the flight. But I will share some info about what worked for us:

• DEVICES AND GOOD HEADPHONES
  We brought an iPad loaded with 4-5 movies as well as a Kindle Fire loaded with games and books. These combined with high-quality noise cancelling headphones were very effective at keeping our 4-year old happy. We brought a nice pair of Sennheiser studio headphones that I use for work and a new pair of Bose noise-cancelling headphones.

• INEXPENSIVE, NEW SURPRISE TOYS
  I went to Target after Christmas and found the clearance toys section. In it, I found 3 $5 toy dolls with changeable outfits to buy. Additionally, I picked up a cheap $5 lego set. We kept these a surprise until we got to the airport. And, because they were shiny and new, they worked wonderfully. She enjoyed playing with them quite a bit.

• A SEAT FOR BABY
  We won our flight tickets and considered bringing another adult with us to use the fourth seat and just have Alex fly as a lap child. However, with about 20 hours of flight in front of us, we opted to just use that fourth seat for Alex’s car seat. This worked out great as it not only gave the adults hands-free time, but also made our coach seats feel roomier—since we had four seats to share between four two adults and two tiny ones.

LANDING IN HAWAII
We arrived about 3PM at the Honolulu airport. One thing that took some getting used to was going outside and walking through open air segments of the airport to get to the baggage claim. We were timid to walk out the door initially because we have been so well trained to fear that leaving certain parts of an airport means you get locked out. The airport itself is small and a bit dated, but it was a thrill to step out and see some of the hills and take in the warm, fresh Hawaiian air.

it felt a little strange walking outside to get to baggage claim, but the weather was so nice!


Our first view of Oahu with our feet on the ground.​

As part of the grand prize for the trip, we got free shuttle service to and from Aulani from a company called Speedi Shuttle. There were two guys with a car near baggage claim to greet us and take our bags. This was our first experience with native residents and what you hear about Hawaiians being very friendly, kind and happy is true.

They acted like they were having a wonderful day and loved what they were doing. They asked about our trip and offered some advice on where to go. One recommended going to the Polynesian Cultural Center, which is something we heard virtually all Hawaiians (who we talked to about our trip) tell us to go to.

I gave the guy who moved our bags to the van a tip and he seemed surprised and very thankful that I tipped him. I have a feeling that they don’t get tipped as much as they should. During our drive there, we were the only ones on the shuttle. The driver was very friendly and told us about the island and gave us advice. We talked a bit about Eddie Aikau because I had watched an ESPN 30 for 30 episode about the legendary surfer. (If you get a chance, watch it because Eddie's story is great and he was at true hero in every sense of the word.)

We had heard Hawaii traffic was bad, but it seemed pretty moderate to us. However, there ended up being a traffic accident several miles ahead of us that slowed our journey quite substantially and created a lot of herky jerky, stop and go traffic…which ended up changing things for the worse for us.

This is where we had our first and only negative experience on our trip. First, Alex had become very unhappy in his car seat. He was warm, hungry and tired. And he let everybody hear it. Alex is a sweet little guy who spends 90 percent of his day smiling and being happy. But when he gets upset, he has this way of crying that makes it sounds like he has been thrown to the wolves. It’s very loud and very dramatic. He has that part where he’s crying so hard, he goes silent for a long period of time, takes in a breath and wails again that just sounds heartbreaking!

Additionally, I can even feel myself feeling a dragging feeling. I don’t know how to explain it. It was more than just being tired. It was like the transition from plane to warm island kind of violently yanked me into a different space. Mentally, I was super happy, but physically, I felt a bit beat up. DG later revealed to me she felt this way too. I'm sure it was the adrenaline wearing down and the effects of the long flight. The driver picks up on this vibe I think and kind of gets quiet very quickly.

Next, Lily starts saying she feels uncomfortable. DG tries to console her and let her know we’ll be there soon. Suddenly, I hear DG say “oh my God!” I turn around and Lily is vomiting all over the place. All over her lap, on mom, all over the van. She starts balling. Alex is still screaming. DG is freaking out trying to find stuff to clean everything while trying to help Lily feel better. Lily had never gotten motion sickness before, but I think the flight followed by the stop-and-go, floaty feeling van was just too much.

Eventually, all had calmed and DG had done the best she could cleaning up the mess. Alex slowed his crying down some. And I spent my time apologizing over and over again to the driver for the mess.

Now….If you’re planning a trip to Aulani, you’ve probably watched the videos on YouTube that show the happy families arriving at the entrance, getting the fresh water and leis and laughing and smiling joyfully as they skip through the halls. That’s what I had in my head for our experience.

How we really arrived: half of us covered in vomit, two of us sobbing and all of us a bit beat up and embarrassed. As the driver unloaded our bags, I grabbed all of the tipping cash I had brought for the trip, minus some cash to tip the Aulani bellman, and gave it to the driver and apologized for the mess again. He thanked me and said not to worry about it. But I knew it wasn’t something he was super thrilled about. But who would be thrilled about it?

Our first sighting of Aulani​

The sun-drenched view of the entrance to Aulani​

Getting the leis and necklaces
​

Even though we all were pretty ragged and not in a great mood, the Aulani staff acted like we were royalty when we arrived. One guy carefully explained how our bags would be brought up to our room for us. A lady warmly greeted us as we made our way to the entrance. They gave DG and I leis—and gave necklaces to the kids—and gave all of us fresh fruit water. Then, a woman kindly walked us over to the reservation desk.

I can say that walking into that lobby is something special. If you’ve never been but have seen video or pictures, those images don’t do it justice. There is the visual beauty of it. The colors are very vibrant and it feels very majestic and epic when you walk into it. But there’s also an aura about it. The music playing in the background…the movement and activity happening inside…the smell. I can’t quite explain it. But I can say that when you walk in, you do feel like you’ve been transported to some place magical and special. And I could feel the weight of that long trip drift off of my shoulders.

Inside of the beautiful lobby at Aulani. It is a beautiful place.​

The woman at the front desk who checked me in was very nice. She congratulated me on winning the stay and complimented how adorable our vomit-covered daughter was. Lily’s mood changed for the better upon entrance to Aulani as well, as did mom's and baby's. I tell her we’re checking in with a baby as well. She then says we’ve been upgraded from a standard island-facing room to a room facing the other way. But, then she says it’s going to be on the first floor.

When I heard that, I felt a little disappointed. I had in my head thoughts of waking up in the morning before everybody else and sitting out on the balcony taking in the morning air. However, getting that first floor room facing the pool area turned out being the best room we could have gotten! I’ll explain more about that in the next chapter!

 

[alohamom]

How we really arrived: half of us covered in vomit, two of us sobbing and all of us a bit beat up and embarrassed.

Oh my, not exactly how you imagined it, I am sure!
Loved the video, if you dont mind me asking-where did you find the Hawaiian Zippidy Do Dah music?

 

[Schmagurty]

Oh my, not exactly how you imagined it, I am sure!
Loved the video, if you dont mind me asking-where did you find the Hawaiian Zippidy Do Dah music?

I bought a Japanese import CD of Hawaiian Disney songs from Amazon as somehting we could listen to and get excited about our trip. It actually arrived with Japanese postage on it. Here's the one I got: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003APNPRW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Here is the track listing:

 

[Schmagurty]

Oh my, not exactly how you imagined it, I am sure!
Loved the video, if you dont mind me asking-where did you find the Hawaiian Zippidy Do Dah music?

Also, I should say that it was the only speed bump in our entire trip! Otherwise, we had a blast!

 

[crystal1313]

Loving your TR! So detailed which I love! We are going in July and my boys will be flying for the first time, they are 8 and 6. Making notes to get them some new toys for the trip. Thanks! Cannot wait to read more and so sorry that your little one got sick in the car! That is never fun. Also, thanks for the link for the CD and can I ask what program you used to make your video? I loved it and loved the narrative on the bottom too.

 

[Schmagurty]

Loving your TR! So detailed which I love! We are going in July and my boys will be flying for the first time, they are 8 and 6. Making notes to get them some new toys for the trip. Thanks! Cannot wait to read more and so sorry that your little one got sick in the car! That is never fun. Also, thanks for the link for the CD and can I ask what program you used to make your video? I loved it and loved the narrative on the bottom too.

Thanks Crystal1313! I found a bunch of great advice on this site so I wanted to pay it forward with my own trip report. It's hard to define the line between enough info and TMI! Glad to hear you got some useful info out of it. You guys are going to love it there. Are you going to other places and islands as well? The flight both ways was so uneventful and other parents I asked back when I was stressing about it said the same thing. The digital devices help. I didn't mention it in the post above, but United also had free movies and tv shows available on seatback monitors. The quality was a little poor though. Inaccurate touch screens and kind of blurry compared to a tablet.

As for the video, I do a lot of video editing for my job, so I used Adobe products which is a pro-level software. Premiere for the video, Photoshop and Illustrator for the graphics. If you don't have editing experience, it may be a little difficult to use. There is a site I've heard of called https://animoto.com where you can easily create videos for a fee. Also, there is a great app in iTunes that makes putting together videos pretty easy as well. It's free, with an option to buy up to premium templates. It's here: https://replayapp.com/. It doesn't appear to be available in the Android store however.

 

[crystal1313]

Thanks Schmagurty! I will look into the adobe stuff! I have the CS at work, but mainly use InDesign for typesetting (I am a graphic designer). =)

We are flying Alaska, it was the best deal we could find. We plan on loading up the iPads! Santa already got the kids headphones that have volume control so they don't hurt their ears blasting the music! I am a bit nervous about flying with them, but they are older now and I think will be ok. We are really playing up the fact that the flight will be shorter than when we drive to Disneyland, so they love that. They also like that they can get up and stretch and use the restroom on the flight. I worry a bit because my youngest always has issues with his ears when we go into the mountains, so I hope that his ears do not hurt the entire flight.

Our only main plan is to go to Pearl Harbor one day. The rest we will play by ear. My mom, dad and I are going to go to the Arizona, while my husband and boys go to the Missouri. My husband has been to the Arizona before and while he would love to go again, we aren't quite sure the boys will understand the significance and importance of it at their age. So we plan to go back when they are older.

Looking forward to hearing about your room and your thoughts on Aunty's

 

[Schmagurty]

Thanks Schmagurty! I will look into the adobe stuff! I have the CS at work, but mainly use InDesign for typesetting (I am a graphic designer). =)

We are flying Alaska, it was the best deal we could find. We plan on loading up the iPads! Santa already got the kids headphones that have volume control so they don't hurt their ears blasting the music! I am a bit nervous about flying with them, but they are older now and I think will be ok. We are really playing up the fact that the flight will be shorter than when we drive to Disneyland, so they love that. They also like that they can get up and stretch and use the restroom on the flight. I worry a bit because my youngest always has issues with his ears when we go into the mountains, so I hope that his ears do not hurt the entire flight.

Our only main plan is to go to Pearl Harbor one day. The rest we will play by ear. My mom, dad and I are going to go to the Arizona, while my husband and boys go to the Missouri. My husband has been to the Arizona before and while he would love to go again, we aren't quite sure the boys will understand the significance and importance of it at their age. So we plan to go back when they are older.

Looking forward to hearing about your room and your thoughts on Aunty's

Awesome! A fellow "creative type." Well, if you have CS and are a graphic designer, than using Premiere shouldn't be that hard. If you have questions about it, feel free to reach out to me and I can help or point you in the right direction.

I like how you sold them on the long flight by saying it's shorter than the drive! I'm sure they'll be great on the plane. I assume at 6 and 8 years old, they have developed the ability to control their impulses a bit more and are able to sit through school for that period of time. I wish I could provide some tips on the ear thing. Lily didn't have any issues and my wife breastfed Alex while we took off and landed to prevent that issue. I'm sure there are some tricks out there!

We did go to Pearl Harbor. Our original plan was to take turns going to the US Arizona while one stays back with both kids. However, we just ended up taking the kids with us because we ended up getting there too late. I'll talk about that in the trip report in detail. But the short of it is that we ended up getting there just in time for the very last boat out to the US AZ. I read horror stories about it being completely overrun by tourists and the staff being very strict. However, it was the opposite for us...perhaps because we got there at the end of the day. Not many people there. We parked in the closest lot. Our tour to the US AZ had only 25% of the boat capacity. It may require more research, but it could be the end of day tours are less busy than the first-thing-in-the-morning tours? Also, they only let you stay out there for like 15-20 minutes. So, I think you could bring the kids with you. For us, Lily was the concern. But I think because everybody else was very quiet and somber, she noticed and stayed quiet as well. Plus, she was interested in trying to understand more about the "underwater boat."

There'll be plenty I'll share about the room and Auntys! And all of Aulani!

 

[Soccerluvinmama]

I CAN'T WAIT TO READ MORE!! (yes, I'm yelling)

 

[alohamom]

Thanks for the CD link. I have debating between that one and the Jake Shimbukuro one called Ukulele Disney. Super expensive for me as I live in Canada and the shipping plus the exchange will make ONE of these the most expensive CD I have ever bought! It was great to hear the clip, gave me an idea of what to expect. What I REALLY want is the elevator music from Aulani. I have read you can access it on Pandora but again, being located in Canada restricts me from legally doing so.

 

[Schmagurty]

Thanks for the CD link. I have debating between that one and the Jake Shimbukuro one called Ukulele Disney. Super expensive for me as I live in Canada and the shipping plus the exchange will make ONE of these the most expensive CD I have ever bought! It was great to hear the clip, gave me an idea of what to expect. What I REALLY want is the elevator music from Aulani. I have read you can access it on Pandora but again, being located in Canada restricts me from legally doing so.

Are you talking about the one called "Aulani: Music of the Maka'ala"? If so, I know that one is on Spotify. Since we were on the first floor, we only took the elevators twice...and only up one floor to the lobby level. So I never did hear the elevator music that I keep reading about.

For the "Greatest Disney Hawaiian" CD, I only paid $23 for it with shipping. Not sure why the first list price on that Amazon page is so high. If you look at the "new and used" purchase options, you can get it for a lot less. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003APNPRW/ref=olp_f_new

I bought mine from seller "Nano Japan" and it arrived relatively quickly from Japan. About 2 weeks if I recall. It can only be purchased from Japan.

If you can wait, I will be using more tracks from it for future videos on this TR so you can hear it!

 

[jtba]

enjoying your TR so far... can't wait for the next installment!

 

[alohamom]

Are you talking about the one called "Aulani: Music of the Maka'ala"? If so, I know that one is on Spotify. Since we were on the first floor, we only took the elevators twice...and only up one floor to the lobby level. So I never did hear the elevator music that I keep reading about.

If you can wait, I will be using more tracks from it for future videos on this TR so you can hear it!

I have toyed with buying "Aulani: Music of the Maka'ala" too- I got very excited when it was released but alas, this is not the elevator stuff. There is a loop of classic Disney songs that play in the elevators and they are sung in Hawaiian. This has terrible sound quality but to give you an idea here is a YouTube link with versions of "You Got a Friend In Me" and "When You Wish Upon A Star"

Awesome that more videos and music is coming-thanks so much!

 

[Dugette]

So glad you are writing this report! And also thrilled that you had a great time.

(Side note: It took awhile for me to believe this was all real. In fact, a part of me still wasn’t sure it was real until the plane’s wheels left the ground!)

I hadn't realized that you won your trip. That is awesome! I do relate to the feeling, though. Since we got our (first trip) flights for $70/each First Class with the glitch, I was in total disbelief about our trip too. Wasn't real until they actually let us into our seats.

Adorable family picture!

But over the next several months, we gradually began to forget about the fact that we were going. Then, as the holiday season arrived, our January trip became real again and we had to start buying stuff and thinking about packing. It really snuck up on us pretty quickly.

I relate to this from our recent January trip - all distracted by holidays and "oh, it's NEXT year" and then BAM - time to pack and leave!

I appreciated this because I always find in O’hare that if you don’t know exactly what you’re supposed to do, the workers act like they’re insulted by your lack of knowledge about the process.

Glad you had someone helpful. I hate that some have such attitudes.

It wasn’t until we had neared the conveyor belt to put our stuff on it did I realize how much stuff we were lugging with us. I had my laptop with the electronics. I brought my MacBook so I could back up our photos. Of course, that laptop has to come out of the back and go in its own bin. We both had backpacks jammed with stuff. We had the car seat. We had our shoes. (Kids shoes don’t have to come off.) We had empty water bottles, Alex’s blanket, Lily’s backpack and breastmilk. I think we used approximately 18 bins to get our stuff through. Ha!

Yep, I relate to that too. It's amazing all the things you have to deal with just to get through.

Unfortunately, I can’t remember what those protocols were.

With ours (cow's milk too), they make us take the tops off, then hold a little tester thing over it briefly, then give it back. Nothing too major.

The security process was quite an ordeal, but getting beyond that felt like we were crossing the threshold to the reality of our vacation and, collectively, our excitement began to grow.

That's a great feeling! I hate security going home, though - not the same excitement after, except that you won't have to do it again for a while.

Joking aside, the flight itself was actually very uneventful, happy and peaceful!

I'm so glad that the kids ended up being such good flyers! That is really a treat! I mean, for the most part, we've had good experiences too, but you just never know. And part of it was that you were well prepared with things to keep them occupied, which helps a ton.

We flew on United. It had been awhile since DG or I had flown a long flight like this and we expected multiple rounds of beverages as well as rounds of snacks and meals to be delivered. Wrong. Things have changed apparently. We only had one round of complimentary beverages. After that, they only came buy with water. Additionally, all food came with a price tag.

I guess it has been a while since you've had a long flight like this. And United doesn't even give snacks! (We normally fly Delta and they have snacks, but United was this past HI trip and you are right - they don't offer much for free). I always ask for a full can of pop and get it, though (free). We were fortunate in that we booked using FlexPerks miles (credit card) and they include $25 in-flight credits, so we stocked up on food with those.

We arrived about 3PM at the Honolulu airport. One thing that took some getting used to was going outside and walking through open air segments of the airport to get to the baggage claim.

Isn't that such an odd thing to us northerners? Open air buildings - so Hawaiian!

Eventually, all had calmed and DG had done the best she could cleaning up the mess. Alex slowed his crying down some. And I spent my time apologizing over and over again to the driver for the mess.

Gosh, I am sorry you all had to deal with this stuff. What a rough ride over!

How we really arrived: half of us covered in vomit, two of us sobbing and all of us a bit beat up and embarrassed.

Quite the picture, there.

I can say that walking into that lobby is something special. If you’ve never been but have seen video or pictures, those images don’t do it justice. There is the visual beauty of it. The colors are very vibrant and it feels very majestic and epic when you walk into it. But there’s also an aura about it. The music playing in the background…the movement and activity happening inside…the smell. I can’t quite explain it. But I can say that when you walk in, you do feel like you’ve been transported to some place magical and special. And I could feel the weight of that long trip drift off of my shoulders.

Great description - it really is a special feeling to walk inside.

complimented how adorable our vomit-covered daughter was.

So glad that your upgraded room worked out so well.

Can't wait for more! Loved your little video too.