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

[CampbellzSoup]

Your family is absouelty beautiful

 

[living20057]

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

What's the best way to load movies on to the iPad? Can I do this on MacBook as well. I feel like people are always downloading movies but I don have any luck. Do I need to buy them from the App Store?

 

[Schmagurty]

What's the best way to load movies on to the iPad? Can I do this on MacBook as well. I feel like people are always downloading movies but I don have any luck. Do I need to buy them from the App Store?

There are a number of ways this can be done, but all involve having to purchase or get access to digital versions of movies. In other words, I'm not sure there exists easy ways to rip the files from hard DVDs and put them on your iPad. The industry has been pretty good about shutting down that stuff to prevent piracy. But here are some things you can do:

• If you own DVDs that came with a "digital version" code (or have family/friends willing to gift theirs to you), redeem those codes via the respective app they apply to. Most "digital version" codes work in iTunes now. Some older movies will use the Ultraviolet or Flixster apps. Once you redeem the digital version, they should provide you a way to download a local file to your iPad so you can watch without internet.
• Amazon's app offers the ability to download local files of movies and TV shows. So, if you're a Prime customers, you can download local versions of free Prime shows. Or, if you buy movies/shows through Amazon, same thing.
• Your cable company may have an app that allows you to download local files of TV shows and movies that you have free access to as part of your cable subscription. So, if you have HBO, you would be able to download a local copy to a movie that HBO offers, and so on. I know Comcast/Xfinity has this.
• If you have digital Disney movies you want to be downloaded on your iPad, I recommend using the Disney Movies Anywhere app. For whatever reason, that app downloads smaller files of the movies for you to watch...which means less waiting for downloads and having more space for movies. (Note: you can link your iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google or Microsoft accounts to the Disney app...so if you buy a Disney movie from those stores, they automatically show up in the app and you get rewards points for them.)
• iTunes will let you download local versions of movies/shows you buy. You have to use the "Videos" app to do that.
• Note: the plane's internet connection is not fast enough to stream videos. You'll have to have locally downloaded files.

Hope that helps!

 

[Leevaughn]

Re: Ripping DVDs on your MacBook to MP4 iPad format - free app is called: HandBrake. Then import to iTunes and stick it on your ipad.

Re: youtube vids to MP4. There are websites that allow you to copy the link of the youtube vid, then it exports the youtube video into MP4 format that you can import into itunes, then throw on your ipad.

Believe me, just refreshed all content on our ipads for our 3 and 5 yr olds. Flight takes off Monday morning to Aulani; first 7 hour flight with them (usually we break a flight up into two, but this one is direct). I'm nervous about what my 3 yr old will get up to...

 

[Iggipolka]

Loving your trip report! We're taking our 3&6 yr olds to Aulani next month & I think I'm going to bring children's Dramamine!

 

[living20057]

There are a number of ways this can be done, but all involve having to purchase or get access to digital versions of movies. In other words, I'm not sure there exists easy ways to rip the files from hard DVDs and put them on your iPad. The industry has been pretty good about shutting down that stuff to prevent piracy. But here are some things you can do:

• If you own DVDs that came with a "digital version" code (or have family/friends willing to gift theirs to you), redeem those codes via the respective app they apply to. Most "digital version" codes work in iTunes now. Some older movies will use the Ultraviolet or Flixster apps. Once you redeem the digital version, they should provide you a way to download a local file to your iPad so you can watch without internet.
• Amazon's app offers the ability to download local files of movies and TV shows. So, if you're a Prime customers, you can download local versions of free Prime shows. Or, if you buy movies/shows through Amazon, same thing.
• Your cable company may have an app that allows you to download local files of TV shows and movies that you have free access to as part of your cable subscription. So, if you have HBO, you would be able to download a local copy to a movie that HBO offers, and so on. I know Comcast/Xfinity has this.
• If you have digital Disney movies you want to be downloaded on your iPad, I recommend using the Disney Movies Anywhere app. For whatever reason, that app downloads smaller files of the movies for you to watch...which means less waiting for downloads and having more space for movies. (Note: you can link your iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google or Microsoft accounts to the Disney app...so if you buy a Disney movie from those stores, they automatically show up in the app and you get rewards points for them.)
• iTunes will let you download local versions of movies/shows you buy. You have to use the "Videos" app to do that.
• Note: the plane's internet connection is not fast enough to stream videos. You'll have to have locally downloaded files.

Hope that helps!

Absolutely helpful! We do have Xfinity. I've never used cable login away from the home. This is definitely something I can do.

 

[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 3
THE ROOM & THE FIRST HALF-DAY AT AULANI

The walk to our room went down a hall to an elevator that we rode down one floor to the first floor of rooms. (The lobby is located on the second floor of the hotel.) Our room was located where the red “X” is located on the map below—near the walkway to the spa.



As you might imagine, that beep the door makes after you slide the door key into it was a most welcome sound. Lily and DG decided to immediately get in the shower so they could freshen up from the vomit-covered shuttle ride. With Alex asleep, I had some time to explore the room and shoot the below video:

SONG: The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room (Disneyland) - Monoa DNA

These rooms have a few unique creature comforts that I’ll briefly list here—as I assume you have already discovered these features in the videos Disney has put together about the rooms. But I'll share the features that stood out just in case:

• The beds have space below them that provides you the ability to store your suitcases under the.
• There was already a pack and play collapsible crib in the hall closet—including a fresh sheet to go in it.
• There are plenty of Disney channels to choose from on the television.
• There is a hidden door that opens in front of the television that provides easy access HDMI/USB/etc. ports that connect to the television.
• The sliding glass doors soundproof the room from the outside (which I’ll talk more about later in this chapter)
• Room includes a small fridge hidden underneath the television and a coffee maker
• The bathtub is an oversized tub that could fit two adults easily (for those who are Honeymooning).
• There is one of those hanging lines in the shower that expands and retracts. (We used this quite often to have swimsuits dry).

I began unpacking the room, starting with getting the cooler-packed breastmilk in the fridge. However, I noticed the fridge was not remotely cold. Unable to see any knobs to control the coldness, I called the maintenance staff right away to report the issue. Before I talk more about that, first let me tell you why we loved the first floor room we got.

WHY A FIRST ROOM FLOOR WAS AWESOME FOR US
As I mentioned, I was initially kind of bummed that we got a first floor room because I felt we were going to lose out on the balcony experience. However, I was completely wrong to be upset about it because it turned out to be an outstanding room location for us. And while I’ve never experienced a room on the upper floors to compare it to, I would still recommend that if you can request a first floor room facing the pool area, go for it. Here’s why:

• Comes with a built-in, free cabana
  If you’ve looked at cabana rental prices, you know that they’re pretty expensive. With a first floor room, you get your own personal, private cabana in the form of your patio space that comes with a swinging door that offers you easy access to the pool area. As you can see in the below photo, they build some natural privacy into this area—so as you sit there, people walking by almost never notice you’re even there. We used this patio space as a place to have lunch, take breaks and keep our towels. Because it was a very shady space, we were able to keep bottled water out there as well.

• Perfect for feeding a baby
  One reason I suspect why Disney upgraded us to this room is the fact that we checked in with a baby. As you probably know, babies eat often, which means it requires mom to go back to the room with baby to feed him on a regular basis. If our room required an elevator ride and long walk down a hallway, this would have taken quite a bit of time away from mom and baby to experience the resort. With our room being on the main floor and close to an entrance door, it was much more convenient.
  
  
• Ultra sound proofed sliding doors
  I’m sure you’re wondering, “but won’t it be very noisy down there?” To answer, no. You can’t hear much of anything when those doors are closed. Our first morning there, I opened the sliding doors up, only to hear very loud singing coming from the speaker system. (This singing woman is heard every day at 7 AM). Anyway, it startled me a bit because it was pretty loud and all looked so peaceful out there. But when I closed the sliding glass door, I couldn’t hear it. That's how well the door soundproofs.
  
  
• Quick and easy access to the fun & food
  Having that immediate connection to all of the fun outdoor stuff at Aulani made the experience fun. For example, if I had to walk over to Aunty’s Beach House to get info. I can walk right out of the patio area and quickly jump into the lazy river and float my way over closer to the area. I could run to get some Dole Whips and bring them back before melt all over my hands. You get the point. The outdoor stuff felt very connected to our room—as what I imagine a cabana rental would feel like (sans the waitstaff).

So, I’ll get back to the report. The maintenance guy showed up and quickly identified that the problem with the fridge was that it wasn’t plugged in. (To do this, he had the pull the entire fridge out from it’s under-the-tv tight cubby.) He was very friendly and smiled a lot. I wanted to tip him, but I used up all my tip cash paying the van driver and bag guys. Plus, I'm not sure if you're supposed to tip maintenance?

DG and Lily had finished showering. We purposefully avoided showing Lily the water stuff outside of the door so she would be motivated to shower first. However, as she came out of the shower and I opened the curtain to show her the water area, she wanted to go out there immediately.

This is that moment that parents feel where you get more excited for your child/children because you know they have no idea how much they’re going to love what they’re about to experience. Kind of a vicarious kid joy mixed with parent pride.

By that time, Alex had woke up and was ready to eat. So, DG said she’d stay behind while dad and daughter went out to explore the area. We quickly put on our swimsuits and slathered on the sunscreen to head out. At this point, it was around 5 PM local time.

(TIP FOR THE GUYS: Pack lightweight sleeveless shirts you can wear in the pool. Most of the men were wearing them while we were there. It not only protects you from the sun, but you also don’t have to apply so much sunscreen which saves time. And, if you live in 4-season climates like me, that part of your body is not likely exposed to the sun very much and would sunburn quickly)

Now, I don’t know if it had recently rained or if the crowds were just unusually light this day, but the place felt especially empty…almost like we had the entire park to ourselves. I had thought to myself “wow, we are going to have free rein of the place for our entire stay." (That thought was quickly disproven the following morning and for the rest of our days there. It wasn't crazy packed during our stay. But it wasn't a ghost town like it was on this particular afternoon.)

The first thing we decided to do was to ride the Tubestone Curl waterslide. We walked all the way up there stairs and realized there were zero people in line for it. The lifeguard/staff lady at the top said, “lucky you! No line. That doesn’t happen often.” I put Lily in the tube first. Then, I sat in it, apparently completely wrong. So, I was asked to stand up and sit back down in it the proper way, which I think I still managed to get wrong, but correct enough for us to go down.

The first words out of Lily’s mouth: “this is so much FUN!”

The words that followed: “we’re going so FAST!”

The words that followed that: “daddy, I want to slow down.”

At that point, I realized she was a little scared by the ride. We hit the bottom and made a bigger splash than I expected. Lily informed me at that point, she didn’t want to ride the waterslide anymore. Now, she wasn’t traumatized. Rather, she just found it to be a bit too much for her to take in. Plus, she has always been the type to not complain or let us know when something is bothering her. So, when she says something like that, I know she’s serious about it—so I didn’t try to get her to ride it the rest of our stay.

Next, we decided to do a lap around the Waikolohe Stream—aka the lazy river. I swapped my double raft for a single raft. Lily was happy just floating with her arm floats.

To put it simply: this lazy river is incredibly fun and it came as a surprise to me. I had even feared that Lily might get bored of it very quickly. It’s a reasonable assumption. Even the term “lazy river” sounds very passive and lacking in stimulation. But there are several things that make Aulani’s version very addicting and fun. I will detail them below. However, there are SPOILERS here, so if you want to have some things still be a surprise for your first trip, then skip past the bulleted list. Here they are:

• The shady and pretty surroundings.
  Unlike other lazy rivers I have been on, including the one at Typhoon Lagoon one—there is a very pretty and serene atmosphere about it. The high-rock walls, colorful and shade-providing trees above, the bridges you drift under and all of the waterfalls along the way all really make you feel like your in a tropical paradise.
  
  Oh, I should note one other feature here that was initially frightening, but ended up being pretty darn cool: the candles/flames that line the lazy river. I forgot to take a picture, but have provided this one that I found on the interwebbings.
  
  
  
  When I first saw one, I was like: “oh, crap. Now I’m going to have to tell Lily not to touch those things because they’ll burn her.” Then, my mind went that normal parent route and I thought, “why would they put flames so close to the edge of a place where kids will play?” and “what were they THINKING?!?!” But as I drifted closer, I realized they were not actual flames at all. Rather, they are little bubbling streams of water that are lit with orange and red lights to make it look like it’s a flame. So, instead of feeling annoyed, I was now tickled by the creative touch they used to create them. (I should have known better, but protective parenting got to me! ha!)
  
  
• The volcanic cave
  One cool feature of the lazy river is a volcanic cave section that is carved into the Pu’u Kilo—which is the tall rock formation in the middle of the water area that houses the waterslides. When you drift through it, you’re met with a lot of water streaming down and shooting out of the sides. And, as you drift through, you feel bubbles drifting up from the water—mimicking the roll of boiling water. It's just fun to go through!
  
  
• The Occasional Water Fun
  Along the way, there are moments where you’ll come upon streams of water that are shooting down into the lazy river. You can make this an obstacle course and try to avoid getting sprayed. Or, you can soak yourself.

If there is one thing I loved riding as much as possible there, it was the lazy river. Lily loved it. DG loved it. And Alex loved all of it (besides the volcanic cave part where he got sprayed in the face once.) I should mention that it drifted at a pace that made it feel fun. Not so slow that you felt too stagnant, yet not too fast that you felt rushed.

After a trip around the lazy river, we got out and went to the Menehune Bridge. But the water was turned off and it wasn’t working. I was a little confused. At this point, I decided that we should get back to Mom and Alex, but that we should get to our room by circling around the lazy river again.

When we got to the river, a lifeguard said it was closed. It was at this point that I spotted a sign and realized that most of the pool and water stuff shuts down at 6PM. And they close these things very quickly and quietly. You don’t even notice it happening. So, we had to take the less fun way back to our room and go by foot.

At least I could tell Lily—who was in no way ready to leave all this newfound fun—that the pool areas were closed. And it was true! (Not just the parental white lie used to get young kids to listen.)

We headed back to the room where Mom and Alex were sitting relaxing. I let her know that the pool stuff had closed (not realizing that the Waikolohe pool was still open until 8PM). At this point, the day was pretty long for us and we had decided we shouldn’t plan to do a whole lot more.

So Lily and I changed out of our swimwear into shorts. (Oh, how great it felt to put shorts on in January!) And we decided we would go for a walk around the pool area to get the lay of the land—and then find something to eat for dinner.

Here is a video of part of that walk:

Song: Main Street Electrical Parade (Disneyland) - Vance K. & Scott Agena

So, here’s the funny part of this walk. As we kind of feeling tired and getting a little bored of walking through a mostly closed pool area, I suddenly remembered something I had completely forgot about: we are right on the ocean and we can go see it! I said, "let's go look at the ocean!" DG had also forgot about it and said, “oh yeah! The ocean!”

I know it sounds silly to forget about the fact that we right by the ocean. But honestly, you don’t really see it much on your journey to Aulani, outside of what you see from your airplane window. The car ride there is inland and when you check in, you don’t see the ocean. (Of course, we didn’t have an ocean view room, which also factored into this.)

So we made our way to the ocean, walking down the stairs and through a electronically locking wooden gate (which was unlocked) and to the beach. This was Lily’s first ever beach experience and it was really quite cute. As we approached the sand, we told her to take off her shoes. She was unsure about the sand. She put one foot in to test it and says aloud, “It’s getting in between my toes!” I let her know that it’s okay and she steps in. She immediately realizes that it doesn’t hurt and that she can play with it.







And of course, we all had to get our feet wet for our first Hawaiian Ocean experience.





We were lucky to arrive at the beach just as the sun was setting as you might have already surmised. I could have taken pictures of it or filmed it, but I wanted to simply experience it…and I knew I’d have other chances later on. I did snap some of these photos after it went down.





TIP: The sun goes down really fast. If you see it near the bottom of the horizon, don’t assume you can leave and come back even five minutes later and still see it. So, if it is close. Don’t leave. Just stay there and watch it.

We decided it was time to eat and made our way over to the ULU Café, which was the first time we experienced having a lot of people around us. The place was hopping. Walking into it felt pretty high energy and busy. Lots of people walking about, waiting in lines, etc.

I spotted the reusable mugs for sale and grabbed two of them. DG and I opted for the hot plate special, which was chicken with rice, potatoes and veggies. We got Lily a fruit cup and a PB& J sandwich. Being a bit of a Star Wars geek, I couldn’t pass on getting this Darth Vader cupcake (even if Darth Vader isn’t in The Force Awakens movie as it's labeled on the cupcake.)



Here is where my initial fear of spending too much money on restaurants made an appearance. I had read and heard so much about how crazy expensive the restaurant prices where. However, I found this to not be true—if one puts the prices in context. As I add chapters, I'll describe how Aulani is not expensive to eat at if you plan it right.

Our dinners were about $15 each. A little high, yes. But not much more than a chain restaurant. Lily’s meal was about $10. My total for dinner was about $87. But this is factoring in the two $18 refillable mugs. (I think they were $18?) These mugs ensure we would get all of our drinks for free moving forward, so it was well worth the price.

So how was the food? Well, our chicken plates were really great. I don’t know what kind of seasoning they added to the chicken, but it was very flavorful, moist and tender. (Apologies for using the "m" word. I know some people hate it!) They provided more sides than we needed. And that cupcake was pretty darn tasty too! Overall, every time we ate at ULU, we had a meal we enjoyed. As you can see, we were happy campers. I recall how great the feeling was to be sitting outside in the Hawaiian night and just enjoying a relaxed meal.





After our meal, we collectively felt that blood rush to our stomachs and we began to feel like it was time to go to bed. We made it back, found the Disney Junior channel for Lily, set up the pack-n-play and went to sleep.

I found the beds to be pretty comfortable. They provided a good amount of firm pillows. Of course, we were all pretty tired from our long journey, so I’m assuming we could have fell asleep on a bed of sharp rocks and broken glass!

Up next, our First Day at Aulani!

 

[Schmagurty]

Absolutely helpful! We do have Xfinity. I've never used cable login away from the home. This is definitely something I can do.

Yes, just download the Xfinity app and that gets you a great majority of what you can get via your cable. On iPad, they do allow some downloading of shows to watch without internet. Not all though. Important to note. I'd recommend exploring what's available to you through that app!

 

[cmph]

Loving your trip report! We're taking our 3&6 yr olds to Aulani next month & I think I'm going to bring children's Dramamine!

Our youngest had motion sickness issues, only on planes (since outgrown). Rule number one is to bring a trash bag or 2... or 3... just in case! Those little air sick bags are useless for holding much, or getting a small child to aim into. Seriously, like a white kitchen trash bag. Also - back-up clothes, for everyone. Two extra outfits per person, minimum. Plus back-up shoes. Better to be safe than sorry, if you're already worried. Learned all of this the hard way, b/c our oldest never has had motion sickness issues and we were not prepared for the drama with #2 the first time!

 

[cmph]

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!

Thanks for mentioning that about Pearl Harbor! I'm going to reserve our tickets in advance but I'd rather not fight a crowd and will think about aiming for late in the day, which is the opposite of what everyone seems to do.

Oh - and for the ear issue - anything that gets them to chew and swallow. Lollipops, gummy candies, chewy fruit snacks, that sort of stuff. If it doesn't immediately work, then they are at least distracted by the treat. We do gum now too, although honestly the 7yo still doesn't really like it and would prefer the other options.

 

[Schmagurty]

Our youngest had motion sickness issues, only on planes (since outgrown). Rule number one is to bring a trash bag or 2... or 3... just in case! Those little air sick bags are useless for holding much, or getting a small child to aim into. Seriously, like a white kitchen trash bag. Also - back-up clothes, for everyone. Two extra outfits per person, minimum. Plus back-up shoes. Better to be safe than sorry, if you're already worried. Learned all of this the hard way, b/c our oldest never has had motion sickness issues and we were not prepared for the drama with #2 the first time!

Those are good tips! Thanks for sharing. I didn't think about the trash bag option!

 

[Schmagurty]

Thanks for mentioning that about Pearl Harbor! I'm going to reserve our tickets in advance but I'd rather not fight a crowd and will think about aiming for late in the day, which is the opposite of what everyone seems to do.

Oh - and for the ear issue - anything that gets them to chew and swallow. Lollipops, gummy candies, chewy fruit snacks, that sort of stuff. If it doesn't immediately work, then they are at least distracted by the treat. We do gum now too, although honestly the 7yo still doesn't really like it and would prefer the other options.

I can see why people plan for first thing in the morning because it's something you can go do early and have the rest of the day open for planning other stuff. So, thinking of it that way, it would make sense that mornings are really busy and afternoons are less so. I'm like you. If I can avoid crowds, that's worth it. One thing that also was surprising is that I read about how the staff were really super strict about everything. Like you had to get there early. You couldn't bring stuff with you on the boat. And so on. Our experience was that they were pretty laid back. We had reserved tickets, but got their to late for that tour. When I told the ticket guy, he was like "welp, you missed that one. Here's tickets for the next one."

 

[Schmagurty]

Loving your trip report! We're taking our 3&6 yr olds to Aulani next month & I think I'm going to bring children's Dramamine!

Exciting you're going soon! We bought those travel sickness wrist bands for Lily. But she was totally fine on the flight. So we didn't use them. (Though, she never tells us when something is bothering her so we don't know for sure!) One tip I've heard from others is that one should always test out a new medication/pill prior to boarding the plane...as to avoid an emergency landing due to an unexpected allergy or negative reaction to the pills.

 

[alohamom]

AGGGHHHH LOVE the Star Wars incorrect cupcake!

 

[Schmagurty]

AGGGHHHH LOVE the Star Wars incorrect cupcake!

At least Jar Jar Binks wasn't on top of it! haha.

 

[crystal1313]

At least Jar Jar Binks wasn't on top of it! haha.

Hahahahahahahahahaha!!! I totally just laughed out loud at work!

 

[Schmagurty]

Hahahahahahahahahaha!!! I totally just laughed out loud at work!

Nooooooooo! Meeesa Meeesa no like disa cupcake.

 

[jtba]

Nooooooooo! Meeesa Meeesa no like disa cupcake.

gah!!!! *shielding my eyes*

 

[crystal1313]

LMAO!!!!!!! So funny!!

 

[Schmagurty]

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


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!


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!


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


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


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.


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.


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.


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.


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


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


Quite the picture, there.


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




So glad that your upgraded room worked out so well.

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

Thanks Dugette! Your Aulani trip report was very helpful to me as I was planning our trip. I'm trying to pay it forward with mine. That flight glitch deal you got was amazing! I can't imagine flying first class to Hawaii for almost free!