Duffy in Paradise (An Aulani Trip Report)

[LottiesMommy]

Duffy in Paradise

I have enjoyed reading other people's trip reports, so I thought I would return the favor for those planning an Aulani vacation.


Who We Are:

We are from Denver. We are not DVC members. We have traveled to WDW about twice a year the last couple years. One trip is with my DH and DD (7) and the other trip is with my DD and other family members.



My DH has a chronic health condition which leaves him exhausted most of the time (similar to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). He uses a scooter at WDW. We also brought his scooter to Aulani.

My DD is 7 and is a HUGE Duffy fan. She wasn't too keen on the long flight to get to Hawaii until I told her they have lots of Duffy stuff at Aulani.

Pre-Trip Planning:

We did not rent points on this trip. I was able to get a great deal for our stay through Orbitz. I paired the spring/early summer discount with an orbitz discount code. We got a standard view hotel room. Since my husband sleeps a large portion of the day, we figured we would be keeping the curtains closed most of the day anyway, so paying for a view would have been a waste.


We originally planned to stay two full weeks at Aulani. However, as we planned the trip we discovered many of the things we wanted to do would require driving back and forth across the island (Polynesian Cultural Center and horse riding being the big ones). My daughter rides horses (she rides three times a week and is quite “horse crazy”) so we planned to ride at least 2-3 times during our two week stay. Most of the riding locations allowing young riders are on the north shore. I decided I did not want to drive back and forth, so it would make sense to split our stay between Aulani and a north shore hotel.

The north shore has very few hotel choices. We liked the idea of Turtle Bay resort since it has a similar bay for swimming as Aulani. In my research, I found a condo rental (studio condo) through VRBO at Oceanfront Villas at Turtle Bay. It is right on the bay and has a small pool shared with the other Villas. It is next to Turtle Bay Resort Hotel. There is horse riding right at Turtle Bay and helicopter rides (so that would mean no driving those days!). The studio villa included a small kitchen (small frig, microwave, stove, and oven) so it would mean one week without having to eat out if we didn't want to.

We used Discount Hawaii Car Rental to book our car rental. We knew we wanted a rental car because of our split stay and the things we planned to do. As others on the board have said, just use the website to rent a car and then check it once in a while as your trip approaches to find a better rate. I got a minivan for two weeks for $189 per week. I was happy with the rate. It could have been much lower if we could have taken a smaller car, but the scooter fits best in a minivan or small SUV.

Our stay was originally going to include my MIL and her boyfriend. However, they did not like the idea of staying at Aulani (too $$$ and too many kids), so they chose the Hale Koa in Waikiki. They loved that hotel by the way. They enjoyed being close to the action in Waikiki and they said the food was very affordable at that hotel.

We flew US Airways out of Denver through Phoenix. We chose them for cost alone. Always important when flying with a scooter to mark it on your reservation. About a month from our vacation we were notified of a small change in flight times. When that happened I called US Airways to verify the change had still carried over our scooter/mobility device information. It had not, so it was good that I called.

Before leaving for our trip we made the following list of “must dos” (not listed in any particular order and not all activities were planned for all of us)

• Horse riding at turtle bay
• Horse riding at one other location
  
• At least three days at Aulani pools
  
• Snorkeling at Aulani
  
• Snorkeling at Turtle Bay
  
• Helicopter ride
  
• Iolani Palace
  
• Pearl Harbor
  
• Lunch at Dukes in Waikiki
  
• Dinner at Roys in Ko Olina
  
• Dinner at Ama Ama
  
• Cabana Rental
  
• Kids Make-over at Aulani Spa
  
• Aunties Beach House Activities
  
• Menehune Adventure
  
• Hike at Turtle Bay Resort (I wanted to see sea turtles on the beach)
  
• Shop in one of the small towns at the North Shore (I love art galleries and DD is always up for shopping!)
  
• Shave Ice
  
• Ted's Bakery for chocolate pie
  
• Dole Plantation
  
• Find some running trails around the two resorts for some “me time”
  
• Polynesian Cultural Center
• Kayak ride or stand up paddle board

I made a schedule with what we would do each day, which was important since some of our group were staying at a different hotel. It is odd to take a vacation with someone staying an hour away!

 

[LottiesMommy]

First Day (TRAVEL)

Our first day started with a bit of a hiccup. We planned to take a cab to the airport. We let the cab service know we needed a van because we had three pieces of luggage, three people, and a scooter. We needed to leave for the airport at 3:30. At 3:25 the cab service called and said they only had a Prius and that it was at least 20 minutes from us. Uh, that will not work! I would NEVER use a cab service again. We would have been better off with a limo service/car service.

So, we threw everything in one of our cars and drove to the airport. We had to park in the garage since we had not accounted for extra time for me to drop off the group and then park in an extended stay lot. Oh well. We had a good laugh at the first of what we anticipated to be many instances where this vacation was costing more than we ancitipated. Parking for two weeks in the garage was about $350 versus the anticipated $75 taxi fee (my MIL had planned to pick us up since there flight days were different).

We had splurged and upgraded our seats from coach to first class. It cost about $315 per ticket (just FYI). My husband is tall and sleeps a lot, so we thought it would be best. On US Airways all people in the party must sit in the same section so once you upgrade one person, you must upgrade the rest of the party (boo hoo, we HAD to sit in first class with him!). I told DH it was his birthday present to get the upgrade since we left for Hawaii on his birthday.


If I could plan this trip again, I would look for a plane with Wifi service. Some have it, and some do not. On US Airways at least you can see whether the plane will or will not be expected to have Wifi. It would have been nice to have. They showed a movie on the plane, but it was one I had seen before and wasn't something DD wanted to watch, so I ended up watching Lilo and Stitch and playing Uno with her for most of the six hour flight from Phoenix to Honolulu. With all the devices (we had two s mart phones, a mobile DVD player, laptop, two kindles, and one tablet) it made the time go fast.

When we travel with the scooter we keep a small print out in a zip lock bag attached to the handle. It has a picture of the assembled unit, basic information like weight, and instructions like where to find the switch to lock it or put it in neutral to push it). Some airlines prefer you leave the key (yikes), but US Airways had DH keep the key. They put a barcode on the scooter and DH kept a tag with the same bar code so it was tracked. They also met us at each location with a tablet with his name and offered to help us get to our next flight at Phoenix (we declined).

So, why travel WITH the scooter instead of renting: DH HATES the wheelchair service at the airport, especially when there is a large layover (we had 3.5 hours in Phoenix). When you use the wheelchair they bring you right to your gate and then you pretty much are stuck there. They don't really want other people (read, me) pushing the wheelchair through the airport to get to stores or bathroom or anything. So, traveling with the scooter allows a lot more independence. We have found the airlines are very accommodating. Usually they get the scooter very quickly at the gate (we just wait in our seat and try to just be one of the last off the plane).

When we got to HNL we were totally surprised at the lack of signage! Luckily there were lots of people around to help us find our way to elevators and out to the car rental pick up. We rented through Enterprise and they had shuttles there almost constantly. They offered to send us a handicap accessible shuttle so we wouldn't have to disassemble to scooter (which was good because it would have taken some time and each shuttle was quite full). The accessible shuttle came within 10 minutes! We hopped on and had no trouble at Enterprise at all.

We were so proud of ourselves and how well the trip was going... and then we hit rush hour traffic at 3:35 in the afternoon. We went ½ a mile in the first 30 minutes. Once we FINALLY got going on a freeway it went a little faster. We got to Aulani at about 5:00.



Finding Aulani was easy with the help of the directions on the smart phone. Check in was chaos though. We did online check in, but that didn't seem to make things faster or anything. We got an upgrade from standard to partial ocean view (yippee). Our room was located with a view over the adult pool area, spa courtyard, and future Four Seasons. We could see the ocean between Aulani and the Four Seasons. I was worried about construction noise, but there was really nothing going on outside over there. Here is our view (ok, I just framed the picture to crop out the Four Season's building)



By the time we checked in and got down to the pool, everything was closing (lazy river, snack shop, slides) WHAT!?!?! (ok, I did know it closed at 6, but it was still a bummer). One of the life guards mentioned pools would be open later the next night with the start of summer hours (last weekend in May FYI).

We grabbed some food from the snack location (shrimp was SO good and DD loved her hot dog... DH was sleeping in room so he didn't eat). We took a quick dip in the main pool which was staying open to 8 and then went back to the room. I found the pool water warmer than expected... however, I will say by about the third day I must have acclimated to the warmer weather over time because the water seemed “colder” to me each day we stayed!

Aulani was beautiful but it was a little overwhelming. There is music playing every where you go. There are people “rushing” everywhere. I was expecting laid back island style, but this was much more “exciting”. I started to think it was like being on a Disney Cruise and that helped me kind of adjust my thinking. It really feels like a cruise: There is always something to do and there are always people going “somewhere”.

We went to bed about 9:00 that night after finishing with our dip in the pool and watching a bit of tv.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Second Day: Travel Recovery

On our second day I made my worst mistake of the entire trip: I SAT ON THE BALCONY IN THE DARK. Seriously. That was the worst mistake and I would end up paying for it... what? How you ask? Why not you ask? One word: Mosquitoes.

I couldn't sleep at about 4AM so I crept out to the quiet patio. Just me and my cell phone. I could hear the ocean and it was so beautifully quiet. I called my mom in Minnesota to let her know we had arrived and all was well. I was outside about 30 minutes I bet. During this time I was completely in the dark. I felt a little gnat or something on my leg once in a while and swatted it away.

I went back inside thinking nothing of it and sat in bed and read the paper on my phone until the others had woken up. At about 5:00 my daughter woke up and we watched a bit of tv. We went downstairs a bit before 6 to grab a Daily Iwa and get breakfast at Ulu Cafe which opens at 6.

That is when I noticed them... tiny red dots on my legs. Huh? Where did those come from? Guess those “gnats” bothered my legs. Within a couple hours those little dots turned into larger welts. Within a few hours after that they began to itch. I am telling you... I grew up in Minnesota where the mosquito is an honorary state bird since they are so big... and I have never had such an awful reaction to what I realized must have been mosquito bites. They ITCHED and they got red and swollen. By day two they were weeping (clear liquid) and itched even more intensely. I went through two tubes of benedryl cream, one tube of Aveeno, and one tube of Cortisone 10 over the next week.

They sell Aveeno in the gift shop at Aulani. I heard another person say they had left their balcony door open and didn't close the screen and their ROOM got infested with mosquitoes and their whole family got bites. Aulani had to come and kill (spray for) the mosquitoes that were now all over the room!

Learn from my mistake: Always close your screen door and don't sit on the balcony in the dark! The mosquitoes do not seem to be active in the day or early evening.

We had breakfast at Ulu Cafe most mornings. I found service was fast and the choices were decent. I loved the oatmeal. It came with honey, brown sugar and a few berries. I think it was about $6-8. My daughter liked the kids breakfast platter (piece of pineapple, scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, and potatoes... although, we found you can substitute a small triangle of french toast instead of the potatoes). We always found seats early around 6-7 AM. After that maybe it gets busier.


We got the drink cups and that was certainly the way to go. There is a refill location at Ulu Cafe, one between Aunties and AmaAma, and one near the main pool at the snack shop. I only found coffee at Ulu Cafe for the refill cups though... maybe I missed another location?

My husband slept most of the first day since it had been an exhausting day of travel. DD and I however enjoyed venturing out to the beach and the pools. The lazy river is AMAZING. We never had to wait for a tube. They seemed to have enough and there were lots of people, but it didn't seem especially crowded.


If you are up before the pools open that first day, try the ocean! We did and it was a great start. The little man-made lagoon/bay was very nice. The waves were very small which was nice for us.


By the afternoon we needed a break from the pool. We stopped by the gift shop. If you are a Duffy fan like my DD you will be in heaven. Lots of Duffy stuff! I think we ended up with one of everything since it is hard to find Duffy stuff elsewhere.

We also tried the Menehune adventure. I would not recommend this in the hot afternoon sun. I think it would have been more fun in the early evening. It was uncomfortable walking around in the heat and some of the special effects involving glowing/lighting were hard to see in the bright sunshine.


We also planned to do the keiki service at the Spa in the afternoon. My daughter chose the mermaid package. She originally wanted the dress, but they had recently changed the dress and it no longer matched the Duffy shirt sold in the gift shop (the spa told us to try the other gift shop that sells better clothes and it had a few of the old dresses left so we grabbed one)

I thought the keiki package was one of our worst purchases. The swimsuit was itchy. It created pink/red marks on my daughters skin. Also, it is hard to get your child all dolled up and then tell her she can't get in the pool until after dinner (I had just paid over $100 to have her hair done... she was not getting in that pool). The braiding in her hair was pretty, but it really was a bit of overkill. I think if I hadn't mentioned it to her she would not have missed this experience.

Here is a picture of her posing by the pool in her mermaid suit (without weird, itchy mermaid wrap around her waste).



For my husband's birthday dinner (it was the prior day), we made reservations for Roys. DH felt up to going to dinner so we walked over to Roys.

Roys was nice. We got a table overlooking the gulf course. I had the butterfish and it was good... but my husband's ribs were MUCH better. I am not sure it was worth leaving Aulani so early in our trip. Also... we left the hotel through the front lobby doors and headed down to the street. This is NOT an accessible route! There is no ramp to cross the drive aisle into the parking garage. The curb is sloped, but it is not a ramp and DH almost tipped over trying to go over it. There must be another way, but we ended up not trying to find it.


I had intended to try Monkeypod and some of the other restaurants, but it was just too much for us to venture across the street. We ended up very pleased with what Aulani had to offer. We were only at Aulani one week though. I know I would have made the trip across the street if we were there any longer since the offerings at Aulani are not varied enough to work must more than about a week in my opinion.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day Three: Cabana Life

Our third day was a Saturday. DH needs to have a place to rest and for that reason we justified a cabana. It offered a shady place and a TV. DD and I repeated the previous day's morning/breakfast routine.

We made a stop at Aunties in the AM because they had a keiki hula lesson DD wanted to do. We got in line about 7:20. At 7:30 they started handing out paper slips to reserve each particular lesson/session. We were maybe 20th in line. When she got to us with the paper slips everything was still available so when we just asked for the Hula the CM offered us the advice that we may want to sign up for other events if we were interested so we wouldn't have to stand in line again another day. So DD also signed up for two other classes (one was in the evening and one in the morning). So, she had to be at Aunties for things at 10:30, 1:00 and 7:30. It sounded like a great idea but I ended up regretting it. I spent a lot of time that day running back and forth to Aunties to get her and the free programs were generally shorter which left me less time to actually enjoy doing something else. DD also didn't like the free programs nearly as much as as the premium programs. She seemed to be annoyed at all the really little kids in the programs. In one of the programs she and another kid her age were paired with two three year olds for the volcano. She said the three year olds don't know how to work in a team and she found it frustrating. The development difference between 3 and 7 is huge... I can understand her frustration, but I also understand the desire to have all kids be able to do these fun experiences. The evening programs seemed to have fewer really little kids and the premium experiences also seemed to have more older kids.

I had reserved the cabana about 10 months prior to our trip. We reserved two days for our seven night stay. It ended up about $340 with all taxes for each day. High price? Yes. Worth it? Depends.

Yes, getting chairs is a battle. At 8:00 the best locations are gone, by 9:00 most secondary locations are gone. We only went to the pool after 10 once, but that day we only found two chairs open in front of AmaAma. Ugh (too far from Lazy River and pools and not enough shade).

We got Cabana 3. It is the cabana by the Infinity pool (you cannot actually SEE the pool, so don't expect to sit in cabana and supervise swimming kids at the same time). It was the caban closest to the wall. We liked how private it felt. DH loved sitting in the shade. It let him feel like he wasn't left out since DD and I would go swim and then go back to cabana and sit with him for a little while while we took a break. You have the cabana until about 6, but we found they really seem to want you to leave earlier! By 5:45 the attendants were practically standing outside the cabana waiting for you to leave and cleaning any empty cabana.


We ordered off the pool side menu for lunch. The burgers were really good and the fish tacos were amazing (huge pieces of fish!). We found the attendants were not really attentive. We got our fruit platter quickly this first day, but we had to ask for it on subsequent days and one day they forgot to bring us our dessert tray (we had to go to track down a server at 5:30). You are supposed to get the fruit around 11 AM and the dessert around 3 or 4.

We liked cabana 3 since it felt private and DH could watch tv and didn't feel he was bothering anyone with the volume.

FYI – The cabana next to us was used by a family with two small children. The cabana attendant brought two pack'n plays and the kids slept in the shade while the parents relaxed nearby: Genius.

So, was it worth it? Yes, if you have someone like DH who doesn't plan to actually leave the cabana much. It also seemed to work well for the larger family who seemed to appreciate having a “home base” where people could come and go... that group got two cabanas (one closer to menehune bridge and then the one at infinity pool).

I would recommend reserving a cabana ASAP if you plan to get one. They were sold out each day we were there. I had heard others talk about a “waiting list” however, the only waiting list we found started on the morning of the day you want. You go to Rainbow Reef right when it opens and they put you on the waiting list for a cabana that day. They do not start the list the day before. They usually get cancellations by 10:00 or 11:00. If you do rent a cabana, make sure to check in before 10. If you plan to check in after 10, then call them and let them know because otherwise they will cancel your reservation after 11 and sell it to someone else (this is how we ended up with our cabana on our third cabana day).

It was expensive for us, but for us the alternative was that DH would likely have stayed in the room. Pool chairs are not nearly as comfortable and he wanted to watch tv while being surrounded by the warm weather (to each their own... I realize this is not everyone's ideal day at Aulani).

We ended up trying the Ulu Cafe Dinner this day. They offer a different main dish each night. The kids meals are the same every day though. My daughter LOVED the chicken fingers with rice. Most of the food was good... but the fish looked a little questionable and one night was meatloaf... which isn't my first choice. Food was less expensive than we had anticipated. It was on par with eating at WDW. It is resort prices.... don't expect different.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day Four: Pearl Harbor

We reserved tickets for Pearl Harbor using their website. We had reserved tickets at 9 AM. You must pick up tickets one hour prior. We had planned our trip on a Sunday so that traffic wouldn't be as much of an issue. We picked up our tickets with no problem and then rented the headphones ($7 each) to tour the exhibits before our ticket time for the Arizona memorial. I wished I would have left more time for the exhibits. We met my MIL and her boyfriend at the memorial and we all could have used another half hour to tour the exhibit before the 9AM ticket time.

We went to Pearl Harbor right after the tug boat had knocked into the dock so we couldn't actually get off the boat at the Arizona Memorial. That was a HUGE bummer, but it worked for us because my daughter couldn't get over her fear of boats, so she and I stayed on land while the other three in our group boarded the boat and went out to view the location of the Arizona. There is a lot more to visit at the memorial, but DH was too tired to do any more so we went back to Aulani while MIL and her boyfriend stayed to do the other tours.

My DD (7) found the audio tour very interesting. We read a book on Pearl Harbor on the plane ride out, so she was familiar with the event. I found that was important and helped her understand the importance.



I think it was about a 45 minute drive each way so we were “home” by 11. DH slept and DD and I headed back to the pools. Since we didn't need chairs, it was fine. We just left our shoes near the lazy river entrance. It worked just fine. I used a waterproof case for my phone and room keys. It went around my neck and was relatively comfortable. We also used our own towels. We bought Turkish towels because they are thin and dry fast. I can wrap one around my waist as a quick cover-up. It can be used at the beach and doesn't collect sand like a typical towel since it is thin.

We didn't have plans for the rest of this day. We decided to try the community room since it was a bit rainy in the afternoon. DD found Ducktails DVDs for rent so we grabbed those and she enjoyed playing some video games for a while. While we were there the story teller came in so I stayed for that while DD played video games. It was a nice break. The CM in the community room are great. While I was there they played the ukalele and sang various songs just for fun. They were quick to offer help and were just generally really nice! We found the CM at Aulani to be amazing. Sure, some are more friendly than others, but we really loved all the people especially at Aunties and the Community Room.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day Five: Return to Cabana Life

This was our third day planned for just being at the pool. We had reserved another cabana and requested Cabana 3 since we liked it. This day was not as nice at the cabana. They never came to have us order lunch, they forgot our dessert tray, and we generally felt completely ignored.

This was a day I had set aside for my daughter to do a kids premium activity while I enjoyed the cabana with DH. We reserved Fish are Friends about four months prior to our stay. They did not even mention it in the daily or weekly Iwa because it was sold out long before our stay according to staff at Aunties. Fish are Friends was about three hours and was over lunch time so they feed them lunch. I think it was about $73.

One thing to remember for Aunties: If you sign your child up for a class or event, then they must check in at Aunties ½ an hour before the class. Just keep that in mind when scheduling your day.

I did enjoy the quiet time in the afternoon and DD enjoyed Fish are Friends. She got a DVD (Oceans) and a little draw-string backpack.

We stayed most of the afternoon at the pool (although it was a little rainy) and enjoyed the end of our cabana day. DH loved it and was sad it was our last reserved cabana day.

Monday night was intended to be the Starlit Hui night. It was cancelled due to all the rain. We were told by the crew cleaning up the cabanas at the end of the day. They made no formal announcement or anything (they could have left a message on phones I assume, but that didn't happen). I was pretty bummed since we had arrived Thursday night and didn't want to run right to Starlit Hui so this was our last chance to see it. They did a character meet-n-greet in the community room in place of the Hui.

We ended up ordering room service this night. I was tired of the food from Ulu Cafe and the other quick serve place. Room service took almost 45 minutes but they had things on the menu that I didn't see other places (I bet they are also at the buffet restaurant, but we didn't do that for dinner since we don't eat big meals... more on that later). I liked the pasta in meat sauce. It sounded boring and regular and was exactly what tasted good to me at the time. We loved the luxury of room service and watching our movie we rented from the community room before the day (Duck Tails... whoo hoo). Each DVD rental is due the following morning by 10 AM, but you can call the community room before 10 to renew the rental.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day Six – Breakfast Day

Since we had plans to drive to Honolulu this day, we chose to go to breakfast on this morning so our daughter wouldn't beg to use the pool before our drive in to the city.

We did the character breakfast. We waited almost 15 minutes for a picture. They took multiple shots, which was great, but it means the line moves slowly. They were so nice at this restaurant. My husband asked to order a la cart since he wasn't very hungry. We had heard this was an option. However, our server said it works better if we ALL do a la cart then since the food would take about 20 minutes to come out of the kitchen. We declined and chose to all do the buffet. I think the server noticed DH ate one piece of bacon and one pancake and felt bad... she came over an comped his meal and said he just didn't eat much and he shouldn't be charged the breakfast buffet fee. So unexpected and nice! Totally a surprise.


We liked the picture so we bought it. I think it might have been $25-30 dollars including one larger picture and four smaller prints. Three poses total. It was worth it since it was the one nice picture we have of all three of us on this trip! I did not find the photopass photographers as often as expected. There isn't even one with the characters most of the time... oh that reminds me.

“Duffy is a rare character” If one more CM told me that I was going to scream. We love Duffy... correction, my DD LOVES Duffy (we just kind of feed into it). We heard Duffy often visits Aulani. We bought my daughter the little sun dress that matches one of Duffy's shirts so she could match Duffy at Aulani. She brought her “Duffy Ears” hat. She wore her Duffy t-shirt each day. All of that... and we never saw that bear. We called the character locator line every day: He was never listed. CM after CM told me he just sometimes wanders around. He has no schedule. No one could help. My daughter was so sad. We had a good talk and she decided it was ok since he likely just got busy eating cookies or something (she has a cute sense of humor... ). So, don't go expecting to see him.

Back to the plans: This was a day we planned to go to Iolani Palace. You can do a guided tour or an audio tour. If you want to do a guided tour, you need to call or email them ahead of time to reserve since they sell out each day. If you want to do an audio tour then you can just show up. We did not enjoy driving in downtown Honolulu. Oh my goodness! Also, pay attention to the tiny signs. We missed the entrance to Iolani Palace parking and it took us another 15 minutes (yes, 15 MINUTES) to drive around the block and return to it to make the turn. Wow. There are a lot of cars and a lot of one way streets.

Iolani Palace was very interesting. My daughter, as has been mentioned, LOVES audio tours, so she enjoyed it and thought the old indoor bathrooms and the way the turned on/off the lights was very interesting (no light switches, they had to plan out their lighting for the day ahead of time and it was handled at a central location!). There is a lot of original furniture and the basement has some lovely jewelry and other personal items as well as old pictures.

Children are not exactly welcomed with open arms at this tour. My daughter was the only one under the age of 18 that I saw while we were there. Just FYI.


We met my MIL and her BF at this tour. The tour is short (maybe 30 minutes). I doubt it very accessible. DH skipped the scooter and did the tour on foot. It is small in terms of a palace, so was doable.

We then went to Duke's on Waikiki for lunch. My MIL remembered loving Duke's and said it was a “must do”. You can sit with a view of the beach and watch the surfers if there are good waves while you are there. The food was good, but parking was a beast. We valet parked with the hotel where Duke's is located, but turning into the valet parking area was a little exciting since you had to cross over a well traveled sidewalk.


We then headed back to Aulani for (you guessed it), more pool and beach time while DH took a nap.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day Seven – Unexpected Cabana Day

We did breakfast at Ama Ama this day. The red velvet pancakes were a hit with my daughter. It is enough to share with two people. The view is so amazing there. I could usually do breakfast for the three of us for around $30-40 at Ulu Cafe (including an extra role or a fancy juice or something), but at Ama Ama it was closer to $60-70. I thought it was fun once, but I didn't need to go the second time (I got out voted because of those red velvet pancakes... ).


DH was totally bummed we couldn't get a reservation for another cabana and was not looking forward to fighting for a chair or feeling trapped in our room. So, he arrived at Rainbow Reef right when it opened and we were put on a waiting list for the day's cabana cancellations. They ended up giving us an executive lanai location in front of Ama Ama (not a cabana, but reserved seating). I didn't like it (too secluded from the pool and I figured he would be bored of the view in no time and would miss the tv). Luckily at 11:00 the called and said someone had been a no-show at a cabana so we got it. This time it was Cabana 5 and wow. This was a better cabana. You could open up three sides of the cabana so the air flow was better than being by the wall. It also had a better view than Cabana 3. DH was so happy. Then to cap it off, our server was AMAZING this day.



My daughter took pictures in the lazy river with a Photopass photographer with a go-pro camera. They did underwater pictures and she opened her eyes to take the pictures. Her eyes got really irritated and she could barely open them. Our server saw us talking with her to calm her down and she offered to get a lifeguard. Did you know lifeguards carry eye drops? I didn't, but now I do! That was awesome. Totally saved the moment. DD recovered and ran back to the pools in no time at all. DH just enjoyed the cabana. We were so pleased. Really, this day might have been my favorite.

That night DD had Surf's Up with Chip and Dale. It started around 5:30 and went until 8:30. She loved this program. She said the group was fun and the kids each decorated a little wooden surf board. Chip and Dale came in for a little while too for a visit. Surprisingly, the photopass photographer took pictures of the kids by themselves, with their surf boards, and doing the activity, but did not take pictures of them with Chip/Dale... didn't really “bother” me, but I was just surprised.

We then turned in her magicband used for Aunties. Remember to SAVE YOUR RECIEPT for your purchase of the magicband. They asked to see mine and I didn't remember being told to keep it so I said I could go to the front desk and get an account print-out (they said that would work), but then they said the CM who sold it to me made a note that it was paid on my room account so they just refunded it anyway. Weird. The whole thing seemed odd, so if I were to go again, I would just save the receipt just in case. If you do not return the band then it costs about $13 to keep.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day Eight: Leaving Paradise

We were bound and determined to enjoy the pools before checking out. DD and I hit the pools early (like usual)

DH slept and joined us a little later. We went back to the room to get him and when we went to the pool with him after checking out of the room (we left our stuff at bell services) we could not find a pool chair. We wandered and wandered and finally found a couple chairs in the shade in front of Ama Ama at the fire pit. Bummer. DH went down to the beach with DD since he had not been there yet and I enjoyed the last few minutes of relaxing at Aulani. We quickly hit the lazy river and the tube slide (love it!). Then, we used the lounge to change and hit the road.

FYI – The lounge access cards are single-use only. Really? One time entry only. Since we left around 1:00 it wasn't a big deal, but it might have been tricky if we checked out at 11 and had an evening flight. It was much smaller than I expected too. Also, you cannot lock things in the lockers for more than 30 minutes. You can pretty much use a locker during your shower, and then it is expected you will take it with you.

We then met MIL and her BF at the Dole Plantation as we began our drive to our next hotel.

The Dole Plantation: ugh. I knew it was a tourist trap, but it was also often listed as a “must do”. Yeah, well... not really. No. Are you driving to the north shore and worried about the whopping 1 hour drive? Then sure, pull over, wait in line for 20 minutes and enjoy a dole whip. Take the train ride that briefly talks about the history of pineapple growing in Hawaii. Do a bit of shopping. But, for my MIL and her BF who drove from Waikiki area just for the dole plantation, it was not a good idea (plus MIL got sick while there, so it was extra awful for them).


I thought my daughter would at least enjoy the train ride, but when I was talking to my DH about “wasting some time somewhere” a few days later, my DD didn't miss a beat and just piped in, “they could try the Dole Plantation. It is totally a waste of time.” Oh my. Sometimes kids surprise you with their blunt comments out of nowhere.

Oh well. Can't win them all.

We got to Turtle Bay after stopping at a Foodland to pick up food for our week. We knew food prices were high, but we spent about $80 more than I had expected for a few days of food.

Our villa was rented from a private owner. It was at Oceanfront Villas at Turtle Bay Resort. It was a studio unit with a small kitchen. It overlooked the bay at Turtle Bay resort. We had a reserved parking space in front of the building. AMAZING. It was so different than Aulani. It was small and there were not as many people and it just seemed, so.. idyllic.

But wait, why the heck are there people standing all over the place? They are FILMING A MOVIE! Yes, they were filming a movie in the villa beneath and to the side of our unit. There were cameras, a couple movie stars, equipment. We knew Turtle Bay resort was often used in movies, but we didn't expect to be surrounded by a movie set.

As we sat enjoying our balcony one day I mentioned how cute the little beach-side bar was. Then we realized it was totally fake. The people at the bar were extras. It wasn't a real beach-side bar. The people walking around were all fake too. They were extras planted in the background to make it look like paradise. It worked. We had a good laugh and then just enjoyed our fake view.

The pool was very small, but I knew that. I figured any pool after Aulani would pale in comparison and I was right. I know a lot of people say to do the other resort first and then go to Aulani, but we decided after Aulani we would all enjoy some relaxing days.

We had bought some frozen pizza at the store and when we got to our studio we found out our freezer was too small to hold frozen pizza (WHA?), so we had the pizza for dinner and my daughter and I went to the tiny little pool for a while. It was nice to have the pool to ourselves though. I let my daughter swim with her mermaid tale, which she loves.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day Nine: Cowgirl in Paradise

We had breakfast in our room (yeah!) and then DD and I went over to the resort to check in for our horseback ride. We took a 45 minute ride along the shore at Turtle Bay resort. The horses were nice and the wranglers were very relaxed. We were part of a huge group (12 of us total). They gave my DD a horse she could have ridden in her sleep. It was beautiful. There was a banyan tree and many locations where Lost was filmed and Hunger Games (2nd one). My daughter was in heaven. If she is by a horse, she is happy.


After our ride we went back to the villa for a quick lunch and then went out to the beach. The waves were CRAZY big even in the little bay. My daughter had a great time splashing in the waves, but I kept a close eye on her since the waves made me a bit nervous. The locals we talked to said the waves this time of year were unusual and it is usually much more like a lake inside of the bay this time of year (June).

We had “friended” Turtle Bay Resort on Facebook and learned there would be an ocean event benefit at Ola restaurant (on the beach at the resort). For $7 we got a hamburger and fries. There was a suggested donation of $5 per person which we gladly also provided. It was a great burger and there was even some local music (although the music had to start late because the sound was an issue for the movie making going on nearby).

My DH LOVED the villa. The movie even gave him some extra entertainment while hanging out. He said it was fun to watch them film. We think the crew wasn't supposed to talk to us or ask us for anything. They would sometimes look up at us and put their hands together (like when you pray) and just mouth the word “please” and then motion for us to back up. (We always did), but it was weird. I mean, we were spending $400 a night on a villa, so we wanted to be outside on our balcony, but we also didn't want to be a bother to a team of 50 people working on the film either... it was just... weird. The novelty wore off pretty fast, so we were happy when they moved to a new location in the resort after a couple days (although, when they did they covered the cute little beach-side bar in black fabric and had a security guard sit by it 24 hours a day... that made our view a little weird).

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day 10: Hanging with the locals

DD and I hit the pool early this day and then went to a little community fair being held on the grounds (related to the event at Ola the night before). It was fun. There were local artists, venders, and some musicians. We got to see some local hula dancers (kids and young adults). It was hot, but I bought a great photo of a sea turtle and my DD got to learn about various ocean issues.


My MIL and her BF came up the resort this day. They got a room in the hotel and asked them to let us also use the pool (they said it wasn't an issue... North shore is totally laid back). We enjoyed using the hotel pool. We let my DD use swim and use their tiny (well, I mean we just came from Aulani) slide over and over again while I talked with MIL about their trip. It was so great that they came up to Turtle Bay for the night since we had not seen much of them during the trip.


My DH went on a helicopter ride in the afternoon. He almost missed it since he had been sleeping and forgot to set an alarm. Luckily the company called and since the helicopter leaves from a place adjacent to the villa (no, it wasn't noisy actually) he got there 5 minutes before it left. He said it was worth every penny. He did “doors off” tour and he said it was worth the extra cost. The view was amazing. The vibration made his pain go crazy though, so he had to sleep again when he got home from it.

We enjoyed buffet dinner at the hotel that night with MIL and her BF. I even got my DH to leave the villa for the meal He stayed just for a bit and ordered crab cake which he said was good instead of the buffet. My daughter's favorite item on the buffet? Carrots with ranch dressing. What? Are you kidding me? Then I realized... at Aulani she had fruit, but not one veggie. She must have been craving it. Something to think about for the future I guess.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day 11: Cowgirls in Paradise Part 2

Since MIL came all the way to Turtle Bay, DD and I took her on a horseride in the AM. This time there were only about 8 of us in the group and that was better. FYI – The wranglers said they would have allowed me to send my 7 year old on an advanced ride even if I didn't go (I don't ride usually). That way she could have trotted and cantered a little, but we didn't have time to squeeze in another ride. On this trip we saw a sea turtle on the beach. Yeah!

I had planned to go on runs every other day and hike up the beach, but island life hit me hard. I ended up running at Aulani, but when we got to North Shore I found I would rather sit and watch waves roll in than put on my running shoes. Plus, the trails at the North Shore didn't tend to be paved... not sure I am capable of running on sand!

After our ride we went to the pool one last time at the resort while MIL/BF checked out and returned to Waikiki beach. DD and I spent the rest of that day bouncing between the pool and beach. We had a great lunch at Ola. If you make a trip to the north shore, it is worth a stop if you want to eat on the beach with your toes in the sand.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day 12: Happy Birthday to Me

I celebrated my birthday by... doing nothing for most of the day. I think DD and I were sick of the sun. We ended up watching tv and surfing the internet inside for the entire day. Sounds miserble, but we were totally happy and relaxed. That day hike? Didn't happen. The drive to see the galleries in the nearby town? Another trip maybe. But this day we just chilled and it was lovely.

In the late afternoon we all drove to Gunstock Ranch for an amazing birthday present to myself. We all took a sunset dinner ride. Don't ask the price. We got to the ranch and found it was just the three of us plus two wranglers. We took about a half hour ride up a small mountain (uh, hill to those of us who live in Colorado) through the ranch and we stopped at a beautiful view at the top where another staff member had already started a camp fire and set out our dinner. Dinner was catered by local food truck. We had steak, shrimp, rice, macaroni salad, and fruit. For dessert we roasted marshmallows. Seriously. This is vacation living. This was a simply amazing experience. Even my DH did the ride! It is not strenuous. The horses do the ride enough that you don't even really have to steer them.


I asked if it sold out usually and they said it wasn't their most popular ride. With that, one of the horses showed us why by dropping a large pile of dirt about ten feet from where we were eating. Doesn't bother DD and I since we are around horses a lot, but I could see why eating with them might be a little gross for others. This was a splurge but I felt it was the second best purchase on our trip (top place goes to the cabana at Aulani).

 

[LottiesMommy]

Day 13: Saying Goodbye

Well, we rented our villa an extra night so we wouldn't have to leave until 7:00 in the evening. It was worth it. We loved the pool and beach this last day. DH even ventured out to the beach since he hadn't put his toes in to the water here yet. We also drug him to the pool, but I think he was less impressed.

We slowly packed up and explained again and again to our DD about why we had to leave.

We decided to splurge again and upgraded to 1st class again. I felt this one was a waste, but again I was out voted

Returning the car to Enterprise was a nightmare. The city was doing emergency repair on the street outside Enterprise and closed the street. We got there right when they closed it so the detour sign wasn't even up yet. It was after we circled around. Then they couldn't get the handicap accessible shuttle due to construction delaying their driver, so they ended up using the minivan to drive us to the airport. Worked great.

We then had to walk half a mile to our gate. Ok, I might be exaggerating, but it was a long walk for such a small airport. They also must not deal with scooters as often because it seemed to be much more unorganized with getting it checked in. No biggie, but made me appreciate how easy it had been up to this point.

Our flights home were totally uneventful as one would hope.


We are sad to be home, but it is amazing to reflect on the experience we just had.

So... what would I say were our top 5 experiences:

1. Enjoying the pools at Aulani
   
   
2. Sunset Dinner Ride at Gunstock Ranch
   
   
3. Helicopter ride (yeah, only DH did it, but he liked it that much)
   
   
4. Breakfast at AmaAma
   
   
5. Surf's Up with Chip and Dale

Our top 5 lessons learned:

1. Do not sit on balcony in the early pre-dawn hours. There are mosquitoes and they are vicious.
2. Bring a water proof case for your phone. I found it very handy and I didn't have to worry about my phone getting wet.
3. Reserve what you can before you get to Aulani. That includes meals, spa appointments, cabanas, and premium kid experiences.
4. Plan on becoming so relaxed that you no longer care to do everything on your "must do" list. Relax. You will still have a great time.
5. It will cost more than you planned. Something always comes up or something will be more than you expect. Just roll with it and don't let it get you down.

Hope you found this helpful or interesting or whatever... ask if you have questions.

 

[LottiesMommy]

What did we get done from the "must do list" in case you have questions about any of our experiences.

• Horse riding at turtle bay
• Horse riding at one other location
• At least three days at Aulani pools
• Snorkeling at Aulani (husband did this, but it made DD sea sick)
• Helicopter ride
• Iolani Palace
• Pearl Harbor
• Lunch at Dukes in Waikiki
• Dinner at Roys in Ko Olina
• Cabana Rental
• Kids Make-over at Aulani Spa
• Aunties Beach House Activities
• Menehune Adventure
• Shave Ice (just at Aulani)
• Ted's Bakery for chocolate pie (didn't stop, but bought one at Foodland)
• Dole Plantation
• Find some running trails around the two resorts for some “me time” (only did Aulani)

 

[southerngirl528]

Wow, really fun TR, LottiesMommy! Loved the details, and LOVED the horse inclusions! Horses have been a love of mine since I was a small girl. So happy you 3 had a wonderful time at Aulani and North Shore!

 

[alohamom]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post such an extensive report! Loved reading it...

 

[Amw1064]

Great report. We leave tomorrow to go back home after 10 days. Our best vacation ever!

 

[DVCjj]

Wonderful report. Fun and informative. Darling daughter.
On top of that, I am a huge Duffy fan even though I'm old. He makes me smile and when he goes on a trip with someone, he makes me smile even more.

 

[heybets30]

Lottiesmommy - nice trip report!! My DD (8) is also a Duffy fanatic. Are you able to share what kind of Duffy merchandise Aulani sells? My DD used to visit Duffy at his Disneyland home, but he's not there anymore & the whole duffy store at DCA changed over to general merchandise. I'm curious what kinds of Duffy stuff they have - preparing for a lot of "no, you can't have that" given DD has do many Duffies already!! (I will spoil her anyway!)