It All Started with a Massive Price Glitch - Aulani Nov. 2014 PTR ~ Updated 12/6 - TR

Love the clothes! My baby girl is 19, but I sure loved buying her clothes when she was little! She hates to shop, so I will just relive those fun little girl shopping days through your report. Lol!

Susan
 
Adorable outfits!

For the pool, I think all you'd need to bring is the waterproof camera and room key. The pool float might be nice for the lazy river, that is a good idea. Aria was okay with the disney life jackets (and is under the 30 pound minimum weight requirement) and in October was able to swim solo with it on (I didn't try it in August). Since she is in swim lessons now and I have high hopes she will be swimming solo by February I haven't looked into anything beyond her boating life jacket, so I don't know about those life jackets you mentioned.

For your flight though, my first thought was "Izzy will probably stay awake until you board, so be prepared for that" LOL. With all the craziness of getting through security and finding the gate, I bet she'll be wide awake. Nice that you have that full day there though to enjoy the resort and get in another character meal and fun dinner as well. The departure lounge sounds nice!

Those jelly shoes are SO cute.
 
Will you be doing photopass while at aulani? Could you post lots of details about it if you do? Thanks!

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I just love all the Hawaii themed clothes. Bring the sundresses, it is warm every day. You will only need a very light jacket or sweater, just in case the air conditioning is a little chilly. Have a great time, you will just love Aulani and the Island.
 

I love all the cute outfits! Jelly shoes were my FAVORITE when I was little!

It must be so nice to be packing dresses, shorts, and bathing suits while it just keeps getting colder here.
 
One Step Ahead has a bunch of swim suits and rash guards for super cheap right now if you think you need more!
 
Kohl's sent me a discount code, so of course I couldn't resist ordering a few more things for Izzy. And it was only like $6 total for all three items, shipped. :cool1:

How could I not get a shirt with a snorkeling kitty on it?



I also ordered a couple pairs of shorts. I paired up all the shirts with the shorts/skirts she currently has and I think we will be just right when the new ones arrive. :thumbsup2



Ooh I love the little dresses from nana and papa. Cute! Actually all the Hawaiian stuff is cute!!
Thanks! That was sweet of them to think of Hawaii attire as a birthday gift. :goodvibes

Lol at the specific pj requirements. Caden does that too.
Ha, these silly kids. :rotfl: Last week, it was very important to Izzy that she wear the doggy top with the kitty pants. :confused3

And I'm totally ignoring potty training signals too cause I don't want to have a newly potty trained kid at Disney world. Haha. I get ya!
Yes, it just seems so much more complicated! I understand if they've been trained for a while, it might be easier, but so new to the concept and long flights and pools and all scares me. :eek: However, if I thought it could get her into the kids' club, I'd try. But my understanding is that they are firm about being potty trained AND over 3 years old - not one or the other. Hmmm, I wonder if I can keep up my record of never having to change a diaper in an airline bathroom. :confused: Or, heck, maybe there's a full changing station in First Class. :rotfl2:

wow, packing for such a trip sounds like such an undertaking!
It's different, but not too bad. I'm used to WDW and it's similar, but some new things to consider. At least I don't have to be too constricted by luggage allowances (other than fitting them in the car).

With regards to pool things, we have for both our older kids these floaties that we love. Honestly, not sure if they are "puddle jumpers" but taking a quick look at google images shows that either they are or something super similar. They just make it so much easier for little kids to keep their heads up above water. So definitely suggest that. Not sure the official rules but even having something like that on might help with the lazy river too
I ended up ordering one from Target. Figured I might as well try it on in advance at home and see if it fits and if she likes it. If so, I'd love to have it there for her to use, especially when it's just the two of us.

The new pajamas are super cute!
Thanks! The DIS made me do it. :rotfl:

Might be a silly question but does it get cool at all at night there? I know some "hot" places still get cool/cold at night - might want to think of a sweater/sweatshirt or two
I know we'll have warmer clothes for our travel days (MN in November...we'll be wearing at least light jackets to the airport), however, I might throw in a few more things for each of us. I do get cold easy in the A/C - I was just in AZ for work and I was so glad to have my fleece...for indoors! My boss (well, boss' boss), was totally right when he warned me that many places seemed to try to make up for the outdoor heat by keeping their A/Cs set to "popsicle". :rotfl: Not sure if Hawaii is the same way.

Love the clothes! (And the PJs ;) I'm so excited for your trip! You're going to have a blast!
Thank you! :goodvibes I think we will have an incredible time!

Love the clothes! My baby girl is 19, but I sure loved buying her clothes when she was little! She hates to shop, so I will just relive those fun little girl shopping days through your report. Lol!

Susan
Thanks! Haha, glad to help! I'm not a big shopper, but it is fun to put together her little outfits for our trips.

Adorable outfits!
Thank you!

For the pool, I think all you'd need to bring is the waterproof camera and room key. The pool float might be nice for the lazy river, that is a good idea. Aria was okay with the disney life jackets (and is under the 30 pound minimum weight requirement) and in October was able to swim solo with it on (I didn't try it in August). Since she is in swim lessons now and I have high hopes she will be swimming solo by February I haven't looked into anything beyond her boating life jacket, so I don't know about those life jackets you mentioned.
That's what I'm thinking - don't bring much to the pool. Especially now with the camera - no need to consider bringing the phone too. I was noticing Aria's Disney lifejacket in your pics - she seems okay with it, so that's good. Gives me a couple options to bring the one and also have those available.

For your flight though, my first thought was "Izzy will probably stay awake until you board, so be prepared for that" LOL. With all the craziness of getting through security and finding the gate, I bet she'll be wide awake. Nice that you have that full day there though to enjoy the resort and get in another character meal and fun dinner as well. The departure lounge sounds nice!
Well, if she stays awake, that's just all the more sleep she can get on the flight. ::yes:: I hope, at least. I'm still not sure how the time change will be affecting her at that point...it will be 4 hours later than home, so I don't know if she'll have fully shifted by the end of the trip or what. We'll see, I guess.

Those jelly shoes are SO cute.
Thanks!

Will you be doing photopass while at aulani? Could you post lots of details about it if you do? Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards
I will be trying to do Photopass. My understanding is that it is the same price after as before (i.e. - no pre-purchase discount), so I'm going to get as many as I can and then see if it's worth buying. What I "know" about it now is this (gathered from DIS comments, so hopefully reasonably accurate):

*There are photographers by the beach around sunset - this is one thing I want to take advantage of!
*There are NOT photographers at the character breakfast or character meets. Really strange and disappointing!
*You can view your photos on your in-room TV. I like this idea!
*There is some sort of scavenger hunt where you get pics from different locations and get free prints.
*They take pics of you in the water. Not sure how you get them - I think you may have to go through and find the ones with you? :confused3
*You can get the CD there or order at home after adding borders, etc.

I'll be sure to include our experiences in the TR!

I just love all the Hawaii themed clothes. Bring the sundresses, it is warm every day. You will only need a very light jacket or sweater, just in case the air conditioning is a little chilly. Have a great time, you will just love Aulani and the Island.
Sounds great, thank you! :goodvibes

I love all the cute outfits! Jelly shoes were my FAVORITE when I was little!
I remember loving mine too!

It must be so nice to be packing dresses, shorts, and bathing suits while it just keeps getting colder here.
Yes indeed! We've had pretty decent weather here for this time of year, but it's going to be dropping off soon, I believe. I'm sure we'll be happy to escape to the warmth and sunshine! :sunny:
 
One Step Ahead has a bunch of swim suits and rash guards for super cheap right now if you think you need more!

Just ordered the matching set of sun hat, long-sleeve rash guard, and bottoms w/built-in swim diaper. $20, shipped. Not bad for what appears to be a good suit/hat. I'm sure we will get some use out of it on the trip! Thanks!
 
I wanted to comment on he time change thing. We went to Europe when Aria was about 19 months. After the overnight flight where we all didn't get much sleep and the 1st day there where we put Aria down for a fairly normal timed nap and bed at a reasonable time, we were all 100% on the new time. Aria included. It was way easier than I anticipated! She got up at the right time, napped well at exactly 1PM etc. The hardest thing was just the 1st day when we were all so tired, but staying up and making ourselves be on the new time zone really worked.

(Same with Italy in 2008 - we did the same thing by going out for a full day despite being tired, and were totally fine the rest of the trip).
 
Hopping on over and marking my spot! Going to read a few minutes then get back to cleaning. :laundy::stir::(
 
It's not fair that they make the cutest swim suits and swim accessories for girls.

We're waiting to train DS after our trip too, although i'm sure he's no where near close to where Izzy is. He'll sit on his own little toilet right before we but him in the bath to show him, but no drops yet.

We got DS a Puddle Jumper this past Summer, but he probably can't really use it until next Summer. There's no back to it, and he kept wanting to lean back in the water with that jacket on, so we ended up holding him anyway.

Absolutely adorable outfits!:love:
 
Just ordered the matching set of sun hat, long-sleeve rash guard, and bottoms w/built-in swim diaper. $20, shipped. Not bad for what appears to be a good suit/hat. I'm sure we will get some use out of it on the trip! Thanks!

Yay! I got my daughter a bunch of the fish print stuff a week or so ago. It is super cute!
 
I wanted to comment on he time change thing. We went to Europe when Aria was about 19 months. After the overnight flight where we all didn't get much sleep and the 1st day there where we put Aria down for a fairly normal timed nap and bed at a reasonable time, we were all 100% on the new time. Aria included. It was way easier than I anticipated! She got up at the right time, napped well at exactly 1PM etc. The hardest thing was just the 1st day when we were all so tired, but staying up and making ourselves be on the new time zone really worked.

(Same with Italy in 2008 - we did the same thing by going out for a full day despite being tired, and were totally fine the rest of the trip).
Thanks for the feedback on that! :goodvibes I'm hoping we all adjust okay, though it's tougher with Dug going back and forth to CA in the middle. Dug and I are planning to stay up "late" on our first night to adjust and check out the resort, but I'm not sure how Izzy will do - she normally goes to bed between 7-8pm and we land at 6:30pm which will feel like 10:30pm (or maybe 11:30pm, as the "fall back" time change is shortly before our trip). Hoping to get her adjusted well, though, as I have planned days around her nap and bedtimes (with some flexibility).

Hopping on over and marking my spot! Going to read a few minutes then get back to cleaning. :laundy::stir::(
:welcome: Hope you had a ball cleaning. :rotfl:

It's not fair that they make the cutest swim suits and swim accessories for girls.
You can live vicariously through us, I guess. :rotfl:

We're waiting to train DS after our trip too, although i'm sure he's no where near close to where Izzy is. He'll sit on his own little toilet right before we but him in the bath to show him, but no drops yet.
Izzy has used her potty a few times (and the big one), but mostly by accident or us grabbing her out of the bathtub just in time. :rotfl: But she also does things like sit on her potty fully clothed, pull up her shirt, then play with her feet. :confused3 She does often tell us when she's due for a new diaper and she is usually right. But we haven't done anything other than encourage her towards doing the right things. I'll probably make more of an effort after our trip.

We got DS a Puddle Jumper this past Summer, but he probably can't really use it until next Summer. There's no back to it, and he kept wanting to lean back in the water with that jacket on, so we ended up holding him anyway.
Oh, that's a good point. I guess it will be good to have one and also know that there are the Disney-provided standard lifejackets as backup. And I do plan to stay with her, but I'm just a bit paranoid about her running off and jumping into the pool before I can get there or something. So, at least it should keep her floating. And, now that I think about it, she HATES being on her back in the water, so maybe it won't be an issue. We'll have to see how she does.

Absolutely adorable outfits!:love:
Thanks! :goodvibes

Yay! I got my daughter a bunch of the fish print stuff a week or so ago. It is super cute!
Thanks for the recommendation!! I think it will be good to have this. She only has one hat and this one looks better/wider, so that will be handy. And I did find a couple more backup swimsuits in her closet, but they are both 18 month size - which would fit her in a pinch, as she's pretty small, but the 2T/24 month ones we have will fit better. So, an extra of the right size is good, I think. I believe she also has another 2T suit at daycare, so I should get that back too. Can't have too many for 10 days in Hawaii, right? :rotfl: Oh, and I found third swim diaper, so along with the built-in one in the new suit, she has 4 of those. And 4-6 suits. :thumbsup2
 
Such cute clothes! :thumbsup2

Thanks! Hopefully she will find them acceptable. This morning, Dug was going to her closet and Izzy was yelling, "Cow! Cow!" However, she doesn't have any clothes with cows on them (poor baby!), so Dug explained to her that cows had spots and she could dress in spots like a cow. She was okay with that and spent the day in various colors of polka dots on her shirt, pants, and socks! :rotfl:
 
Just a quick update, as we're only two days away from departure! :cool1:

The title of this update refers to the crummy luck we've had with timing of things. I know that we are super-lucky to be taking this trip in the first place, so I don't want to complain too much, but we have had some crummy luck around this trip too:

1.) Obviously, Dug needing to fly to California in the middle of our trip for 4.5 days is some lousy timing.

2.) Just found out that they recently started closing the pools, hot tubs, slides, and lazy river 2 hours earlier each day! :eek: If you recall our schedule, this means that we will have almost no time to enjoy these things. :sad2:

3.) I'm sick. Hoping this is one of those quick stomach bugs, but I feel awful and am going to bed after this. Was fine when I got up this morning, but stomachache, chills, and extreme fatigue were not fun while working today. :sad:

So, yeah, none of those things are ideal. But we're managing them.

I am excited for the plans that Izzy and I have while Dug is gone. And he's excited for his retreat.

Dug called Aulani to see what the deal was with the pool times changing without warning - they were sympathetic to our situation and we *may* be able to use a casabella or something, according to the CM (recreation manager) he talked to. He was sketchy on the details, but she told him to come see her when we arrived and they'd take care of us for whatever time we can use the pool.

At least I've got another day to feel better. Hoping that happens! pixiedust:

In other news, we are mostly packed! :thumbsup2 I have a list of things we still need to do, but it's reasonable. I am annoyed at Kohl's, as I ordered that snorkel kitty shirt and a couple pairs of shorts for Izzy and they were supposed to arrive by 11/4 and may not have actually even shipped yet - but nobody can tell me for sure! :badpc: I guess that fits my "bad timing" rant. I am going to have to find some back-up clothes for her unless they show up tomorrow.

My dad and step-mom offered airport rides to us. Dug's sister usually helps us out, as she lives near the airport, but she wasn't sure if her schedule would allow the flight times we have. So, this will be great. My dad will come by around 9am Friday and pick us up. My step-mom will stop by later and pick up our dog, since they are dog-sitting Bailey. (Dug's friend will be stopping in to take care of Kitty). Then my step-mom will give us a ride home when we get back on 11/17. So, that is all good! :thumbsup2

I just re-reserved a rental car again. Costco definitely jumps around as your trip approaches. Worth checking back. I'd previously gotten a full size through Alamo for $215 (not bad!), but Enterprise came up with a full size for $212 tonight, so I switched to that. Both companies have good reviews.

I signed up for the Entertainment Book online version free trial last night. It's good for 14 days with no charge. And, sure enough, I was able to print the BOGO admission coupon for the Polynesian Cultural Center, so that will save us $37 or so (we pre-purchased with a small discount and they refund your card when you present the coupon upon arrival).

Not sure what else to say for now. We are both still in disbelief that this trip is real and we are leaving so soon. :confused3

Not sure if I'll post again before we go. If not, I'll probably post from Aulani, as I'll be stuck in the room/balcony when Izzy's napping/in bed (once Dug leaves, at least). So, for now, Aloha! pixiedust:
 
Hope you feel better in time for you trip.
Have a wonderful time!
 
Oh no:( I hope you get better quickly. It's SO not fun traveling sick and your travel day is so much longer than what mine was. Praying!

I really hope they can do something for you guys regarding the pools closing early. I mean, that's one of the things people do when they go to Hawaii is lounge on the beach and by the pool all day:confused3

Ugh about the clothes. That's happened a few times for me...hoping to get them before an event. That actually may happen to me for this weekend too.

If I don't talk to you before you leave, hope you have an absolutely amazing time and will be praying that you feel better asap! :goodvibes
 
Hope you feel better soon! Travel safe! Can't believe it is here now!

Glad to hear that Dug is looking forward to the retreat and now totally bummed. Obviously it isn't ideal with the timing but going in with a positive view on it will likely help a lot

That really sucks about the pools and stuff closing early - hopefully they can figures something out for you as you obviously would have made plans by now based on old information so to change it so abruptly is kinda not cool

On the positive side, no matter what is open or closed you will still be in Hawaii! :banana:
 



















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