Just the 19 of Us – Oahu North Shore & Aulani – Jan. 2016 ~ Updated 6/4: Complete & DL TR Link!

[Dugette]

Following Along! Look's like a good trip so far!

Thanks - it's hard to not have a good trip to Hawaii, I think.

Can't wait to try the coconut/chocolate pie when I go in May!

Very good - I wish I had some right now (I've been having cravings for coconut lately - maybe from thinking about this trip!) I hope you have a great time on your trip!

Hi! I caught your report pretty close to the beginning this time.

Yay - you haven't missed much, since I've had a couple of big gaps in updates here. Hoping to get this thing moving more quickly, though.

How amazing that you got to go to Aulani again!

I didn't think I'd have gone to Hawaii even once at this point in my life, so having gone twice is pretty amazing!

It started off a little rough but feels much more relaxed once you actually arrived.

Yeah, it was a stressful travel morning, but once you get there, the island peacefulness takes over.

I can't believe how big Izzy is getting already! Looking forward to reading more

They grow so fast! Can't wait to share more!

Man! Reading your trip report so far is like a trip down memory lane from our honeymoon. We stayed at Turtle Bay Resort, so, so far we did the same things you guys have done!

Oh, wow, what a coincidence! See if it keeps up.

Man! I need to get lucky and get that kind of deal!!!!

I still can't quite believe that happened. So surreal.

Ha! We went there and decided against swimming there, as well. I want to say we may not of known there would be a swimming hole and didn't have suits as well. But still the sign was good enough for us to not go in. But did you watch Lost back in the day? The filmed a lot in that area and I know the scene where Kate finds the briefcase is from that waterfall area.

We did watch Lost, but I can't remember much detail. When we visited Kualoa Ranch (first trip), I remember that Lost was filmed there too.

Plate Lunch! I was obsessed with Plate Lunches when we were there!!! I don't know why...

It's definitely a "thing" there. Good stuff!

Can't wait to hear more about the trip. It makes me want to go back to Hawaii!!!!

You and me both! (I can't tell you how much I wish I were on a peaceful island right now.)

Glad I found your report. I am looking forward to hearing about Aulani. We are thinking of going for the first next in Summer 2018. We have been to Oahu before though. We love POG too It's really good mixed with vodka That radar plaque was cool. DH and I are electrical engineers. I used to be a member of IEEE. DH still is; DS and I steal his magazine We haven't been up to the Turtle Bay area, but it's really beautiful. Love the condo.

Oooh, I hope you go to Aulani and enjoy! It is really a magnificent resort. Disney did a fantastic job. Heck, they even converted the non-Disney family members and now they want to go back. Mmmmm, POG....and I bet the vodka would be good too. Turtle Bay is a pretty nice area to explore - has a very different vibe than Aulani.

We did the PCC too and really liked it. We did the VIP thing, because I wanted good seats for the Ha show. It wasn't too expensive at the time, and you have a guide, that you shared with less than 10 people, that took you around to the various demonstrations and the boats and got you seats up front or let you cut in line. It was kind of like a cheaper not as cool version of a Disney VIP tour Luau was really good too. I just wish I could have gotten a tasty adult beverage I think we will try and go again, but I might skip the VIP thing and the Ha show. I won't skip the Luau though.

Oh, I didn't even remember they had a VIP thing. Sounds cool, though. It's a nice place to wander around and explore for a day.

We skipped swimming in multiple places in Hawaii due to various scary sounding diseases. I figure I don't need to tempt fate that much and get sick on vacation. When we visited my in-laws in Chile, DH decided to eat some pate the night before we flew home. I was really worried he would vomit on the plane. I don't do well with vomit. Luckily, he held it together, and mostly got rid of everything at his parents before we flew out

Ha, there are a lot of things I'd like to bring home from Hawaii, but those bacteria are definitely not on the list.

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Hey, all! I think some people probably came over here because I wrapped up my May 2015 land & sea report and said I'd start updating over here now. And then I vanished for like a week. Sorry. For those who caught the off-topic update in my other TR and know about my mom's brain injury: she's been back in the hospital again since last weekend. If she agrees to it (and I'm not sure she will, even though it's best for her), she's scheduled for surgery tomorrow to drain the subdural hematoma. So, anyway, I haven't had much DIS time lately. BUT, I do have an update for you, coming right up!

 

[Dugette]

Byodo-In Temple

My only plan this day was to do the Makapu’u Lighthouse Hike. On our previous trip, I’d wanted to do this, but ran out of time, so it was my must-do on this trip. Turns out that everyone in Dug’s family decided to join us on our excursion, so yay for having a minivan. On the way to our destination, we decided to stop at something Dug had wanted to do on our last trip that we didn’t get to: Byodo-In Temple. This was a good call, as everyone ended up being really happy we stopped there.

We treated everyone, as the admission fee was small and the rest of the family wasn’t really convinced they wanted to stop here (like I said, everyone ended up loving it, though – it’s so peaceful and pretty and photogenic! ). Take a look:





Dug checked out the signage once we walked in:





And Izzy and I went right for that bell :





Then Dug got a turn too:



And some video:

We all enjoyed wandering around the beautiful and tranquil grounds:



Dug did some meditating, I think:















Looking up at that ceiling:



More pictures:



















Papa bought a handful of fish food for Izzy and she loved feeding them:



I have some video of that too:

There were also some of these guys roaming around:



And more lovely views:













Up next: I finally get to do my long-awaited hike. Will we see any whales?

 

[schmass]

I hope your mom is okay!

Wow, that place looks really beautiful! (I feel like I say that about every update in your Hawaii TRs!)

 

[soniam]

That temple looks beautiful. We will have to try to stop there.

 

[Dugette]

I hope your mom is okay!

Thanks, I hope so too. Today was REALLY hard. She refused the surgery and is not herself at all (confused/delusional) - unsure if it's from the hematoma or being off her meds to prep for surgery or something else. They plan to discharge her back to transitional care tomorrow. i don't know how that's going to go, but hoping she's at least a bit improved tomorrow. Neurosurgeon wants to follow up in a month and talk more about surgery then.

Wow, that place looks really beautiful! (I feel like I say that about every update in your Hawaii TRs!)

It really is gorgeous. Just wait, more views coming!

That temple looks beautiful. We will have to try to stop there.

Definitely a nice and peaceful stop.

 

[Dugette]

Okay, Settle Down, Settle Down!

We headed over to the Makapu’u Point area, as the plan was to do the Lighthouse Hike. I had wanted to do this the previous visit, as it’s entirely paved (so, good for strollers) and has nice views and the chance of seeing migrating whales. We ran out of time on our previous trip, though, so I considered it a must-do now. And, even though I’d originally planned it with just me and Izzy, we had a few other hikers with us. Nana, Kay, and Jay joined us while Dug and Papa went to Kona Brewing (on Papa’s must-do list).

We hopped out of the minivan and started up the trail:



Despite having the stroller, Izzy was determined to “hike” on her own and was so very proud of her efforts:



I was kind-of okay with that, as the trail gets steep with drop-offs and I was having horrifying images flash through my mind of runaway strollers. (No, never saw anything like that happen, thank goodness.)

The trail goes right along the ocean:



I tried to take a pic of Nana up there and instead got a pic of this guy kicking his kid :



Just goofing around together, don’t worry.

Izzy enjoyed checking out the signage:



And, then – we started spotting some whales down below! Every so often, a tail would pop up somewhere. So awesome! I wish I could say I have good pictures, but this is the best one I have:



It was really cool, though. Izzy saw them too and was a bit surprised at how active they were. She started repeating, “Okay, settle down, settle down” to the whales. I guess she thought they should have been taking their naps.

We made it to the top and there was an overlook where you could see Manana, otherwise known as “Rabbit Island”:



You can probably see it, but it resembles a rabbit with its ears down. But that’s not actually how it got the nickname - it used to be a rabbit farm at one point.

Looking around some more:







Apparently the best “we-sie” (w/rabbit) that I could manage:



Really lovely to just stand up there and take in the views. And I can’t get enough of that beautiful, blue water:



I guess someone was ready for a shaded stroller break:



I did manage to keep her in the stroller for the most part on the way down, which allowed me to move along much faster.

On the way down, I stopped to take a picture of the lighthouse:



Kay and Jay had actually hiked over to it, but I don’t think it was stroller accessible.

Down we go:



We like maps:





When we got back to the bottom, we had to wait for Dug and Papa to come pick us up, as they had the minivan. It was blazing hot by this time, so Izzy kept cool in the empty golf cart that was sitting there:



I’m really glad we did the hike. Everyone enjoyed it.

I only have a few pictures of Dug and Papa’s time at Kona Brewing, but here’s one from their way there, I guess – you can see Diamond Head back there (I hiked it on our previous trip):



And here’s their lunch:









They had a nice time, I think.

Once we were all back together in the minivan, there were various requests for restrooms and drinking water. I was driving and keeping an eye out for a gas station or something, but the first thing I saw with restrooms and water was a McDonald’s. This normally would not be the place I’d go for anything, but it fit the needs AND I remembered reading in @Captain_Oblivious ’s TR that they have deep-fried apple pies, so I could even buy something rather than just use their restrooms and get waters. In we went. I thought I’d previously read they had coconut pie too, but I only saw apple on the menu, so got that and enjoyed. It had been a LONG time since I’d had one of those.

Back on the road again after that. We had to get back to the condo, since everyone (like the whole group of 19...almost) was planning to go on a private catamaran ride. This was a point of contention in the planning. On our previous trip, Izzy and I had done a catamaran sail with a company near Aulani (West side of Oahu – Hawaii Nautical) and were VERY pleased with them. My other must-do this time was to go on that company’s whale-watching sail, as it was whale season. They are known for being very good, as far as whale-watching goes. I’d told this to Jay’s extended family prior to the trip. They apparently disregarded it and went ahead and booked a private catamaran with a different company up on the North Shore (during a season with choppy waters up there). That’s fine, I don’t care what anyone else does. BUT, they did the rental with the intent of everyone paying equal shares. Which meant that we would have had to pay for 3/19ths of a catamaran rental we didn’t budget for, as I was not going to cancel my pre-paid one with Hawaii Nautical (for which Izzy was free, by the way, as they don’t charge until you turn 4). So, this whole situation was uncomfortable. Jay’s family said that it was okay if we didn’t participate, but that didn’t stop the pressure from Dug’s parents for us to go anyway. They went so far as offering to pay our 3/19ths, which was also uncomfortable, especially since they had also decided to do the Hawaii Nautical catamaran with us and hadn’t planned to do another one either. But nobody wants to be the family that drives everyone else’s share of the cost up, so they were going to both.

But, on that ride back to Turtle Bay, Izzy provided our out. She was a MESS. She was crying and totally exhausted and miserable. When we got back to the condo, she demanded her jammies and then crawled right into her tent for a nap. Apparently hiking wears her out. She had also seemed on the verge of illness that morning, with some coughing and breathing trouble, so she may have been fighting that off too.

Since everyone in the vehicle had seen how miserable she was, they understood when we said we couldn’t go and had to deal with her and let her rest. Whew!

As a follow-up, they all thought the catamaran ride they did was…okay. They didn’t get great whale sightings and the water was really rough. Nana and Papa had a lot more fun and saw whales much better with us (spoiler, haha). So, yay?

While Izzy was napping, I must have had a glass of fancy POG juice :



And then took some time to give myself a crash course on the trip we had coming up a month later:





(On a side note – Izzy mentioned today that she really wants to go back to Disneyland – me too, kiddo! )

She slept for 3-4 hours, then got up and dressed and had some dinner. She was in much better spirits. She watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and played some iPad games and we just enjoyed a quiet evening in. Later on, Kay and Jay stopped by to borrow some contact solution. And that was about all of our excitement for the night. We got some good sleep in preparation for our journey to Aulani the next day!

Speaking of good sleep, I found a couple screenshots I’d taken the previous day. My Fitbit does sleep tracking and I find it hilarious how you can see the difference between my normal lack of sleep and my Hawaiian vacation sleep:



Also, I had this screenshot of the amazing weather forecast:



Ahhhhhhh……

Up next: Our super tasty journey across the island to our Aulani paradise.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

That hike you went on looked beautiful! How cool you were able to see a whale! It's so nice you were able to have some nice relaxing time while in Hawaii! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Dugette]

That hike you went on looked beautiful! How cool you were able to see a whale! It's so nice you were able to have some nice relaxing time while in Hawaii! Looking forward to reading more!

It was a nice hike (though hot) and we loved seeing the whales! I'm so glad we did too, so that the others who joined us felt it was worthwhile. And, just wait, there will be more whale sightings in a future update!

 

[Dugette]

The Delicious Journey

My notes say that we (Dug and I) were up at 8:41am (maybe earlier?), but Izzy was still asleep, coughing a bit. We actually could hear a rooster, but that didn’t wake Izzy up. We let her keep sleeping and hung out in the living room…very nice having the spacious condo! Speaking of the condo, it looks like Dug took some final pictures of the place and the decorations:











(Random note – I see a to-go coffee cup on the counter – I am not a coffee drinker, but Dug is. I had read a tip somewhere about buying these to-go cups at the store and then being able to head out with coffee from your condo/hotel room. Worked out great!)







It’s lower level on the right back there. I don’t know that we got a picture of the view from the sliding doors in the back, but it backed up to a golf course. We didn’t spend much time out there, though.

I apparently started the day browsing my phone again. Here’s the updated weather forecast:



Looks good except for that rain on Friday. Which is, of course, the day we have a cabana reserved at Aulani, as you can see here (I was reviewing the schedule):



Note that the movie on the beach was just so I knew it was going on, we weren’t necessarily set on going (and didn’t). I think the rest is all accurate, though.

When Izzy eventually got up, she had the most nutritious breakfast ever , containing all the food groups: dinosaurs, goldfish, and snowballs (and milk).



This is how you know it’s our last day in the condo – just eating whatever’s left, haha. She enjoyed it.

Oh, one odd coincidence this morning. As background, I’d utilized a prepaid legal plan through work for us to make our wills and such. Well, we’d had communication issues with the attorney that was working with us and, long story short, the legal plan had another attorney contact us to just start over again. She called me that morning to set up an appointment. I told her we were on vacation. She asked where. When I said the North Shore of Oahu, she got so excited …back in the 90’s, she had lived near Turtle Bay and surfed, etc. She said she’s been dreaming of going back for 23 years. So funny that we happened to be in the area she’s been longing to return to. It was a fun chat.

Anyway, we had everything packed into the car and ready to go around 11am:



We got on the road with big plans to hit several places on our journey over to the Aulani area. Our first stop was returning to Ted’s Bakery. We decided to sample another kind of pie:





I think we enjoyed this quite a bit too, but not as much as the chocolate haupia (coconut) one.

We also had to get another one of these “for Izzy” (me!):



I had developed quite an addiction to those. I miss them.

Our next stop was not actually food related. Another of my must-do’s was to return to Laniakea Beach, which is where we saw the turtle on our previous trip. Beautiful:



Unfortunately, the person working there said that it had been 5 days since a turtle sighting, so that was sad! They used to be there every day! They did give Izzy a coloring book, though:



We hung out there for a bit, just in case the 5 day streak would be broken. Izzy used her coloring book as a megaphone to call for the turtles:



She actually made up a bunch of turtle names and started calling for them over and over. I got video of that too:

No turtles emerged, though :



But this little guy came along and is apparently pretty close pals with the naturalist person:



We gave up on turtles (bummer!) and got back on the road again. Looks like Dug got a couple scenery pics from the passenger seat:





Our next stop was in the town of Haleiwa, which is a popular place on the North Shore. Dug kept getting the name totally wrong and I think I was giving him a hard time. (It’s pronounced like: HAH lei ee vah, but he was saying something entirely different). Anyway, we were going to Matsumoto’s Shave Ice. If you followed our previous Hawaii TR, you might remember this place is quite well known and had a LONG line and we decided we weren’t in the mood and skipped it. Time to make up for that! It was still quite popular, as finding a parking spot in the lot was a major task (like taking laps forever ), but we made it happen. Dug was just going to run in while I stayed in the car with Izzy. But then she announced she had to go potty, so he ended up taking her with him. I stayed in the minivan because all of our luggage was in it and Hawaii is known for car break-ins, so I didn’t feel comfortable leaving it. Me waiting:



Dug had a better view:









It took them a while, but they eventually made it back with our treats:



I no longer remember what our flavor was (though I think Lilikoi was involved), but clearly colorful and fruity, and he added some Mochi Balls too. Yum! It was really tasty. You can see in the background that he got Izzy a little dish of vanilla ice cream, since we didn’t know what she’d think of ours. She enjoyed her personal dish of ice cream while we shared our concoction. Here’s what it looked like partially eaten (I think we had the kind with ice cream on the bottom?):



We were just sitting in the car, eating in the parking lot. And making Izzy be very careful not to get melting ice cream all over her car seat or the rental. When we were done, I think I ran off to toss the trash and use the restroom. Then we had the task of backing that big ol’ minivan out of our very tight spot in a packed parking lot. Soon, we were back on the road again.

Our last stop along the way was at Leonard’s Malasadamobile, since we just hadn’t had enough sweets yet (I swear, this is NOT how we normally eat…but it’s vacation…and this was our lunch, after all ):



I don’t remember what these flavors were, but I know we enjoyed snacking on them over the next few days:



We touched base with Dug’s parents and Kay and Jay. They were taking their own rental car over and made stops looking for turtles (I don't think they had any luck either), checking out a banyan tree, and getting Dole Whips at the Dole Plantation (which we skipped this time, since we did previously and I didn’t want to leave our luggage unattended in the minivan).

Up next: Finally, we arrive at the paradise that is Aulani!

 

[soniam]

We never made it to Matsumoto's or Leonard's last time. We will have to try harder next time Can't wait to see Aulani.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Too bad about not seeing turtles! Those shaved ices looked so good I hope that made up for it!

yay for going to Aulani! I loved reading about it in your previous TR, so I'm excited to read more lol!

 

[alohamom]

"Malasadamobile"

Hahaha-thats great Dugette, I have never heard any one else call it that!

Izzy is too cute calling for the turtles, so smart...


I hope things with your mom smooth out, I know how hard this kind of thing can be.

 

[schmass]

This was the wrong update to read as I'm already hungry - good thing it's almost lunchtime for me! The shaved ice and malasadas look incredibly yummy.

That hike you did looks great. I definitely want to do that next year when we go. Followed by lunch at the Kona brewing company if Michael has anything to say about it!

Sorry about the awkward catamaran situation but glad Izzy gave you an out!

Can't wait to read about Aulani (again!)!

 

[Imagineer5]

Somehow I missed all your updates, sorry! First of all, I hope your mom is doing better.

Glad you were able to get that hike in, and Dug was able to knock something else off of his to do list as well. That sounds like a weird situation with the catamaran, who would book it without everyone's consent? And a choppy ride without great views - doesn't sound like you missed much!

What a nice morning heading over to Aulani, it's always nice to mix in family time with whole group time, so it's good that you got that little bit of just you guys!

 

[amazingact21]

I don't think I've commented on this report much, but I have been reading along and enjoying all your Hawaiian adventures. It makes me want to visit the place even more, and I'm sure I'll be returning to take notes on all your eatery spots when that day does arrive.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Byodo-In Temple. This was a good call, as everyone ended up being really happy we stopped there.

I didn't even knew this existing. It is so beautiful with the mountains in the background.

So, beautiful.

Also, I had this screenshot of the amazing weather forecast:

I remember when we were there, I joked, that I wanted to move to Hawaii and be a weather person. Today is sunny, tomorrow is sunny. sunny, sunny, sunny!

It took them a while, but they eventually made it back with our treats:

Yummy!!!! It's funny how it just isn't the same here on the "main land".

 

[Dugette]

We never made it to Matsumoto's or Leonard's last time. We will have to try harder next time Can't wait to see Aulani.

Haha, just like us with Matsumoto's our first time - we went to Hawaii and never tried shave ice! Yes, try harder. Aulani arrival coming up!

Too bad about not seeing turtles! Those shaved ices looked so good I hope that made up for it!

yay for going to Aulani! I loved reading about it in your previous TR, so I'm excited to read more lol!

We were really sad about not seeing turtles. Seeing the one turtle on our previous trip was such a highlight - Izzy actually still remembered it and really wanted to see another one. But shave ice is good too, haha. Aulani arrival coming right up!

"Malasadamobile"

Hahaha-thats great Dugette, I have never heard any one else call it that!

Izzy is too cute calling for the turtles, so smart...


I hope things with your mom smooth out, I know how hard this kind of thing can be.

That is actually what they call it on their website: https://www.leonardshawaii.com/malasadamobile/ I'm not as clever as you think.

She really expected those turtles to come when she called too.

Thanks, it's been a rocky road with my mom. She had a fall during therapy today and they had to send her back to the hospital (ER) to make sure it didn't cause any additional bleeding. Luckily, the CT was fine and she's feeling okay, so she's back in the transitional care unit again.

This was the wrong update to read as I'm already hungry - good thing it's almost lunchtime for me! The shaved ice and malasadas look incredibly yummy.

That hike you did looks great. I definitely want to do that next year when we go. Followed by lunch at the Kona brewing company if Michael has anything to say about it!

Sorry about the awkward catamaran situation but glad Izzy gave you an out!

Can't wait to read about Aulani (again!)!

Haha, glad you could have lunch soon! I have that hunger problem often when reading updates on the DIS.

Sounds like a good plan on the hike and then Kona. Since our time was limited, we had to split up, but I would have liked to do both. And the hike is a good one when you have little kids, since it's very stroller-friendly and still has great views.

I know, it wasn't ideal to have a grumpy child, but it was a great way to get out of something we didn't really want to do.

Aulani coming right up!

Somehow I missed all your updates, sorry! First of all, I hope your mom is doing better.

Glad you were able to get that hike in, and Dug was able to knock something else off of his to do list as well. That sounds like a weird situation with the catamaran, who would book it without everyone's consent? And a choppy ride without great views - doesn't sound like you missed much!

What a nice morning heading over to Aulani, it's always nice to mix in family time with whole group time, so it's good that you got that little bit of just you guys!

No worries on the updates. You may have seen in my reply above that she was doing okay, but got sent into the ER today for yet another fall. CT scan didn't show anything new, though, so they sent her back to transitional care and she sounds okay. I think she's doing significantly better than last week as far as attitude and not being confused, but I know that can change quickly. So, we'll see. She's keeping me on my toes, I guess.

The hike and Kona were both things high on our lists (and Papa really wanted to go to Kona too), so that worked out well.

As much as I love boat rides, I'm totally fine on missing out on that one to do the one we did (one of my best memories of the trip!) It was really strange and awkward that they booked it and split up the price like that. I think it would have cost us more to go on that than the one we did too.

It was definitely nice to have some time w/o the in-laws to just enjoy what we wanted to do (without any MIL criticism of such choices ).

I don't think I've commented on this report much, but I have been reading along and enjoying all your Hawaiian adventures. It makes me want to visit the place even more, and I'm sure I'll be returning to take notes on all your eatery spots when that day does arrive.

I hope you all get to visit sometime - it's an amazing destination!

I didn't even knew this existing. It is so beautiful with the mountains in the background.


So, beautiful.


I remember when we were there, I joked, that I wanted to move to Hawaii and be a weather person. Today is sunny, tomorrow is sunny. sunny, sunny, sunny!


Yummy!!!! It's funny how it just isn't the same here on the "main land".

It really is a beautiful and serene setting for the Temple.

That would be a great job!

Yeah, I don't care at all about snowcones or the equivalent, but this shaved ice was a really nice treat!

 

[Dugette]

Aulani Arrival

We pulled up to Aulani around 2:30pm, coincidentally right behind Dug’s family. Perfect timing! The Cast Members presented us each with a lei (women got fresh flowers, men got Kukui nut, and Izzy got another Menehune necklace). We all had done online check-in and they informed us that our rooms were ready. Our group got 3 Studio units, so that we could all have some space of our own (Nana & Papa in one, Kay & Jay in one, and us 3 in one). We all rented points through my DVC member contact (same person I rented from for the previous Aulani trip and for our May 2015 WDW trip too) – I think we pretty much cleaned her out of points. We got room 565, which happened to be the room directly two floors below our last room, which was 765 (and very nice). Kay and Jay got room 555, which was actually down a totally different hallway than ours – kind-of on the other side of the V shape, where we could see each other. Nana & Papa got 566, but somehow we all thought they got 556, so Kay and Jay ended up knocking on the wrong door after we all got in (nobody answered). Jay’s extended family rented a 2-bedroom unit through David’s DVC Rentals and they were across from us in 560 (I think they had 8 people in there and the other 4 stayed on the North Shore). They LOVED that unit and said they got a fantastic deal on it.

We all got settled into our rooms. We had a nice Disney-fied towel on the bed:



That flower was a hair clip, by the way. Kay and I were both wearing them in our hair when we ran into each other later.

I like the Mickey w/ukulele lamp:



Looking straight down from our balcony to the water feature:



And looking out from the balcony:



Not as good of an island view as we had two stories up, but considering both rooms are standard views, I’d say perfectly acceptable. Looking over and down a bit, you can see the lawn where they have some events and the building to the right is the convention center (and Kay and Jay were straight across on the left side there):



Our room:



Once we got our stuff inside, I went and got the minivan parked in the ramp. Once again, free parking because we stayed in a DVC unit (otherwise, it’s like $35/day! )

After that, I brought Izzy down to get set up for Aunty’s Beach House (the kids club):





Even though it was rather last-minute, they still had dinner openings for that night, so I got Izzy registered to eat dinner in the club – perfect, since we all had our fancy Ama Ama meal that night and I wasn’t sure she’d be up for that. She ended up having mac and cheese and got plenty of play time, so that was good. In fact, after registration and getting her special magic band, she chose to stay down there and play until dinner. I looked around a bit and they had a movie room, video game room, crafts, various activities, and a snack “garage”. One note, kids must be completely potty trained and at least 3 years old for Aunty’s. Izzy was just a few months past 3 and had been potty trained for a while, but she was used to having some assistance with pulling pants up, etc. And they don’t allow that – understandably, Cast Members cannot touch the kids in the bathroom, even to help them. And she was refusing to go while I was there. But I guess it went okay and she must have figured it out well enough. One other thing – as part of registration, you have to set up a code word to use upon check out (same as with a Disney Cruise kids club). Because of what I mentioned before regarding this city and Dug saying it wrong, I chose “Haleiwa” just to give Dug a hard time.

After dropping Izzy off, I wandered around the pool area briefly, trying to refresh my memory on where everything was. While I was out there, I ran into Kay and Jay, who had just enjoyed some strong mai tais from the pool bar and were particularly chatty and fun. We had a nice time talking and I remember they told me that they love Izzy’s personality, which was sweet. We also took a Photopass when a photographer came by. And then I went back to the room.

Looks like we took a bunch more room photos then:

















Ahhh, so happy to be "home" again.

Up next: Family dinner at Ama Ama.

 

[amazingact21]

I can never see enough Aulani room pictures.
For a standard room, that view wasn't terrible. Better than a parking lot, I suppose.

Glad Izzy liked the kid's club. I laughed when I saw your code word. Poor Dug.
Man, that potty training rule is a Catch-22. On one hand, I'd like to know nobody can be around my kid while they are doing their business. On the other hand, at 3, Landon would have ended up with his pants and underwear rolled up into messy, tangled ball around his waist.

 

[Dugette]

I can never see enough Aulani room pictures.
For a standard room, that view wasn't terrible. Better than a parking lot, I suppose.

No, not too bad at all. But we were spoiled being two floors up previously - that was really nice for "standard".

Glad Izzy liked the kid's club. I laughed when I saw your code word. Poor Dug.
Man, that potty training rule is a Catch-22. On one hand, I'd like to know nobody can be around my kid while they are doing their business. On the other hand, at 3, Landon would have ended up with his pants and underwear rolled up into messy, tangled ball around his waist.

Exactly! She was not super skilled at pulling anything up at that point and I had no idea how she'd do on her own. She always had pants on reasonably when I picked her up, though, so I guess she figured it out well enough. But I hadn't thought to prepare her for that - she was kind-of a little potty princess at that time, expecting toilet paper to be handed to her, pants to be pulled up for her, water to be turned on for her, etc. If we went back now, she'd be fine, but that was pretty early on.