Lol, yep, actual Magic Shots from the ABC store.
Welcome! We are glad you are here for something new and a little different. We weren’t sure how we’d write about this one, but covering it like a Disney trip day by day seems to work. We hope you enjoy it.
I’m so happy I found this trip report! Can’t wait to read all about it!Hi Everyone! We’re ready to kick off something a little different.
We just got back from our first ever trip to Hawaii, and yes we checked out Aulani, so you have that to look forward to, but first we have a few days at a different resort in Waikiki.
It was an amazing trip, and we can’t wait to share it with everyone!
We decided to cover all of it, because the things we did could be done from Aulani as well, and it all came together to make one awesome trip.
We gotta start with the why we went to Hawaii in the first place I think. It’s been somewhere that’s been on my list to visit but Paul was never really interested.
t just wasn’t anything I really wanted to do when we could go to Disney instead. Aulani had appeal, but I didn’t want to spend our points on it instead of a WDW trip.
So I convinced my bestie that she needed to get married in Hawaii.
And since she runs the office with Melissa I volunteered to stay home and help at work. Since that wouldn’t be a fun family vacation though she lured me onto the trip by renting points for Aulani so we got to experience it in addition to WDW this year.
I also had to rent a Jeep for the whole trip and book an ATV tour.
Those were just extras that made it so neat once we all were going. I did absolutely love the Jeep though, but we’ll get to that.
So lets get into the who what when where’s...
In case you don't know us, I’m Paul a 42 year old Mechanical Engineer and aspiring elevator mechanic, and just like for our WDW trip reports I’ll be writing in blue.
I’m Melissa, I do all sorts of things at the elevator company and am mom to our two amazing kiddos. I’ll be in orange.
This is Allie, she’s 12 and in 6th grade! She was super excited about this trip and had a LOT of fun.
And this is Marshall, our now six year old son who is very active and up for about anything. He would argue that he is actually the bride’s best friend, since they spend a lot of time together at work.
We’ve got a couple of extra characters we should briefly introduce because they’ll make an appearance early in this report. First off is Kathy and Greg, the newlyweds.
Kathy has worked for me for several years now and is my right hand at work and best friend out of work. She’s amazing and I’m so happy she has such a sweet guy as her husband.
Also joining in were Melissa’s Aunt Lorie and Uncle Steve.
Lorie is the CFO of the elevator business and works closely with Kathy and Melissa and was in on the planning as well. Steve is a cool guy and a private pilot who got to take a week off to join in.
Kathy and Greg also had their families and friends there so you’ll see a sprinkling of them too.
Now with The Who and Why’s covered, let’s get to the “Where”. The wedding was based from the Hyatt Place hotel near Waikiki on Oahu.
We figured that despite being on the same island, we didn’t want to have to commute from Aulani for the wedding so we started our trip staying at the Hyatt. This was a practical decision for the wedding, but actually wound up being a neat pairing with Aulani.
We flew in on April 26th and then moved to Aulani on the 29th and then flew home on the May 2nd.
It was a very busy 6 days but we were able to do a lot of cool stuff which we’ll share here.
Join us as we explore Hawaii for the first time.
Beautiful photos! Looked like a gorgeous wedding!On Wednesday, we all woke up early since we were still used to California time. Since it was Kathy's wedding day (and Allie spent the night in her room) we got up and started getting ready and Melissa went to help Kathy.
Paul went to go get food for us, even though the hotel had free breakfast we were looking for something a little better.
We like McDonalds for breakfast, and there was one just down the street. On the way, I took some morning pictures.
The restaurant opened at 7 AM and I was there shortly after.
I was prepared for insanely high prices, since it was just across the street from the beach and in Hawaii, but actually it wound up being no more expensive than at home. I grabbed some food for Kathy too, then headed back to the hotel.
We spent the morning helping Kathy and getting the 4 of us spiffy’d up for a wedding.
Once we as dressed up as we were going to get for a beach wedding, Marshall and I went out to explore the hotel. We saw Steve and Lorie's room, which was in the other tower and had a decent water view. We also checked out the free breakfast area, which was by the rooftop pool on the third floor.
The pool was small for a big hotel, but it was clear that most guests did their swimming at the beach.
I got some cute pictures of the kids all dressed up.
We all met up in the lobby before heading to the wedding location.
Kathy arranged for 3 limos to take everyone to the beach so we didn’t have to shuffle cars and everyone would be on time. It was a super smart idea.
It really was perfect, and the type of detail that would have been easy to overlook but it made it come together perfectly, just like Kathy specializes in.
The drive up to Sandy Beach was beautiful. Poor Kathy, the week before the wedding they closed the beach she was going to get married on to commercial activity so she had to choose a new spot last minute. I think it was a blessing because the new beach was gorgeous.
It meant that we all got to see more of thre island together, without worrying about where to go in our own cars. It had to be a logistical nightmare. Fortunately the new location was quite nice, with a little bit of sand, beautiful rocks, and large visible waves.
Marshall loved the limo ride, and told everyone that it was his SECOND time in a limo.
He was even happier when he learned that we got to go back to the hotel in the limo too.
That would make it his third time in a limo, a total he shares with anyone who will listen.
The ceremony was very nice, and the local officient and photographer worked very well together. It went quickly, and then there was plenty of time for all of us to take photos on the beach.
After we all took a bajillion pictures and soaked up the beach it was time to head back. Marshall played herding dog and ran around to round every one up.
We piled back into the limos to head back to the hotel.
We got to see the Hawaii Kai area of the island on our way back to thehotel, which looked really cool with the houses right on the water.
It was a beautiful wedding and a beautiful day. Once we were back at the hotel though we were all starving. We headed up to the room to change out of our nice clothes and then met Steve and Lorie back in the lobby to go find some lunch.
In true WDW fashion, we headed for Wolfgang Puck Express, which was conveniently located at the hotel down the street form ours on the way to the beach.
I’m 90% sure I got the pulled pork sandwich.
I went with the Hawaiian Burger (which had pineapple on it) and Allie chose that too.
Marshall went with chicken strips and fries.
We were so hungry we didn’t really get many pictures. We did make friends with the neighborhood wildlife.
It wasn't as nice or fancy as the WPE at Downtown Disney, but was a decent meal with a view of the beach. It was pretty expensive for what we got, but that was to be expected. We did get to watch the random birds on the patio as we ate.
As we finished eating we saw Kathy and Greg, who were on their way to the beach for a bit. We were all happy for them, and were excited to get to share in their perfect day.
Check out the rest of the wedding day, and a Luau reception in the next update.
Me too—I ended up with several free reusable tote bags
Thanks, it was a beautiful wedding venue, and Kathy is the only person I know who could pull off planning something like that from so far away.
We're glad you found it too and took the time to say hello. It is different than most of our WDW trips, but we had a great time.
Thanks! We were not the official wedding photographers for this one since Kathy and Greg wanted us to be able to enjoy the event, but we still got to take some fun shots after the ceremony.
Yes, we saw the signs for the reward program and at first thought there was no chance we'd spend enough to get a free gift. At $100 in total receipts we could have gotten a calendar, and the items got nicer from there. They definitely get you with quantity...
We bought a few of the reusable bags, and they are fun to use at home now to remind us of the trip. We didn't wind up saving our receipts for the calendar or other gifts, but the totals did add up over a few days, especially the three nights in Waikiki with no fewer than four ABC stores within a 5 minute walk from the hotel.Me too—I ended up with several free reusable tote bags
It was a great wedding, and served as great motivation to get us to Hawaii for a great trip. It was so well put together that we got to see different parts of the island through the wedding events.The wedding was lovely. I think the rocky beach was even better than a sandy beach. The family pictures are really nice and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves.
The Hyatt place breakfast was ok, but not anywhere near exceptional. We are not huge buffet fans, and buffet eggs aren't happening for us. They did have unique items each day, and on this day it was Jimmy Dean sausage sandwiches, which we do have at home but seemed quite strange to have in a buffet setting. The McDonalds breakfast items were good and consistent, and we all agreed were better than the hotel buffet would have been. On the next day we did the hotel breakfast though, so we will share that as well.
We took one look at Honolulu and decided to cancel our downtown hotel and move to the north shore. I worked in downtown Chicago and that was enough big city for us.
The luau looks like a lot of fun. Kalua pork is my favorite, too.
We went to a luau when we were in Maui with our daughters and loved it.That is a cute picture. You can tell that Marshall is really enjoying the entertainment.
That would have been messy to go to Aulani that night.
Again, you have such beautiful kids, who seem really well behaved. Such a treat that you took us along on your fun vacation. Looking forward to more---bring on Aulani!!!
Yeah, downtown Honolulu is very much "downtown" and not the relaxing island vibe we expect from a vacation. Waikiki was busy enough for us, but at least had more of a vacation feel to it.We took one look at Honolulu and decided to cancel our downtown hotel and move to the north shore. I worked in downtown Chicago and that was enough big city for us.
Yeah, it is just one of those things you gotta do, and in this case we were impressed with the food and overall quality of the presentation. It was a neat show.The luau looks like a lot of fun. Kalua pork is my favorite, too.
Yes, he had a ball. It has to be the best wedding "reception" we've ever been to.
Yeah, we had considered checking out and going to Aulani the next morning, but didn't want to have to pack that night so we stayed an extra day. This would up being a great call so that we had some time to enjoy exploring from Waikiki before heading up to Aulani.
Thanks so much! Zillow surfing is a fun hobby. That house was pretty extreme, but it was a super nice neighborhood. Our kids are fun, and generally well behaved but they too can be at each other's throats. Like typical siblings they can be fighting one minute but will defend the other one from anyone else the next minute. They did have a lot of fun on this trip.Wonderful report so far! Ha ha, I actually googled that address of the fancy house you Zillow surfed---very impressive. I like surfing too
We had never been to a Luau before. It just seemed like one of those things you gotta do when in Hawaii.
