She's Saying Aloha, an April 2022 Oahu and Aulani Trip Report (Completed 7/7)

The ranch ATV tour looks like it really was fun for all of you! What a great choice for your bonus activity. Did you check online later to see if you could order souvenirs, since the gift shop had closed? Did the Target store have any boba tea? Your shirt made me curious: what did you say when you were docking the boat?
It was a perfect extra event. We couldn’t find any shirts or souvenirs online, but did think we might make our way back over there when they were open later in the trip, but we just never made it. The Target did not have the same Boba tea, but lots of convenience stores did.
As for the shirt, it is a souvenir from Boathouse during our most recent WDW trip. It is particularly valid though, as anyone docking a new boat in a narrow slip on a breezy day can attest to. There may have been some words…


My thought is even early morning at the "secret" beach a short walk from Aulani. I'll bring it and give it a shot. I may even sign up for a sunrise photography trip with a company and see if I can try it then as well.
That was my thought exactly. It would be a great place to fly towards Aulani from, but the problem I ran I to was there were too many people there when I went just after sunrise. So, my solution was to fly from along the shoreline between Aulani and the secret beach, which allowed me to get pictures of both spots without disturbing anyone or being noticed.
 
Your activity looked like a great family outing! Your room at Aulani looks so nice - it's hard to give up the extra space once you've gotten accustomed to it :-) You've given your kids so many wonderful experiences - lucky children! Anxious to hear more about your time in Aulani!
 
Your activity looked like a great family outing! Your room at Aulani looks so nice - it's hard to give up the extra space once you've gotten accustomed to it :-) You've given your kids so many wonderful experiences - lucky children! Anxious to hear more about your time in Aulani!
We did have a great time on the ATV tour, and it was the perfect extra add on. We loved that room, it was so big and nice and just perfect for us. We will definitely do that again, and may have our own one bedroom sometime for a WDW trip too. We really enjoy sharing the 2 bedrooms too, and have gotten spoiled so we probably won't switch to a studio anytime soon.
We too were anxious to get to finally really experience Aulani, and now we have an update ready to share.
 
When I woke up for the first morning at Aulani, I grabbed the camera and Marshall and I headed out to get some pictures of the resort and figure out where everything was at.






We loved how the pool area and large lazy river filled in the courtyard.






We walked along the North wing and found the quick service restaurant, and Marshall found some Lava tubes that supposedly lead to the ocean. He really thought these were neat.


We then made our way down to the beach, which has a nice little lagoon and a paved walking path towards the other resorts.



We circled around to the parking lot, just to complete the loop around the outside of Aulani.



We walked through the valet lot and back to the front of the resort, then walked over to the other parking lot to see the Jeep, then up to our room.



The plan for the morning was breakfast at Ulu Cafe, which is basically a quick service place in the courtyard of the hotel, and then just swimming until we couldn’t swim anymore.



We knew we wanted to spend time at the resort, and it didn't disapoint. We headed down to breakfast and found it to be pretty crowded down there but we placed our orders and grabbed some hot food for the kids as well as our refillable mugs.



Ordering is so strange and makes not much sense, some of it you can just grab at the counter and then go pay for other stuff you order from the checkout and have to wait for but there’s again, no sign or anything telling you how or where to order stuff. It was kinda frustrating because we had hot food that we just sat with while we waited for the rest to get done.

Yeah, it took some figuring out to get the process down. At least we had mug refills while we waited, and the mugs had unique Aulani designs on them, whuch helped convince me to get them even though we were only there for a few days.


It turned out ok, it’s not like it was super cold out or anything and the food was decent. It was surprisingly my favorite sausage of our entire Hawaii trip and the bacon was very good too.


It was far better than typical Disney bacon! I got a breakfast sandwich that I enjoyed, and we were able to find a table over by the pool to eat at.

Once we were done with breakfast it was time to pick up towels and wristbands, you get a special one if you’re a DVC member, and find a spot to put our stuff.

The pool had just opened for the day, and it wasn't crowded yet but chairs were going fast. We got in the water at the lazy river and completed a lap of it.



It was way bigger and neater than the one at Stormalong Bay.


t was a waterpark quality lazy river and so fun to float.

Then, speaking of waterpark quality, we saw that there was a water slide where you rode the inner tubes down that ended in the lazy river. We tried that out next, and everyone really liked it.


It was fun Marshall was able to ride it with you on the double tube so he didn’t have to do it himself and he loved it.

There was also a second water slide that you do without tubes, so we did that next. It was a long tube slide, with a completely dark section in the middle. We each did it individually, with me going first and Melissa last so that we would have the kids between us.


It worked out fine and they loved it. I lost my hat and glasses at the end of the slide, but collected them before Marshall and Allie made their way down to me.


I also lost my hat and glasses when I hit the water at the end, the kids loved it but I think I’m too old to find that fun anymore, I much prefered the tube slide.

I agree, and I didn't ride that one again, but the kids did and loved it. Then we did a little more swimming, and went back to our chairs.



While Marshall enjoyed the kids splash area, I went and got shave ice, which surprisingly we had not had yet during our Hawaii trip.



I thoroughly enjoyed my shave ice, and got it all over my rashguard. I looked like a 5 year old by the time I was done but it was completely worth it.

We all enjoyed them, and like many first timers we even paid the extra for the mouse ears.

After we had the shave ice, wedecided to head down to the beach to check out the lagoon.



We got chairs down there, and the kids played on the beach and swam in the ocean.


The kids wanted to check out a boogie board and they had a ball with it. The waves are almost non existant in the lagoon but there were just enough to push them back to shore.




I thought about getting a stand up paddle board, even though they charge for those (while the boogie baords are free for resort guests) but they were not renting them because of the high wind at the time. Marshall played with the Target sand toys we had bought the night before.

Then Marsh needed a potty break and Paul brought back icecream for us to enjoy while the kids finished filling their swim suits with sand.


It was a fun treat on the beach. After a while, we packed up and turned in the boogie board before heading up to the room.

We wanted to do some exploring of the dryer parts of the resort and of course do some shopping, and we'll cover that in the next update.


Stay tuned for lunch and our top off Jeep drive North.
 
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When I woke up for the first morning at Aulani, I grabbed the camera and Marshall and I headed out to get some pictures of the resort and figure out where everything was at.
Aulani is a beautiful resort.
I like the sneaky picture you took of you and Marshall in the elevator. ;)

The plan for the morning was breakfast at Ulu Cafe, which is basically a quick service place in the courtyard of the hotel, and then just swimming until we couldn’t swim anymore.
It is so very different from a WDW vacation, isn't it. :)

At least we had mug refills while we waited, and the mugs had unique Aulani designs on them, which helped convince me to get them even though we were only there for a few days.
The mugs are really cute. :)
Once we were done with breakfast it was time to pick up towels and wristbands, you get a special one if you’re a DVC member, and find a spot to put our stuff.
Were there any special privileges that came with DVC membership?
After we had the shave ice, we decided to head down to the beach to check out the lagoon.
This looks like a nice, safe swimming lagoon. Did they have any access to the waves?
 
then walked over to the other parking lot to see the Jeep,

LOL, you really liked the Jeep! This is something my DH would do too, just go and "visit" his rental car.

and the bacon was very good too.

It was far better than typical Disney bacon!

Oh yes, I forgot how good the Ulu Cafe bacon is!
We really enjoy the breakfast boxes. We get two or sometimes three to share between the four of us because we each have our favourite components and then there is something for everyone.


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I really like this photo! I don't see this perspective/view too often in reports, I think because it is just a staircase but I like it's casual grandeur and the pots on the wall (to the far left of the photo) are cool. This area has great ambiance, idk-I just like it a lot so thanks for including this pic LOL
 
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Aulani is a beautiful resort.
I like the sneaky picture you took of you and Marshall in the elevator. ;)
We loved getting to go take pictures of that beautiful resort. Marshall was happy to get to go out early with me.

It is so very different from a WDW vacation, isn't it. :)
It really is. Without the parks to run off to, we were looking forward to some more quiet resort time. The attraction of getting to see the rest of the island was similar to wanting to go out to the parks in some ways.

The mugs are really cute. :)
They are, we were glad that they had unique Aulani designs, which contributed to us going ahead and buying them.

Were there any special privileges that came with DVC membership?
DVC members get a typical merchandise discount, as well as free refills on popcorn buckets. The funny thing is despite having the special wrist band, showing proof of membership was still required. They say the band reminds cast members to ask you to get your discounts. Whatever works, I guess. We just liked that the bands were fancier than the solid color ones and said DVC member on them.

This looks like a nice, safe swimming lagoon. Did they have any access to the waves?
The wave access was minimal, since a little bit of them would come in to the lagoon, but you could not go out past the rocks into the open water.

LOL, you really liked the Jeep! This is something my DH would do too, just go and "visit" his rental car.
It's just part of being a car guy... I also liked how there was another Jeep next to ours again, although this time it was a different color.



Oh yes, I forgot how good the Ulu Cafe bacon is!
We really enjoy the breakfast boxes. We get two or sometimes three to share between the four of us because we each have our favourite components and then there is something for everyone.
We didn't know they had better bacon, but we definitely felt it was great.


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I really like this photo! I don't see this perspective/view too often in reports, I think because it is just a staircase but I like it's casual grandeur and the pots on the wall (to the far left of the photo) are cool. This area has great ambiance, idk-I just like it a lot so thanks for including this pic LOL
I loved that area, and the pictures of it as well. To me it really felt like a super size version of the Poly. Thanks for sharing that you liked the picture too. Here's a couple more we liked of the same area.




Also a fan of your thorough photography! Who else includes a picture of the parking lot?
Lol, we try to cover it all... I am a car guy, and I did really like that Jeep.

Very nice! Canon shooter? I just started using a new R6.
Yes, we love our Canon cameras, starting with the 6D we bought for an earlier WDW trip. Congratulations on the R6. The better pictures here were taken with our RP, which is our current trip camera for WDW. In Hawaii we also used our iPhones a lot, and bought a waterproof Olympus point and shoot that we used at the pool. We have lots more pictures to come.
 
DVC members get a typical merchandise discount, as well as free refills on popcorn buckets. The funny thing is despite having the special wrist band, showing proof of membership was still required. They say the band reminds cast members to ask you to get your discounts. Whatever works, I guess. We just liked that the bands were fancier than the solid color ones and said DVC member on them.
I think the band identifies you as DVC, and the card is required to show DVC type/level. The benefits are only for “qualified” (direct) members. Resale members don’t get the discounts.
 
I think the band identifies you as DVC, and the card is required to show DVC type/level. The benefits are only for “qualified” (direct) members. Resale members don’t get the discounts.
Yeah, it makes sense if all DVC members get the bands and only direct get discounts, but still having the band doesn’t serve much purpose then. In the past they used bands alone for discounts, but they made it clear that’s no longer the case.
 
After we’d had our fill of swimming and the beach we headed up to the room for showers and dry clothes.

We all got cleaned up and soon we were headed downstairs, and the first stop was Hale Manu for some shopping.



I found a super cute dress and we also decided on a wrapped canvas Noah piece.


We figured the castle beach one was a perfect addition to our collection of castles, so we bought it and had it shipped home.

It took a little longer than our WDW art typically does to make it home but it’s already hanging on the wall and looks great.

It is just the perfect reminder of the trip. After buying it, we continued on to the other store and did some looking around.

We didn’t want to carry anything else with us so we decided to come back later. On the way out of the lobby there were hula dancers and a ukalele player! It was so fun to watch.


It was very Disney, being well themed and perfectly executed. They were all great performers.

After the show in the lobby, we walked out and across the street to check out the shopping center over there.


It was lunch time so we were headed straight for Monkey Pod which sounded really good for lunch.


It had been recommended in our earlier trip report, and turned out to really be good. We got a seat just outside the open dining room on the patio, which we were able to walk right into since it was about 2:00 and after the lunch rush.


It was a super nice day so sitting outside wasn’t bad. Allie ordered a chowder of some sort, and I got a fish sandwich.


I got a burger, and Marshall got his usual as well, mac and cheese.


The burger was a little small, but exceptionally tasty. I really enjoyed it.

The food was really good! We even ordered dessert.

We had coconut cream pie, and it was really great.


It was the best coconut cream pie I’ve ever had. It was amazing!

Marshall even somehow talked the waitress into giving him a slice of it, which we took to go.

After lunch, we went shopping, and started with the ABC store.


It’s actually called Island Country Markets but it’s an ABC Store. It’d be easy to get confused. It’s the biggest ABC Store we went in the entire trip.

It had a lot of the same stuff, but didn't have the canned boba tea we had been getting at the other ones in Waikiki.

It did have more fresh sandwiches and sushi and produce.


Each store does a really good job of seeming to cater to whatever the tourists might need in that area.

One interesting thing is that they charge for parking at Ko Olina, and we saw lots of people get parking tickets in the few minutes we were walking around. We were very glad that we chose to walk over instead of driving the Jeep over and having to pay to park.

Yeah it was something I didn’t even think about but it’s not a far walk and so much easier than driving.

After aquiring a few things at the ABC store we checked out some of the other shops. There’s a Tommy Bahama, a super cute boutique with Hawaiian made dresses, and a shop with art and sculptures from local artists.


It was a nice little version of a sort of Disney Springs or Downtown Disney, and fit into the Hawaiian area well.

On the walk back to Aulani we got a cute picture of the kids in front of the Aulani sign and discussed what to do for the rest of the afternoon.


We wanted to go for a drive, but first we dropped off the leftover pie in the room and grabbed a couple of Cokes. Then when we got down to the Jeep Melissa had another good idea...

It was time to take the top off...



At least the two front panels... We took them off and put them in the back, then headed North along the coast. We headed North on 93 and did some exploring.

It was a very interesting drive and very much not touristy.


Marshall had a long day and konked out in the car.


We just continued on North until the road ended at Kaena Point State Park.

We pulled over just past the entrance to the Space Force station.



At the time following the map on the phone it looked lieke the road ended in the park, so we pulled over and watched the beach for a bit. With the top off, I was able to fly the drone right off the top of the Jeep from the driver's seat.







It was a very pretty evening and it seemed like a nice beach. Again it felt more like a locals beach and not a touristy beach. It was really neat to see though and meant we had made it almost completely around the island.


It was the most "off roading" we did with the Jeep, although once we got home we found out that there is a trail that continues North from there and around towards the North shore. That is on our list for next time.

Lol so I guess we’re renting a Jeep next time and not a convertable.

Unless we're tired of driving a Jeep by then....

Not likely.

After the drone flight, we turned around and headed back down 93 towards Aulani. It was Friday night and we saw lots of locals heading out for a night on the beaches.


We even looped through the local boat ramp and saw some people pulling their boats off the water for the day.


Boats, Jeeps, Drones, no wonder you liked Hawaii.

I really did, much more than I expected to. This also meant I took lots of pictures, so we'll have to finish out the day in the next post...
 
We wound up at Maipalaoa Beach, which had a small parking lot right off the main road where we could watch the sunset and the beach from.




The sunset was spectacular. It was like something from a movie, to the right there were people out on the jetty fishing and to the left there were surfers all with the background of a gorgeous sunset.

It was a beautiful spot, and that convinced me to take another drone flight.






I was able to watch the surfers from the Drone, which was pretty neat. I also circled over land a bit and saw the neighborhood and the Jeep in the parking lot. Here is a screenshot of my flight:


After he collected the drone we figured out we might be hungry so it was time to find some dinner.

We decided to head for Costco and maybe grab somehting to heat up in the room, but we figured out they would be closed by the time we got there since it was pretty late. Fortunately the gas station was still open, so we filled up the Jeep with some $4.59 gas.


While this isn't cheap, it was less expensive than the gas at home at the same time.


It surprised me that gas in Hawaii is less than at home. Since Costco was closed we just drove through McDonalds. It had been FOREVER since we’d been to a McDonalds for dinner.


Yeah, it was not a culinary high point, but it got us some food before we headed back to Aulani. Marshall was still asleep in the Jeep, so we ate our dinner and then Allie and I went in to check out Home Depot.


The Home Depot was basically just like home, but I still liked getting to see it.


At least you didn’t try and bring home lumber or something.

That is true, they did have a sawzall on clearance but I figured the drone was enough of a souvenier.

We had to wake Marshall up when we got back to Aulani because he’s just too heavy to carry all the way from the car to the room.

Fortunately he was ready to be up after a few hour long nap during the whole ride. We stopped by the store and got him some Mac and Cheese for dinner.


We all went up to the room and then while he ate his dinner I went back out and took some pictures of the courtyard at night. It really is a pretty resort.




Marshall enjoyed his mac and cheese, it reminded me of when we would make him Easy Mac in the Copper Creek rooms after a late afternoon/dinner nap. It was a great day!

Check back for more Aulani activities in the next update, including breakfast with characters!
 
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Then Marshall had mac and cheese for both lunch and dinner that day.

LOL about not bringing lumber back from the Hawaii Home Depot.

Even though we're used to your dazzling pictures, the first one in the most recent update looks very much like a postcard.
 
What a beautiful drive! Love the pic of your DD and the sunset. Frame-worthy. Lumber :-) The resort looks really beautiful at night. Thanks for sharing your experience and wonderful pictures!
 
First off amazing trip report!

Second off, I used to think (especially when family and friends would say why would we do that) that whenever we went to Williamsburg we always would drive around and we would wind up at a Home Depot, a tractor supply store, Walmart, etc during our day at the outlets (and sometimes beyond lol) and it’s so nice to see someone else do similar stuff! We are in fact not a weird family!

Also Marshall…..I’m the same way little guy-when I sleep I sleep and don’t care about food. That little Kraft Mac and cheese definitely would’ve sufficed (and I’m a fully grown adult lol)
 
Count me in on going to all the Walmarts and Costco’s we see along the way when traveling. Especially since I’m Canadian and find a lot of different stuff. Heck on year we bought our bathroom hardware at Home Depot because it could only be special ordered here.

Loving all the pictures and drone footage ones too. So cool.
 
Then Marshall had mac and cheese for both lunch and dinner that day.

LOL about not bringing lumber back from the Hawaii Home Depot.

Even though we're used to your dazzling pictures, the first one in the most recent update looks very much like a postcard.
Marshall would be fine with Mac and Cheese four or more meals a day!

I don't know about lumber, but I totally would have brought back some tools...

Thanks so much. I really liked that one too, and thought it would be a great desktop background.

What a beautiful drive! Love the pic of your DD and the sunset. Frame-worthy. Lumber :-) The resort looks really beautiful at night. Thanks for sharing your experience and wonderful pictures!
It was a fun day, with a mix of typical Aulani stuff and then going for a drive to an area that was wayyy less touristy. It was a great combo. The resort is beautiful anytime, but does really shine at night.

First off amazing trip report!

Second off, I used to think (especially when family and friends would say why would we do that) that whenever we went to Williamsburg we always would drive around and we would wind up at a Home Depot, a tractor supply store, Walmart, etc during our day at the outlets (and sometimes beyond lol) and it’s so nice to see someone else do similar stuff! We are in fact not a weird family!

Also Marshall…..I’m the same way little guy-when I sleep I sleep and don’t care about food. That little Kraft Mac and cheese definitely would’ve sufficed (and I’m a fully grown adult lol)
Thanks so much! We are glad to hear that we're not the only ones who are weird. We are usually "in the bubble" for our WDW trips, so we haven't shared odd things like touring hardware stores before. We have been known to frequent Tractor Supply stores on vacation though, and now love having one by the house.

Marshall is a mac and cheese fan of all kinds, but easy mac is one of his favorites. He is easy to please.

Count me in on going to all the Walmarts and Costco’s we see along the way when traveling. Especially since I’m Canadian and find a lot of different stuff. Heck on year we bought our bathroom hardware at Home Depot because it could only be special ordered here.

Loving all the pictures and drone footage ones too. So cool.
Another person who is weird like we are! You have a good excuse for hardware store tourism though, so that makes it even more fun.

Thanks for the compliments. We do enjoy taking pictures at Disney, and Aulani was no exception. The whole island was a lot of fun to photograph, especially with the drone.

That was a gorgeous sunset. We loved the Hawaiian sunsets and sunrises whenever we went to Hawaii. :)
We finally got to stop and enjoy the sunset after many nights in Hawaii. They are particularly pretty.

Your nighttime resort pics are just beautiful! Night shots are definitely my weak point; great work.
Low light situations are where it seems to be more the camera than the photographer... I love how our 6D can pull light out of nothingness. The RP doesn't do quite as well in this regard, since the images wind up a little noisier. On this trip I was amazed at how well my newer iPhone did with low light shots. It is hard to compete with.
 

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