Thankful for Aulani - Oahu or Bust Nov 24-Dec 1 2012

[Sarangel]

Since I'm lazy, do you know what days that swap meet goes on at the Aloha Stadium? I see that you are going and I'm hoping I can fit in at some point. Thanks!

That's on Wednesdays. I'm hoping to find something awesome.

 

[lablady]

That's on Wednesdays. I'm hoping to find something awesome.

That might actually work! We are going to Pearl Harbor that morning and I know it's right by there. Maybe we'll stop there afterwords. Any money I can save on souvenirs would help!

 

[DMarq]

Swap Meet on Wednesdays, Saturday & Sunday. I think it goes from 7am-3pm

 

[spiroff.natasha]

So, now we move into the space Hawaii's all about.

BEACHES!

Since DH & I are avid snorklers (and divers, but can't afford dive prices for this trip ) for us it's all about how many fish we can scare... On my list are:

• 
  Hanauma Bay - Very Famous, protected Reef (closed Tuesdays). Marine preserve, with a $1/day parking fee + $5/per person fee to enter. Worth it to educate DD on the ecosystem, since there's a required educational film to see before entering the water.
  
  Kuilma Cove - Sheltered North Shore snorkling. "one of the best places for beginer snorkeling in the islands" Do this before or after Hanuma Bay?
  
  Kahe Point Beach Park - High fish population, just north of Ko Olina Resort area, Nicknamed "electric beach"... DO NOT snorkle/swim in front of the electric plant water outflows. More intermediate/advanced beach. Do this without DD?
  
  Kaena Point State Park - more isolated than most beaches. Can be rough if the seas are running high.
  
  Sharks Cove - One of the 12 best shore dives in the world - but the waters can be rough in the winter... Again, without DD?

We almost certainly won't do all of these, but it's nice to have the choices.

Good list! I live here on Oahu and will say that my husband and I love to snorkel Electric Beach, it's one of our favorites. Have fun!!

 

[Sarangel]

Well, we made it - almost exactly according to schedule. We got up at 5:00 am this morning, spent an hour getting everyone through the shower, and all those last minute things packed... We were out of the house by 6:15 and down to San Jose by 7:00.

DH dropped me, DD and the luggage off in front of the Alaska Air terminal and went to drop off the car at our long term parking. By the time he got back, DD and I had gotten us checked in (with a little re-arranging of weight, and one stubborn lock), the bags checked and found the gate number. Since we were running ahead of the curve, all our lines were short.

We walked into security and back out, with only the normal inconveniences, to find ourselves literally at the gate. A little reconoitering found us lunch (and coffee). By then it was time to take off for Oahu.

 

[Sarangel]

We got to Honolulu around 1:00 local time, collected our luggage and went searching for our rental car. Half an hour or so later we were well on our way to Aulani!

The first thing we noticed was that the entrance to the resort was well-hidden, we kept expecting it to be on one of the side roads that wrap around the edges of the resort, but it's in the middle without any neon signs to help the unwary tourists. All I can say is don't get so excited by the sign for the resort that you miss the turn in...

Once we parked for checkin, DH and DD started unloading the car while I snuck through the tag & release tourist trap (Lei greeting). Don't worry, they caught me later when I was tracked down by the family (trailing the poor chap who missed me the first time). The tuber roses were lovely, and I suppose I should have been more serious about the first lei I've ever gotten, but somehow it seemed a little, I dunno, over done.

The staff was wonderful, showing us little things about the lobby and resort (which we mostly knew thanks to you all): the animals carved into the volcano, the menehune, some hidden Mickeys, the compass in the lobby floor...

Oops gotta go, it's time to pick up DD from Aunties

 

[kabrice]

Hey Sarangel thanks for the post/information. We leave for Aulani on December 12th and plan to use the grills. Please share your grilling experience. Also curious about the weather and the temperature of the water. We are Floridians and are used to "warm" water.
Have you found the daily Iwa is similar to the one posted online? I am trying to plan our days around Aulani activities and Oahu adventures.

 

[renknt]

So any of you DIS people at the Aulani want to meet up for a drink :/ soda/ get acquainted . Our rm # 684 call

 

[lablady]

We got to Honolulu around 1:00 local time, collected our luggage and went searching for our rental car. Half an hour or so later we were well on our way to Aulani!

The first thing we noticed was that the entrance to the resort was well-hidden, we kept expecting it to be on one of the side roads that wrap around the edges of the resort, but it's in the middle without any neon signs to help the unwary tourists. All I can say is don't get so excited by the sign for the resort that you miss the turn in...

Once we parked for checkin, DH and DD started unloading the car while I snuck through the tag & release tourist trap (Lei greeting). Don't worry, they caught me later when I was tracked down by the family (trailing the poor chap who missed me the first time). The tuber roses were lovely, and I suppose I should have been more serious about the first lei I've ever gotten, but somehow it seemed a little, I dunno, over done.

The staff was wonderful, showing us little things about the lobby and resort (which we mostly knew thanks to you all): the animals carved into the volcano, the menehune, some hidden Mickeys, the compass in the lobby floor...

Oops gotta go, it's time to pick up DD from Aunties

Dang, and I've been worried about getting lost on our way to the resort! We'll be coming in about 8:30 tomorrow night, so finding my way in the dark may be a challenge.

You got me laughing over your "tag and release tourist trap"! Now I can only imagine the nefarious purposes that the leis might be put to. We're next, assuming I find the place!

 

[Sarangel]

Dang, and I've been worried about getting lost on our way to the resort! We'll be coming in about 8:30 tomorrow night, so finding my way in the dark may be a challenge.

You got me laughing over your "tag and release tourist trap"! Now I can only imagine the nefarious purposes that the leis might be put to. We're next, assuming I find the place!

Finding the resort isn't hard, for us it was difficult finding the driveway! So when you see the Aulani sign, slow down, and right after you'll see a speed limit sign. The driveway is right behind the sign.

 

[Sarangel]

Hey Sarangel thanks for the post/information. We leave for Aulani on December 12th and plan to use the grills. Please share your grilling experience. Also curious about the weather and the temperature of the water. We are Floridians and are used to "warm" water.
Have you found the daily Iwa is similar to the one posted online? I am trying to plan our days around Aulani activities and Oahu adventures.

The grills are tucked in behind Auntie's house, we're grilling tonight, so I'll let you know how it goes...

The weather has been in the high 70s or low 80s with medium clouds so far (all 2 days of it), so it's nice but not super warm. I've been wearing shorts and t-shirts. I'd guess the water's running 80 ish too. The pool and the ocean seem about the same, but it's certainly cooler than Florida ocean temps (but way warmer than San Francisco ocean).

 

[Sarangel]

Yesterday was our first full day, and we woke up to DH's (very loud) alarm @ 5:55 am - *somebody* forgot to turn it off from leaving on Saturday. Once DD was awake, of course, there was no going back to sleep.

 

[kathymc]

cool a real time trip report. we are headed to oahu in 10 days (4 nights Waikiki then 6 nights at Aulani) looking forward to reading more.

 

[BlazerFan]

Hey Sarangel thanks for the post/information. We leave for Aulani on December 12th and plan to use the grills. Please share your grilling experience. Also curious about the weather and the temperature of the water. We are Floridians and are used to "warm" water.
Have you found the daily Iwa is similar to the one posted online? I am trying to plan our days around Aulani activities and Oahu adventures.

I will pipe in if that's ok. Our group used the grills last night. We grilled Mahi Mahi from Costco and made fish tacos. Everyone said they enjoyed it more than our AMA AMA dinner the night before. We didn't have to wait to use them although several people walked by commenting they didn't know about the grills and would be trying them later in the week.

 

[kabrice]

Hello Sarangel and thank you for the post regarding the temperature of the Pacific and the location of the grills. Two more quick questions:

do you have good cell phone coverage at Aulani?
have you seen any DVC member gatherings in the Iwa?

Enjoy the rest of your vacation and I look forward to reading your report.

 

[Sarangel]

Hello Sarangel and thank you for the post regarding the temperature of the Pacific and the location of the grills. Two more quick questions:

do you have good cell phone coverage at Aulani?
have you seen any DVC member gatherings in the Iwa?

Enjoy the rest of your vacation and I look forward to reading your report.

OK - more on the grills. Tonight they "ran out" of grilling equipment (tongs & brushes). Apparently they are very popular. DH says to bring olive oil or something because the grills heat up very quickly and meat can stick (I'd hate to think what would happen if you tried fish)

Our cell coverage has been fine (we're with AT&T), and Internet is free, so texts & surfing have been better than fine.

We did see a note about a DVC gathering in Sunday's iwa, but skipped out on it, since we really can't afford more points.

 

[Sarangel]

So after lunch on Sunday, DD asked to go to Auntie's again. No problemo.

DH and I needed to handle some stuff to get the computer fixed, and I needed to replace the crocs that I had foolishly left too near the heater just before we left, so we headed out into the wilds of Waikiki...

The shopping stuff is probably not too interesting, so I'll skip a bit to getting back to Aulani.

We pried DD out of Auntie's to go and listen to Uncle tell us stories by the firepit. We got two legends from Hawaii, and while I can recall the stories pretty well I am sure I can't recall the names. All in all I give the storytelling a three out of four star review. I would have liked Uncle to banter a little more than he did, though the script was delightful.

After we went back to the room, DD had a bit of a meltdown, so we decided to have dinner and call it an early night.

 

[Sarangel]

This morning, DD and I went to Auntie's open house. I actually got to poke about the house while DD was engrossed in yet another computer game. When I saw all the craft stuff in Uncle's garage, I told the cast member that I was sorry I wasn't little enough to come play. I was told that I was free to play with anything I liked - I ended up stringing a quick necklace for DD from the beads.

At 9:55 they started kicking us all out in preparation to having the house run normal operations. DD asked if she could go back in... Quel suprise. Since I had planned on spending the morning working with her on snorkeling technique, I found myself with unexpected free time...

I went down to the main entry, planning on filling several water bottles with the fruit infused water they have to great guests with (the stuff is really addictive, and they are very gracious about letting you take what you like). I ended up with a long conversation with one of the local craftspeople about the history of Hawaii, and the state's current challenges.

Once I made it back to the room with my ill gotten gains, I stripped down and headed out to the pool. I did 5 laps through the lazy river, which equals 1500 yards (the river being 300 yards long according to a friendly life guard). I grabbed DD from Auntie's and we had lunch, then prepared ourselves for canoe making with Uncle.

 

[Sarangel]

Canoe Making with Uncle.

This was a lovely craft/history lesson. We, DD & I, made (well, decorated really, since Aulani did all the hard work, and had the cast members do all the gluing) traditional Va'a, or outrigger canoes. These are all of wood, and make a cute keepsake for the kids. You learn about the polynesion peoples travels in va'a and the parts of the boat while you decorate your va'a. Then you take it out to the ocean, have someone in your party stand behind it with a real canoe oar and push the water along to bring your canoe into shore.

We named our va'a the Pohihihi (or Mystery), and had a lot of fun.

After the canoe bulidng, we dashed back to the room, changed into dry clothes and headed out to the Family Fun Animation activity. All three of us went to this. We met in the Pau Hana room, and were led off to a room in the conference center. There we sketched out a disney character (in our case Donald), and were allowed to paint into a cell of our choosing (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy or Stitch). My only complaint about this is that they don't really allow you enough time to complete the cell. It was still lots of fun, but I would have liked to have enough time to actully finish what I started.

From Animation to Grilling. We dropped off our still drying cells, and grabbed the chicken. DH headed out to the grill, while I tried to get equipment for him. The equipment was all dirty, so the Pau Hana Room staff said that there wasn't any to rent out. I said I'd wash some, at which point they said they'd send some over from 'Ama 'Ama as soon as they were clean. According to DH, I shouldn't have wasted my time. He doesn't like cooking with Tongs, prefering a fork to check for doneness, and all they give out is tongs and a brush to clean the grill. DH also recommends bringing pam, or olive oil to oil the grill. He cooked up a week's worth of chicken while DD & I got in line for the Starlit Hui.

Starlit Hui.

There are two entrances to this show, one from the same side as the grills, and one from the main 'ewa tower side. There are first come, first serve chairs on the Grill Side. The rest of the seating is on the lawn on mats that are provided. During the pre-show, there are several craft activities to do: couple of things with flowers, a wood necklace activity (which I did), and some games.

Once the show starts, it is a wonderful Disney show. Uncle narrates, and goes through modern hula (and a wonderful 'ukulele duo named Heart & Soul) to traditional hula. They had just started the Christmas version of the show, so they included several christmas tunes during the music (as opposed to the hula) part of the show. By the end of the show it had devolved into line dancing, but I felt like I was going to be trampled (we were sitting in the front row).

All things considered this was an awesome day.

 

[Sarangel]

I'd start posting pictures, but can't just upload them... Now I need to find a place on the web to link to (and facebook won't work). Any help out there?