When will she adjust to Hawaiian time?? Aulani with a toddler Oct 2017

[disgeek009]

As promised, here are some final thoughts on our Hawaiian adventure:

Overall, I was not very impressed with the customer service at Aulani. Between the awkward check-in experience and TWO verging-on-rude front desk CMs, I was disappointed with that part of the 'Disney' experience. We met a few CMs that were genuinely nice and helpful (the CM that helped us find the meet-and-greet locations on the rainy day, and the CM that let us feed the fish come to mind) but most were just perfunctory and some were unpleasant.

The character meets were great. Even when DD was scared, it was still a lot of fun for us parents. I totally understand why parents bring kids to Disney when they're too young to remember it. (For the pictures!)

I really, really wish I planned to stay at least one more day. I know that's not unusual with any vacation, but I really felt like we were just starting to enjoy our time when we had to leave. Especially because we lost one day where we got rained out.

I really loved our little vacation, sleep woes and all, but we probably won't return until DD is at least 3 so we can take advantage of the child care at Aunty's Beach House.

For the next visit, I have a list of things I want to try that we didn't get to on this trip:

• Hawaiian Chip Company
• The tube slide (DH thought it would be too much for DD and I didn't want to do it alone)
• Aunty's Beach House events (Judging from the number of characters we saw heading that direction, it looks like that's where the party is. FOMO!)
• Outdoor menehune trail (we really loved the indoor trail, so we really want to see the outdoor portion too)

And that's a wrap! Thanks for reading!

P.S. I may update this (much) later if I ever get around to putting all this into a photobook like I originally planned. But from the few test pages I've done, the 'photo'book looks more like a novel since I recounted each day in such detail. I need to either edit the trip report or do more careful formatting if I want to have pictures in it too.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Hello! I just read your whole report today. I like all of the detail you shared (good and bad). I'm sorry that you seemed to have some issues with cast members not being very friendly but at least you didn't let it ruin your trip. Your daughter is adorable!

 

[disgeek009]

Hello! I just read your whole report today. I like all of the detail you shared (good and bad). I'm sorry that you seemed to have some issues with cast members not being very friendly but at least you didn't let it ruin your trip. Your daughter is adorable!

Thanks for reading and the kind comments!

We just returned from a trip to Disneyland and I'm debating writing a (less detailed) trip report for that too. I'll be sure to post a link here if that happens.

 

[DisneyDarlingness]

I found your wonderful trip report through the links on your most recent report - thank you so much for sharing! We visited Aulani a few years ago when my daughter was 14 months old but didn't stay there - and I laughed and sympathized with your stories here about jet lag, night time wakings, etc. Oh man that was a tough trip! But it was fun. Thanks for bringing back the great memories and sharing your tips and experiences on staying at the resort!

 

[disgeek009]

I found your wonderful trip report through the links on your most recent report - thank you so much for sharing! We visited Aulani a few years ago when my daughter was 14 months old but didn't stay there - and I laughed and sympathized with your stories here about jet lag, night time wakings, etc. Oh man that was a tough trip! But it was fun. Thanks for bringing back the great memories and sharing your tips and experiences on staying at the resort!

Thanks for reading! I haven't thought about this trip for a while, but thinking about it now, the sleep issues really just fade into the background. I love Hawaii and Aulani in particular. Happy travels!