KateP85
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2015
Its 3.30am here in Aulani and I'm WIDE AWAKE so I thought I'd get started on this! I've never done a trip report before but I'll give it a shot, hopefully it will be as useful to someone planning a trip as other reports were to me.
The cast of characters are myself, DH, Harrison (age 3 and a 1/2 - the 1/2 is very important to him!) and Grayson (turning 13 weeks on Wednesday). Myself and DH have been to Hawaii twice before, once as a college graduation trip and once on our honeymoon. We've visited the Big Island, Oahu, and Kauai, and out of all three, Oahu was our least favorite. We stayed in Honolulu and thought it was just like any big city in the US, nothing special. But when Disney built on the island, I knew we'd probably be back here one day. This trip also includes my in-laws, DH's brother, his wife, and their 2 girls, and DH's cousin, his wife, their son and 2 daughters. Between us we have a 2-bedroom and 2 studios. After our week at Aulani, we're headed to Kona for our week, to stay at the Hilton Waikeloa Beach, one of our favorite hotels ever.
We were supposed to arrive on Sunday, but United Airlines had other plans! I woke up at 5.30am, super excited and ready to go, got dressed and thought to myself, perhaps I should check our flight status. Our flight from Orlando to San Francisco was delayed. By 12 hours. It was now taking off at the same time we were due to land in Hawaii from San Francisco! So now we would miss our connection. 3 phone calls and a few less than helpful customer service agents later, we were rebooked. Sunday afternoon we would be flying up to Washington DC, spending the night there, and then taking a nonstop flight from DC to Honoluu Monday morning. I'll spare you the details of our travel, but here are a few highlights and tips:
- I know this may come off as ridiculous, but if you can find a way to travel first class on a long flight, do so. We got the United credit card back in April and have been accruing miles since then. Last month we finally had enough to upgrade all 3 of us from coach to first class, and it made such a difference on the DC to Honolulu flight. We got lie flat beds, a wonderful hot breakfast, a burger and fries halfway though the flight, a warm brownie and an ice cream sundae, and the extra space helped us all to not go stir crazy on such a long flight. We can't afford to fly first class on long trips, but those miles were worth every penny it took to accrue them.
- Grayson slept for a total of 1.5 hours on the 10-hour flight. I'm grateful he didn't cry or have any kind of explosive diaper issues (my 2 biggest concerns for the flights!) but trying to keep him entertained for that long was exhausting! He likes to 'stand' and look at everyone and be sung to and generally given way more attention than I felt like giving by the end of the flight! With an hour left to go and me running out of energy for another round of 'The Wheels on the Bus' a flight attendant offered to take him for a walk. I accepted, and this wonderful man spent 30 minutes walking him up and down the aisles as they prepared for landing. He seriously saved my sanity!
- The crew in general on United were incredible. The pilots invited Harrison onto the flight deck before take off and let him wear a pilots hat and have his picture taken. He LOVED it! At one point DH was asleep and Harrison was trying to figure out the tv controls. I was trying to get up to help him without waking Grayson, when the flight attendant came over. Not only did he help Harrison with the tv and headphones, he retucked his blanket and gave him an extra cookie. They were just the nicest people, and totally made up for the airline messing up our original plans.
- We landed in Honolulu at 1.15pm yesterday (Monday). I don't know if we just happened to be the furthest gate from baggage claim, but it was a loooooong walk to get there. It did give Harrison a chance to burn off some energy though! Honolulu airport is also going through some renovations and we struggled to find an elevator for the stroller. In the end a very nice security guard (who didn't know where the elevator was either!) helped us carry the stroller down stairs. Just be aware of that when arriving!
We arrived at Aulani at 2.15pm and I swear, one sight of the pool and the beach and the characters walking around, and we were all bouncing off the walls, exhaustion forgotten. DH and Harrison put bathing suits on and were on the beach by 2.30pm. Grayson and I walked around and tried to figure out where everything is. We stopped by the Lava Shack to pick up 2 refillable mugs ($19.88 each) and stopped at Mama's Snack Stop for chili and cheese over sticky rice ($8.37) which was delicious. I ended up bringing Grayson up to the room to nap (of course NOW he's tired!) and around 4.30pm, DH and Harrison came back up too. DH's mom had made dinner in the 2-bedroom, fried chicken and potatoes and broccoli, so we all went over there to eat and Harrison got to play with his cousins. By 6pm however, we were all done, we could hardly keep our eyes open. We put Grayson in a pack and play and Harrison on the pull out sofa, and both were asleep within minutes. I went down to the shop to get milk and water, and came back up to find DH fast asleep. I think we were all out by 7pm.
Sorry this report has no pictures, I always hate that when reading but I will take photos tomorrow I promise! I can also answer questions or look things up while I'm here, just let me know! I'm off to try to get back to sleep now!
The cast of characters are myself, DH, Harrison (age 3 and a 1/2 - the 1/2 is very important to him!) and Grayson (turning 13 weeks on Wednesday). Myself and DH have been to Hawaii twice before, once as a college graduation trip and once on our honeymoon. We've visited the Big Island, Oahu, and Kauai, and out of all three, Oahu was our least favorite. We stayed in Honolulu and thought it was just like any big city in the US, nothing special. But when Disney built on the island, I knew we'd probably be back here one day. This trip also includes my in-laws, DH's brother, his wife, and their 2 girls, and DH's cousin, his wife, their son and 2 daughters. Between us we have a 2-bedroom and 2 studios. After our week at Aulani, we're headed to Kona for our week, to stay at the Hilton Waikeloa Beach, one of our favorite hotels ever.
We were supposed to arrive on Sunday, but United Airlines had other plans! I woke up at 5.30am, super excited and ready to go, got dressed and thought to myself, perhaps I should check our flight status. Our flight from Orlando to San Francisco was delayed. By 12 hours. It was now taking off at the same time we were due to land in Hawaii from San Francisco! So now we would miss our connection. 3 phone calls and a few less than helpful customer service agents later, we were rebooked. Sunday afternoon we would be flying up to Washington DC, spending the night there, and then taking a nonstop flight from DC to Honoluu Monday morning. I'll spare you the details of our travel, but here are a few highlights and tips:
- I know this may come off as ridiculous, but if you can find a way to travel first class on a long flight, do so. We got the United credit card back in April and have been accruing miles since then. Last month we finally had enough to upgrade all 3 of us from coach to first class, and it made such a difference on the DC to Honolulu flight. We got lie flat beds, a wonderful hot breakfast, a burger and fries halfway though the flight, a warm brownie and an ice cream sundae, and the extra space helped us all to not go stir crazy on such a long flight. We can't afford to fly first class on long trips, but those miles were worth every penny it took to accrue them.
- Grayson slept for a total of 1.5 hours on the 10-hour flight. I'm grateful he didn't cry or have any kind of explosive diaper issues (my 2 biggest concerns for the flights!) but trying to keep him entertained for that long was exhausting! He likes to 'stand' and look at everyone and be sung to and generally given way more attention than I felt like giving by the end of the flight! With an hour left to go and me running out of energy for another round of 'The Wheels on the Bus' a flight attendant offered to take him for a walk. I accepted, and this wonderful man spent 30 minutes walking him up and down the aisles as they prepared for landing. He seriously saved my sanity!
- The crew in general on United were incredible. The pilots invited Harrison onto the flight deck before take off and let him wear a pilots hat and have his picture taken. He LOVED it! At one point DH was asleep and Harrison was trying to figure out the tv controls. I was trying to get up to help him without waking Grayson, when the flight attendant came over. Not only did he help Harrison with the tv and headphones, he retucked his blanket and gave him an extra cookie. They were just the nicest people, and totally made up for the airline messing up our original plans.
- We landed in Honolulu at 1.15pm yesterday (Monday). I don't know if we just happened to be the furthest gate from baggage claim, but it was a loooooong walk to get there. It did give Harrison a chance to burn off some energy though! Honolulu airport is also going through some renovations and we struggled to find an elevator for the stroller. In the end a very nice security guard (who didn't know where the elevator was either!) helped us carry the stroller down stairs. Just be aware of that when arriving!
We arrived at Aulani at 2.15pm and I swear, one sight of the pool and the beach and the characters walking around, and we were all bouncing off the walls, exhaustion forgotten. DH and Harrison put bathing suits on and were on the beach by 2.30pm. Grayson and I walked around and tried to figure out where everything is. We stopped by the Lava Shack to pick up 2 refillable mugs ($19.88 each) and stopped at Mama's Snack Stop for chili and cheese over sticky rice ($8.37) which was delicious. I ended up bringing Grayson up to the room to nap (of course NOW he's tired!) and around 4.30pm, DH and Harrison came back up too. DH's mom had made dinner in the 2-bedroom, fried chicken and potatoes and broccoli, so we all went over there to eat and Harrison got to play with his cousins. By 6pm however, we were all done, we could hardly keep our eyes open. We put Grayson in a pack and play and Harrison on the pull out sofa, and both were asleep within minutes. I went down to the shop to get milk and water, and came back up to find DH fast asleep. I think we were all out by 7pm.
Sorry this report has no pictures, I always hate that when reading but I will take photos tomorrow I promise! I can also answer questions or look things up while I'm here, just let me know! I'm off to try to get back to sleep now!
I am curious tho - did you get a refund on your Sunday night stay at Aulani? We are definitely purchasing travel insurance with our package to help cover any unexpected delays. The seats on the airline sound heavenly 
with both kids waking up as the sun came up. Grayson had woken up twice during the night to eat, which is normal, but he usually sleeps until 9am, I guess he's still adjusting to the time difference. Harrison announced at 5.15am that he was STARVING so he was given milk and a granola bar to keep him going until our breakfast reservation at 9.30am. I showered and gave Harrison a quick bath, then he and I took Grayson out for a walk in the stroller so DH could get ready in peace (I'm sure he went back to bed...) 
and handed his bran muffin back to the server when she checked on us. So that was totally worth $9. 
