Leshaface
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2008
Greetings folks and welcome to my Aulani TR! You can usually find me over at the WDW TR thread, where we’ve taken several trips to the World.
On this particular trip it was me(Alicia), DH (Dan), DS (Cal, 4 at the time), DS (Q, 6 months at the time), DM(Angie) and DMiL(Lory). We are DVC members so booked this trip right at the 7 month mark and were able to score a 1 Bedroom Island Garden View for 6 nights, October 8 – October 14, 2016. And this had to have been one of the most relaxing, tranquil vacations we’ve ever taken. No rope drops. No park hopping. No fastpass reservations. Just a spa day, a few meals, and that’s about the extent of our ‘planning’. It was wonderful! So please take a journey with me back a year and a half ago to this marvelous place!
Saturday, October 8, 2016
But it was a very smooth morning. My MIL and DM met us at our house by 4am to get them packed up. DMIl started off our morning with a good laugh. DH went to put her bag in our car and he mentioned there was no way she was going to make the 50 pound weight limit. We do have a luggage hand scale so we weighed it and it was over by 5 pounds. We told her she could move some things into our bags if she wanted but she said she’ll move some things into her carry on. She opens up her suitcase and…….
THERE’S 13 PAIRS OF SHOES! Thirteen. 1-3.
On this particular trip it was me(Alicia), DH (Dan), DS (Cal, 4 at the time), DS (Q, 6 months at the time), DM(Angie) and DMiL(Lory). We are DVC members so booked this trip right at the 7 month mark and were able to score a 1 Bedroom Island Garden View for 6 nights, October 8 – October 14, 2016. And this had to have been one of the most relaxing, tranquil vacations we’ve ever taken. No rope drops. No park hopping. No fastpass reservations. Just a spa day, a few meals, and that’s about the extent of our ‘planning’. It was wonderful! So please take a journey with me back a year and a half ago to this marvelous place!
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Travel Day
We generally fly out of LAX (2 ½ hours South of us) but this time, with the new baby, we thought we’d make it a little easier and fly out of our smaller airport located only 45 mins North of us, Fresno, CA.
Our flight was at 6am. With a 4 year old…and a 6 month old. That means out the door by 4:15am. That also means I’m up at 2:30am.
But it was a very smooth morning. My MIL and DM met us at our house by 4am to get them packed up. DMIl started off our morning with a good laugh. DH went to put her bag in our car and he mentioned there was no way she was going to make the 50 pound weight limit. We do have a luggage hand scale so we weighed it and it was over by 5 pounds. We told her she could move some things into our bags if she wanted but she said she’ll move some things into her carry on. She opens up her suitcase and…….
THERE’S 13 PAIRS OF SHOES! Thirteen. 1-3.
I soooooo badly wanted to take a picture but didn’t want to embarrass her either cause I’m pretty sure she didn’t think we would be looking through her stuff DH pleaded with her to leave some behind. I think she left a pair or two of heels and moved a couple into her carry-on. Well 11 is good for Hawaii, I guess And just for the record, she told me when we got home she only used 3 pairs!
The airport was uneventful and easy, which was what I was hoping for. It was a short flight to LAX and from there Honolulu!
We had a fairly short layover in LA so just enough time to grab some water, foods and restroom stop. But while we were getting food, my DM told DH that she saw Darryl Strawberry! He didn’t believe her and went looking and yep, he was sitting there and he asked very politely if our son could take a picture with him and he was very gracious in allowing him to do so.
Soon, we were boarding our flight
And we were off! BTW, it was so weird going ‘backwards’. We’re so used to going to FL that the whole idea of gaining three hours in the beginning of the trip was nuts!
Our boys did fabulous the entire 5 hour flight. Our oldest is a pro on planes and was a little worried about Q but he slept and ate.
And soon we were seeing this!
And finally the runway. Excuse the big ol’ dome in the way!
Once we landed, we needed to get our luggage and get to the car rental facility. I made a post a while back on some tips that would hopefully help others to make certain aspects of their trip easier, so I’ll just repost what I wrote regarding the airport shuttle/car rental
* Car Rental – We ended up going through Costco Travel for our car rental (Alamo). I HIGHLY recommend a Mini Van. We are not mini van people, but man, having all that room was great. It was also about 20 bucks cheaper than the Full Size SUV’s. You do have to take a shuttle from Honolulu Airport since it’s off-site. It is NOT on HNL property. And not going to lie, it took a while for us to get a shuttle. About 20 minutes. It wasn’t lack of shuttles, they kept on passing us since we were the last stop and they were always full. If you’re able to, try to get the first bus stop. I know that will be difficult to think about as soon as you land, but when you’re at baggage claim, try to get out those very first doors if possible. In hindsight, we should have just walked down to the first stop and hopped on there. I’ll put this in bold: USE THE KIOSKS!!! As soon as I got off the shuttle, more than half of the shuttle went to the line and everyone else to the kiosks. Very, very easy (even for the technology challenged!) and there’s someone there to help you if necessary. Also, with Costco you’re able to add an extra person from your party to drive your rental for free!)
Once we were loaded up in the mini van, we decided to stop off at Target and Costco for groceries. Reposted tip
* Target and Costco – This is Exit 1 on your way into Aulani. This is not a SuperTarget so some things we did have to go to Costco for. But one thing I don’t think I even read about (or maybe I forgot!) was they don’t give plastic bags. You need to either bring your own reusable bags or buy some. Just keep that in mind when going.. If you are a Sushi/Poke fan, PLEASE grab some while at Costco! Oh my, so delicious and fresh! It is located directly across from the premade fresh items in what they call a ‘coffin freezer’ (had to ask where the Poke was and they used this term!) and they had lots of different types available.
Getting to Aulani from Target was very easy (despite the no signage for Aulani itself!) but once we stepped into the lobby, it was breathtaking! An open air lobby that lets the breeze in and it smelled so fresh and sweet. Everyone in the place was so happy, creating a very positive atmosphere.
Luckily for us, our room was ready:
And our view
Looking down
The room was a little on the small side for a 1 bedroom but it fit our needs. We're accustomed to AKV Kidani 1 bedrooms where you have 2 full bathrooms, so we really had to communicate with each other about taking showers and getting ready. Also, there are two doors that lead into the bathroom, one from the Master bedroom and one from the entryway hallway, so you’d have to lock both doors when using it.
I made a video for my last TR just as an update, so here’s a good spot to put it if you want to take a peek! It includes a tour of the lazy river and some pictures you just saw up above.
If you watched the video, you’ll see that we hit the Lazy River right before they closed it up for the night. We had it all to ourselves and it was super peaceful and relaxing, but a smidge cold.
If you watched the video, you’ll see that we hit the Lazy River right before they closed it up for the night. We had it all to ourselves and it was super peaceful and relaxing, but a smidge cold.
I’m pretty sure we had dinner in our room from all the food we had purchased from Target, so that wraps up our first day! Tomorrow, a Character breakfast and Spa day!
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