Magical Oahu Vacation--Trip Report

[andrencau]

Pre-Trip Introduction






We are a family of 5 (plus my sister-in-law) that are huge Disney Fans. We are from a small town in Alabama. Me(Dad), Wife, 18yo daughter(almost HS graduate), 16yo son,14yo daughter and many times the sister-in-law on our Disney trips. We were yearly WDW visitors until COVID hit. Post COVID, we have been to WDW once and DL once. We have also been on the Wonder, Dream and Fantasy. So naturally, Aulani has always been on the radar. Being DVC members, we were able to use some points at DL, but were ready for a big trip.

My son and I went on a trip last year during the whole United Airlines melt down. We went to El Salvador and had flight issues going down. On the way back, we made it to Houston when we encountered another problem. United was begging people to take a flight the next day in order for crew to make it to Birmingham. They started by asking for volunteers. Then $100, $500, $1000. After still no bites, we offered to step off for $5000 each (go big or go home, right?). They accepted and 8 people were given $5000 in United credit. So my son and I walked away with $10,000 in United credit.

So the dreaming and planning began. My 18yo will be graduating high school in May and we have DVC points and "free" airfare. Why not take a family of 5 to Aulani for 8 nights and pre-celebrate my daughter's graduation? At first it seemed like everything would need to line up perfectly in order for that to work. I started looking for dates after graduation, but was too slow each day to snag a 2BR at Aulani. Every morning that I tried, they were gone. And before you ask, no I was not dedicated enough to get up super early to look. . I was going between United and DVC looking at cheapest days to fly and available days for 2 BR. So we settled for April 7th-April 15th. It worked out so well, that we were able to fly Economy Plus to Aulani and First Class home for just under $800 out of pocket. To say I was excited was an understatement!

This is my first trip report, please be patient.....Also if you have questions, I would love to help with any that I can.

Stay tuned for Day 1!!!!

 

[MinnieSueB]

Looking forward to your trip report. We are going end of May for my DD's HS graduation gift and would love to hear how yours went.

 

[alohamom]

Following and looking forward to the rest!

 

[wishiwasindisneyjen]

Can't wait to read all about your trip. What a great use of the United credit!

 

[andrencau]

Day 1

Actually this starts out with the night before. If you read my introduction, we have a rocky past with United. About 6pm (the night before our 6:30am flight), we got a notification that our Birmingham to Houston flight had been delayed by 4 hours. We would miss our connecting flight to Honolulu. So I got on the phone to United and after about 30 minutes our flight had been changed to Huntsville. Both are about the same distance for us, but we never fly out of Huntsville because it is always more expensive. Fortunately, this was our only issue with United this trip.

So 3am comes along and we are up and ready to leave by 3:30 to get to the airport. I go into full on Dad-mode and want to get there as early as I can. Unfortunately, that caused a quick 10 minute stop with a police officer and a friendly reminder to slow down. Everyone thought it was funny except me.We made It to the airport in plenty of time and breezed right through security. We boarded on time and made the 2 hour-ish flight to Houston and then met up with my sister-in-law there. After about a 1.5 hour layover, we boarded our flight to Honolulu. We had premium economy seats and plenty of room to spread out for the 8.5 hour flight.

After a tolerable breakfast, a couple of naps, some Yahtzee and movie watching, we arrived in Honolulu around 1:30pm local time (5 hour difference for us). As a happy note, I received a text that our room was ready. I was not expecting that at 1:30pm, but I am not one to complain (much).

I arranged for a lei greeting and Jaron from Hawaii Flower Lei texted me and let me know he was in baggage claim. He was super friendly and it was a great surprise for my family. When my wife and I came 20 years ago, we received leis upon arrival at our hotel. Knowing this wasn’t the case, I wanted everyone to have the experience. As luggage came out, I went ahead and went to the car rental place to stand in line for the car. We rented from Sixt and I got a good deal on a BMW SUV that holds seven people for 9 days/8 nights. Of course online checkin did not work, so I was in line for about 20 minutes. It felt as if every plane in the world landed at the same time in Honolulu. Everywhere seemed so crowded. We got our luggage and piled it all in the SUV, and a few of us took an Uber to the resort. The SUV was perfect for all of our adventures. It just was not big enough for 6 people and a couple of over packers.

By the time it was all said and done, we rolled into Aulani around 3pm and headed to our 2BR in Ewa Tower. We did not make a room request, but had a beautiful ocean-view on the 8th floor, room number 850.

By the time we all got settled in, we were starving. The somewhat edible breakfast on the flight had definitely worn off and our bodies were telling us we needed to eat so off to Monkeypod we went.

There was only about a 15 minute wait for a table of 6 so we were able to pop into a couple of the stores in the shopping center and then our table was ready. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. We had Garlic Truffle Oil Fries as an appetizer (1/2 off during Happy Hour). For dinner we had Margherita pizza, Saimin, Bulgogi Pork Tacos, and the Organic Macadamia Nut Crusted Fresh Fish. Everyone was pleased with their meals. We all thought it was really good. Part of it could have been “extreme” hunger, but it was very enjoyable. We are not big drinkers, but I love a good Mai Tai. Unfortunately the ones here had macadamia nuts in them. I developed a nut allergy as an adult and have to stay clear of almonds and cashews. It is not a severe allergy, but I definitely do not enjoy the side effects. Since I was not sure about macadamias, I chose to steer clear of this Mai Tai.

While everyone was finishing up dinner, I went ahead and made a Target run. We had a gift certificate from there, so I decided to go ahead and use it up for some groceries and odds and ends. By the time I was back to the room, everyone was pretty tired and ready to call it a night. I think I was asleep by 7:30pm and the rest not too far behind me. We needed to get some good rest because we had an 8:00am appointment for Diamond Head.

 

[Cabius]

Glad y'all had a nice trip out -- what a view on that room!!

I'm surprised that you can usually enjoy mai tais if you're allergic to almonds, since that's one of the main ingredients (in the form of orgeat syrup). Maybe all the sugar counteracts it??

 

[andrencau]

Glad y'all had a nice trip out -- what a view on that room!!

I'm surprised that you can usually enjoy mai tais if you're allergic to almonds, since that's one of the main ingredients (in the form of orgeat syrup). Maybe all the sugar counteracts it??

I did not know that, but some of the menus specifically stated nut allergies and some never mentioned it.

 

[Cabius]

I did not know that, but some of the menus specifically stated nut allergies and some never mentioned it.

I think bars may not have the same strict allergy-labelling rules? But all orgeat is almond syrup, and that's a core ingredient of a mai tai, so I suspect that ~every mai tai you've ever had included quite a bit of almond. If it hasn't been a problem for you so far, then yay?

https://vinepair.com/articles/order...rly dangerous for,the syrup is extremely high.

 

[rochmom4]

Would you happen to remember what type of coffee maker is in the 2 BR kitchen? Is it a cone or basket filter?
Thanks

 

[jtkboston]

We needed to get some good rest because we had an 8:00am appointment for Diamond Head.

How far in advance did you reserve your Diamond Head hike? Did you have to log on exactly when reservations opened?

 

[andrencau]

Would you happen to remember what type of coffee maker is in the 2 BR kitchen? Is it a cone or basket filter?
Thanks

I think it’s basket but it’s a combo coffee pot/Keurig type coffee maker. We only used the Keurig side.

 

[andrencau]

How far in advance did you reserve your Diamond Head hike? Did you have to log on exactly when reservations opened?

I think I did it about a month in advance. I did look day before we went and the early morning ones were gone, but all afternoon was available.

 

[alohamom]

I have never thought of splitting the luggage/passengers into a rental and an uber for the inital run from the airport, that is genius!

 

[bbn1122]

Thanks for sharing your experince. You would never know it's your first TR, you are doing a great job.

I will definielty be following along. I just booked my airfare for a trip with at least my 2 sons this September. I am still waiting to see if DH want to come along (he has a respitory illness that is progressing, plus not a plane person). Plus, my son and DIL may join us too. I have a 2 bedroom Garden view, so we have plenty of room for all. i am a DVC member too! I had no problem booking 7 months out for early September.

Aloha!!

 

[andrencau]

Day 2–Diamond Head

So the blessing or the curse of a 5 hour time difference appeared early on Day 2. For me, I loved the quiet of the area at 5:30am. I was able to get up, enjoy some coffee and enjoy the view. I headed out to get McDonald’s and got everyone ready to walk at the door at 7:00am. We had reservations for 8-10am at Diamond Head and knew that traffic would be an issue. I reserved Diamond Head about a month in advance and I checked the night before our reservation. There were afternoon spots available still, but all the morning spots were “sold out.”

We found this to be a perfect time to go. While there were already crowds when we got there, the sun was not harsh and due to the angle of the sun, there were plenty of shady areas going up the trail.


This was the first place that I noticed the bathroom signs. I thought they were awesome. Several other places had similar signs, too.

The trail was very solid and wide in many places. The elevation wasn’t severe (straight up and down). There were many switchbacks that allowed for a gentler climb. Again, during the time we were on the trail, there were numerous shady spots. We stopped a few times to catch our breath, but were at the top in about 30 minutes. Close to the top there were two options of how to reach the summit. My son and I chose the steps, everyone else went the "easy" way.

For everything being said about the crowds, touristy area, or anything else negative, the views at the top were so worth it. It was quite windy up top and super crowded, but we waited our turn for some obligatory family photos. I would highly recommend this activity for almost anyone. Of course this is not ADA compliant. Other than that fact it is pretty doable for pretty much any age or fitness level. The key would be to go early, take water, and take as many breaks as needed. I would hike Diamond Head again in a heartbeat.

This was truly the only planned activity we had for the day. I did not know how long to allocate for Diamond Head, but we found 2 hours was just right. Since we were in the neighborhood, it was off to Leonard's.

 

[andrencau]

Day 2 continued--Leonard's and Spitting Cave


We were able to park in the parking lot and walk right in to order. We waited about 10 minutes for our piping hot malasadas. For this trip, we chose cinnamon sugar, sugar and li hing flavored. Cinnamon sugar was the consensus favorite and no one was a huge li hing fan (we tried this in some candy later).

So after devouring a couple of malasadas each, we decided to just drive and possibly try a couple of spots that I had researched. This lead us to probably one of the top destinations for all of us for the whole trip. Google Maps calls it Spitting Caves and it has over 1300 reviews. While the spitting cave was really cool, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of the rock formations, the beautiful blues in the water, and the remoteness. The reviews are accurate. You do have to park on a street in a neighborhood. You do have to go down a sketchy looking trail beside a huge, huge beautiful house. The trail is steep in a couple of spots, but it was worth the effort. We spent about an hour here. About 45 minutes of it, we were alone. We did also watch a couple of turtles swim around. They were beautiful and majestic, they just did not photograph well. This was another absolutely come back and enjoy experience. It would be a great place to enjoy a picnic, sunrise, sunset or just soak up the beauty of this place.

 

[andrencau]

I have never thought of splitting the luggage/passengers into a rental and an uber for the inital run from the airport, that is genius!

We waited and tried to get all the luggage in. We just couldn’t do it. The vehicle was the perfect size for everything except luggage for 6 and 6 people.

 

[Jules123]

Loving your trip report. We are headed there in 3 weeks from Tennessee for 8 nights too and our first activity is Diamond Head our first full day also lol.