BigTex71
DIS Dad #536...... Fort Worth, Texas
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2009
I suppose this might be considered a Pre-Trip Report Lite. Tastes great - less filling. It originally started as a straight up itinerary overview - then morphed as I was typing. The excitement is getting the best of me. So maybe not LESS filling, but I hope it tastes great.
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We have our first visit to Aulani coming up on Monday and we are overly excited. This has been planned for nearly a year and it is all culminating into reality soon. I have been reading so many great trip reports here, listening to podcasts, watching YouTube vlogs, and exercising my black belt Google-Fu skills to be prepared. I almost feel as if this will be my second trip after all that - so it will feel familiar. I have picked up lots of great tips and recommendations from the Dis boards to incorporate into my Mother Of All Hawaiian Family Vacations Co. Limited Killer Itinerary. (It will follow after some other blabberings in the next few paragraphs.)
I am a big-time planner (I find part of the fun of a vacation is researching and planning), but DW is not a planner. I want to go in with at least a basic guideline for what we can/will do each day - especially for an awesome (read: expensive) trip like this. After 5 nights at Aulani, we will be hopping over to Maui for 4 nights - staying in an Airbnb we found in Kihei near the water.
It will be a hectic few days before we fly out Monday morning because my son graduates high school on Saturday, then we have a graduation party at the house on Sunday. We leave the house at Dark O'clock on Monday morning for the flight out of DFW. With DW's health concerns, we decided that if we were going to do a non-stop flight from DFW to HNL, it would be better if we flew first class. (Yeah - a health issue. Can I claim part of the ticket through my medical insurance? LOL)
Here is an overview of my afore-mentioned itinerary (henceforth known as The Itinerary.) I had posted this on the Aulani Planning group on the MyFacePageBookagram and it helped me make a few tweaks. I wanted to share here for more feedback and other possible suggestions or tweaks. Thanks in advance!
Day 1: "The Arrival"
Arrival to HNL around 1pm. Pick up the rental car from Alamo, drive to Aulani to drop off luggage. Lunch and Costco/Target for groceries and necessities. Explore Aulani and the Pools/lagoon. Dinner in the villa.
Day 2: "Resort Chillaxin' Day"
Eggs n Things breakfast across the street from Aulani (so not "all day" at the resort.) All day* relaxing at the resort. Lunch and dinner in the villa.
Day 3: Our Own Private Oahu Tour (Part 1)
Oahu Private Tours - South Side (Waikiki/Windward side) from 8 am - 2 pm including Leonard's Bakery, Pali Lookout, Halona Blowhole, Kailua, Kane'ohe, Sea Cliffs, Lava Tubes, Byodo-In Temple. Relax at the resort after and dinner in the villa.
Day 4: Our Own Private Oahu Tour (Part Deaux)
Oahu Private Tours - North Shore from 8 am - 2 pm including Waimea Valley and Beach, Dole Plantation, Haleiwa, Sunset Beach, Fruit Stands, Kuilima Cove, Banzai Pipeline, Turtle Beach, Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. Relax at the resort after and dinner in the villa.
Day 5: Waikiki Fridaikiki
Breakfast in the villa. Hanauma Bay snorkeling, Ala Moana Mall (lunch in International Market or Rainbow Drive-In), Ala Moana Beach Park. Dinner reservation at Duke's @ 4:45 pm. Sunset and fireworks at Waikiki Beach (It's Friday). Resort.
Day 6: So Long Oahu - Hello, Maui
Breakfast in the villa. Enjoy resort for the morning, then check out of Aulani. Swap Meet at Aloha Bowl(?), return the rental car, fly to Maui, pick up the new rental car (Sixt). Costco/Target then food trucks near Costco for dinner. Check-in Airbnb condo in Kihei.
Day 7: North by Northwest (Maui)
Breakfast in the condo. Ka'anapali Beach, Napili Beach. Lunch at Coconut's in Kihei and Ululani's Shave Ice. Lahaina. Dinner at Kimo's in Lahaina @ 5:30 pm (Sunset Dining!) Condo.
Day 8: Road to Hana
Pack a lunch in a soft-side cooler. Early breakfast in Paia. Road to Hana (using the GyPSy audio tour app of Maui on phone). Dinner at the condo.
Day 9: Crater and Beaches
Breakfast in the condo, Wailea Beach, Big Beach (Makena). Lunch at Da Kitchen. Sunset at Haleakala. Late dinner in the condo.
Day 10: So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish
Breakfast in the condo. Check out. Ho'okipa Beach. Lunch at Paia Fish Market. Kahana Beach (Airport Beach). Drop off the rental car, flight to HNL. Flight to DFW.
Just think... this is the condensed version of The Itinerary. You should see my Excel spreadsheet. Yes, I may go a little crazy in detail in my planning - but this is more of a guideline than a rule. I will do a whole trip report when we get back so we can see how much of this we actually followed. And I will include lots of photos - I am renting a Nikon Z7 mirrorless camera for the trip, so I hope to have a few keepers in the thousands of photos I will take.
SO - what do you think? Too aggressive? Too chill? Just right? Do you have experience with some of these things? What would you remove or add?
(Did my coworkers think I would actually be productive at work these last few days leading up to my vacation?!)
--------------
We have our first visit to Aulani coming up on Monday and we are overly excited. This has been planned for nearly a year and it is all culminating into reality soon. I have been reading so many great trip reports here, listening to podcasts, watching YouTube vlogs, and exercising my black belt Google-Fu skills to be prepared. I almost feel as if this will be my second trip after all that - so it will feel familiar. I have picked up lots of great tips and recommendations from the Dis boards to incorporate into my Mother Of All Hawaiian Family Vacations Co. Limited Killer Itinerary. (It will follow after some other blabberings in the next few paragraphs.)
I am a big-time planner (I find part of the fun of a vacation is researching and planning), but DW is not a planner. I want to go in with at least a basic guideline for what we can/will do each day - especially for an awesome (read: expensive) trip like this. After 5 nights at Aulani, we will be hopping over to Maui for 4 nights - staying in an Airbnb we found in Kihei near the water.
It will be a hectic few days before we fly out Monday morning because my son graduates high school on Saturday, then we have a graduation party at the house on Sunday. We leave the house at Dark O'clock on Monday morning for the flight out of DFW. With DW's health concerns, we decided that if we were going to do a non-stop flight from DFW to HNL, it would be better if we flew first class. (Yeah - a health issue. Can I claim part of the ticket through my medical insurance? LOL)
Here is an overview of my afore-mentioned itinerary (henceforth known as The Itinerary.) I had posted this on the Aulani Planning group on the MyFacePageBookagram and it helped me make a few tweaks. I wanted to share here for more feedback and other possible suggestions or tweaks. Thanks in advance!
Day 1: "The Arrival"
Arrival to HNL around 1pm. Pick up the rental car from Alamo, drive to Aulani to drop off luggage. Lunch and Costco/Target for groceries and necessities. Explore Aulani and the Pools/lagoon. Dinner in the villa.
Day 2: "Resort Chillaxin' Day"
Eggs n Things breakfast across the street from Aulani (so not "all day" at the resort.) All day* relaxing at the resort. Lunch and dinner in the villa.
Day 3: Our Own Private Oahu Tour (Part 1)
Oahu Private Tours - South Side (Waikiki/Windward side) from 8 am - 2 pm including Leonard's Bakery, Pali Lookout, Halona Blowhole, Kailua, Kane'ohe, Sea Cliffs, Lava Tubes, Byodo-In Temple. Relax at the resort after and dinner in the villa.
Day 4: Our Own Private Oahu Tour (Part Deaux)
Oahu Private Tours - North Shore from 8 am - 2 pm including Waimea Valley and Beach, Dole Plantation, Haleiwa, Sunset Beach, Fruit Stands, Kuilima Cove, Banzai Pipeline, Turtle Beach, Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. Relax at the resort after and dinner in the villa.
Day 5: Waikiki Fridaikiki
Breakfast in the villa. Hanauma Bay snorkeling, Ala Moana Mall (lunch in International Market or Rainbow Drive-In), Ala Moana Beach Park. Dinner reservation at Duke's @ 4:45 pm. Sunset and fireworks at Waikiki Beach (It's Friday). Resort.
Day 6: So Long Oahu - Hello, Maui
Breakfast in the villa. Enjoy resort for the morning, then check out of Aulani. Swap Meet at Aloha Bowl(?), return the rental car, fly to Maui, pick up the new rental car (Sixt). Costco/Target then food trucks near Costco for dinner. Check-in Airbnb condo in Kihei.
Day 7: North by Northwest (Maui)
Breakfast in the condo. Ka'anapali Beach, Napili Beach. Lunch at Coconut's in Kihei and Ululani's Shave Ice. Lahaina. Dinner at Kimo's in Lahaina @ 5:30 pm (Sunset Dining!) Condo.
Day 8: Road to Hana
Pack a lunch in a soft-side cooler. Early breakfast in Paia. Road to Hana (using the GyPSy audio tour app of Maui on phone). Dinner at the condo.
Day 9: Crater and Beaches
Breakfast in the condo, Wailea Beach, Big Beach (Makena). Lunch at Da Kitchen. Sunset at Haleakala. Late dinner in the condo.
Day 10: So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish
Breakfast in the condo. Check out. Ho'okipa Beach. Lunch at Paia Fish Market. Kahana Beach (Airport Beach). Drop off the rental car, flight to HNL. Flight to DFW.
Just think... this is the condensed version of The Itinerary. You should see my Excel spreadsheet. Yes, I may go a little crazy in detail in my planning - but this is more of a guideline than a rule. I will do a whole trip report when we get back so we can see how much of this we actually followed. And I will include lots of photos - I am renting a Nikon Z7 mirrorless camera for the trip, so I hope to have a few keepers in the thousands of photos I will take.
SO - what do you think? Too aggressive? Too chill? Just right? Do you have experience with some of these things? What would you remove or add?
(Did my coworkers think I would actually be productive at work these last few days leading up to my vacation?!)