Trip Report: Hale Koa 6-6 to 6-8 and Aulani 6-8 to 6-15

[crystal1313]

Did you request the two bed lock off? Or were you assigned that? Just curious! I like that your lanai is rectangle! And I would also like to say thank you to your son for his service.

 

[sgrap]

Did you request the two bed lock off? Or were you assigned that? Just curious! I like that your lanai is rectangle! And I would also like to say thank you to your son for his service.

We had 6 people going, and the ocean view 2-bedroom lock-off was the only thing available. We were up at 4:45 a.m. Pacific Time and had everything up at the exact second the 7-month window opened up for us, too. But I think it turned out for the best. Our 25 and 22 year old sons took the studio and they could come and go out their own door without disturbing the rest of us at night. Although the extra queen bed would have been nice. ;-)

Yes, I have nothing to compare it to, but that section of the building all had the rectangular rooms and rectangular balconies which seemed to me bigger. But maybe it is all perception. We took the pull-down bed mattress and put it on the floor in the bedroom between the king bed and the sliding door, and it fit with about 2" to spare. I don't know if you could do that in the angled rooms.

Thank you . . . . our son is home for a while after graduating college and commissioning as a 2nd Lieutenant before leaving for the rest of his training and first duty station. I am thankful for have this time with him! We were very glad he got his CAC (military ID card) after graduation because it came in very handy on our trip. Not only staying at the Hale Koa, but going to the NEX, getting to board first on Alaska Airlines, 5 free 70 lb. bags on Alaska, and getting into Bellows Beach (which was amazing--I'll write about that later in the trip report).

 

[sgrap]

Thursday June 9th was my 50th birthday! I had planned on staying at the resort and relaxing/exploring for the day, then having a Disney photography session on the beach (birthday gift to myself because I figured they couldn't complain TOO much if it was on my birthday and I told them that's all I wanted! ;-) ) and a nice dinner afterward at Roy's. Our sons and our dd 13 got Rainbow Reef passes for the day. They went twice for probably ~ 45 min each and had a great time. I don't personally think it is worth the $ to do it for the week, because it just isn't that big. But for the day, they enjoyed it. We purchased a Fuji waterproof camera at Costco before our trip, so they had fun taking pictures of the fish with that.

We also walked to the Paradise Cove lagoon next door in the afternoon, in hopes of seeing the turtles. No turtles, but it was a fun lagoon and we played around there for a while. Then went back for another round of Rainbow Reef for the snorkelers, while dd 15 and I made our way round the lazy river. Eventually, the rest of them joined us and all 6 of us were in the lazy river together. Good times!

We got cleaned up and headed down for our photo session on the beach. I got the 40-minute session, which I think was $350, but I did get a 10% DVC discount off that, plus instead of the photopass CD being $99, it is $49 if you get the photo session CD. Still expensive, but I really wanted nice family pictures done. I was very happy with the results. I'll try to put a few in (photobucket has been extremely frustrating and taking forever to upload photos. There has to be an easier way than this!!). The photographer was a gal probably mid-20's who was very friendly and fun.

We walked from our photo session to Roy's. Sent dd 22 (the officer--so the fastest runner with all his P.T.! ;-) ) off running ahead of us because we were running a little late for our reservation, and he turned the wrong way and went running in the wrong direction! Then he called and we got him turned around. He beat us there but was pretty out of breath from what turned out to be a more extended run than he thought.

Dinner at Roy's was excellent from start to finish. Very expensive, but we had a wonderful dinner and a lovely time.

It was dark by the time we walked back, and I absolutely loved the lights they had on the street side of Aulani at night. The 'streetlights' were like a propane torch type thing, and there were cool basket-looking lights in the trees. I never saw any of this from the inside. So if you are there, check out the street side of the resort at night.

All in all, a great 50th birthday.

 

[sgrap]

 

[tootogether]

Do you have any pic and tips from Hale Koa? We are doing a split stay between Hale and Aulani next month. TIA!

 

[sgrap]

Do you have any pic and tips from Hale Koa? We are doing a split stay between Hale and Aulani next month. TIA!

We didn't spend much time there and I only took a couple of pics. They have a little gift shop there with decent prices. Not as great as you get at the commissary, but better than other hotel gift shops. We got milk there. You have to have a room card to get up the elevator, so make sure whoever is going up and down has a room key card! We did the crab fest, which was fun but the food wasn't spectacular. The luau wasn't going on a night we could do it there, but we went to it 27 years ago on our honeymoon and it was good then. ;-) ha Oh, there are microwaves on each floor with the ice machines, so you can heat stuff up if you want. I heated my tea.

 

[sgrap]

Lazy River with the family. Photos taken with the Fuji waterproof camera



Paradise Cove lagoon, again photos with the Fuji waterproof


Rainbow Reef pictures with the Fuji underwater

 

[sgrap]

Picture of the Hale Koa from the beach

View from the beach in front of Hale Koa at sunset:

View looking down the beach from in front of Hale Koa:

This was taken with the Fuji waterproof from the ocean in front of Hale Koa

Kind of a cool picture on the waterproof camera of my daughter in the ocean in front of Hale Koa

 

[sgrap]

Do you have any pic and tips from Hale Koa? We are doing a split stay between Hale and Aulani next month. TIA!

I posted a few pictures that I had. I'm sorry I didn't take more! Rooms were pretty basic but had a mini frig. But great location, really pretty resort (can't compare to Aulani of course!) and the price is fabulous. If you have military privileges, definitely go to the commissary by Pearl Harbor (only people with CAC or dependent cards can get in the commissary but we could go in the NEX with our son) for supplies. Also, make use of Bellows Beach if you are there on a weekday--it is past Hanauma Bay going north. It was the BEST beach we found and there was hardly anyone there. I'll post some pics of that when I get to that day. Military only on the weekdays, open to public on the weekend. The sand is the most luxurious I have ever felt. We all absolutely loved it. And we saw wild boars driving in--probably not that exciting to residents, but we thought it was cool. ;-)

 

[sgrap]

My husband surprised me with sparkling cider and a cake waiting in the room when we got back from Roy's:


Family at my birthday dinner at Roy's:

 

[sgrap]

Birthday dessert at Roy's

But this dessert was even better (lava cake maybe?)

Coolest 'street lights' ever out in front of Aulani

This picture doesn't do it justice, but the lights at night out on the street side of Aulani are gorgeous. Hanging light baskets of some sort in this tree.

 

[Loveallthingsmouse]

Thursday June 9th was my 50th birthday! I had planned on staying at the resort and relaxing/exploring for the day, then having a Disney photography session on the beach (birthday gift to myself because I figured they couldn't complain TOO much if it was on my birthday and I told them that's all I wanted! ;-) ) and a nice dinner afterward at Roy's. Our sons and our dd 13 got Rainbow Reef passes for the day. They went twice for probably ~ 45 min each and had a great time. I don't personally think it is worth the $ to do it for the week, because it just isn't that big. But for the day, they enjoyed it. We purchased a Fuji waterproof camera at Costco before our trip, so they had fun taking pictures of the fish with that.

We also walked to the Paradise Cove lagoon next door in the afternoon, in hopes of seeing the turtles. No turtles, but it was a fun lagoon and we played around there for a while. Then went back for another round of Rainbow Reef for the snorkelers, while dd 15 and I made our way round the lazy river. Eventually, the rest of them joined us and all 6 of us were in the lazy river together. Good times!

We got cleaned up and headed down for our photo session on the beach. I got the 40-minute session, which I think was $350, but I did get a 10% DVC discount off that, plus instead of the photopass CD being $99, it is $49 if you get the photo session CD. Still expensive, but I really wanted nice family pictures done. I was very happy with the results. I'll try to put a few in (photobucket has been extremely frustrating and taking forever to upload photos. There has to be an easier way than this!!). The photographer was a gal probably mid-20's who was very friendly and fun.

We walked from our photo session to Roy's. Sent dd 22 (the officer--so the fastest runner with all his P.T.! ;-) ) off running ahead of us because we were running a little late for our reservation, and he turned the wrong way and went running in the wrong direction! Then he called and we got him turned around. He beat us there but was pretty out of breath from what turned out to be a more extended run than he thought.

Dinner at Roy's was excellent from start to finish. Very expensive, but we had a wonderful dinner and a lovely time.

It was dark by the time we walked back, and I absolutely loved the lights they had on the street side of Aulani at night. The 'streetlights' were like a propane torch type thing, and there were cool basket-looking lights in the trees. I never saw any of this from the inside. So if you are there, check out the street side of the resort at night.

All in all, a great 50th birthday.

Thanks for the trip report...sorry for your return home (as if leaving paradise isn't already bad).
Question, how many photos did you get with your session? We had done the longer session on a previous trip (they took pictures in 2 locations, which has changed) so this time we opted for the shorter session, just wondering if I should change it. Thanks!

 

[tootogether]

Thank you

 

[nkereina]

What navigation app did you use that you had a hard time with? Any suggestions for a better one? That's one thing I'm concerned about - looking for a reliable app that will provide adequate directions, and won't kill my battery or eat up data. Any trouble with cell service around the island? (I have Verizon)

 

[alohamom]

HAPPY 50TH!

Thanks for all the great photos, especially the ones with the waterproof camera. I am thinking of buying one for our upcoming trip and I am debating if I should get an all new camera or a waterproof housing for one of our existing cameras but I keep seeing all these great photos taken by the Fuji camera...hmmm, might have to bite the bullet and go get it! Your family looks like they had a blast...

 

[disnygirl55]

You will love it! I know what you mean, I was kind of intimidated by it all too. These boards help a TON though.

Are you or your husband in the military?

Husband just retired in February after 26 years in the Air Force.

Happy birthday to you!! Sounds like an amazing trip for your 50th! Your photos are wonderful, and you have a beautiful family. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

 

[BCV23]

Beautiful family photos! Adding my thanks to your son for his service.

 

[sgrap]

Thanks for the trip report...sorry for your return home (as if leaving paradise isn't already bad).
Question, how many photos did you get with your session? We had done the longer session on a previous trip (they took pictures in 2 locations, which has changed) so this time we opted for the shorter session, just wondering if I should change it. Thanks!

I think we had 103 photos in our 40 minutes.. Basically only in one location, but we moved down the lagoon a bit in the middle. I did not pay for the sunset session, but the sun is kind of behind some clouds and peeking out, which I think it kind of a cool effect.

 

[sgrap]

Beautiful family photos! Adding my thanks to your son for his service.

Thank you!

 

[sgrap]

Husband just retired in February after 26 years in the Air Force.

Happy birthday to you!! Sounds like an amazing trip for your 50th! Your photos are wonderful, and you have a beautiful family. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Oh wow, 26 years! Please thank him for his service!

I would definitely make use of all the military privileges available!

My husband is prior Army but did not retire, so we no longer have privileges through him. I wasn't thrilled about my son going this route, but it was his dream . . . so off we go . . . might as well make the best of it and just keep praying!