February 27, 2012

• Zach got all of President’s week off, so we took our first family vacation of 2012… and really, the first big one since our Disney cruise to Alaska 8 months ago.

  No diaper bag and no stroller! Kids are pulling their own carry-ons. A few more years and we’ll lose the carseats too. For someone who loves travelling as much as I do, this is a big deal.  And before I forget – a huge thanks to my friend Kathy, who set up this vacation for us. Best travel agent ever!

  Day 1 (Sunday): Travel to Oahu … stayed at Turtle Bay and got upgraded to a corner ocean view suite! Dinner that night at Ola’s over looking the ocean. I need to watch ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ again, just so I can recall the set. It was filmed at Turtle Bay, with a few scenes shot at Ola.

    

   

  Turtle Bay is definitely more of a couples resort, although they did have a pool with slide. They also had fresh pineapple juice in the lobby, which was a nice touch. For the price ($300/2 nights on a holiday weekend), I was impressed.

    

    

  Day 2 (Monday): Spent the day at Kualoa Ranch. We got there pretty early and there were a few moments of light tropical rain … which meant rainbows!

    

  I did a 2 hour horseback ride in the valley, while James took the kids on the Ancient Fish Pond and Garden tour.  My tour guide showed us numerous movie and TV sites … there was even a filming in progress. I was mostly interested in Lost since James and I watched the whole series a few years ago. The Godzilla footprints were pretty neat – they used to be much deeper but had to be filled since cows kept falling in. We also passed some WWII bunkers.

   

   

   

  Then after an uneventful cafeteria style lunch at the ranch, James went on a 2-hour ATV ride to approximately the same movie sites. I took the kids on a horse ride (Calie did NOT like it … she loves ponies but the big horses scared her.) I also took the kids on a Jungle Jeep tour, where we got a bird’s eye view of Chinaman’s hat and the ancient fishing pond.

   

    

   

   

  That night, we had dinner at Kahuku Grill, famous for their coconut macadamia nut shrimp … and also stopped at the Kahuku Superette for some poke and a banana donut. Yummy! We swam in the ocean and played in the sand in the evening, but quickly ran back to our hotel suite when it started pouring!

    

   

  Day 3 (Tuesday): After sleeping in, we drove to Ko O’lina. Having read the Aulani Disney resort restaurant reviews on Yelp (mediocre food at a very high price), we opted to try the new shopping complex across the street. Ko O’lina Hawaiian Bar-B-Que. Their highly rated Mochiko chicken was a bit too fried/greasy for James’ taste, but I liked it. My short ribs were also tasty, and the kids enjoyed their French toast. Definitely not for the health conscious though!

  The Aulani looks exactly like it does in the advertisements. We checked in, and took a look at the “Daily ‘IWA” which is best described as a schedule that you’d receive on a cruise ship. The events are color coded by family, kids, and youth (teens).

   

    

  We thought the Menehune Trail scavenger hunt (using a small tablet) would be a fun family activity and help familiarize ourselves with the resort layout - but with the glare from the sun, wind, and hula lesson nearby, it was an exercise in patience. I’d advise doing the trails in the evening after dinner. Since some of the experiences use lighting, it’s more impressive in the dark anyway.

    

  It was a bit windy, but we went back to our room and got into swimsuits for the tube slides and lazy river. There was a body tube slide (pitch black inside!) and another one where you could use a single or double inner tube. The lazy river went through the volcano, complete with ‘fire’, steam, stalactites, and waterfalls. Very well done, as one would expect from Disney. Fortunately the water was warm, as were the 2 pools and 2 hot tubs (one of which was an infinity pool.) Zach and I did play tag through the water play structure though, which had cold(er) water! We couldn’t visit the Aulani and NOT do it, right? None of the pools were deep or appropriate for lap swimming, so the resort was definitely catered to kids (if the Disney theme didn’t tip you off). I noticed one of the pools was completely shaded by trees, which was a nice option for those wanting to limit their sun exposure.

      

   

   

  There was also Disney’s private beach … lots of soft sand and clear, calm waters. Characters were everywhere, showing up not only during designated times for photo ops, but also joining in some of the scheduled activities. The lines were short too – usually 1 person ahead of us, at most 4.

   

  There was a “Rainbow Reef”, where for a fee, you could snorkel with fish. Our kids preferred to just watch the fish from the glass window though.

   

  Despite all this, Zach complained it was boring and he wanted to play video games on the iPad. The whining plus the frustrating Menehune experience, sent me over the edge and I made an executive decision that we needed to drop the kids off at Aunty’s Beach House for dinner. Auntie’s Beach house has dress up, art/crafts, books, games, computers (for video games), a movie room, and an outdoor area with 3 play structures. There were also tables resembling large tablets where 2-4 kids could play games against each other. Occasionally, there would be group activities like hula lessons. And for $8.55, you could buy dinner for your kids (target customer must have been 2 year olds, as the main dish was a cup of mac and cheese with peas … Zach was starving after dinner and wolfed down 3 cereal bars in the room!)

    

  James and I dropped off the kids and headed to Spice House for Thai food. Google Maps is not very accurate in Ko O’lina, and it took us awhile to find the place. The restaurant was small and run down looking, but the food was great. One of the best Tom Yum soups I’ve had, and also a very flavorful tilapia for only $12.99. They didn’t have beer on hand, and suggested that James walk across the parking lot to the 7-11. After 3 hours (some of it driving around lost), we went back to the resort, more relaxed and ready to take on our ungrateful children. We ended the day with stories by the Mo ‘Olelo fire pit. Both kids snuggled up with a parent, and Zachary singing along to ‘Pearly Shells.’ We love our kids, but sometimes you just need a break to reset.

   

  Day 4 (Wednesday): I made 7:30am reservations for Aunty’s breakfast celebration at Makahiki, which is a character breakfast. Goofy, Mickey, and Minnie all made appearances. I love that the resort caters to an Asian palette (likely due to the many Japanese visitors). I’m usually not a fan of breakfast foods, but they won me over with dim sum, a smoked salmon spread, grilled fish, and a really good poached egg with wasabi hollandaise sauce on a poi muffin. Of course, we all had Mickey waffles – just like the ones on Disney cruises! At about the time we got seated, there were activities for the kids, where they paraded with shakers and coconut shells and fish puppets. Since we just sat down to eat, we didn’t participate. As the activities were on the half hour, I would recommend making reservation on the hour. That way, you could eat first and then fully engage in the activities. Zachary did good naturedly walk around with a shaker (he wolfed down 3 waffles faster than the rest of us – possibly traumatized by the single cup of food the evening prior), but you could tell the target audience was 2-5 year olds. I did appreciate that Zach was playing along.

    

  After breakfast, we watched the first of the twice daily fish feeding at Rainbow Reef. We also checked out the sting ray pool (interactive experience available for ~$50 on select days.)

   

    

  Then it was off to the beach for a few hours. Wow. What a nice private beach. Second, in my experience, only to the beaches of the French Polynesian. I’ll let the photos do the talking:

   

    

  At 1pm, I made manicure appointments for Calista and myself at the Lanewai Spa. At first Calista protested (wanted to stay with James) but once she got there, he had fun picking out purple nail polish and sparkles. I’m not sure I would do it again. I think I wanted it for the mother/daughter experience, but Calista is a bit young … and I didn’t like that they didn’t offer the safer, non-toxic nail polishes. Also, with all our activities, our manicures were thrashed before we even got back to the mainland. AND we missed a character Shake-a-Shaka pool party … we walked by it, but didnt have time to don on swimsuits to join the fun competitions. After our spa experience, we joined the rest of the family for a poolside lunch at ‘Off the Hook’. My Kahlua pork sandwich with kim chee was pretty terrific.

   

  In the late afternoon, we headed to the Pau Hana room to make a craft. Apparently, there is a different craft for every day of the week – that day, we decorated fish hook necklaces. Then we took the kids to an “Aloha Fun with Disney Friends” event, where they learned surf moves, and played surf board versions of musical chairs and ‘Simon Says’. As they were playing, Chip and Dale joined the fun – a nice surprise! After the games, we stopped for shaved ice. Not the fine Hawaiian shaved ice, but the mainland state fair kind with lots of artificial colors. We did get island-ish (artificial I’m sure) flavors though, like lychee and li-huing mui.

     

    

  For dinner, we walked across the street to the Only Tacos. The wait was so long that they gave us a 10% discount (we would have preferred faster service) … the food was mediocre, but inexpensive. The kids were exhausted after a long day in the sun and fell asleep as soon as we got back to our room.

  Day 5 (Thursday): Best day yet – and of course, our last day. We kicked off the day with Junior Aloha at 8am in the morning at Aunty’s beach house. The kids did stretches and dancing with Minnie. Again, target audience was Calie’s age (2-5 yrs), but Zach participated to keep Calista company. Then it was back at the beach, where Zach and I swam around the cove to the rocks (and I got cut by coral) while James and Calista played in the sand.

   

   

  I later buried Zach deep in the sand with his legs elevated to render them useless. Calista at first tried to help him, but gave up quickly and decided it would be the perfect time to repay him for “messing” with her by dumping sand on his head. And after being reprimended, just left him to fend for himself.

    

  After we had enough beach, we headed across the resort for lunch at Island Marketplace (same chain as the ABC stores.) I had to have a Spam Musubi and some Ahi poke. After lunch, we shared an ice cream sundae (vanilla and macadamia coconut), which meant we ate at every. single. restaurant. at the new shopping complex. There were numerous open spaces for lease, and I’m sure in the future there will be more options. Since it’s easily walking distance from the Aulani, they are pretty much guaranteed business. I’m sure the lease is expensive though.

    

  After our walk back, we headed to the pools – apparently, we don’t have any issues with swimming right after eating. The kids had a fun time splashing around, and it was nice that so much of the pool was shallow. After not swimming all winter, Calista decided she doesn’t like to put her head underwater again. Fortunately, Zach is still swimming, gliding underwater, and diving. Otherwise, a whole year of semi-private lessons would be wasted.

      

   

   

  In the evening, we finished the first Menehune Trail scavenger hunt. Very well done with lots of creative secrets to find – my only suggestion would be to have an option to increase the volume. With the wind, piped Hawaiian music, splashing, and resort guests talking, it could be hard to hear the device.

  The highlight of the Aulani events was the Starlit Hui, a very family friendly show. The whole event runs 1.5 hours but half of it, the kids were doing crafts and learning the hula. The show was just the right length, with a break, where kids could come up and hula near the stage and join the music with coconut shells. It was very much like a short musical, with the Pacific Ocean as the backdrop. The show ended with all the characters getting up on stage. It then became a party, with more current music (ok, the electric slide is not “current” per se, but it’s not generations old) with everyone up and dancing alongside Disney friends.

    

  Day 6 (Friday): Time to go home. We had our last breakfast out on our lanai, and then headed to the pools. It was still pretty early, so lines for the water slides were very short. Since our flight wasn’t until 2:40pm, we stayed until 10 minutes prior to check out. It was pretty smooth sailing, getting to the airport, returning the rental car, grabbing lunch at the airport, and flying home. Travelling just gets easier and easier as the kids get older. Aside from our frustrations mid-vacation with Zach’s whining for video games, it went very well.

    

  And there we have it. Two nights in North Shore and 3 nights at Disney’s new Aulani resort. If cost were no issue, for families with small children, I’d recommend staying at the Aulani for a week and do a few activities each day, with the majority of the time spent at the pool and beach. If we had a few more days, I would have:

  • Bought a $45 day pass to the Laniwai Spa
  • Snorkeled Rainbow Reef ($20) … it would also have to be warmer as there was a sign stating the water was cold!
  • Had the kids participate in making a volcano and space goo at Auntie’s Beach House (we skipped those, as we did similar projects on a Disney Cruise)
  • Completed all 4 outdoor and 1 indoor Menehune trails
  • Tried SUP (stand up paddling) on the cove for $30/hr
  • Participated in family movie night under the stars
  • Taken a shuttle to Ala Moana shopping center (or maybe not)

  For the cost/value conscious, I would say that you could fit all the good free activities in 2 nights – but you’d have to do some planning. Get there are early as possible in the day and leave as late as possible (check in is at 3pm and check-out is 11am, but they will hold your bags for you all day) to essentially get 3 days out of a 2 night stay. And make sure the Starlit Hui is scheduled on one of the nights – we stayed Tuesday through Friday, and the show was only on Thursday. This may change, so you’d want to call the hotel to check. If the Character breakfast is a big deal, that’s only select days as well (in our case Wednesday and Friday)… but at ~$100 for a family of 4, it’s not exactly cost conscious.

  And just to be clear, Turtle Bay was pretty great too. Let’s just say that when the kids are out of the house (*sniff!*), there is no way in heck I would stay at a Disney resort. For couples and families with older kids … Oahu’s North Shore rocks. If I had more time there, I’d take surfing lessons!

  • 3:54 am
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