Aulani ~ Day 4.1

 

Tuesday morning arrived early as we had learned that we were on this 'east coast' thing still and up early, but thankfully not nearly as early as I had heard others had been. Dale was always up before me but not before the sun was up. He'd eat breakfast and head down to get some chairs by the pool before I got up. I was typically up around 6 or 630 each day (except when we had earlier plans). Today was going to be some relaxation by the pool, some lazy river time. We had a couples massage at the Laniwai Spa later in the afternoon and dinner at Makahiki that evening.

On my way to meet up with Dale who had shared where he had found us seats, I decided it was time to leave my orchid lei with Stitch. It's customary to 'give back' your lei to the ground (so cut the sting and sprinkle the flowers) or you can leave it at Stitch and the resort will take care of it. As you can see, many other had the same idea. I had placed mine in the fridge to 'keep' but our fridge was turned all he way down to the coldest setting when we arrived so my flowers froze (as did my Coke Zero, lol).

We had bought the refillable mugs already. Dale got the traditional Aulani coffee cup (can use for soda, water, coffee, tea, Powerades, etc). I got the metal cup, can use for all the same things, but it keeps things cold (or hot) a lot longer. Got some coffee and a Tropical acai bowl with bananas, pineapple and mango, granola and honey. It was also served with fresh coconut chips which I gave to Dale since I do not care for coconut (only the flavor in a drink, lol). This was absolutely delicious! 

The pools opened at 8am and we were in the water in no time and relaxing and enjoying the sunshine. We really enjoyed the infinite pool as it overlooked the beach and really wasn't too crowded with kids. It was so relaxing. 

At 11am the servers start coming around to see if you would like to order anything from the bar or restaurants. I had stepped away and found out Dale and ordered a drink, some Tropical Fruit Plate and Fried Potstickers.

We enjoyed our afternoon at the pool and the lazy river before it was time to head up to the room to get ready for our spa treatment.

Aulani ~ Day 3.4

We did so much on this day it required a fourth post. After we finished our sunset cruise, we made our way back to Aulani for the DVC member celebration. This event started at 7pm and we weren't getting back there until almost 745 but that was just enough time to get a few goodies and get to see Mickey & Minnie together. There were other photo ops but we didn't have time. There was special kukui nut lei for each person (only available at this event), Dale seemed to wear this one the rest of the vacation, lol.

After we closed down the event, we had decided to hit up the Olelo Room for some snacks and drinks. We had heard about 'the DVC drink' that you could only get at this lounge, so this was the time to check it out. This drink is a DVC member exclusive drink (Pu'U Kilo Punch). It is also offered at a discounted price compared to any other drinks throughout the property. It is not on the menu and you have to ask for it and show your membership card (typically).  I have read this is not too sweet but it must be due to the fact I have been eating healthy and not indulging in too many sweets as I felt this drink was 'sickening sweet' and actually didn't finish it. Dale had the Spring Agenda, he loves an espresso martini but this one was slightly different as it had Chambord in it and very tasty. We also had the Cheeseburger sliders which were very good. Then it was time to call it a night as we had had a very long day!

 

Aulani ~ Day 3.3

 

In the months of planning one of the things I ran across was a sunset tasting cruise, at the marina right next to Aulani. We were active on a couple Facebook groups for planning trips to Aulani. Mana Cruise is located at the marina right next door. They had amazing reviews. They offer daytime full group and private charters. We opted for a small group (six people) sunset tasting cruise. We parked at the marina and walked around before it was time to meet the crew. It was a very peaceful location.

Soon we were met by the crew and escorted aboard the Mana Kahi, a 46-foot catamaran. We were greeted with fresh cut pineapple and cocktails. They don't serve Mai Tai's but instead Mana Tai's, lol! And they were so good. They had bean bag chairs on the bow of the We were moving in no time and after getting out into the water they put the sail up. Crazy how fast you can go with just the breeze.

One of the guests asked if we might see any wild life and they explained that they typically see a lot more in the cruises earlier in the day. No sooner had they said that and we saw spinner dolphins. Every time I tried to see them I would miss. Then, all of a sudden, I saw them. I was so excited! Got a short video of them running along side and another of them right in front of us.

It was such a relaxing time sailing along the coast, seeing Aulani from that view. They had large bean bags to sit on the main deck with the dining area on the aft deck. The crew were checking regularly if you needed a fresh drink or snack as they were also preparing the food. Soon it was time for our tasting. Everything was delicious. As we were finishing it was getting closer to sunset. The clouds kept peeking in and out but we got another amazing sunset.

Oh, did I mention that this boat has three bedrooms and three bathrooms!!! I was shocked. This is the master bedroom and bath. I loved being up on deck, but the motion below deck was a lot more intense. I am mot sure I could handle spending a night on this type of boat, I will stick with our big Disney cruise ships.

Our amazing team, Captain Austin and Marco. WHEN, we get back to Aulani, we will definitely have to do this again!

  

Aulani ~ Day 3-2

After a beautiful morning at Diamond Head it was back to the resort we went. We pass Leonardos on the way and had I known this was going to be the only time I would have made Dale turn around and stop. We did enjoy the malasadas from the resort and they were good (for the person who really doesn't eat donuts often), we never did get the 'famous' Leonardos. We hit the typical traffic on the way back, but not much and were soon back to our 'home'. 

We made a pit stop at the ABC market on the way 'home' for Dale to get Masubi-Spam which he had been looking forward to. I'm not the spam eater, so I opted out, lol. On the way back to the room, we had to stop by the DVC area to get our Hawaiian word of the day. They have a small booklet with I believe five words that you stop in each day to learn and when you fill your booklet you get a small prize for completing this, and you learn some Hawaiian in the process. It was also a nice time to talk to DVC reps with no pressure to add on points. On the way back to the room, we ran into Moana, so we grabbed a quick photo as she went by.

We spent our some time in the lazy river and then it was time for some Papalua Shaved Ice (Mickey ears of course). We knew we wanted to get back to the room to rest a little since we had a sunset dinner cruise booked for a little later this afternoon. We had the best room cast member who truly made our room look so nice the entire week. She made another heart design since our first one I destroyed when I moved it. She was always getting our room done early while we were out in the morning and if I needed something, I'd leave her a note and she'd take care of it. The nice benefit of a regular reservation vs a DVC one. It was time to rest and get ready for our dinner cruise.

   

 

Hawaii ~ Aulani Day Three (part one)

 

We had an amazing time doing our couples photo shoot at the Secret Beach Sunday evening. We met our photographer, Olga, from Sand and Sun Photography just off of Disney property. She made it so easy to have fun while being photographed for someone who typically does not like to be in front of the camera. I am using a different photo for the lead photo of each blog post to share these photos since there were so many that I fell in love with and wanted to share.

We had planned an early night since Monday morning we had a reservation for admission to Diamond Head State Monument for 6-8am. We were told being from the east coast we'd be up early each day so take advantage of the early mornings and this was true. We had heard also that traffic around the island can be a bear so be prepared especially during rush hour. We had used google maps with the feature of what time we needed to arrive. We had planned to leave between 5 and 515am. 

I neglected to mention when we checked into Aulani the front desk asked if we were going to self park or use valet, they were the same price. Well, um, let me think a second... self park is on the other side of the resort from our room and valet will bring the car right to us (and will get the a/c going). It really was a no brainer. Yes, you tip the valet guys but it was so worth the little extra special treatment and they always had tips for you.

We set off on time, which we were really good at doing this trip. We hit little bits of traffic here and there but we arrived at Diamond Head right at 6am. We actually arrived at the pull off before the tunnel you drive through to the parking lot as the sun was just coming over the horizon, so we pulled off and got some quick photos.

Then we quickly got back in the jeep and joined the line of cars waiting to enter the tunnel. This tunnel is one lane at a time, so you have to wait until your side gets the light to enter. In addition, you have people riding their bicycles through there and walking through there. It was only a few minutes and we were through the tunnel and into the parking lot and getting ready to start the trek up! Starting out, you look and think, this doesn't look so bad. We both had water bottles and hats and sunscreen.

6:12am

This isn't too bad, as we walk up and up and up, already, lol. We would take photos to show where we had to go yet and there were people WAY up there! Some of the path is paved, but much of it is not so you had to be really careful where you stepped to avoid any foot or ankle injury (remember that girl that broke her foot before her vacation a couple years ago, yes, me, well I'm petrified of ruining another vacation with an injury).

6:23am - slowly climbing

watch your step

You can see people up top, but we still had a long way to go.

6:27am next look out

6:38am the stairs we totally missed coming down

Wow, we can see so far

6:41am

Absolutely gorgeous!

6:43am

6:49am

Being able to see so far from up top was amazing! How blue the water was just blew you away.

On top of the observation deck!

6:54am on the very top!

We had looked in here but only saw small people going in and I was a little concerned with the size of it. Later we found out that this was indeed a section we were supposed to take (yet we watched everyone else going back down the stairs)!

On the platform overlooking the crater (as were were making our way down)

After we made our way all the way back down to the parking lot it was time to head out to get some coffee. Our valet the morning had mentioned to go to Diamond Head cafe for breakfast or coffee afterwards. So off we went, just a short distance away, but when we pulled into the parking lot, it was actually Bogart's Cafe. It was actually a cute little place with all kinds of items for breakfast and some good coffee. Dale got his typical double espresso and I enjoyed a late. I loved that they served coffee in cute mugs with different designs or sayings on them. After coffee we headed back to the resort to 'start' our day as it wasn't even 8am while we were enjoying our coffee.