TRIP REPORT - July 2018 Waikiki and Aulani FIRST Visit! Last for Aulani

Thanks for the tip!!!! I will investigate where else to get them. I want to send DD some in a college care package! Thanks!
You can also order them on-line - they have some shipping restrictions in the summer months for the chocolate covered ones though!

I completely agree with your encouragement to people to get out and about to see the island. Oahu is such a great island and there is so much to see. We will definitely be doing that 5-0 tour next time. We aren't planning to go until 2020 so I hope the show keeps going a few more seasons!
 
You can also order them on-line - they have some shipping restrictions in the summer months for the chocolate covered ones though!

THanks! I did see that. Hoping for a black Friday special on the shipping but will order anyway if I have too :)

You can also order them on-line - they have some shipping restrictions in the summer months for the chocolate covered ones though!

I completely agree with your encouragement to people to get out and about to see the island. Oahu is such a great island and there is so much to see. We will definitely be doing that 5-0 tour next time. We aren't planning to go until 2020 so I hope the show keeps going a few more seasons!

I would think even without the show filming they will still do tours. All the filming stuff still exists and you don't get into the studio anyway. there is ANOTHER group that does tours a well. Run by one woman. Definitely less expensive but I haven't taken it to vouch for it. I am however going to next summer just to compare. She goes into the North Shore a bit but the Jeep Tour does not..they just are Waikiki only so some of the material has to be different enough to warrant a second tour I figure!
 
Thanks for your trip report! Good read... I have a couple of questions.

First you said Bishop museum was not what you expected and if you were prepared you would have enjoyed it better. I would like to do this and was wondering what you could have know to make it more enjoyable. FWIW we would be paying to enter too so I definately don't want to have the wrong impression of what it is.

Second what videos did you watch that better described Aulani with it being remote etc. We are staying here for the full 10 nights despite debating a hotel in Waikiki, financially it was more prudent at Aulani due to the fact that we have a family of 5 and to get the same it is double nearly everywhere. (great rate at Aulani) Yet I would like to get myself in the right frame of mind. I am like you and like people and cities etc so do plan on spending time in Waikiki so any tips greatly appreciated. We will have a car as I watched many Mark Weins food travel Vlogs and must hit at least half of his recommendations. lol
 
Thanks for your trip report! Good read... I have a couple of questions.

First you said Bishop museum was not what you expected and if you were prepared you would have enjoyed it better. I would like to do this and was wondering what you could have know to make it more enjoyable. FWIW we would be paying to enter too so I definately don't want to have the wrong impression of what it is.

Second what videos did you watch that better described Aulani with it being remote etc. We are staying here for the full 10 nights despite debating a hotel in Waikiki, financially it was more prudent at Aulani due to the fact that we have a family of 5 and to get the same it is double nearly everywhere. (great rate at Aulani) Yet I would like to get myself in the right frame of mind. I am like you and like people and cities etc so do plan on spending time in Waikiki so any tips greatly appreciated. We will have a car as I watched many Mark Weins food travel Vlogs and must hit at least half of his recommendations. lol

Sure! Great questions. For the Bishop, I would start with you tube - see if anyone did a walk thru film of it? It is small. From what others recommended was to allow 2 hours. However when I was planning I came across I think it was YELP that shows an average time people spent and it showed under an hour which surprised me initially as we really enjoy natural history - animals, etc. I just did a quick google search and there are several videos in You Tube I should have done that!

Second
- I watched this AFTER my trip because I wanted to be surprised. yeah I know...brilliant idea...Had I watched before I would have been more prepared. Also
https://goo.gl/maps/Y8ypMMRP7sp
https://goo.gl/maps/1XTZGtmue2A2

Hope this helps. And yes I totally get your issue with a a hotel room. At the HAlekaulani the most they accept per room is 3!!! That is crazy. Then you have to swing into a second hotel room for the night. So I understand in the weird way Aulani being cheaper when your family size is above 4 for sure! Hope that helps.
 


Thank you for your very informative trip report!

Your spa treatment sounds amazing- I'm trying to decide what to book for our upcoming trip. Is the the treatment you did or if not do you remember the name of it?

Nature's Healing ‘Āina (Land)
This invigorating treatment will help to detoxify your skin and leave it glowing. Delight in a tropical exfoliation followed by a warm volcanic clay wrap and a hydrating lotion application. Finish it all off with a warm coconut oil scalp massage.
 
Your daughter is so cute! I love that she wanted and got a koa wood ukulele! We love great ukulele music! Amazing how much sound can come out of one of those tiny guitars! :cutie:

Love that you did the backstage tours too! I always find those so informative. AND fun!!
 
Thank you for your very informative trip report!

Your spa treatment sounds amazing- I'm trying to decide what to book for our upcoming trip. Is the the treatment you did or if not do you remember the name of it?

Nature's Healing ‘Āina (Land)
This invigorating treatment will help to detoxify your skin and leave it glowing. Delight in a tropical exfoliation followed by a warm volcanic clay wrap and a hydrating lotion application. Finish it all off with a warm coconut oil scalp massage.

yep! that is the exact treatment and it is AMAZING! the identical one is the avocado one but it is cooling. I was torn on which to book and the receptionist said the warm one was her favorite and I went with it. Glad I did! You pick your scent and I picked the coconut one and it smelled delicious and that is the moisturizer they then use at the end.
 


Your daughter is so cute! I love that she wanted and got a koa wood ukulele! We love great ukulele music! Amazing how much sound can come out of one of those tiny guitars! :cutie:

Love that you did the backstage tours too! I always find those so informative. AND fun!!

Aw thanks! Yes Koa was on her bucket list as she says and she got a koa phone case and figured that would be the extent of her Koa purchase. But as I said the seconds room plus additional ukekle weekend discount how could I say no? :) I love backstage tours...I haul this family on every opportunity there is one! I am telling you that hotel tour was awesome....we even got free garment bags - cloth! She has her formal gowns now zipped in them...
 
yep! that is the exact treatment and it is AMAZING! the identical one is the avocado one but it is cooling. I was torn on which to book and the receptionist said the warm one was her favorite and I went with it. Glad I did! You pick your scent and I picked the coconut one and it smelled delicious and that is the moisturizer they then use at the end.

Great-thank you! It sounds lovely!
 
Oh my gosh! Great trip report. I am going to steal a lot of your ideas as we are heading back to Waikiki/Aulani in December 2019. I loved your take on Aulani. I think we loved it for all the reasons you didn't. (Now, that could be because we were in the Grand Villa and we won't be next time--too many points) but we loved being 'bored' there with not much going on and loved the dim lights. I can certainly see how that would also be a negative! However, we were there after a very long trip to NZ/Australia and it was the perfect place to unwind.

That said, we LOVED the Waikiki area, too and plan to stay the bulk of our time there and then 3-4 days at Aulani. We will stay in either RH or HHV (based on how many SPG/Hilton points I have by then).

Again, loved your report! Would love to hear about your next trip and activities on Oahu!
 
Oh my gosh! Great trip report. I am going to steal a lot of your ideas as we are heading back to Waikiki/Aulani in December 2019. I loved your take on Aulani. I think we loved it for all the reasons you didn't. (Now, that could be because we were in the Grand Villa and we won't be next time--too many points) but we loved being 'bored' there with not much going on and loved the dim lights. I can certainly see how that would also be a negative! However, we were there after a very long trip to NZ/Australia and it was the perfect place to unwind.

That said, we LOVED the Waikiki area, too and plan to stay the bulk of our time there and then 3-4 days at Aulani. We will stay in either RH or HHV (based on how many SPG/Hilton points I have by then).

Again, loved your report! Would love to hear about your next trip and activities on Oahu!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it and hope it helped! There are so many amazing things to do in Hawaii!! We can't wait to go back! I want to redo a few things but experience new too! I have a lot of SPG points too..hoping to convert them to Hawaii airlines. Have you ever done this? is it a good deal?
 
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it and hope it helped! There are so many amazing things to do in Hawaii!! We can't wait to go back! I want to redo a few things but experience new too! I have a lot of SPG points too..hoping to convert them to Hawaii airlines. Have you ever done this? is it a good deal?
I just got the new SPG card (because I thought I could use it for Hawaii) with the 100,000 bonus but I have not been collecting SPG for a while. I am not sure how good the flight transfer is since they merged with Marriott. It used to be FANTASTIC and they usually offered a bonus when you transferred a certain amount of points. It's definitely worth investigating as the flights are ALWAYS a huge expense to Hawaii.

I may need to look at that too, as it may be better to use my SPG bonus for flights and then book the hotel (maybe your Waikiki Hotel--looked fabulous!).
 
I just got the new SPG card (because I thought I could use it for Hawaii) with the 100,000 bonus but I have not been collecting SPG for a while. I am not sure how good the flight transfer is since they merged with Marriott. It used to be FANTASTIC and they usually offered a bonus when you transferred a certain amount of points. It's definitely worth investigating as the flights are ALWAYS a huge expense to Hawaii.

I may need to look at that too, as it may be better to use my SPG bonus for flights and then book the hotel (maybe your Waikiki Hotel--looked fabulous!).

thanks! I looked up the transfer info and it looks like it is still 1 to 1 ratio with 20 percent bump. I got the 50k one but saw the 100k one but that was for a business card. is that what you got? Do you have to do be a business to get it?
 
A quick note to Aulani newcomers: The feel of the resort changes completely when you're looking inside the U-shaped towers layout rather than looking outside. Facing outside you might get a pretty but rather standard view of grass, trees, roads, hills etc. Facing inside, particularly from a higher floor, you overlook the resort's gorgeous water features, lazy river etc., a view that's especially lovely after dark as the jungle below twinkles with mood lighting. If you used more points for an ocean view, you'll also see beach and ocean from your lanai and, in the fall, sunsets over the Pacific. Every evening until 9 pm or so you'll hear relaxing live music by Hawaiian artists floating up from below, an experience that I thought would annoy us but instead wrapped us in warm feelings. Our family has experienced both views. We found the outside view made staying at Aulani feel like it was just another hotel in a nice suburb--while the inside view made magic.
 
A quick note to Aulani newcomers: The feel of the resort changes completely when you're looking inside the U-shaped towers layout rather than looking outside. Facing outside you might get a pretty but rather standard view of grass, trees, roads, hills etc. Facing inside, particularly from a higher floor, you overlook the resort's gorgeous water features, lazy river etc., a view that's especially lovely after dark as the jungle below twinkles with mood lighting. If you used more points for an ocean view, you'll also see beach and ocean from your lanai and, in the fall, sunsets over the Pacific. Every evening until 9 pm or so you'll hear relaxing live music by Hawaiian artists floating up from below, an experience that I thought would annoy us but instead wrapped us in warm feelings. Our family has experienced both views. We found the outside view made staying at Aulani feel like it was just another hotel in a nice suburb--while the inside view made magic.

Absolutely! If you know Aulani is for you, definitely on the return trip etc go all out with a grand room. I would have been really down in my case had I done that as it would have been wasted money. no amount of view could make up for the activities or atmosphere for my family during the day.

A few years ago my brother and his family visited WDW for the first time and HATED IT. How could that be> I blamed it on the moderate hotel they stayed at and the weather. Too hot! they needed to be MORE in the middle of it all to love the atmosphere. So I talked him into a GF stay at WDW and he was ready to kill me I think. Didn't change their view at all and now he had spent MORE money to find out the same thing he found out the last time he stayed. All this was hard for me to understand as I love WDW but alas it does not run in the family.....
 
Absolutely! If you know Aulani is for you, definitely on the return trip etc go all out with a grand room...

I'm delighted that you agree. But to get the benefits that pleased my family, you don't need a grand villa. Most (perhaps all) Ocean View accommodations will provide them. We've experienced them both in a studio and in a 2-bedroom. If you're in an Ocean view room looking into the U-shaped towers, overlooking the pool and beach area (we prefer a higher floor to keep the noise down), you'll feel the magic.
 
I'm delighted that you agree. But to get the benefits that pleased my family, you don't need a grand villa. Most (perhaps all) Ocean View accommodations will provide them. We've experienced them both in a studio and in a 2-bedroom. If you're in an Ocean view room looking into the U-shaped towers, overlooking the pool and beach area (we prefer a higher floor to keep the noise down), you'll feel the magic.

For me I’m glad I didnt spend the money for the extra view. No doubt it would be lovely but not enough to carry the visit. My brother overlooked magic kingdom at the grand Floridian and was more bitter after that trip than the port Orleans trip. I think if it’s not for you it’s not for you. It was the location so much for me. I enjoy the city and shopping and crazy if Waikiki .
 
Hello,

I just started reading your trip report. Love the pictures! Lots of good information too. It’s going to be helpful as we live in the east and I’m trying to figure out airfare and where to stay for our spring trip. Aulani is at the top of our list for Oahu. For Maui we picked Grand Wailea.
 
Hello,

I just started reading your trip report. Love the pictures! Lots of good information too. It’s going to be helpful as we live in the east and I’m trying to figure out airfare and where to stay for our spring trip. Aulani is at the top of our list for Oahu. For Maui we picked Grand Wailea.

I am trying to be smarter on airfare this go round. I collect survey points from southwest thru erewards as crazy as that sounds we fly for pretty much free when you by SW on opening day. So for me, it makes sense staying with SW to the furthest point which is California. We are hoping for an ABd in San Fran. This week I opened a few new credit cards and am thinking I can get 3 of us free, first class, to HNL from San Fran one way or "rough it" for both ways round trip in the exra comfort seats but NOT first class.

It is the trip home - Delta, from my experience, offers the best - we are planning on a 1 stop flight from HNL to PIT and flying Delta ONE gives you access to the lounges etc and as crazy as that sounds it makes a nice difference to go there before the flight and between flights. And honestly everyone said how AWFUL this flight is and OMG it will be one and done etc.. I can honestly say I was FINE on the entire trip home and this is from someone that has hip, knee issues and gets stiff in a 2 hour car ride. I was FINE. Delta Gold card is a nice deal if you got one, you then refer your DH for the bonus referral to get the card and you will earn 140k miles between the two of you thus giving you 1400 in free airefare....It was quie the deal for us last year. Alas THAT shipped sailed so I needed new credit cards to have that happen so alas that is what I did this week. Opened other cards :)
 
thanks! I looked up the transfer info and it looks like it is still 1 to 1 ratio with 20 percent bump. I got the 50k one but saw the 100k one but that was for a business card. is that what you got? Do you have to do be a business to get it?
Aargh! You might want to check again on flight transfers. The Marriott and SPG programs are now fully merged and transfers to airlines do not look great. That said, I think I can still get a free stay in Waikiki with my bonus and my Marriott Points. Still not bad! And yes, I got the Business card and used our very, very modest Ebay business (less than $500 per year).
 

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