Aloha, Aulani! Aug. 2021 Trip Report

M:SpilotISTC12

Well-Known Member
Woah! That looked like a trip of a life time! I've been setting points aside to go to Aulani in 2023. We plan on going for a week but that may not be enough time. Maybe I can get some Chase UR points together for a 4 night stay in Waikiki to add. Do you have any suggestions for staying there about a week?
 

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
Woah! That looked like a trip of a life time! I've been setting points aside to go to Aulani in 2023. We plan on going for a week but that may not be enough time. Maybe I can get some Chase UR points together for a 4 night stay in Waikiki to add. Do you have any suggestions for staying there about a week?
Save your money to be able to really enjoy yourself. From what I've seen, it's pretty common for DVC members to skimp on their Aulani trips because paying with points makes it seem like just another vacation that you can do on the cheap.

My #1 recommend attraction is the Bishop Museum. It adds so much context to the music, entertainment, and culture of the island.
 

ZapperZ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Woah! That looked like a trip of a life time! I've been setting points aside to go to Aulani in 2023. We plan on going for a week but that may not be enough time. Maybe I can get some Chase UR points together for a 4 night stay in Waikiki to add. Do you have any suggestions for staying there about a week?

I definitely recommend staying a few nights in Waikiki just for the "atmosphere". Many of the places that we wanted to go were also close to Waikiki, so it was a convenient jumping off point. We stayed at Wyndham Royal Gardens using our DVC points that were transferred to RCI. Based on my personal experience, I would NOT do that again, i.e. I will not be doing anymore RCI transfer. It wasn't a good experience and I felt like I came out on the short end of the deal.

And oh, just be aware that parking is ridiculous on Waikiki. The Wyndham required valet parking, and it was like $36 per day! We were glad that we stayed there only for 4 nights before moving on to Aulani. So if you intend on having a vehicle, check the hotel where you want to stay in Waikiki and see their parking charges.

We also have a loose plan on maybe going back to Hawaii in two years. Want to do the Big Island, and then another week at Aulani.

Zz.
 

ZapperZ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Do you need to view something to help you unwind and just chill out?

Took this short, 2-minute video of sunrise at Waikiki while watching a group of locals fishing. Take a deep breath, lay back and relax as you watch this. And oh, don't miss the bird flying across the screen near the end.



Zz.
 

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
I'm surprised the celebration went off. The Hawaii governor last week discouraged tourists to visit HI due to rising covid rates.
The Hawaii governor is completely tone-deaf. Hawaii isn't like the Jersey Shore where people decide a couple of days in advance that they're going to drive down for a long weekend. People plan months in advance and spend many thousands of dollars. They can't just say "oh gee there's a new COVID wave, I'm going to cancel the trip I've been planning for a year and lose a ton of money from fees and non-refundable deposits."
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
The Hawaii governor is completely tone-deaf. Hawaii isn't like the Jersey Shore where people decide a couple of days in advance that they're going to drive down for a long weekend. People plan months in advance and spend many thousands of dollars. They can't just say "oh gee there's a new COVID wave, I'm going to cancel the trip I've been planning for a year and lose a ton of money from fees and non-refundable deposits."
The Hawaii gov is in touch with his medical experts concerned with the rising covid rates in his state and hospitals being pushed to the brink. Some others are more concerned about their vacation they have planned for in advance. One is making an intellectual decision, others are making an emotional decision.
 

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
The Hawaii gov is in touch with his medical experts concerned with the rising covid rates in his state and hospitals being pushed to the brink. Some others are more concerned about their vacation they have planned for in advance. One is making an intellectual decision, others are making an emotional decision.
It's not an emotional decision to say "I'm not willing to flush $10,000 down the drain."
 

ZapperZ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
During this trip, we made two visits to two different Daiso stores. If you are not familiar with it, Daiso is a chain of stores in Japan that is famous for having most of their items at only 100 Yen (less than US$1) each. It is almost like our Dollar stores here in the us, but with a greater selection of items and, I think, better quality. Where I live in the NW suburbs of Chicago, there are two places near here that carry Daiso stuff, but at $2 a piece or higher. But there are no outright Daiso stores. I believe that there are Daiso stores in California.

So we made our trip to two Daiso stores on Oahu, and we bought mainly Disney-related items. Here they are:

This is a garden stake.
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Bought these two bento boxes. They will be convenient for my lunch if and when I have to make a trip back into work once again.
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Inside one of the bento boxes, you see this, even includes a small pair of chopsticks. The partition in the middle can be removed and is of the right size to fit a sandwich.
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These are compact, reusable bags. they each unfold into the size of a standard grocery plastic bags.
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These are also compact bags when folded, but unfolds into larger reusable bags. We bought several of these and ended up using a couple of them during the trip.
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Another reusable bag. We actually used this bag to stuff all our Daiso purchases. This bag became quite useful when we ordered takeouts. It was big enough to carry almost all of our food order.
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This is simply called a multi-purpose case. I intend to use this as my pen/pencil/marker case. It's transparent and will keep my writing implements from scattering all over my backpack.
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Finally, I found this cute case for my glasses.
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None of the above was above $4 a piece. And people often wonder why I no longer buy a lot of stuff when I go to WDW! :)

Zz.
 

ZapperZ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
No doubt, the most solemn and emotional part of our trip was the visit to Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. For all of us, it was our first visit ever to this immortal place.

We spend the whole morning and part of the afternoon touring the grounds, but I'll show you only our visit to the Arizona Memorial.

We were transported to the Arizona memorial on what appeared to be a US Navy boat. It was operated by members of the US Navy.
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We only had approximately 10 minutes there, so I had to snap lots of photos very quickly. We got to see the wreckage of the Arizona that was under the water and also parts of it that stuck up above the water level.
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We entered an area that listed all the servicemen and servicewomen that died in the attack. But we were also told that those who were attached to the Arizona and survived the attack are given the opportunity to be interred there when they passed away so that they can eternally be with their brothers and sisters who did not survive. So there were names that were added later on as those who served on the Arizona.
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(cont...)
 

cgersic

Well-Known Member
I love Hawaii for so many reasons and after many trips, I generally avoid Oahu altogether. However, that will probably change with the next trip as Aulani looks amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this trip! I'm sad you are home too!
 

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
I love Hawaii for so many reasons and after many trips, I generally avoid Oahu altogether. However, that will probably change with the next trip as Aulani looks amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this trip! I'm sad you are home too!
You can have an incredible and authentic Hawaiian vacation on Oahu. You don't need to avoid the whole island, just avoid Honolulu and especially Waikiki.

(Except for the Bishop Museum, which is incredible.)
 

cgersic

Well-Known Member
You can have an incredible and authentic Hawaiian vacation on Oahu. You don't need to avoid the whole island, just avoid Honolulu and especially Waikiki.

(Except for the Bishop Museum, which is incredible.)
I've been on Oahu several times, but it just got too busy for me and I enjoy the other islands so much that I don't really miss going there. But Aulani may change my mind! I have been to the Bishop and agree it's a must see!
 

ZapperZ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I miss those cool trade winds. A number of locals do t even have AC.

Strangely enough, while we were there, I find that the Aulani area and the beach in front of it were not as windy as I expected. There were winds, but they weren't as much or as strong as I wanted it, which made many parts of the center area rather warm and muggy.

We had more winds when we went to Ewa beach, at least, as windy as I expected. So I don't know if it was just the time of year, or if this was an anomaly that Aulani wasn't as windy as thought it should be.

Zz.
 

ZapperZ

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We did the Menehune Adventure Trail twice during the trip, but only recorded the second one. Unfortunately, during the second go at the trail, a few of the 'events' didn't work, so this video shows only partial fun things that you could see on this adventure trail.



Zz.
 

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