Duane

Now before I try to dive into this and explain our situation, let it be known that my most favorite dish ever is CROW... Love it, love it, love it!  Especially the beak and the feet....  And trust me, I have eaten my share of it! 

Anyway, with that being said... before we bought into DVC, I was about the most anti-time share person out there... I could not fathom why anyone would pay for a place that you could only stay at for 1 week, at a specific time of each year... In fact, we got rooked into a presentation in Williamsburg, VA one time, and we didn't even know that was what  was going on until they had us trapped there in that "big room"... In fact, before we left that property, I had the sales lady calling me a liar, and said the only reason that we didn't buy from her, was that is was all her fault, that she was not on her "A" game that day... I thought to myself, "sister, if you don't get me back to my car as fast as you can, I'm gonna open up a can on you right now"...  Needless to say it left a bad taste in our mouths against timeshares...

Fast forward to 2006.. we were on a Disney cruise and they were hosting a DVC presentation.  Claudine wanted to go... I told her there was no absolute way that I was going near that place to hear what they had to say... Being the man of the family, and shortly after i received "the look", I tucked my tail and went along peaceably....

There were no "big rooms", no high pressure sales pitches, no "if you don't sign this paper today, you will miss out on the deal of the century", they just presented what they had to say, offered to meet with us one on one if we were interested and allowed us to leave.  Needless to say, within the hour, we were sitting in a converted cabin somewhere on the ship.

The main reason we purchased, was like everyone one else on this board.  We love Disney, and at the time, we found ourselves going at least twice per year, because at the time, Ashleigh was in year round school and one of her times off was around the first 3 weeks in February.  

In NC, that is around the time that bad weather hits and I never wanted to get the camper out to travel to the Fort.  I was always afraid we would get stranded either on the way out or on the way back home.  So we decided that DVC would work well for our "winter" vacations.  The summer and fall vacations would still be at the Fort in our camper.

The thing that really "hooked" me was the fact that based on the number of points that I had, I could come down at a moments notice if I had the points to cover, and DVC had the space.  The points were very flexible and I could use them all at once, or break them up for several trips, or I could bank and borrow for a large vacation.

The point values required at each resort can never change. Meaning if it take 10 points per night at SSR today, then 10 years from now, it will still remain at 10 points per night. They can however be "moved around" for the different seasons that Disney likes to use, but overall they cannot change.  Also, once you buy in, you receive that same number of points at the same time each year for the life of the contract. We have 160 points based at SSR, and we get them on Dec 1 of each year. The contract is for something like 40+ years, but someone more versed in DVC can tell you exactly.  The way I look at it, after 40 years, I will be too old to do anything or travel anyway. So for the next 40 or so years, each December I get 160 points to use as I wish and never have to purchase them again.

The thing that I do have to pay for are the dreaded maintenance fees.  They are based on the number of points that you own. So last year, for SSR, the dues were $4.87/point. And they come due around the 15th of January each year. 

The thing that finally pulled me into the boat, was during the presentation they told us what a room at the Contemporary cost back when it first opened... I think he said is was somewhere around $40 per night and now look what it costs to stay there, and Bay Lake Towers was not even built yet.

Basically, you are prepaying for your vacations at Disney for the next 40 or so years.... Even if the price for a room rises to $1000/night, the point values will not change for that same room. They just may get moved around for the Disney seasons, just like a campsite at Christmas costs more than that same site costs in September.  

Now the dues can change but as others have said, there is a cap. Not sure what that number is, but historically they have been reasonable in my opinion.

There are many other scenarios how you can use points,  but I won't bore you with those details...  Also, I'm sure there are others out there who can explain it much better than I...

Hmmm. That luau looks a little too crowded for me.  Does Aulani not offer a luau?

 

TCD

They have something similar, which we did go to... It's called the Starlit Hui,  It lasts about an hour, there is no food or drink involved, and best of all it's free.  I think they perform this about every other night out on a lawn area behind the DVC wing.  You just walk up, they give you a straw mat to sit on and just enjoy the show.  There are hula dancers, Hawaiian songs, some other traditional dancing, as well as some character interactions.  Claudine wanted to go to a "real" Luau instead....

Okay, let's get back on our regular schedule... at least of Hawaii...

If you remember, when we all first tried to get out to the Arizona Memorial, we couldn't because of the high winds, so we bummed around Pearl City a bit, headed back to the Aulani for a while to laze around the pool, then it was time to head out to our Luau.

Like others on this board, there has to be a planner, and I am the one nominated for that job in our family.... So when we decided to go to a Luau, I wanted to make sure, one, to get the most for my money, and two, choose something that everyone would like.  So off I go to Trip Advisor, then Yelp, then Google, but instead of it getting clear picture of which one I should choose, the task seemed to get much more difficult.

Now we could have taken the convenient way out and just walked to Paradise Cove, which is about a block down the street from Aulani, but I had read that the food amounted to nothing more than cafeteria food and they ran people through there like animals at feeding time.  So I passed on that one.

Well, Claudine comes to my rescue... She is a nurse at an outpatient surgery center here in our area, so she makes a lot of small talk with her patients as she gets them ready for surgery.  Well one day she comes home with a list in her hand of places that we need to go and see, as well as places we should go to eat.  She and a couple of her patient's family members were chatting and I guess the subject of our trip came up.  They told her that one of their son's lived on Oahu and they have visited him several times over the years, and they have all the information that we need.  They told us, that if we are going to a luau, then we need to go to Germaine's.  Germaine's?!!  All I could think of was that one of the Jackson 5, had finally found his calling and moved to Hawaii.

So, I booked us for a luau at Germaine's

I have to admit, the trip there was interesting to say the least... Its only a 15 minute drive from Aulani, but you have to go through a heavy industrial area to get there... But once there, you wouldn't even know it.

For the price, you get the show (of course) an all you can eat meal, and two free alcoholic drinks (which we didn't use because we don't drink). 

Anyway, there are picnic tables lined end to end for several row in front of the stage... There is a Hawaiian band playing music while the hoards are on their way in.  

So once everyone is seated, they announce that they are getting ready to remove the pig from the underground oven and asks for everyone to step over to see it come out.

As you can imagine, this scene plays out like any day at a WDW parade.... Just as you think you have secured that awesome viewing place, someone steps in front of you and takes it away...  These pictures are a result of me holding my camera in the air.  I gained that technique from watching all of the iPad photographers at WDW...   :hah:

Anyway, here is the oven, before they open it up

Now as they are going through the motions, they are explaining what they are doing.

They are beginning to open up the oven

The pig is covered with banana leaves, surrounded by coals and wrapped in chicken wire

The meat is out of the ground

I was trying to see if it was a whole pig or what, but it looks as though they just cooked smaller cuts of pork, or just the hams or shoulders... I couldn't really tell.  Either way, I wasn't going to admire it, I was going to eat it.

No food pictures of kitties, sorry!  They had several serving lines set up and you just went up and helped yourself.  I think on the serving line were the following:  Pineapple Coleslaw, Greenbean Salad, Regular Salad, White Rice, Potato Macaroni Salad (this was really good), Lomilomi Salmon (the best way to describe this was that it was like salmon salsa), Teriyaki Beef, Hawaiian Chicken, Roast Pork, Fried Fish, Haupia, which is like a coconut pudding with a consistency of tofu, Chocolate and Vanilla Cake.

For feeding this many folks, the food was really good.  I was thinking it would be like the Golden Corral at best, but even the girls enjoyed the food...

After we ate, the show started.  It basically was different dances from all across Polynesia.  On several occasions, they brought people up on stage to learn how to hula, there was one guy who proposed to his girl, and the kids were involved as well with some of the dances... All in all, I think this was more of an authenic version of the luau, but can't be certain, because this and one they have at the Polynesian are the only ones that  I have ever been to.

Whoa!!! If you let that discount go unused you are crazy!

I think we should take up a collection to send the TCD crew to Hawaii....  I have a couple of quarters and a Canadian penny that I will start things off with.... So who's with me?

I love that photo!  Great shot!

 

 

 

I'm not sure, but I would guess it's on the hotel side.  Which is fine with me.

 

 

Maybe.  I haven't looked at flights yet.  Disney doesn't run an airline-so no discount there.

 

TCD

Like the old saying goes, "pictures don't do it justice", and that certainly applies here... With the breeze blowing all of the American Flags, and the size of that ship is just massive...  There was no way to really capture it all in a pic.

If and when you begin looking at flights, look at airlines such as Hawaiian Airlines out of San Jose, or Alaskan Airlines out of Seattle... I have heard that there are sometime deals to be had on those airlines... If there is a way to cheap out on the flights from the east coast to the west, then catch some other airline to Hawaii, you may get some better deals... I bet 'ole Jason could work something out...

The other visible ship is the USS Utah. It is on the opposite side of Ford Island from the USS Missouri. If I remember right it rolled over and was not retrievable. Not a lot of it is above water and most people have forgotten about it.

You know Red, now that I think about it, I think it was the Utah instead of the Oklahoma... But in either case, I didn't get a chance to see it.

That is a very timely observation.  The last surviving crew member of the B29 that dropped to first atomic bomb on Japan died yesterday at age 93.  He was 24 when he flew that mission. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/29/last-member-of-enola-gay-crew-dies/13333153/

 

My father-in-law also flew on a B29 crew, and was stationed on the same island that the Enola Gay flew from.  He passed a few years ago.  I think he was the last living member of his flight crew.

 

TCD

I just read that article...  Not sure if you read one of my earlier comments, but I guess I have more connections with WWII that I thought of.  No known relatives of mine were directly involved, however, I have now been to Pearl, where it all began.  I have visited the site in Nagasaki where we dropped one of the bombs, and I have visited the Smithsonian and seen the Enola Gay on display....

You.Must.Go.  Really.  Y'all would love it.

 

Still loving this report!

He should go if at all possible....  

Thanks for still hanging with me... this thing is taking longer to complete than I thought it would...

Present and accounted for!  There is a special place in heaven for all of the brave souls that visit WDW on a major holiday... Just sayin'

Parades suck.

This made me laugh!  Perfect timing, and straight to the point.  I think the Troll needs to come out of his shell and tell us what he really thinks!

Googly Moogley?  Haven't heard that one in a while!

 

Also one of my favorites!

I am reading this trip report with new eyes.

 

I learned from Twin #2 yesterday that Disney CM's get 70% off on Aulani rooms.

 

That is not a typo.

 

The wheels are turning.

 

TCD

I was just getting ready to hit the close button when I saw your post.... Boy, you had better jump on that if you can!  Does it include all rooms or just the rooms on the "hotel" side? 

I'm not sure what one of the DVC rooms would go for, but that would be a sweet deal if you could work that out.

Let's move on shall we... I still have a few more things to tell everyone...

So, once I made it back to shore from the Memorial, I boarded a bus that took me to the other side of Ford Island, to where the USS Bowfin was tied up.  I'm sorry to say, that I do not have any pictures of the sub, but will mention a few interesting facts about it.

The Bowfin was launched exactly one year to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec 7, 1942, so they nicknamed her the "Pearl Harbor Avenger". Out of her 9 patrols during the war, she sank a total of 44 ships, both merchant and military.

If you ever get a chance to visit a submarine, by all means do it.  It is unreal that a group of men, actually sailed inside one of these things... I expect it was very cramped, hot, and dirty work back then...

The Bowfin makes the 4th sub I have visited.  I have been on the USS Clamagore in Charleston, SC, The USS Croaker in Buffalo, NY, The USS Pompanito, in San Fran, and now the USS Bowfin.

Okay, now on to the USS Missouri, "The Mighty Mo"

Many reading along may or may not remember their High School history, but this was the ship where the Japanese surrendered WWII.  

Here is the actual spot on the deck the surrender papers were signed that day...

The big guns

You can see the Arizona Memorial just off the bow of the Missouri.  I thought this was very fitting because it shows the beginning and the end of WWII.

One last pic of the Missouri

Short update today... Got to run and get on a conference call. Will try to get back later on today...

Visiting Pearl Harbor and the memorial is a very moving experience.  Thanks for bringing those memories back to me.  There are no words that I can use to describe how it feels to stand on that memorial over the ship and watch the oil bubble out.

 

Hawaii is a popular vacation destination for the Japanese.  They are everywhere on the islands.  Except for Pearl Harbor.   Nope, not one Japanese tourist did we see .

I couldn't have said it better myself.

You are right about the Japanese being everywhere.  There were alot of them at Aulani and many out on the Memorial. 

Side story... Before I went to work at the company I am currently at, I used to work for Mitsubishi Electric, in fact I worked there for 18 years until they closed their operation here in NC.  Anyway, when I started, they sent a group of us to Japan for 6 months to train. During that time, my Japanese friends took me all over the place, including Nagasaki, one of the places that we dropped the atomic bomb on.  And like us, they have a memorial and a park located at the epicenter where the bomb hit. I wondered how the Japanese people there thought of me visiting that museum and taking in all of the information and displays there.  Well the folks could not have been more gracious and welcoming to me.  And I add that to one of the many awesome experiences that I have taken in. 

I saw many Japanese tourist there in 2002 - 2004 when I lived there. They were extremely respectful.

There were many there on the day I visited the Memorial as well.

I was there in the mid 90's  I think the Japanese are very respectful in most cases.  They were very obviously absent back them.  I'm glade they now include the memorial as part of their tourist activities.

They still are that way...  

How powerful and moving. Thank you for sharing your experience. 

Thanks Kelly.  It is something that I will remember for a long time.

That is an amazing write up with wonderful pictures.  Thanks so much for sharing.  We did Pearl Harbor but did not know that you had to reserve ahead of time (Ray had done it several years before and they didn't have to reserve then), so we didn't get to go out.  But we saw everything else, including the name of a distant cousin of Ray's, whose remains were just recovered within the past several years.  Ray's brother was contacted by the government for DNA testing to confirm that he was who they thought he was, which he was.

 

All that is to say, it is an amazing place and you did it very just service with this report.  Thanks.

Thanks Leslie for your kind comments... It is cool in one respect that Ray has a connection with Pearl. not cool that his relative lost his life there.  It is definitely a moving experience.  I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but when we were out on the Memorial, there was an old guy, who I think was stationed in Pearl during the attack, and he was out chatting with the visitors.  Pretty soon, they will all die off, and we will lose that bit of history.

Thanks for all of the photos from Pearl Harbor, Duane.  I would really like to visit it myself someday.  I have not read that quote you shared - very thought provoking.

You are so welcome.  This was the highlight of my trip... I often wonder how many pass by things like this and never stop to read them.

I've wanted to visit Pearl Harbor since my grandmother went back in the 70's and brought back pictures and stories.  Just incredible.  Thanks for sharing your experience.  

You now will have to visit yourself to carry on the story to your kids and grandkids...

There is a second ship that is partially above water on Ford Island from the Pearl Harbor attack. Did the tour include it?

Red I do remember them saying something about another memorial on the other side of the island.  I think its for the Oklahoma, as it was one of the other ships that could not be raised and repaired to fight again.  The pass that I purchased allowed me to visit all of the exhibits there.  I didn't get a chance to see that or the aviation museum.

I am speechless.

Gwen, you need to go and experience it for yourself...  It is definitely one of those things that you walk away really reflecting on what you see and hear.

Wonderful pictures!!!!!!!Thanks so much for the Pearl Harbor pictures, I was in your boat when we went to Hawaii the only thing I HAD TO DO was see Pearl Harbor everything else was just a bonus, thanks again

I absolutely love this kind of stuff.... As much as I travel, I try to see as much of these things as I can.  I'm not sure how much longer these things will be around for people to enjoy.

Thank you so much for the pictures.  Pearl Harbor is a MUST do for my trip in April.

If you just want to go out to the Memorial, book your tour early online.  If you want the passport for all the attractions, there are an unlimited number of those, so you will be fine.

Very moving.  Thank you for sharing, Duane.

You are so welcome!

Better late than never!

 

I am here.

 

I read some of your report on my phone, but I just went back and looked at all the photos on my computer.  You are doing a fantastic job!

 

I didn't know that they had a self-serve Dole Whip machine there.  That moves it higher up on my places to visit.

 

And thanks for the light fixture photos-what a beautiful resort.

 

Looking forward to reading more.

 

TCD

I was wondering if you were along with us on this journey...  Even though I did not partake (I know, the cardinal sin), there are at least 3 machines that I know of in Hawaii.  There is one at Aulani, one across the street at the small supermarket and one of all places, at the Dole Pineapple Plantation.

As for the light fixtures, I took those especially with you in mind...

Disney, blew it out of the water on this resort... I could see them building something like this back in Florida at WDW... Just not over by the Fort!

May the choice you make, be ever in your favor!

One thing to keep in mind if you are looking to buy into DVC, like others have said are the maintenance fees... Maintenance fees vary from resort to resort. And from what I understand the fees have a lot to do with how and where the resort is set up and maintained.

For instance, Vero Beach and Hilton Head have the highest maintenance fees because they are on the coast and are susceptible to hurricanes and just plain sitting out in the salt air. Therefore, Disney has to perform more maintenance as well as carry more insurance to cover any storm related damage.

SSR and OKW are among the cheapest because all of the villas are condo style with outside entry's. In other words, there are no inside corridors with carpeting to maintain and keep up.

Since all of these maintenance fees go into the housekeeping and general upkeep of the buildings and properties all of these are decided when the maintenance fees are calculated each year.

Luckily, the fees are charged on the amount of points that you own and not a flat fee for everyone. Just as an example, I think our maintenance fees for SSR are somewhere around the $4 range per point, but don't hold me to that number...

Might as well venture over to Pearl Harbor....

Like I mentioned before, when we were planning our trip, we each got a chance to choose 1 thing that we would like to do...  Mine was to visit Pearl Harbor. And when I say Pearl Harbor, I mean all of it.  Of course they have the Arizona Memorial, but they also have the USS Bowfin submarine, the USS Missouri battleship and the WWII Aviation Museum.  And those things are RIGHT UP MY ALLEY. My girls absolutely refuse to visit old ships, planes or submarines, because I have to stop and read all of the materials, examine all of the gauges, and watch all of the videos that explain what is displayed.

So anyway, since we were not sure if we would ever get back, we wanted the girls to at least go and see the Arizona Memorial, and go out on it if possible...  

I think the first things that I mentioned when I started this report was that I am so laid back... and with that comes a certain amount of procrastination (don't tell Claudine I just admitted it).  There are only so many spots available per day for the trip out to the Memorial.  If all you want to do is to see the Memorial, then the trip is free.  If you want a narrated tour, then it costs $7 (its one of those walkman self-guided tours). But if you want to go you have to either reserve as spot ahead of time on the website or get there really early in the day to snag one of the 300 or so walk-up tickets.

Just before we left home, I tried to snag 3 of the free tickets, but they were all sold out.  The ticket I purchased was a Pearl Harbor Passport and it entitles you to visit all the attractions (the Memorial, the sub, ship and plane museum) and it can be used 2 times within a 7 day period.  Also, it costs $65, so there were a unlimited supply of those.

Long story longer, I checked one more time after we arrived in Hawaii to see if any tickets had opened up, and luckily, the Park Service just changed the rules and now opens up an additional 300 tickets per day within a 24 hour period.  So I scored 3 additional passes so that we all could go. 

So the plan would be that we would all go to the Memorial one day, then I would return and use my pass on another day when I was by myself and take in the other exhibits.

We leave Aulani and head toward Pearl.  We get there, pick up our walkmans and begin our audio tour and look at some of the exhibits around the visitor's center.  With the Memorial tour, there is a film that explains exactly what happened on Dec 7 and what lead up to all of the events.  

Now they are very serious about the tour that we were about to take.  Before we go into the theater to see the film, a park ranger addresses the crowd.  He tells us that we are getting ready to enter a live memorial and would be visiting the tomb of over 1000 men who died aboard the ship that fateful morning.  They told us that there was to be no texting or talking on the phone, and to keep voice conversation to very low levels.  It really set the mood of what we were about to see.

We finally go in to see the film and when it was finished we headed out to catch the boat over to the Memorial.  However, it would not be in the cards for us today to go over, due to high winds in the harbor that what the Navy thought would be unsafe.

So we just continued to look at the remainder of the items we missed just before going in to watch the film.  Oh well, at least the girls got to see the Memorial from afar, and got to see the film and listen to the address from the Park Ranger.

This was our view from the visitor's center.  The "Mighty Mo" is just to the left of the Memorial

This is a zoomed in pic of the Memorial, however the blue plaques that the man is reading is called the "Circle of Remembrance"  All of the names listed on those blue plaques are the civilians and other military personnel who died on land the day of the attack.  They were the doctors and nurses, the airmen and support staff as well as the people who lived around the area.

This is the anchor that was recovered from the Arizona

The Bell from the Arizona

Pearl Harbor is still a very active Naval Base.  This ship was in port the day we all visited the park

After we left and were talking about our visit on our way to the next destination, Claudine and I realized that the girls got a lot more out of this visit that we thought they would.  Kids will really surprise you sometime.

I'm gonna skip ahead a little while we are on the subject of Pearl Harbor, because just because we couldn't make it out to the Memorial this day, I still have another day that I can come back to try again.

It was Saturday morning when I returned to the Memorial.  I left Aulani at a little before 7:00 AM so that I could make sure that I had plenty of time to do and see as much as I could. I knew when I left that  I stood a good chance that I would make it out fairly early.  

The girls had plans at 9:00 AM to all get spa treatments and massages at 9:30 that morning, so I knew that I had all the time that I wanted to study, read and absorb all the history that I could take in.

When I arrived at the visitor's center I snagged the 7:45 tour.  What was weird was that I was on my way out to the Memorial on the boat at precisely 7:55 AM, the time the actual attack occurred back in 1941. As I rode out, I kept picturing in my mind, the movie Pearl Harbor with Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett. I understand that Hollywood changed some of events around to make their picture, but it allowed me to see in my mind what things might have looked like.

This is boat that took us out to the Memorial. Navy Sailors actually pilot the boat out to the Memorial

Our approach... If the engines were not running on this boat, you could have heard a pin drop.  I think we were all pondering what we were about to see.

The 2 smaller white things out in the water are mooring quays.  These are what they used to tie the ships to when they were in port.  The one to the left of the Memorial was for the USS West Virginia and the other was for the USS Vestal. Both of these ships were sunk during the attack.  However if I remember correctly, all of the ships that were sunk with the exception of the Arizona, the Utah and the Oklahoma were repaired and went on to fight the war. 

Once onboard the Memorial you could have heard a pin drop.  All you heard was the water lapping against the side of the wreck and the ropes from the flagpole flapping in the breeze.  I would be telling a lie if I told you that I didn't get a little choked up once I walked out into the middle of that thing.  You basically walk down the left side of the Memorial, enter the Shrine Room at the other end (this lists all of the men who died aboard her that morning), then walk back along the other side to wait for the boat back across.  

This is what I saw

This is the Number 2 Gun Turrent

This is a cutout in the middle of the Memorial

The Memorial does not touch the wreck in any way, but straddles it.  This diagram gives you a better idea of how we were oriented over the wreck

This is a diagram that shows a better outline of the entire wreck

Looking up 

The Shrine Room

As you leave the Shrine Room you walk along the other side of the Memorial and look out across the stern, or back of the ship.  As you go along, drops of oil still seep from the wreck. They say that these are the tears of the men who are entombed inside the ship.  This was the most moving part for me...

This diagram shows the location of all of the ships that were in port the day of the attack.  If I remember right, this was the entire Pacific Fleet, with the exception of a couple of aircraft carriers, which were out of port that day delivering aircraft.  All of the ship in red are the ones that were sunk, the one in orange sustained heavy damage and the one in yellow moderate

If you look closely, you can see a lot of ships in white that did not get damaged.  

This is one of the many plaques displayed around the park

In case you can't read the inscription, it says:

"Dear Lord, Lest I continue my complacent way, help me to remember somehow out there, a man died for me today. As long as there be war I then must ask and answer, Am I worth dying for?"

This was a poem that Eleanor Roosevelt carried in her wallet during WWII.

Guys, I don't want to bring everyone down with what I just wrote, but this visit meant more to me than the entire trip.  It really made me stop and think... Which is an amazing feat in and of itself. 

One thing I remember from the film, the narrator said that when Japan decided to attack Pearl Harbor, they thought the US would have no appetite for war, it would scare us off and make us pull out of our interests in the Pacific. Instead it severely  backfired and it actually pulled the nation together and rallied us for the cause.   The sad thing is that many men, women and children lost their lives that day, however it succeeded in pulling this nation together like no one has ever seen before.

After I walked off that Memorial and stepped foot back on the boat, all I could think of was, what if something like that happened again today.... would the nation pull together just as they did back in 1941?

For any of you out there who has family, friends, neighbors, or, are in the military yourself, I appreciate your service more now, than I ever did before!

Okay, that is enough for tonight... I will continue with our tour hopefully tomorrow.  Good Night and sleep safe, where ever you are!

Awesome, gorgeous nighttime shots!

I'm still figuring out how to work all of the bells and whistles on this camera... When I bought this one just recently, I wanted one that would take great pictures in low lighting.  I think I found a winner.

Great looking place. I love night time on vacation, the smell of restaurants, exotic plants, all good stuff

This place takes on a whole new atmosphere at night... During the day people are running all over the place, but when the sun goes down, it seems get an all laid back feeling.

Wow that place is beautiful at night.  I showed INC and she said it reminds her of the JW Marriott Desert Ridge...which is high praise from her.  I'm heading back over to the DVC resale site now.....

 

Oh...also wanted to add that the BBQ looks just like the pulled pork by niece's MIL makes....and she is born and raised Hawaiian.  She makes an island pork that looks just like that.  She told us it is a traditional Hawaiian meal.  Must be wild pigs roaming the islands?  

Believe it or not, it takes on sort of a "Fort" feel at night... you know when everything gets quiet and peaceful and the soft glow of awning lights, well its kind of the same thing, but just different.  Anyway, go ahead and look into those points.  And heck, even if you don't buy, you can rent points and use them just as if you were an owner.

As for that pork and the wild pigs running around the island... I would be that pig running around the island.  I ate more pork that week than I do in 3 months total.  I guess they slow cook it and make sure to leave enough fat in the meat to give it flavor and keep it juicy.

The sharks? That would be a hellllllll no from me :)

The rainbow and sun set pics are beautiful!!! And the one night pic of the pool, the water almost looks fake!

Oh come on!  You have a perfectly good aluminum cage between you and them...Also on a couple of sides there is plexiglass attached to the cage walls.

It was weird about that rainbow.  I went back and looked at the picture and as dark as it is, it looks like it was taken in late afternoon, but it was taken about 8:00 in the morning.

I hate taking pics with lots of folks I don't know... so sometimes, I will either get up way early, or come out way late when I know the crowds won't be there.  For these pics, a storm was brewing and it was lightning, so the lifeguards cleared the pools.  Perfect picture taking scenario!

I don't think I could do the sharks, but very cool!

Your BBQ looks yummy.

Love the rainbow and night pics.

As much as you like to go, and being a teacher to boot, you could do this for the kids...  I bet Z would love to go once he gets a little older.

I have to say, that is some of the best I have had...

I'm actually finding time to read another TR...  

I feel your pain (well, maybe not pain, but sort of discomfort) with the new boyfriend.  We are actually going down that same road with Ashleigh...  The whole time we were in Hawaii, she kept the airwaves hot with texting him. 

Anyway, can't wait to hear about what happened at Security in the airport.... Since airports happen to be my second home and source of entertainment, I love a good airport story!

When we left off, we had just come back in from shark diving and we were starved... At least 3 of were.  While we were gone, Claudine had gotten up the courage to venture out of the marina with the Jeep to forage for some food.  For me and the 2 girls however, we were ready to eat some of the sharks that we had just dived with. We all got back in the Jeep and headed to the "spawling" metropolis of Haleiwa.  Its a quaint little burg on the North Shore that is probably dripping with history.  A lot of the buildings "downtown" date back to the early 1900's.

It didn't take us long to find this place...talk about a "hole in the wall"... However this turned out to be one of the best places we ate at during our trip.  We actually made a special trip later on in the week to come back and eat here.

This is what I had... on both visits.

It was the Bar-B-Que plate.  Being from a state that prides itself on BBQ, I will have to say, that I would rate this right up there at the top.  As you can see, they were not stingy at all with portions.  I think this was a $9 plate

Ashleigh had a teriyaki chicken sandwich and Jessie, a plain hamburger.  I was clearly the winner of this food choice competition.

We bummed around the village for a little bit and soon about a block up the way we ran into this Oahu institution.... This is one of those places that everyone tells you "if you don't do anything else while you are here, you have to do this".  It was Matsumoto's Shaved Ice.  Everywhere you turn, there is a shaved ice stand somewhere.  I really don't know what the big deal is... we called them showballs or snowcones when I was growing up.  However, I will have to say, it was pretty darn tasty.  I thinks I had a pina colada will sweetened condensed milk drizzled over the top.  You could also get it with ice cream and/or beans, but I passed.

I have to admit that I failed royally and did not get a picture of the product or inside the place, but I will tell you not to let the sign fool you.  It says that its a grocery store, but you better not need bread, milk or toilet paper when you go here, because all they sell here is shaved ice and souvenirs with their name printed on it.

Folks, let me tell you that this place is a GOLD MINE x5....  Its an old building, sell shaved ice with some flavored syrup poured over the top, and the line snakes out of the building and down the street.  There can't be a lot of overhead here....

The next day or so was spent hanging out around the pools just doing what any successful vacation calls for.... nothing.

Oh, I forgot to mention one thing.... Notice the that Jessie has a colored band around her wrist above...  Well it looks as though the freeloading message has made it all the way across the pond.  In the early days, some of the freeloaders who we have come to love at the Fort must have vacationed in Hawaii, and decided to pull some of their old tricks. 

In order to get pool or beach towels, you have to show your KTA (Key to AulanI) to get a band and then get your towels.  For each day, there would be a different color.  

I guess the locals thought if they paid the $35/day to park, then that would entitle them to use the water features and beach at Aulani...

How about an early morning shot... I can't remember if I posted this one or not

A TR can't go without a sunset pic or two....

How about some other random shots around the place at night...

A place to get your "drink on".  This is sort of open to the outside as well...

A couple more outside evening shots

Next up, we head over to Pearl Harbor...

That looks cool :)

Just look at that scenery! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That's a "thanks, but no thanks" excursion for me!  But I'm glad you all enjoyed it.

Cool!  

This certainly was a "cool" excursion in more ways than one...  Not only was the "cool" factor in place, but that water 20 minutes off shore was cool as well...  Guys have a way of knowing these things... If you know what I mean   :bugeyes:

SHARKS!  "I don't think we will need a bigger boat"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gciFoEbOA8

Unlike 'ole Roy, We did not need a bigger boat...

During our trip planning stage, we each got the opportunity to choose one thing or excursion that we would like to do.  Jessie (my "adopted" 2nd daughter) chose swimming with the sharks.  I neglected to tell her that swim with them everyday at my job, but that is another story...  So anyway, we researched and found a provider that would supply that very experience.

That is "Sweet Romina" standing beside our trusty Jeep.  She passed on this experience as she can get car sick just riding along in a car.  Now if she is driving, she does fine...

Anyway, the experience goes out from North Shore town of Haleiwa. 

Basically they load you on a boat, which in our case, there were 8 of us, then take you about 20 minutes offshore and drop an aluminum cage in the water.  And for the next hour to 2 hours, have a turn in the water, in the cage, with snorkels on, and swim with the sharks.

We are on our way out to the dive point.

You can see the cage hanging on the rear of the boat

Here is Ash just as well were pulling away from the dock

We have reached our dive point and they are getting ready to splash the cage

Once the cage is in the water, they pull it along side the boat and tie it off

After the cage is set, the word gets out and look who shows up!

Need a better look?

Believe it or not, but these underwater shots were taken with Jessie's iPhone.  She has a LifeProof case which allows the phone to be used as an underwater camera.  

Here is proof that we were actually there... I was taking the picture.

There were 5 of us in the cage for the first group, and they let us stay in for about 20-30 minutes, so we got to spend plenty of time with Bruce and his other 2 buddies.  The 3 sharks that we swam with were Galapagos sharks and each of them were about 8-10 feet long.  They were not aggressive in any way, and none of us felt threatened or afraid at any point in time.

After we had our turn, the other 3 in our group took theirs.  Those boys were a little bit "larger" than our group and required a bit more real estate in the cage.  While we were "topside", Bruce popped up to say farewell to us

Anyway, that was our first "excursion", and I have to say that it was a lot of fun.  For the ones planning to head to Hawaii in the near future, here is the website of the company that we used.  They were very informative and made the trip very enjoyable.

http://hawaiisharkencounters.com/

Here is where we went out from.

I have a few minutes before my IT guys come in, so I will see how far I can go this morning...

Does the Menehune on the elevator have a camera for a belly button?

He doesn't, but it does look like he could "sprout" one at any time.

Yes, I was curious about restaurant prices. My time in Hawaii was a very long time ago, but I still remember some things. 

 

That French toast looks yummy!

Typical Disney prices with a "Hawaiian upcharge"  

More great photos!  Aulani looks amazing.  

And there are still more to come...  I just hate its taking me this long to get through them.

Yes, we are flying from RDU.  We are taking US Air for the continental US flights, then American for the Flights to Hawaii and Back.  We have a Daughter that will be 5.  This should hopefully give us enough room.

Kind of sounds like what we did. Are you stopping for any length of time on the west coast?  I think that worked well for us.  It gave us time for our body clocks to adjust somewhat and we were not wiped out when we got to Hawaii.

Thank you so much for posting about the grills and that you can check out the grill tools.  I plan on doing some grilling out on these.  We are most likely going to be getting a studio.

There are actually 3 grills there, I only showed 2 of them.  Before you go, let me know, because I can tell you of a better grocery store to visit other than the Target or Safeway.  We found out that most folks arrive on the weekends and do their "resort shopping" then.When we went to the Target on Monday, the shelves looked like a hurricane had swept through there.  The Safeway, didn't look much better.  The store to visit is Foodland.  It looks to be a newer store and its sort of off the beaten path, so it caters to more of the local crowd.  If I were to explain it in our terms, it is a cross between Harris Teeter and Food Lion.

Before I call it a night, how about some food pictures?!

We didn't utilize all of the eating joints on property while we were there.  One, because I am cheap (to a certain extent), and two, we either grabbed something on one of our many travels around the island, we ate something in the room, or we just were not hungry at the moment.

One morning, I think I mentioned this earlier, but after Claudine and I went for a walk, we passed Ama Ama and stopped to read the menu posted outside of the restaurant.  Just as we were scanning the offerings, Claudine spotted the Chocolate Dipped French Toast Stuffed with Bananas and Peanut Butter, Drizzled with Chocolate Sauce.  That's all it took.  We went up to the room, got the girls up and headed back down to chow down.

Here is the French Toast

Notice Claudine has the knife firmly in hand ready to pounce if need be....  She got them to put the peanut butter and chocolate sauce on the side. There is regular syrup in that large ramekin.

Like all good dad's and husband's, we have to play the role of clean up crew when we eat out.... All of you guys know where I'm coming from on this... Anyway, Ash and Claudine both ordered this little sweet tooth's dream.  I was afraid that once they got it, that it would be too sweet and I would have to eat it.  So taking one for the team, I remained in the middle of the road and ordered the good ole American staple.... scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes.

I have to report, that I didn't have to sacrifice anything and they both enjoyed their french toast immensely.  I did get a taste.

Jessie, is not too much of a breakfast person, so she ordered the bread basket that contained a (should I even mention it?) 2 cinnamon rolls, 2 apple croissants, 2 blueberry muffins, and some other pasty I can't remember.  I think Ash ordered a side of bacon as well.

Here is one of the grab and go items that I picked up for myself when we sat out by the pool on day... Bet you can't guess what I was doing while enjoying my snack

Okay, since we were talking about food, stick a fork in me, because I'm done for the evening!  Good Night All!

Okay, let's move along... I have a few more pics from around Aulani.

In another one of my many lives, I used to be a property manager with a large corporate real estate firm, so whenever I go anywhere, I give the facility a "once over".  I notice how many light fixtures are burned out, how well the elevator operates, what condition the carpeting and flooring is in.... you get the picture.  Once I walked into Aulani, I was blown away on how well this place is kept up and the materials that were used to build it.  Absolutely everything is top notch here and those little Disney details are everywhere.

Instead of typing, I will let the pictures do the talking...

This is a stairwell from the lobby level down to the ground level where all of the pools, waterslides, and lazy rivers are

I don't know if TCD is reading along or not, and know his love of light fixtures, I took these for him...

This is the main entrance in the lobby.  They keep these doors open all the time, and if I could do a 180 degree turn, the entire wall behind me is open, so there is a constant breeze that blows through all the time.

When you walk through the door and turn to the right, this is the front desk

This is the view from the "DVC" end of the hallway looking toward the lobby.  Just beyond the folks standing in my picture, the entry door is to their right, and the Waikolohe Valley is to their left.  This is the area where you get that awesome breeze

This is the mural that is all the way at the end of the hall in the picture above

This is the mural on the other end leading into the DVC side of the resort

Another cool light fixture in the main hallway

This is one of the art pieces that hangs in the elevator lobby on our floor. They have artwork depicting Hawaiian life like this all over the place.

Back when I responded to Gwen's last post about the Menehune or "the little people of Hawaii", these guys are hidden everywhere... I think there is actually an activity where they give you some sort of check list and send you off to find as many of these things as you can.  I wish I would have taken more pictures when I found them

But this one is up on the ceiling of one of the elevators

This one, was hanging in the corners of a ceiling on one of the buildings somewhere

Here are the grills that can be used by the hotel and DVC guests.  You go to the community hall and check out the grill tools...

These are 2 of my girlfriends from Aunty's Beach House.  This is the kid's area.  It is similar to those on the DCL ships.  You can deposit Junior there in the morning and check them in and out anytime during the day.  From what I have read, this place is extremely popular and often reaches capacity early in the day.  There was usually a line every morning for those waiting for it to open. It reminded me of Black Friday at the Target or Walmart.

Like I mentioned earlier, Aulani is not over run with Disney stuff...  Its there, but not in your face constantly.  Just outside of the buffet restaurant Makahiki, each morning Mickey and or Minnie would be out for photo ops.  If you wanted to find out where the characters would be during the day, all one would have to do is to pick up the phone and dial "CHIP" and a recording would give you the low down on the locations.

As you can see this Japanese family is getting the pictures on with Mickey...  I think the Japanese are one of the main target audiences for this DVC property...

Also, each evening there would be some group playing live Hawaiian music each night on that wooden structure or stage behind Mickey and family.

I've made the mistake of sharing this with INC. 

There is no time like the present to go ahead and buy a few points....  Go ahead and swallow that "best kept secret"! Its not that bad... We'll help you through it.  

The place looks absolutely beautiful Duane.

Great pictures!

How long of a drive was Pearl Harbor from Aulani?

Thanks Aaron.  The drive to Pearl was about a 20 minute drive in good traffic.  If you are driving from Aulani to Pearl, you are going in the correct direction with traffic.  If you were coming from Honolulu or Waikiki, you could be stuck in standstill traffic.

I think I know who I'm texting today

I dare you!  I don't think you will do it!!

Wow -- sooooooooo beautiful. I've never been to Hawaii but if I did (commence dreaming), that's where I would stay. I don't think I could tear myself away to leave. How long did you cry? 

Also enjoyed your tour of SF. I went there once a long time ago (before Full House so those were just regular houses) and I'd like to go back again. 

Looking back on it now, I think we worked this trip out the right way for us... The SFO stop allowed us to ease into the time change while allowing us to bum around a neat city to visit....  Emphasis on the word "visit". I would not want to live in San Fran.

Claudine and I were missing it the next the first morning after we got home...

I have my airline flights booked for to go to Aulani in April.  However, need to wait to book starting in September.  I had to get the flights because I was able to use airline miles to book First Class tickets for the 3 of us.  Would have cost me over $10,000 if I paid out of pocket.

Are you flying from the east coast?  If so 1st Class is the way to go...That is a long flight from the east and I knew Claudine would be more batty than she already is now...  It was only 5 1/2 hours from SF to Hawaii, so I purchased Economy Plus seating just to have more leg room on the United flights.

Love the pictures! Beautiful!

 

The bathroom details are amazing. 

 

What were food prices like? 

Bathrooms are a biggie for us whenever we "hotel" travel.  I loved the  shower in our bathroom.  We could have bathed a small tribe in that thing.  

If you mean food prices at the resort restaurants, they are on par with the restaurants on property back in Florida or California, however, you have to add some $ to that cost due to the fact that anything not manufactured or grown on the island has to be flown or shipped in.  There was a Super Target, a Safeway, and another local supermarket less than a 10 minute drive from the resort.  So we stocked up on breakfast and snack stuff, as well as some sodas and waters to use in the room.

We only ate 1 breakfast in the sit down restaurant, and picked up some grab and go items while we were there.  We never hit the buffet.  All DVC's have grills onsite that you can use, and we had planned to grill out something one night, but it never really happened. 

Oh my gosh - I am loving your report!  We went to Aulani last summer and absolutely loved it, and this report is bringing back such wonderful memories.

 

Question - is the Ulu place in the newly expanded area near the pool?  I don't remember that at all and I certainly thought we covered every square inch of Aulani.  It looks like a great addition though, as grab and go just didn't exist to my memory while we were there.

 

Can't wait for more!

Ulu Ulu, is located on the hotel side out near the adult pool and near the grotto hot tub.  I knew there was some construction of some new pool areas, but not sure really where they were before.  

Now that I know you have already been there, I am looking to you to keep me honest on any facts or details that I post.... It's been about 2 years since I was last wrong about anything, and I feel my time is up.  I could be wrong about something at anytime now...

Made it to the country of Miami okay, and all settled in for the evening, might as well get some more of this TR pushed further along...

Duane, you didn't need my camera at Aulani.  Your pictures are gorgeous!  Looking forward to more.

 

When our kids were little we loved going to the Minnie's Menehune breakfast at the Poly.  I never knew what a menehune was until this morning.  I was watching "Full House."  The family was in Hawaii, and Stephanie was talking about menehunes.  And I sign on here and see your picture of the Menehune Bridge!

Gwen, I don't need your camera, I need you, your camera and your skills to really make this place look more amazing...  

As for the Menehune, I had never heard of them in any other conversation other than associated with Aulani.  Like I mentioned earlier, Disney really wanted to focus on Hawaiian culture with this resort, and that they did.  Kind of like the hidden Mickey's around the WDW and DL, the Menehune are the spotlight here.  Now don't get me wrong, there are still quite a number of hidden Mickey's around, but the Menehune are everywhere.  I captured some of them in pictures hidden all over the place. They will come out in a bit.

If anyone is interested in the Menehune, you can read about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menehune

Okay, it's official. You have totally made me want to go there. I better start saving my points and my money!

Do it!  You won't be disappointed!  We don't own a lot of points compared to some.  We only have 160 points, so we had to bank, borrow, and even had to purchase a couple of one time use points to fill in the gap.  

The flights across the big pond, if you don't have some sort of frequent flyer points, can be expensive.  But if there is a way that you can make it to the west coast like we did, it lessened the blow some.  It was about $300 to $400 cheaper to fly from the west coast than the east.  The majority of my FF points are on SW and their FF program is about the easiest one out there to use.  I had some United points, but with the games they play with certain dates and the number of seats available, I didn't have enough with them.

X2, worse tho if my wife sees the pictures. Thanks for posting!!!!!!

Oh go on and show her... there's no harm.

Oh man... your pictures are beautiful, the resort is beautiful, Hawaii is BEAUTIFUL.  I'm ready for another trip back!!  Glad that y 'all had a great time :)

 

ps.  love the Mickey lamp in your room :)

When we first landed and I got out on the highway, I wasn't too sure about Hawaii.  In my mind, I had already placed it in the category of "been there, done that, don't really need to do it again".  However, the more time I spent there, the better I liked it.  I would definitely go back now in a heartbeat.  Now if they would hurry up and build that bridge, I could drive the motorhome!

I too liked that lamp.... I was thinking that the resort would be heavily themed with Disney stuff, however it wasn't.  The characters were there, but only in scheduled places.  They had a character breakfast in the buffet restaurant each morning and Mickey and Minnie usually posed for pics just outside each day, but other than that, it was not over done by any means.

Loving the pictures!  Can't wait to read more.

I still have a bunch more... I hope I'm not boring anyone to sleep...  We still have sharks, Pearl Harbor,  and the North Shore to cover.

Gwen, I hate we were out of town (on a "deserted" island) while you were just right down the road from us... I could have sent Ashleigh over there to give you a hand... She has turned out to be quite the babysitter.  All of the kids that she watches from time to time absolutely love her.  We could have put her in charge, while you and David escaped to the Angus Barn for dinner...

Great TR Michael.  Our DVC "Home" is at SSR, but my real HOME is still the Fort.  When we "do" DVC, we enjoy spending time there, but it does get a lot of bad press from time to time.  I hated to hear about your A/C issues, because the royally SMB at anytime anyplace in Florida in the summer.

I am with you on this being your first TR. I am trying to fumble through mine now.  TCD and all of the other master writers on here make it look easy.

Hold on everybody, 'cause this ride may start and stop without warning...

In case you forgot what this rag tag bunch looks like, we had all just gotten lei'd!

They give you these when you check in

From what I have read just after they announced the construction of Aulani, Disney met with all kinds of experts and authorities on Hawaiian culture and history. They just didn't want to create just another resort in a resort area, but really wanted to focus on telling the story of Hawaii and show case the culture.  I have to say that as I walked around I was really impressed at the attention to detail that was put into this place. I only hope as time goes on that Disney keeps up with the maintenance and doesn't let it get run down.

Here are a bunch of shots that I took as I walked around everyday...

This is the view directly across from our balcony

As you look to the right 

The look left

Here is a shot of the beach area.  In this area of Ko'Olina, there are 4 lagoons carved out along the coast line, and around each lagoon, with the exception of one, there are at least one, if not 2 resorts who share the beaches for each.  The water in the lagoons are protected by rocks, so you never get any crashing waves at any of them.  This make it nice for families and children.  Plus this is the leeward side of the island so the wave, I don't think are ever really large to begin with.  The Hawaii Five-O style waves are on the north shore or the windward side of the island.

One of the adults only infinity pools looking out over the ocean

Another of the adult pools.  We hung out here for the entire day on Thursday.

One of the kid splash areas

This is called the Menehune Bridge... I took this pic after 5:00 after they shut it down for the night, but during the week this seemed to be a hit with families with small kids.

Hungry?  They placed snack and food stands all around the place...

This is Mama's Snack Stop. You could get hotdogs, chicken strips, fries, and drinks here.

Across for Mama's was the Lava Shack.  Here there was a self serve Dole Whip machine, and you could pick up bottled drinks and bagged snacks

This Ulu Ulu, basically their grab and go quick serve joint.  They always had breakfast, lunch and dinner offerings as well as the usual pastries, pre-made wraps and other snacks.  Ashleigh fell in love with the 1/4 pineapple they usually had everyday.  I kind of enjoyed them myself, and we will see one in action later on.

They also have the self serve drink stations for the "drink as long as you stay" mugs that are for sale all over the place.  I don't think they use the chipped versions like they do at WDW resorts.

Here is the eating area for Ulu Ulu.  There are few places here at Aulani that are completely enclosed inside.  For each major restaurants or eating areas, at least one wall or more is completely open to the outdoors.

This is Ama Ama, their sit down, non buffet restaurant.  We didn't eat here for dinner, but did do breakfast one morning. As you can see, it is open air as well.  The entire restaurant looks out onto the beach.

Here is our view from breakfast one morning

I may have posted this pic earlier, but here is another view we had from breakfast that morning.

That's all I have for tonight... Will try to work on this tomorrow sometime.  I have to travel to Miami again and will be there over the weekend, so I should have time to work on some more pics.

Good Night Everybody! Mahalo