Hawaii Here I Come! TR July/Aug 2011 UPDATED 8/23 About This Page:

[chezp]

I hope you have a wonderful day at Disneyland and make great use of those passes!

[Dlandmom2]

DLR was fun! It wasn't as crowded as I expected, but as the day went on, you could tell there were more and more people there. We were able to hit our favorites at both DCA and DL one last time but all three of us have been saving (well, I'm saving on Evan's behalf ) and hope to get passes again near Christmas.

Let's get down to shopping now! Rather than breaking it down to what worked and what didn't work, I'll just share some shopping tips that I've learned over my visits to Hawaii, and you can all take away what will work for you!

Food Shopping

I figure this will be handy for those staying at Aulani or any other timeshare type place in Hawaii. If you have a Sam's Club card, there are 2 locations on Oahu that I saw on their website. If you have a Costco card, they have several locations on Oahu, and one in Kapolei! That ought to be convenient for Aulani visitors! I know Costco has a location in Kona on the Big Island (but it doesn't show up on their website when I search for Hawaii). Food prices in general are more than you find on the mainland, so just keep that in mind.

Another thing that Costco and/or Sam's has in Hawaii is a great fresh food section. You'll find fresh sushi, poke, and other seafood salads just like at a deli counter at your market.

I liked having Island Gourmet Market in Waikoloa (Big Island). It was convenient, but it was definitely overpriced. It was enough to hold us over until I drove down to the Costco to stock up on food!

The Hawaiian equivalent to 7-Eleven is ABC stores. They are EVERYWHERE. Island Gourmet is owned by ABC, I think. You'll find basic stuff like drinks and snacks. They're also good for basic souvenirs, like t-shirts, Hawaiian coffee, Hawaiian chocolates, Hawaiian woodcrafts, beach towels, basic snorkel gear, bags, etc.

Souvenir Shopping

Sam's, Costco, Walmart...these places surprisingly have a decent amount of souvenir stuff that you can purchase at decent prices! I've purchased t-shirts and shorts, chocolates, Hawaiian style popcorn...lots of things that I wanted to buy for others as well as myself. They also often sell big plastic tubs of snack size chocolate or nuts. I like to buy the tubs and then hand out different ones for friends and family to try.

This time, I found some cute sandals/flip flops at Costco for $20. I've been using them almost every day since I bought them! At Walmart I got some really cute animal shaped wooden bowls that will get some use very soon!

Aloha Swap Meet was fun (but hot) and always worth a trip for kitschy souvenirs. Sophia loves the inexpensive bracelets and necklaces, but there were also some nicer pieces too. I always check out the t-shirt collection but didn't find any I wanted this time. Beach towels are plentiful as are woodcrafts. There were also swimsuits, aloha shirts, sundresses, luggage, backpacks. You can pick up some great deals, but keep in mind that most of the things were just average quality. You get what you pay for, but if it's just fun souvenirs to bring home, they'll have it there.

One of my favorite "souvenirs" that I like to bring home to friends and family is Honolulu Cookie Company. They are shortbread cookies done in Hawaiian flavors such as macadamia, lilikoi mango, pineapple, kona coffee, coconut, dipped in chocolate...yummy! I like to buy a bigger box or tub of mixed varieties (the cookies are individually wrapped) and then give out a few of each flavor to friends and family. All their shops offer free samples, too, so make sure you stop by to try some!

If you want to buy coffee, sometimes ABC stores will have a decent sale (but not usually). Longs Drugs, of all places, often has decent sales on coffee, so you may want to check that out. That's where my brother usually buys coffee to send me for Christmas!

If you're superstitious, I'll share something that I was told on my first visit and have heard echoed many times since. Don't take home anything from the beaches, especially rocks, as you will have bad luck from Madam Pele. I've heard stories of people sending rocks back to Hawaii because they had such bad luck after going home with rocks as souvenirs. I'm just sayin'....

Once again, be sure you pick up the magazines that are at baggage claim to see if there are any coupons that interest you!

All this shopping, of course, means that you need to make room in your suitcase, so don't forget that when you're out shopping!

I'll try to take pictures of some of my purchases soon so you can see what goodies I brought back this time!

[lauriep]

Again, very useful information! I have a couple of the Reyn Spooner aloha blouses from when they used to do Disney themed ones. Wish they still did! I have Minnie in a grass skirt and also a great black-background Tiki room shirt. What is "Hawaiian style popcorn"?

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by lauriep

Again, very useful information! I have a couple of the Reyn Spooner aloha blouses from when they used to do Disney themed ones. Wish they still did! I have Minnie in a grass skirt and also a great black-background Tiki room shirt. What is "Hawaiian style popcorn"?

I bought a Reyn Spooner t-shirt a few years ago at the Hilton Waikoloa Village (not the same as a Reyn Spooner blouse though!). Evan has a Disney aloha shirt that I bought at the Disney outlet, but not Reyn Spooner! Do you ever wear your Reyn Spooner things to Disney? You should!

There's a popcorn that I've only found in Hawaii called Hurricane Popcorn. Perri turned me on to it a few years ago. It's a popcorn "kit" that comes with a bag of plain microwave popcorn, a little pouch of liquid butter, a pouch of oriental rice crackers with shredded nori (dried seaweed), and a big plastic bag for you to mix it all up. You pop the popcorn and then pour it into the plastic bag. Then you pour in the butter and the rice cracker/nori mix. Then you shake it all up and get hurricane popcorn! I saw it in a few stores (probably ABC) this time but didn't get any since I still had some that Perri sent me earlier. Last time I was in Oahu, I saw a big box of them at Costco that I bought and just handed them out to my friends when I got back. Just another example of inexpensive souvenirs you can get at Costco!

[ilovedisney247]

Ok so if I'm actively planning a trip to Ko Olina and just Ko Olina, what airport should I try to fly into? I want to stay a couple of days at Aulani and a couple of days at the JW Marriott Ko Olina (I work for Marriott and can get an employee rate) We're looking at Hawaii in the next couple of years.

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

Ok so if I'm actively planning a trip to Ko Olina and just Ko Olina, what airport should I try to fly into? I want to stay a couple of days at Aulani and a couple of days at the JW Marriott Ko Olina (I work for Marriott and can get an employee rate) We're looking at Hawaii in the next couple of years.

I think Honolulu's the only airport on Oahu, so that's where you'd want to go (HNL). It's about a 30 minute drive, give or take, so I'm thinking rental car is the best thing unless Aulani comes out with some kind of shuttle service. Without a car, though, you really will be left to enjoy only Ko Olina. Plus, the grocery shopping isn't within walking distance, unless you want to live off of restaurants and ABC Stores (or similar shops like Whaler's General Market) which will probably be at the Marriott. I must say, though, that it sounds like the Aulani restaurant options and the other Ko Olina places sound plentiful and yummy and I don't remember you eating in your room in any of your TRs!

[lauriep]

That popcorn sounds yummy and fun! I do wear the Reyn Spooner shirts at Disney, especially on DCL. The blouse is the Minnie one and it's very pretty and feminine. The Tiki room shirt is a boy's size (I'm small!) shirt, looks like part of a CM outfit.

[chezp]

Another great wrap up full of useful information!

[Colexis Mom]

Thanks for the info on the shopping!

[pamcarey]

Really great shopping tips!

[Dlandmom2]

Here are pics of some of the goodies I brought back:

The sandals I bought at Costco on the Big Island (I've worn them almost every day, so they don't look new anymore!)


The wooden dishes I bought at Walmart (these are actually made in the Philippines, so technically they're not Hawaiian, but they look just like the Hawaiian made ones that were double and triple the price!)...plus, I bought them in Hawaii, so they count as Hawaiian souvenirs!


Some of the cookies I bought from Honolulu Cookie Company (they're all shaped like pineapples...so cute!)


The beach towels I bought at the Aloha Swap Meet


A bag of mixed chocolates...this assortment was about $10 or so (for 18 little packages). Costco on the Big Island had a big tub of them (about 50 little packages) for about $18, so that would've been a better deal, but unfortunately I didn't have enough baggage space for them until I got to Honolulu, and I never did have a chance to visit a Costco on Oahu.


And here is the Hawaiian Hurricane Popcorn...they're sold with the plain popcorn included, or just the butter/cracker/nori mix.


And that's my trip! Thanks everyone for reading! It was really fun to do some of it live, and I'm glad I can now say that I've finished a trip report!

[Colexis Mom]

Great stuff! Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us!

[lauriep]

Great souvenirs! I love the wooden bowls-- especially the sea turtle. This report has been a lot of fun to read and full of information as well. Thank you!

[omd]

Thanks for al the info. I will need to read your trip report over again as we get closer to our trip .

[chezp]

Great purchases!