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

[lauriep]

I think Samantha Brown did a Great Hotels segment on the Hilton Village. The pool area was enormous and incredible-- like a series of tropical lagoons and waterfalls.

[chezp]

Congrats on making the hotel reservations and the trip to Disneyland! Can I say jealous? I'm guessing you live near the park then?

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by lauriep

I think Samantha Brown did a Great Hotels segment on the Hilton Village. The pool area was enormous and incredible-- like a series of tropical lagoons and waterfalls.

Bummer! I must have missed that one! I thought I had seen all her shows! I'll have to channel my inner Samantha and bring you my own review! I can't wait to walk through the property. The map makes it look so huge! Still, hopefully that will make it seem less crowded. I've already scouted out the pool areas, the restaurants, and the shopping!

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by chezp

Congrats on making the hotel reservations and the trip to Disneyland! Can I say jealous? I'm guessing you live near the park then?

I live about 30 miles from DL. It's nice to have the locals pass since we can usually make lots of short trips to check everything out. That way, if it gets too crowded, we can head home knowing that we can come back another day. Unfortunately, we're blacked out for the summer, so this is the last week we can visit until mid August.

[omd]

On our first trip to Hawaii we stayed at the Rainbow Tower, Hilton Hawaiian Village and it was awesome. It is right on the beach and we just loved it. If I cannot book Aulani in March this is where we will stay. I will be anxiously waiting for your TR

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

I live about 30 miles from DL. It's nice to have the locals pass since we can usually make lots of short trips to check everything out. That way, if it gets too crowded, we can head home knowing that we can come back another day. Unfortunately, we're blacked out for the summer, so this is the last week we can visit until mid August.

That's a shame about the blackout period. We'll be visiting Disneyland again at the end of August and I can't wait. It's been nearly three years since we were last there.

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by omd

On our first trip to Hawaii we stayed at the Rainbow Tower, Hilton Hawaiian Village and it was awesome. It is right on the beach and we just loved it. If I cannot book Aulani in March this is where we will stay. I will be anxiously waiting for your TR

Very cool! Well, I'll do my best to give you lots of info and pics! I'm really hoping that we'll be able to visit the Ko Olina area, but I can't guarantee it. We only have a short amount of time on Oahu this time, and much of it may be taken up with seeing family...and a lot of time will be spent exploring all the pools and activities at Hilton Hawaiian Village (that place looks huge!).

The thing about Ko Olina as a visitor (as opposed to staying at one of the resorts there) is that there's very limited public parking, which is great if you're staying there since it does reduce the crowds there. If we aren't able to plan an early morning trip there, then we most likely won't attempt it as I would hate to pack up the kids to drive 30 minutes there only to discover no parking spaces left.

[Dlandmom2]

Originally Posted by chezp

That's a shame about the blackout period. We'll be visiting Disneyland again at the end of August and I can't wait. It's been nearly three years since we were last there.

My pass expires on August 22 this year, and I probably won't be getting another one until later this year or early next year. However, that doesn't stop me from hanging around DTD if you happen to have time for a quick meet there! Unfortunately I was completely unavailable the last time you were in town, so I'm hoping that maybe this may be the year I get to say hi to you and Mark!

[Dlandmom2]

Day 3

There's a shopping area that's in the Waikoloa Resort area called King's Shops. It's just a 5 minute drive from the room. There's a Farmer's Market scheduled there for that day from 8:30am to 2pm, so count on my being there! I LOVE farmer's markets! I'm sure I'll be stocking up on yummy fresh produce!

Also, right next to Kings' Shops is a trail called the Kings' Trail where lots of petroglyphs have been found. From the Waikoloa Beach Resort website, "Kii pohaku (petroglyphs, literally “rock pictures”) may be the closest thing to a written language that Hawaiians used, and some are thought to be astronomical symbols, road signs or markers of historic events." In my prior stays in the area, I never had the chance to walk this trail, so this time I am going to make the time to do it. There's a free tour that starts at 10:30am at Kings' Shops this day, so I'm planning on being there.

Later in the evening, there's Catch a Dive In Movie at the Hilton Waikoloa at sunset. The scheduled movie is Gnomeo and Juliet. You can bring an inner tube, floatie, etc., and float around in the pool while you watch the movie. I'm not sure if Evan will sit through the entire movie, but I'm sure Sophia will love it. If I can get everyone to attend, I may suggest we bring both cars, and then if Evan gets fidgety, I can take him back to the room early.

Oh, I just realized, I didn't mention that Evan is autistic in the Cast of Characters! Well, he is, but it's just a unique part of him, so sometimes I don't think to mention it, and then he'll do something that's not typical, and it reminds me that I have to explain why. Evan's pretty high functioning, but he does have a really hard time sitting still or staying focused. That's why I'm not expecting him to float on the water for an hour and a half without getting distracted by the other people, or the water, or the tiki torches which will inevitably be lit around the pool area, or the stars, or...you get the picture! So, if he fusses, I'll try to entice him to watch some more movie, but if he still fusses, then we'll just leave. He's getting better, but sometimes he just needs to move around or try something else, and that's ok.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

My pass expires on August 22 this year, and I probably won't be getting another one until later this year or early next year. However, that doesn't stop me from hanging around DTD if you happen to have time for a quick meet there! Unfortunately I was completely unavailable the last time you were in town, so I'm hoping that maybe this may be the year I get to say hi to you and Mark!

I'll have to let you know what our plans are nearer the time. I've got about as far as the attractions that are "must-sees" and then the ones that it would be nice to see in the parks, as we only have one full day and then a second day, where we'll have to head for the airport by early afternoon, so I suspect we'll mainly be in the parks, but I'll keep you updated.

Nice plans for day three!

[Dlandmom2]

Day 4

This is going to be my Kona day. There are quite a few coffee farms in the Kailua-Kona area, so I'm planning on visiting at least 2 or 3. I know I've been to a few in the past, but I still want to visit some different ones just to see if I can taste the difference. Also, Kona is a quaint touristy town, so it's always fun to walk around and look at the kitschy stuff.

I also want to eat at Da Poke Shack in Kona. Trip Advisor ranks it highly. I LOVE poke! For those of you who haven't tried it before, it's pretty much a rare ahi tuna salad. Poke (pronounced poe-kay) can be made from different types of fish/seafood, but ahi is I think the most common form. It's not hard to make...cubed fresh ahi tuna, thinly sliced seaweed, green onion, soy sauce, and sesame oil. That's how I make it, but somehow when they make it in Hawaii, it tastes SO much better! Anyhow, I really want to try this place as it seems to be very popular.

Rachael Ray did a $40 a Day show on the Big Island a few years back. She had dessert at a place called Huggo's, and I missed it on my last visit, so I'm hoping to try it this time. She raved about the mud pie, but I'm actually a little more interested in the food. We'll see.

This is also the day that I'm thinking I may want to go see the new Harry Potter movie. I'm pretty sure I won't have a chance to see it the first week it opens. I think I'll be too antsy to wait until after my vacation, and since this is something I really want to see, why not do it while I'm on vacation! I think Sophia might join me. I'm not sure if anyone else in our group wants to watch it. I've already found a theater in Kona that will most likely show it.

Finally, if I'm still in Kona in the evening, I think I'll go search out some manta rays along the shore. There are several areas where manta rays are commonly seen in the evenings (supposedly, although I have yet to see them!). Maybe I'll be lucky and see some this time!

That's pretty much for my Kona day. This vacation generally is going to be pretty laid back. Since I've been to this island several times before, I've already seen a lot of the touristy stuff (waterfalls, Waipio Valley, Volcano National Park, etc), so I'm not too interested in doing those again, and the kids aren't really into that either (I thought they'd want to see the volcanoes, but no go).

[chezp]

Sounds like a great Kona day!

[Dlandmom2]

Okay, I'm not even halfway through my day by day planning, and I already have to amend things!

I don't know how I missed this before, but looking at the description of Kings' Land (where we're staying the 1st 3 nights), I completely missed this:

"20,000-square-foot super pool featuring 4 slides, lazy river, whirlpool spas, serenity section, children's beach and water activity play area"

Which means, we may not even need to drive over to the hotel lagoon/pool for the first day or two! Therefore, I am making some minor adjustments to the plans so far:

Day 1 stays the same. Travel day. Walmart stop. Crash in the room.

Day 2 may change. I'm thinking we may just hang out at Kings' Land and try out the 4 slides, lazy river, yada yada! It sounds really fun, but for some reason I can't find any images online to see what the slides or lazy river look like. Nevertheless, I made a Target run yesterday and bought 2 inflatable rings that we can bring with us for the lazy river. Score!

Day 3 will pretty much stay the same, except that I think I'm going to try to wake up early and go check out Lagoon Spoon and see what fantabulous cereal concoctions they offer! Then, it's the Farmer's Market, petroglyph tour, back to the condo for more slides and lazy river, and then later on the Catch a Dive In Movie at the hotel pool in the evening.

Day 4 I forgot is moving day. We'll need to pack up and check out of Kings' Land and check in to the other HGVC condo. If the timing works out, I'd still like this to be my Kona day, with stops at Da Poke Shack, coffee farms, and maybe the Harry Potter movie. Plus, if we need anything else from Walmart, it'll be right there, and I can do some shopping before I head back to the condo.

Day 5 will then likely be a pool day at the hotel lagoon and pool area. We may venture up to Parker Ranch and possibly do some horseback riding, but we'll have to play that one by ear.

Day 6 will be exploration day, I think. I'd like to drive north to Hawi, which is a quaint little town for maybe a quick bite, and then further on to the Pololu Valley lookout. It's very scenic, but my concern is that the kids may get bored. We'll also have to play this one by ear.

Day 7 is our last full day on the Big Island. I know that Sherry is interested in surfing, Sophia may be interested in taking a lesson, so this may be our surfing and/or kayaking day. Evan's a decent swimmer, and Alexander is doing much better now that he's been taking lessons this summer. I'm sure the kids will want to spend at least a few hours at the hotel pool area again.

Day 8 is a travel day for everyone. Everyone except for Sophia, Evan, and yours truly will be heading home to California. The 3 remaining amigos will be flying over to Honolulu. To be honest, as much as I will love being with the whole gang on the Big Island, I'm really looking forward to staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We arrive around 4pm in Honolulu. Perri will pick us up, we will drive back to his house so I can drop him off, and then I get to use his car for a few days. We'll get checked in at the hotel, and luckily with the longer days, we'll probably still have some sunlight to explore the property and hit some of the pools and slides. The other possibility is that Perri will just drop us off at the hotel, and then take the car since we really won't need it that first night. The 3rd possibility, hehe, is that Baby To Be Named will be here already, so we may be visiting her at the hospital, or visiting her at home, or who knows what else!

I'll continue with Days 9, 10 and 11 tomorrow. I have some interesting plans for those days (some of them involving food...yum!).

[cubfancolleen]

Hope the pool area is a great one - would make things a little easier!

[chezp]

The pool area sounds amazing!