Hawaii Here I Come! TR July/Aug 2011 UPDATED 8/23 - Page 18 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Thanks for sticking with this and giving us all the details! The little logistics of traveling, like figuring out check-out time, parking, etc, that are so exhausting. It's a shame that trips have to begin and end with focusing on all of that. That's one reason my next big trip is going to be ABD. Let them figure it out!
Dinner was Japanese at Gyotaku (I think it's a small Hawaiian chain because I saw another one in Honolulu). We'd been here before and really like it. Service was just ok, but the food was good.
One of the restaurant's specialties is a sushi nacho dish, which is an ahi poke type mix on top of chips!
My dinner was nabeyaki udon, one of my favorite Japanese dishes.
With the slow service, it took a while to get out of there, and I was slightly stressed that we might be late for our flight if any of the lines were long (Honolulu is a big and often busy airport!). We left Perri's house around 8pm, got to the airport around 8:15pm, and thankfully the lines were just average, so by the time we got through the agricultural check (it's an extra scan that's done if your flight is leaving the Hawaiian islands to make sure you're not taking any flora or fauna out that would not be welcome on the mainland or other countries), the United Airlines check in, and then TSA, we made it near our gate around 8:50pm. Check in was scheduled to start at 9:05pm. We saw a charging station, so I plugged in my phone (in case Evan needed some diversion on the plane...he's an Angry Birds expert!) and Sophia and I took turns browsing the gift shop.
Sophia came back almost immediately and told me she found a fish shirt! It wasn't the one we wanted, but it had lots of Hawaiian fish on it with their English and Hawaiian names. So, Sophia took after bag/phone watch duty, and I took Evan into the store. I asked if he liked the shirt, and he said yes, so purchase made! Sophia still didn't want a shirt, so that's all we bought.
We let the phone charge a few more minutes, and then at 9:05 we headed over to our gate. They were just starting to call the early boarders, so we sat for a few minutes until our turn came up.
I forgot to take a picture of the gate area, but I did take one of our plane.
Next update will be the flight and then drive home, and the aftermath of our red eye flight! Once I get all my pictures together and my thoughts in one place, I'll also post a wrap up as well!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Great last day, although I'm sorry to see this come to an end... having said that, I haven't forgotten your promise about photos from your camera and you still have those to come!
I hate that this is ending, but like Cheryl said, I'm excited at the promise of more photos and a wrap-up! Those pancakes have me craving some pancakes with whipped cream on them! YUM!!! It looks so beautiful there. *swoon*
Thankfully it wasn't as hectic as the other days, and after a good night's sleep the night before, I finally got rid of my stress and aches!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great last day, although I'm sorry to see this come to an end... having said that, I haven't forgotten your promise about photos from your camera and you still have those to come!
Don't worry, they're coming! Today's my day to work on them. I finally have a some time today to sit down quietly and focus on them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
I hate that this is ending, but like Cheryl said, I'm excited at the promise of more photos and a wrap-up! Those pancakes have me craving some pancakes with whipped cream on them! YUM!!! It looks so beautiful there. *swoon*
I've got a few more photos coming from my phone (that's where all the pics are from in this TR). It turns out I wasn't paying attention to how they uploaded to my laptop, so there were some that weren't "in order" in my directory. I THOUGHT I had taken more pics!
So, let me wrap this up with a few words, and then I'll get work on the camera pics!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Well, the flight back was just fine. Flight time to LAX is under 5 hours going back (it was 5 1/2 hours to Hawaii).
We were in a Boeing 767-200, so the seating configuration was 2-3-2. I chose the 3 center seats for us since it was a red eye, with Evan in the middle. Sophia fell asleep almost immediately after takeoff. Evan decided to watch Rio, which was playing on the plane. I tried to read the plane magazines (can't resist giggling through Sky Mall). Once Rio finished, Evan settled down to sleep. Two down, one to go!
By now, it was about 1am Hawaii time (4am Los Angeles time). No matter what I did, I couldn't get comfortable. Since we were in the center section, there was nowhere to lean. Evan had pulled up the arm rest between us so he could lean on my shoulder. I just couldn't fall asleep. So, at 2 hours later (3am Hawaii time, 6am Los Angeles time) we landed. I was in sad shape, and was actually feeling a bit nauseous from lack of sleep. Luckily we made it to baggage claim without incident, and Pat was already there looking for our one checked bag.
Bag claimed, we headed home. I immediately dropped my stuff just in the front door and went straight to the bedroom and plopped down. I think after about an hour, I finally fell asleep (I know, I know, I'm a terrible sleeper). Three hours or so later, I heard knocking on the front door...or was I sleeping? A minute later, I heard it again. Ugh! I went downstairs to the front door, and there was no one there. Do people actually sell anything going door to door?! Why do they do it?! Ugh! At that point, I knew there was no way I'd fall asleep again.
I sat down to watch tv. The kids woke up a few hours later. I pretty much was a couch potato all day. I wasn't tired enough to sleep, but I wasn't awake enough to do anything...other than 3 loads of laundry!
Don't let me take a red eye again. I took one to Philly earlier in the year, but it went really well (of course I was flying alone, lol!). I thought this would work for the kids since they'd be so tired they'd fall asleep. Sophia did, Evan eventually did, I didn't. Oh well!
Thus ends my trip to Hawaii! I'll be back (later today, I hope) with some pics that were missed through the TR. Once I get my camera pics sorted and uploaded to the archives, I'll post some here, and have you go to the archives to see the rest. I'll also get some thoughts together and put together a wrap up for anyone planning a trip to Hawaii. See ya real soon!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Here are a few more pics from the trip. It's taking me a while to figure them out chronologically because they didn't get uploaded in order...very strange! I apologize in advance if I duplicate any...I'm trying to go on memory of what I haven't shown you yet.
From Kings' Land, here's a pic of the kids' chicken strips meal. I love that turtle dish! I ended up buying one from the Walmart souvenir section on the last day of our trip...which reminds me, I need to take a pic of purchases to share with you!
More art from the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort
This is my favorite of the art pieces...this is feather art. The artists actually pluck individual feathers from different birds and then use them to create these incredibly vibrant pieces...I tried to take closeups of it, but I couldn't get past the glare on the display cases. There's a hidden me in the picture!
Here are Sophia, Pat and Evan after we ate at Merriman's Market Cafe at Kings' Shops
More to follow....
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Phew! Exhausting flight! It's a good thing you didn't have a long drive (or another flight) after landing in LA. Too bad to arrive home from vacation completely wiped out! Looking forward to the wrap-up.
One of my favorite sunset pictures taken from our Kings' Land balcony
Here's the outside of our Kings' Land room/building. The sun was really bright (it was probably only 9am or so) so Evan didn't want to face the camera with the sun behind me.
Nene Goose, state bird of Hawaii and endangered
One of the smaller slides at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, but it was probably the same size as the "longest slide in Waikiki"
The trunk and roots of a banyan tree in Honolulu, on our way to Eggs 'n Things. These trees start to grow roots out of their limbs taking in the moisture from the air, and then they eventually become so long that they end up growing into the ground.
On the drive back from Ko Olina toward Honolulu. You can faintly see Diamond Head off in the distance in the middle of the picture
Taking a breather in the middle of the world's largest maze. That's Sophia, Evan, and Baby D!
Can you see the birds snacking on the leftovers at the next table? This was at Tropics Bar and Grill while we were having breakfast. There were signs everywhere warning you not to feed the birds, and now you can see why! They were flying around everywhere, but luckily they didn't bother you when you were eating. They just swooped down and grabbed their snacks after you left!
Art at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu
I realized as I was looking through the pictures that once again, as the only photographer in the family, there are hardly any pictures of me! Thank goodness I thought to have someone take a picture of me just hours before we flew home. This is me and my baby bro! No makeup, and wearing the most comfortable stretchy clothes I packed in preparation for the flight home!
The infamous humuhumunukunukuapua'a shirt I was trying to find for my mom and the kids. Never did find one. I told my mom she could have mine, but she wouldn't take it, lol!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Phew! Exhausting flight! It's a good thing you didn't have a long drive (or another flight) after landing in LA. Too bad to arrive home from vacation completely wiped out! Looking forward to the wrap-up.
Luckily, as we were leaving LAX around 6:30am on a Friday morning, we were going in the opposite direction of commuter traffic. We didn't hit much traffic at all and got home in about an hour and 15 minutes. With traffic, it would've easily been double that. There are airports closer to me than LAX (Ontario, John Wayne), but they didn't have non-stop flights to Kona, which is what we wanted. One of the reasons I chose the red eye was because we'd be arriving at an off traffic time to get home. I have to re-think this in the future. I'm still hoping that I can get enough saved up to take the kids to WDW next year, but again there are no non-stops unless I fly out of LAX. And if I fly out of Ontario or John Wayne with a layover somewhere, the flights arrive around dinner time in Orlando, and it feels like such a "wasted" day to me (I'm very impatient...once I land, I want to go go go!).
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
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