Hawaii Here I Come! TR July/Aug 2011 UPDATED 8/23 - Page 20 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I'm back to torment myself some more and entice all of you! I looked up the menu for the new restaurant...it's called Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman. There's one already open on Maui.
Here's the dinner menu (they're also open for lunch):
Oh my goodness, I'm drooling! I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that 95% of that menu appeals to me! It would take at least 10 visits to get through that menu, but I intend to do so because I want to try it all!
All of you visiting Aulani are going to be in for a treat if you dine there! I'm so jealous!!! I'll try to stay on top of this one to find out when they intend to open as it gets closer to next summer (one can only hope that a restaurant will open on time...do any of you watch Food Network and those shows about opening up new restaurants? So much goes into it!)
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Oooh, I love that menu! So many vegetarian options. The spinach and quinoa salad has my name all over it. And pie, pie, pie! My grandfather was in the restaurant business and was president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Assoc. so I do know all the hard work and planning that goes into every detail!
Love all the pictures, especially Aulani! And exciting news about the restaurant!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Oooh, I love that menu! So many vegetarian options. The spinach and quinoa salad has my name all over it. And pie, pie, pie! My grandfather was in the restaurant business and was president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Assoc. so I do know all the hard work and planning that goes into every detail!
Aulani looks really cool, doesn't it? I'm looking forward to reading the first reviews from people staying there!
Here's another "funny" I discovered connecting my trip with Monkeypod Kitchen...remember these trees I really liked?
They're all over Hawaii and have a beautiful canopy. I found out what kind of trees they are. Monkey Pod Trees!!! Unfortunately, they're not native to Hawaii and are considered an invasive species. They're really beautiful, and I saw them so many times on both islands.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Let me finish up the rest of the trip in pictures....
After Ko Olina, I took the kids to the Aloha Swap Meet.
And later in the room, Sophia spread out her purchases on the bed to admire them (while doing what seems to be a Donald Duck impression ).
Here are some pictures from our last morning on Oahu, taken during breakfast from Tropics Bar and Grill at the hotel. You can see how close the restaurant is to the beach/ocean.
Here's a picture of the famous Rainbow Tower at the hotel. That rainbow design is made up of thousands of mosaic tiles!
Here's the view from our balcony looking down. There was a beautiful pool there which we unfortunately never had the chance to try, and the open air lounge/restaurant that had nightly live music is just beyond the pool.
Looking right from the balcony
Looking left from the balcony. There's Rainbow Tower and the beach just beyond it. You can see yet another one of the pools in the bottom left corner of the picture. We were staying in Diamond Head Tower.
And that ends my little pictorial tour. I'll try to put together a wrap-up of the trip soon and share what worked and didn't work for our trip as well as things I shouldn't have done and things I wish I had done!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I love the look of the Rainbow Tower - it always stands out in any shots you see of the area. Fascinating that they did it with mosaic tiles.
I didn't have a chance to walk over to the tower to get a closer look, and of course now I wish I had. I only learned of the tiles by watching the Hilton channel in our room.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I wish I could make this TR go on and on and on because it's so much fun to relive everything as I write about it! Thanks so much all of you for following along!
Let's start some wrap-up thoughts now.... I'm kind of swamped with lots of busy work this week, so I'll try to get to some of it every day until I'm done!
What Worked - Housing
Kings' Land (Hilton Grand Vacations Club) on the Big Island was a hit for me. The complex felt very new. The water pressure was the best we had during the entire vacation, and since Hawaii has water restriction/conservation laws, I can only assume that Kings' Land had the best showerheads! The pool area was also a hit (although I was looking forward to a real lazy river and not just a meandering pool!). The slides were a hit for both the kids and adults! The resort is a bit spread out, though, as I think there were 10 buildings sort of spread out in a long line with the lobby building between buildings 5 and 6 (I think, I didn't actually walk the length of the property, but it looked that way when I drove past the buildings).
Having the free Hilton shuttle is also a plus. It runs most of the day, and pickups at each locations is every 30 minutes. Once we parked at the resort, we didn't have to think about finding parking if we wanted to eat or go shopping at Kings' Shops or Queens' Marketplace or go swimming over at the Hilton hotel. You do need a rental car to get from the airport to the resort (I don't think I've ever seen any shuttles on the road, so I'm guessing rental car is really the only way). Plus, to see the rest of the island, it's best to have a rental car. Many tour companies do offer pickups in the Waikoloa area, but it's more convenient to drive yourself for other things.
Hilton Waikoloa Village (on the Big Island) is one of my favorite resorts overall, although it's been about 10 years since I've actually stayed in a room there, so I can't really speak for the current state of the rooms here (but we loved it when we stayed here in the past). The last few times we've visited were because we stayed at the nearby HGVC condos and had access to the pool. It's a really lovely hotel with great pool and lagoon areas. The resort is right on the beach although there is no direct beach access as it's all volcanic rock in the immediate area. It's a bit like Disney because they do have a monorail train (ground, not raised) that travels back and forth the distance of the resort because it's so big. I read somewhere that it's actually one of the older Disneyland monorail trains, but I don't know how accurate that is. They also offer free boat transport (about the size of a Jungle Cruise boat) to ferry you back and forth as well. And on top of that, the hotel has their own form of Utilidors underneath for the employees to move throughout the property.
Hilton Hawaiian Village (on Oahu) was pretty good as well, but not fantastic. It's a huge complex that's 50 years old now. Our room was clean and spacious, but the age of the hotel does show. I guess what I'm saying is I wouldn't want to be paying rack rate as they charge deluxe prices! That being said, there are different rates for different buildings, and since I was getting a "free" room with my points, I wouldn't expect them to give me their top of the line accommodations (but it would've been nice if they had!)! There were many restaurants, lots of shops, many pools, and lots of beachfront that's nowhere as crowded as being on the public beaches at Waikiki. We all wished the "longest pool slide in Waikiki" were a bit longer, but aside from that, we enjoyed ourselves and wish we had an extra day to explore more of the resort.
As busy as the resort appeared to be, it never did seem crowded (aside from our pool day when it took a while for a seat to open up). We'd like to stay here again, but I'd only do it if I had more points to use or at least got some kind of a discount.
What Didn't Work - Housing
Kohala Suites (also HGVC) was just ok. It's a smaller complex with 4 buildings clustered around the lobby building. It also seemed older and not as well kept up as Kings' Land. The pool area was tiny (I didn't even get a picture as I only walked by once and never swam there, though Evan did go in a few times and seemed to enjoy it). It was also noisy as I heard kids running around upstairs and around us (we were on the 2nd of 3 floors).
__________________
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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So much goes into it!)
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They're really beautiful, and I saw them so many times on both islands.
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