Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - the Hawaii section part 3 COMPLETED - Page 37 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I wonder if you hadn't done so many excursions that took you away from the resort if 8 days would've felt like too much? I was amazed at the fact that you were still discovering things, but then thought about the days you flew to other islands, or just explored Oahu. You really made the most of your time in Hawaii!
Well, I always work on the theory that we may never make it back to places, so we'd better see everything we can. There's definitely still more to see on O'ahu - I reckon at least a good two or three days worth, then there's a return trip to Maui and Kauai as well. I imagine if and hopefully when we get back, it'll be for about the same amount of time again...
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Sorry the trip is ending, although heading back for more Florida fun is better than heading straight home. Don't you still have time in Florida? Now that I've said that, I'm second guessing it - this trip began so long ago!
There are two nights in Disney before we go home, so we arrive Wednesday lunchtime, then fly home Friday afternoon.
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But I'm sure you'll get back to Hawaii - your love of it comes through loud and clear.
I hope so - it was one of the most wonderful places we've ever visited and I cannot wait to go back!
I know you were sad to leave, but you had a great first visit. Next time in Hawaii will you return to Aulani? I think if I ever considered HI as a destination I might do only a day trip to Oahu and stay on a less congested island for a while. Aulani looks beautiful, but there are many beautiful resorts in the islands!
We'd definitely go back to Aulani, as that was just such a stunning place to stay.
My plan (can you tell I've thought about this? ) is to fly in and head into Waikiki and stay one night at the Hilton there. That way, we get to explore Waikiki and see the 'Iolani Palace on the way to Aulani.
I'd then like to have our reservation at Aulani for the rest of our stay there, but if it's possible, get a reservation at the Grand Wailea Resourt Hotel and Spa on Maui for one night - as we can stay there with our DVC points. I'm not sure if we can have two bookings with our points at two separate resorts. Then we'd fly to Kauai early in the morning, maybe on a Saturday, as it's quieter on the roads, then fly to Maui in the late afternoon/early evening, go back to Fleetwood's for dinner, spend the night there, then fly back to O'ahu sometime the next day. What d'you think?
Those little menehune are so cute. It's like looking for hidden mickeys!
It is, and that's what I was hoping the trail would be all about. Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of fun, just not what I expected...
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Leaving is so hard, and even more so when leaving such a beautiful place. I still think you did the right thing in planning with having day trips to the other islands. That way you got a good sampling of all Hawaii has to offer. If you should never make it back, you saw a LOT.
That is true!
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But if you do make it back - which we all know you will - then you know exactlly what and where to spend more time. Successful trip, I think!
I hope we do make it back. You just never know what the future will hold, but fingers crossed...
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We'd definitely go back to Aulani, as that was just such a stunning place to stay.
My plan (can you tell I've thought about this? ) is to fly in and head into Waikiki and stay one night at the Hilton there. That way, we get to explore Waikiki and see the 'Iolani Palace on the way to Aulani.
I'd then like to have our reservation at Aulani for the rest of our stay there, but if it's possible, get a reservation at the Grand Wailea Resourt Hotel and Spa on Maui for one night - as we can stay there with our DVC points. I'm not sure if we can have two bookings with our points at two separate resorts. Then we'd fly to Kauai early in the morning, maybe on a Saturday, as it's quieter on the roads, then fly to Maui in the late afternoon/early evening, go back to Fleetwood's for dinner, spend the night there, then fly back to O'ahu sometime the next day. What d'you think?
I think a night on Maui is a good plan and hope they'll let you do that-- it'll be interesting to find out. I know there's no way to see all the islands without flying between, but I hate flying so much that I think I'd focus on just one island and stay put! Probably won't get there anyways, but I'll see the sights in your report!
I think a night on Maui is a good plan and hope they'll let you do that-- it'll be interesting to find out. I know there's no way to see all the islands without flying between, but I hate flying so much that I think I'd focus on just one island and stay put! Probably won't get there anyways, but I'll see the sights in your report!
I'll let you know if and when we get to book it. I can't see why they wouldn't, but I have no idea. If not, then I'll see if we can leave some of the luggage at Aulani, and maybe we could move from a studio to a one bedroom as a result? So many ideas floating around in my head!
Tuesday 12 November – part six: Captain Doug is the best!
We went to fill up with gas, and then returned our car to Avis. It was sad to see it go, but I think we’ve both decided that unless we’re travelling with very little luggage, we won’t be getting a convertible again, as it’s not very practical with lots of cases.
We boarded our shuttle bus to the airport, and as our driver Calvin cheerfully told us, it was a private chauffeur driven one today, as we were the only ones on it!
We arrived at the airport, and put our suitcases through the US mainland screening by the Department of Agriculture. Everything has to go through this process on the way out of Hawaii, to try and protect the islands’ unique ecosystem.
We then went to drop our bags, but this is where it got bizarre, and made me wonder why on earth I’d bothered to do online check-in earlier at Aulani, because it re-printed our boarding passes for us. Apparently, it was because the ones we printed earlier didn’t have our gate number on them. I don’t know about you, but I’m perfectly capable of reading a monitor to find a gate number, and that’s the system we use with our flights at home, so it’s something I’m used to.
The kiosk we were using wouldn’t read our credit card, so we had to have the payment for our luggage taken manually, then we left our bags at bag drop.
Now when the boarding passes were printed out, I only looked at the top one, and it said TSA pre-check. Result! We headed that way, and mine went through fine, then the next one didn’t – that’s because it was my boarding pass for the next flight. I found Mark’s, handed it over and thought no more of it, except again he didn’t have TSA pre-check on his, so he went through the standard line, while I pre-checked. It is much simpler, but I still don’t understand how they can do this randomly, and how come in total I’ve now been chosen three times, and Mark’s only been chosen once? It’s all very weird.
Once through the other side, we stopped to admire the Japanese garden here, which is not only beautiful, it’s massive. It was a lot bigger than we realised when we arrived here. It’s a lovely touch, although I don’t think many people use it, which is a real shame.
We browsed a couple of shops, and did some damage, with me getting some chocolate pineapple crunches. I figured they were only $9, so if I didn’t like them, I hadn’t spent much money on them. I applied the same principle to the passion fruit jelly and pineapple preserve I bought as well, as both of those were only $7 each.
In the next shop, we got a book on Maui, as we didn’t think we’d got one while we were over there, and a book on Pearl Harbor.
Then we headed towards the gate, and found these on the way – a sure sign you’re in Hawaii, although sadly we were about to be leaving it.
When we got to the gate, we caught a beautiful sunset…
The view of Honolulu from here was pretty cool too.
We also saw this…
We settled down, and were one of the first there. The peace was sadly soon shattered by the grandmother, mother and daughter who arrived. The mother was fine, and the daughter wasn’t that bad. It was the grandmother, who apparently could not speak without practically shouting, and most of it was to tell her granddaughter to stay in sight. I’m not surprised she was trying to hide – I know I wanted to…
When it came to boarding, we had a very unusual thing happen to us. Captain Doug (everyone’s favourite captain as he repeatedly referred to himself during the flight! ) came out to talk to us. I had to snap a photo of him on the mic…
He basically came to tell us that they were short on two flight crew, which would explain the two flight attendants we saw board the aircraft earlier and then leave again. I don’t know what the issue was, but he told us that we were legal to fly, but obviously they’d be down on staff, and could we all help them out as much as possible as a result. He was a lovely speaker, and spoke for so long that the mic actually cut out on him – apparently it has a cut off on it if you talk for too long! Anyway, that didn’t phase him in the slightest, he just shouted the rest of his message. He was a great guy and got a round of applause at the end!
We boarded, and found our seats, and before we knew it, good old Captain Doug told us at 7:30pm that they were just waiting on four more passengers, and then we’d be leaving… ahead of schedule.
As we got ready to leave, we got chatting to the guy next to us, as he’d told someone he was a radio commentator for the state university basketball team in New Mexico – I think I got that right. As I used to work in radio, I was fascinated to talk to him. It turned out the basketball team was on board, many of them in coach, which amazed us, with the size of them. There was one guy walked through and he couldn’t stand up straight, he was that tall. The commentator told us he was the shorter of two brothers!
We may have left ahead of schedule, but it probably took us about 10 or 15 minutes to get to the actual runway – very different to all the inter-island flights we’ve taken with Hawaiian Airlines, which are in the air in literally a couple of minutes.
Once we were up, as soon as we could, we both reclined our seats and set about sleeping as much as we could of our six hour flight.
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the high 80s. The best thing today was spending time at Aulani. The worst thing today was leaving Aulani and Hawaii. The funniest thing today was Captain Doug! Today we tried breakfast at ‘Ama Ama And the result was we both agreed it was better quality than Makahiki. The most magical moment today was enjoying breakfast at ‘Ama Ama with its wonderful view over the beach.
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) is to fly in and head into Waikiki and stay one night at the Hilton there. That way, we get to explore Waikiki and see the 'Iolani Palace on the way to Aulani. 
Then we'd fly to Kauai early in the morning, maybe on a Saturday, as it's quieter on the roads, then fly to Maui in the late afternoon/early evening, go back to Fleetwood's for dinner, spend the night there, then fly back to O'ahu sometime the next day. What d'you think? 
I posted photos of the digital photobook I did of this in the 
I don’t know about you, but I’m perfectly capable of reading a monitor to find a gate number, and that’s the system we use with our flights at home, so it’s something I’m used to. 
I found Mark’s, handed it over and thought no more of it, except again he didn’t have TSA pre-check on his, so he went through the standard line, while I pre-checked. It is much simpler, but I still don’t understand how they can do this randomly, and how come in total I’ve now been chosen three times, and Mark’s only been chosen once? It’s all very weird. 
Anyway, that didn’t phase him in the slightest, he just shouted the rest of his message. He was a great guy and got a round of applause at the end! 
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