Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - the Hawaii section part 3 COMPLETED - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - the Hawaii section part 3 COMPLETED
As the previous thread is now getting quite long, and I don’t want to end up with the problem I had on the WDW section of the trip report, with problems adding posts and continued double posting, once again it’s time for a new thread.
Full details of our time in Hawaii so far can be found in part 1 of the Hawaii section, which covers our flight to Hawaii, Aulani, our first meal at Makahiki and our visit to Pearl Harbor and part 2 of the Hawaii section, which covers our days out in the Big Island and Kauai, along with more detail of our stay at Aulani.
Saturday 9 November – part one: our second character breakfast at Makahiki
I was awake just after 6:00am, and got going, even though breakfast wasn’t until 8:00am. I was glad I did, as I caught the last of the Hawaiian chant to welcome the day, and got some photos of the resort in the early morning sun.
I was also able to get caught up on the boards, pay our credit card (sadly these things still need to be done on vacation ) and check the charges on it. I also tidied up the room a bit, as I was conscious we only had three more nights here – where does the time go?
This vacation, instead of taking home all our confirmations etc. with our names on them, I’m asking front desks to shred them, and trust me, with all our paperwork, that saves quite a bit of space and weight!
That done, we then headed down to Makahiki for our second character breakfast of the day. This time, we knew the drill – outside first to see Mickey, who was on a cheese break, which turned out to be a very long cheese break. During that time, lots of people started to wait for him to come back, and there’d been no line established. I dealt with that firmly when the photographer arrived, telling him we were third, which we were, and I pointed out the two groups ahead of us. After that, I have no idea what happened…
While we waited for Mickey I got a few photos…
As Mark, there’s quite a bit of money here with all these Koi carp. Then we saw the main mouse himself…
We were shown to our table by a lovely Cast Member from Tokyo. I didn’t catch her name, but she explained this area that I was photographing….
There are lights in the ceiling, and while most of them are white, a group of seven of them are blue, and these represent the stars that can be seen from Hawaii. She also told us that in Japan they can only see six of them. They can be seen from September to January (I think I’ve got that right ) and when they are seen, it leads to great celebrations, and that’s what Makahiki stands for – celebration, which answered a question I had.
She also pointed out to us that the coconut shell wall as you enter also uses coconut shell husks on the ceiling, which I didn’t know – neat!
She also explained that they had finished their work, and now the buffet was all behind the seating area, rather than set up in part of it, as it previously had been. Of course, we hadn’t noticed this at all, but the difference with the new layout was much better.
This time around, we found the pastries, or at least I found the French toast and very nice it was too…
We asked for an order of the eggs benedict without the meat, which they did, but compared to Thursday, it wasn’t nice at all with far too much pepper on it. Neither of us could finish it, which was such a shame.
For the rest of the meal, I was a traditionalist and stuck to what I’d had before, mainly cheese, fresh fruit and honey yoghurt, although I did add in some smoked salmon, and in all honesty, the smoked salmon wasn’t that great. The guava juice was still just as good though – if only I could have this stuff every morning, I’d be a very happy bunny!
With the characters, Goofy first came round while Mark was at the buffet, so I asked him and his handler if he could come back, as I knew Mark would want to see him, and they did have a real ball together, as you can see. Goofy was about to take part in a parade, hence the fish and net he was carrying. Mark made good use of it…
Minnie was as charming as ever and we had a nice time with her, although not as good as before.
Mark looks like he’s puckering up to Minnie on this shot!
Sadly, the woman playing Aunty for today’s breakfast wasn’t the same as Thursday, and she wasn’t as good either.
All in all, while the meal was still good, it didn’t live up to what we experienced the first time around, but maybe I’m being unfair, as that was pretty much near perfect, and it would’ve been very hard to live up to that.
Makahiki character breakfast
Food 8½ 9
Service 8 8
Atmosphere 9 9
Value for money 8½ 8½
Stopping in for my morning trip to Hawaii (off to Mallorca next).
This morning's meal might not have been perfect, but still looks like lots of good things to choose from. Great photos with the characters, and nice early morning views of the resort.
They way the have to buffet set up this time is like the do at The Wave for breakfast. I personally like that kind of set up, behind the wall better. Not that I have a specific reason why, but I do LOL.
Boy, I miss 5 days and I miss a lot! Waimea definitely looks like the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. Very cool. That zoom into the waterfall is an awesome photo!
What a fantastic lunch! Isn't it great when you stumble upon places like that? It all looked delicious too. Pricey, but you paid for the location. And the good food.
So bummed you couldn't do the helicopter tour. You mentioned how it helped you see and understand the Big Island better; I'm sure this would have been the same experience. Oh well. At least you got your Wal Mart supplies.
Making use of that convertible. Good job. Breakfast is looking... well... OK. Yeah, your last meal there was over the top perfect, so I suppose it is hard to compare. Still good times with Goofy though!
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I'm glad you got up early this morning as those pictures of the resort and its surroundings in the early morning light are beautiful. Love the fish pictures, too. I had been wondering what Makahiki meant. Neat to have some of the details of the restaurant explained.
signing in for the third installment. Don't want to miss a thing. Not sure with what you pay for the buffet you could eat enough to make it worth it. Just my opinion.
They way the have to buffet set up this time is like the do at The Wave for breakfast. I personally like that kind of set up, behind the wall better. Not that I have a specific reason why, but I do LOL.
I know what you mean - it's out of the way, so even if you're sitting close to the buffet, people going up there isn't too disturbing.
Boy, I miss 5 days and I miss a lot! Waimea definitely looks like the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. Very cool. That zoom into the waterfall is an awesome photo!
What a fantastic lunch! Isn't it great when you stumble upon places like that? It all looked delicious too. Pricey, but you paid for the location. And the good food.
Because I tend to plan a lot (bet you didn't know that... ), I always love it when I try somewhere I know nothing about and it's a success.
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So bummed you couldn't do the helicopter tour. You mentioned how it helped you see and understand the Big Island better; I'm sure this would have been the same experience. Oh well. At least you got your Wal Mart supplies.
It certainly would've been, especially as you can only see something like 80% of the island from the air or the water. That's why I want to go back there...
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Making use of that convertible. Good job. Breakfast is looking... well... OK. Yeah, your last meal there was over the top perfect, so I suppose it is hard to compare. Still good times with Goofy though!
That's the thing, isn't it? If you have a magical experience once, then the next time it's harder to live up to that....
signing in for the third installment. Don't want to miss a thing. Not sure with what you pay for the buffet you could eat enough to make it worth it. Just my opinion.
I hear you - and I certainly feel that way about some of the buffets at Disney World. The breakfast at Akerhaus springs to mind....
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) and check the charges on it. I also tidied up the room a bit, as I was conscious we only had three more nights here – where does the time go? 
During that time, lots of people started to wait for him to come back, and there’d been no line established. I dealt with that firmly when the photographer arrived, telling him we were third, which we were, and I pointed out the two groups ahead of us. After that, I have no idea what happened… 
and very nice it was too… 
with far too much pepper on it. Neither of us could finish it, which was such a shame. 
It all looked delicious too. Pricey, but you paid for the location. And the good food. 
Still good times with Goofy though!
Deb
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