Thursday, June 13- moving to Waikiki
I woke up early to sign up for the family animation class when it opened. I also got some coffee and did a last load of laundry. I really liked the washer and dryer in our room. It was super convenient, and I tried to make sure everything we had was washed before we left. I had intentions of not doing laundry again. We tried to pack as light as possible since Hawaiian Airlines charges for checked bags. We did get a discount for being members of their club, but still added up to $90 a suitcase including the island hops. Our Delta flight from LAX allowed us all to check a bag for free using my membership which helped on our last leg of the trip.
I also saw a mongoose while waiting. We saw several on our trip and at Aulani. Our tour guide on a later tour told us someone had brought them into Hawaii to control the rat population but that they never cross paths due to rats only coming out at night, and mongooses only coming out during the day. He also said that mongooses were responsible for destroying native birds with no previous predators that built their nests on the ground.
We grabbed a couple of things from the Ulu Cafe for breakfast. The malasadas they had there were not too tasty looking, so I grabbed a couple of donuts.
Both donuts were underwhelming.
My 2 youngest asked to go back to Aunty's one last time. This was probably because they did not want to pack and load the car, but we let them anyway.
We also decided to look at the bays next door. We walked to the side that was not the 4 Seasons, and it looked very similar. We also walked to the 4 Seasons. We did look out of place with all of our bands screaming Aulani, and we did get stopped. We let them know we were just seeking the "secret beach", and they let us walk through. The "secret beach" was behind a tiny gate and did not look too cool, so we returned to Aulani. We have heard there are sometimes turtles but usually only in the morning.
We then loaded up our car and went back to try the indoor Menehune Adventure Trail. This time our tablet worked, and it was pretty fun.
Soon it was time for our animation class, so we picked up the youngest from Aunty's . This day was super hero day. The day before was science day, and my son enjoyed the experiments.
The animation class was full with many people on the waiting list waiting in the back for someone not to show up. The first thing we did was to try to draw Stitch.
Next, they handed out animations to paint.
It was not really an animation class, but it was a fun way to end our stay at Aulani.
We then headed to out next location, Waikiki. Our hotel was the Hyatt House a couple of blocks from the beach which was chosen because we could use our free Hyatt nights there. There is also a Hyatt Regency on the beach, but it is a class above free nights. On the way there we stopped at the Rainbow Drive In for lunch. We got cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and a mahi sandwich. They were all enjoyed except the hot dogs. My husband also liked their apple pie which reminded him of old school Mcdonald's pies when they could fry them.
We also stopped by the famed Leonard's for treats and malasadas. We got several items to try, paid, and left. When we arrived at our hotel, we noticed we were missing the malasadas. We called, and we were supposed to wait for them. They wrote down our information and told us we could come by later. The other bakery items including mochi and brownies were pretty good. Our new hotel did not give us a good impression. At check in I noticed lots of young people hanging out and long elevator lines. The lady at the desk said it was Grad Week! We had to wait a long time for an elevator which was crammed with teenage boys, one of which had a completely nude woman tattooed on his arm. Our stay ended up getting better aside from loud teens every once in a while.
Our room was at least facing the ocean.
Soon it was time to check out the famed Waikiki Beach. It turned out to be really fun playing in the waves, and it beat our old record for how far we could walk out and still touch. Diamond Head also looked beautiful in the background.
to be continued...