ProudMommyof2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2007
Awesome pictures!!! I love taking pictures as well but would adore someone behind me giving tips! Great use of, I am sure, a well needed alone time!
The boys were eager to have special time with Grandma, who is very sweet to them and allows them a few extra privileges that we might not.
I turned to the right and took some of shots of this when I ran out of ideas for how to shoot the sunrise.
The only low-point of the tour was my breakfast burrito. It came highly recommended, but was loaded with piles of black beans, and I don't think there was any cheese in it. It did have bacon and eggs, but they could not overcome the abundance of beans.
Awesome pictures!!! I love taking pictures as well but would adore someone behind me giving tips! Great use of, I am sure, a well needed alone time!
Cool! You guys have some amazing photos in your trip reports. You should perhaps keep an eye out for photo tours, since you love to travel. I hear there are many of these kinds of tours offered around the country.My wife would have loved doing this. She's been taking classes and learning how to play with the DSLR as well.
The funny thing is I forgot that the menu said there were beans in it, and for a long time I thought they were just heaps of mooshed, bland black olives. Gross. Had no idea there would be so many.I'm not a fan of beans, either. Even if they are a magical fruit, and good for your heart.
Thanks very much! I sometimes forgot the tripod in the room during the trip, but it did come in handy on many occasions. I think about trying to bring one to Disney World next time for at least a couple of days in the parks. We'll see. Seems like it might be kind of a bother to carry it there on rides...Fantastic waterfall pictures! Somebody remembered a tripod, I see.
Kailua is tied with Hapuna (Big Island) for my all time, any where in the world favorite beach spot. It almost spoils you for any other beach you might go to afterward because the sand is so soft and fine my kids nick-named it "teddy bear sand". So glad your boys enjoyed it!
Following along and looking forward to more updates.
That is so cute - teddy bear sand! Yes, the sand was amazingly soft. We meant to go to Lanikai Beach, also, which is nearby, but did not make it there. I had heard it was excellent as well. Have you been there?
Welcome! Thank you so much for reading and for your very kind words! It's always nice to meet another mom of twins. They will love the trip you are planning. And I have to say up front that you are my hero - visiting all the Disney Parks around the world. Yay you! I'll never achieve that level of Disney-awesomeness, but Disneyland is a couple years away for me cool1 I also would love to stay at all the Disney hotels at Disney World. (It's a very long-term goal. Score so far: 1. More coming soon, though!)Hi Karin!
Loving the TR so far. I'm one of those crazy Australians that loves to travel to Hawaii - it's actually super good value from here.
There are so many similarities with what I hope our trip will be! I have twins too - though they are boy/girl and are 4. They'll be turning 5 when we hope to go to Aulani next year. Like you, I love to vacation in the US in May - the weather is great and it's never too crowded.
We are actually looking at staying at Hilton Hawaiian Village in a suite when we start - we are travelling with my parents for my Mum's 60th birthday, and then they will go on to Canada after our Hawaii stopover. What did you think of the Hilton? I'm worried it will be too crowded, but I loved the idea of my twins getting to experience such a great kids club with other children from a different country.
We used a company to handle the rental process for us (David's Vacation Club Rentals, but there are other similar places). The price was higher than renting from an individual directly ($14 per point), but we felt it was worth it, in part because our travel dates were inflexible & we wanted to maximize the chance of getting a room. We contacted them before the 11 month point at which vacation club points can be rented by people who have Aulani as their home resort, because we thought that would help our chances. We were still on a waiting list, as I said before, but not too long. We were SO happy when we heard we had the rooms. The whole process was very smooth. One thing about renting the points through a broker like this: you cannot cancel them for any reason, and the entire cost must be paid when the reservation is made for you. We did make sure to get trip insurance that would have covered the cost of Aulani (and all our other nonrefundable expenses), if for some reason we needed to cancel or there was some other problem. It was worth it for the peace of mind it bought us.We then hope to use DVC to book a 2-bed villa at Aulani, so any tips on vacation club rental would be appreciated! I've never done it before but it seems like great value.
When I got back to the room, everyone was ready for lunch. We had reservations at A Cup of Tea, a tea room in Kailua, because my mom and I like that kind of thing for a special treat. I had found the place online at home before our trip. Our boys are good sports, so although it would not have been their first choice for a restaurant I was pretty optimistic they would find something they would like.
I have to admit that while the tea room was cute and my mom and I found the food tasty, the choices proved to be inadequate for the boys.
They shared a pot of hot chocolate in lieu of tea and ate the scones and dessert, but the tea sandwiches were not a hit with them.
Oh, well. They were sweet and let us have our girly outing, so I cant really complain.
After we finished lunch, we rewarded the guys with a swim in the ocean. First time for them!
That lasted just a moment. Then, they were loving it and just laughing and shrieking with delight. So fun!
I took some photos with my new waterproof camera. This was a debate in advance of the trip, incidentally whether it would be worth it to buy one. The conclusion: YES. It enabled us to get pictures we never would have gotten otherwise.
es, we are finally getting to Aulani. I cant wait to re-live it.
We loved that the crowds were so low in May - no trouble with lines for Auntie's in the morning, as I had heard is typical. And no trouble getting chairs by the pool ever.
We were very pleased with the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I had read some good and bad things in advance, so was a bit concerned, but the service was decent and the room was great for our family. The resort was very large, but easy to navigate and had lots to go and lots of shops, restaurants, etc. We liked using the Hilton as a convenient launching point to explore Oahu, knowing that when we arrived at Aulani we would want to relax and enjoy it and not do much off-site.
We used a company to handle the rental process for us (David's Vacation Club Rentals, but there are other similar places). We did make sure to get trip insurance that would have covered the cost of Aulani (and all our other nonrefundable expenses), if for some reason we needed to cancel or there was some other problem. It was worth it for the peace of mind it bought us.
Thanks for the advice about David's rentals. I'm looking it up right now, seems like a good idea and such good value!
Your boys are nicer than me. I would have been whining and moaning from the start.
I agree. Although we didn't realize our camera was set for tiny photos through the whole trip.