Trip Report - 16 Days in Hawaii - Maui, Oahu, and Aulani!

MarbleBob

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 20, 2003
Aloha everyone! Welcome to my latest trip report. :hippie: My family and I are pretty big Disney fans, and while we've visited Walt Disney World and Disneyland lots of times (and even been on a couple Disney Cruises), we sure didn't think we'd be getting to Aulani any time soon! Well that was until my in-laws announced that they wanted to take their entire family to Hawaii to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. 15 of us in total! :eek:

30787327966_2dcfb4c97a_c.jpg


So, in June 2016, we spent six nights in Kihei, Maui and then island hopped over to Oahu for six nights in a condo at the Ko Olina Resort (next door to Aulani.) And then after the rest of the extended family headed back home, we spent a final three nights enjoying Aulani by ourselves (DW, DD16, DS13, DD9.)

So yeah, a total of 15 nights... this was our first time visiting Hawaii and we were pinching ourselves the whole time. Memories for a lifetime!!!

Since we only spent three nights at Aulani, I questioned whether or not to write a traditional trip report here on DISBoards. (Especially over six months afterwards!)But after thinking about it for a while, I think it's worth sharing our experiences because while Aulani was fantastic and we don't regret it in the least, the resort does have room for improvement (value and service wise) when compared to other flagship resorts like the Grand Floridian, The Polynesian, Disneyland Hotel, etc. And those who are interested in exploring the island of Oahu while staying at Aulani may find some of our island experiences interesting too. (We spent a total of nine nights on Oahu.) :cool1:

30823757675_e215812ed2_o.jpg


They say a picture is worth a thousand words… no clue what the how many words this collage is worth, but I hope it gives you a decent glimpse at some of the highlights from our trip. These photos are just the tip of the iceberg... as I'll be sifting through over 5,000 of them for this TR. In the meantime, here are a few other highlights:

Maui:
  • Breathtaking sunrise at the summit of Haleakalā
  • Lots of beach time around Kihei (but mostly Keawakapu Beach)
  • Checking out the ʻIao Needle at ʻĪao Valley State Park
  • Experiencing the amazing Old Lahaina Luau
  • Driving the amazing Road to Hana
  • Exploring the Lava Fields at the southwest corner of Maui
  • Lots of good food and tasty treats!
Oahu:
  • Taking the boat out to see USS Arizona Memorial and then exploring the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor
  • Hiking to the top of Diamond Head crater and swimming at Waikiki Beach
  • Shopping at the LeSportsac outlet store and Ala Moana Center in Honolulu
  • Exploring the lagoons in the Ko Olina Resort area
  • Going on the Jungle Expedition Tour in the Kualoa Ranch
  • Wandering through the beautiful grounds at the Byodo-In Temple
  • Exploring the North Shore (with a stop at the Dole Plantation)
  • More food and tasty treats…
  • And of course Aulani!!
I assume that many of you will be more interested in reading about our Aulani and Oahu experiences. So to keep you from waiting too long... I'm starting this TR with the Maui experiences already written.

If I've piqued your interest enough to continue, then I guess you can "choose your own adventure." Either start with our fantastic experiences on Maui, or feel free to skip ahead to our arrival in Oahu. (See the table of contents below for links.)
 
Table of Contents

Background and Cast of Characters

Maui
Day 1 - Saturday, June 18 - Heading for Hawaii!
Day 2 - Sunday, June 19 - Part 1: Haleakalā Sunrise
Day 2 - Sunday, June 19 - Part 2: Our condo at Keawakapu Beach
Day 3 - Monday, June 20 - Part 1: Beach and Shopping
Day 3 - Monday, June 20 - Part 2: Family Photos
Day 4 - Tuesday, June 21 - Part 1: ʻĪao Valley
Day 4 - Tuesday, June 21 - Part 2: Old Lahaina Luau
Day 5 - Wednesday, June 22 - Part 1: Road to Hana
Day 5 - Wednesday, June 22 - Part 2: Seven Sacred Pools at Ohe'o
Day 6 - Thursday, June 23: Lava Fields

Oahu
Day 7 - Friday, June 24: Heading to Oahu
Day 8 - Saturday, June 25 - Part 1: Pearl Harbor
Day 8 - Saturday, June 25 - Part 2: Diamond Head
Day 9 - Sunday, June 26 - Part 1: A day at Ko Olina
Day 9 - Sunday, June 26 - Part2: An Aulani Teaser
Day 10 - Monday, June 27 - Part 1: LeSportsac, Waikiki Beach, and the Disney Store
Day 10 - Monday, June 27 - Part 2: More Shopping
Day 11 - Tuesday, June 28 - Part 1: Sushi Bay
Day 11 - Tuesday, June 28 - Part 2: Kualoa Ranch
Day 11 - Tuesday, June 28 - Part 3: The Byodo-In Temple
Day 12 - Wednesday, June 29 - Part 1: The North Shore
Day 12 - Wednesday, June 29 - Part 2: Dole Plantation
Day 13 - Thursday, June 30: Arrival at Aulani!
Day 13 - Thursday, June 30 - Part 2: Daily 'Iwa
Day 13 - Thursday, June 30 - Part 3: Exploring Aulani and Lunch at Ulu Café
Day 13 - Thursday, June 30 - Part 4: Our Room
Day 13 - Thursday, June 30 - Part 5: Swimming and Evening Activities

Day 14 - Friday, July 1
Day 15 - Saturday, July 2
Day 16 - Sunday, July 3
 
Last edited:
Background and Cast of Characters

Background

So yeah, my in-laws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this past year. They decided that it would be fun to celebrate it by taking their family to Hawaii for a big vacation. This included my sister-in-law and her family. My brother-in-law and his family. And of course my wife (Stephanie) and our family :-)

They surprised us about a year and a half early, so we had a lot of time to decide which islands to visit, where to stay, what excursions to do, etc. We all went back and forth for a while, and ultimately decided to split the stay on two islands. It was going to be Maui and Hawaii, or Maui and Oahu. As much as we wanted to see the active lava flows at the Big Island, my immediate family REALLY wanted to visit Pearl Harbor and we also hoped to tack on some nights at Aulani. So ultimately we voted for Maui and Oahu. Interestingly, for various reasons, everyone else pretty much voted on the same islands too.

After the islands and dates were worked out, Stephanie's parents picked the accommodations. They also wanted at least one fun evening to celebrate the event as an entire group at the Old Lahaina Luau (in Maui.) And then we planned out a few other group activities like driving the Road to Hana, visiting Pearl Harbor, family photos, beach time, etc. After that, each family was to plan out their own agenda's and hope for the best. Our plans all aligned with each other more often than not… and it actually worked out really well. We had a nice balance between large group time and also being able to march to the beat of our own drum.

And last but not least, we planned to stay for a few more nights at Aulani after everyone else left. I mean, how can you be a Disney fan with a free plane ticket to Oahu and NOT at least experience Aulani for a couple days?!?! I imagine that since you are on DISBoards, that I'm sure you'd agree about it not bing a question of "if" but instead, it's a question of "how" and "for how long"? :rotfl2:

I'll probably go into the details later, but we ended up renting points for a 1-Bedroom Villa from "DVC Rental Store." Since we needed space for five, a regular hotel room wasn't going to work. And we didn't like the idea of having two rooms that may or may not adjoin, so we opted to go the DVC rental route. This was a first for us, but it turned out to be incredibly easy. As a result, we're very likely to start renting points on future WDW trips. This was also incredibly expensive (at least for our budget) and part of the reason we were a little disappointed with Aulani's overall value and service. (For the price of three nights at Aulani for a family of five, you could be treated like kings in WDW!!!)

About My Immediate Family

This is my 5th trip report on the DISBoards, so some of you may already be familiar with my family and our background spiel. If so, welcome back, and feel free to skip ahead. And if you haven't met us yet, then hello!!!! (And if you like this TR, feel free to check out the other ones in my signature.)

30430480642_dd180b9a87_c.jpg


DW and I have been Disney fans most of our lives. Both enjoying the classic movies and cartoons as kids, and we each went on family vacations to WDW several times. (She had gone 4 times and I had been twice.) The first movie that we saw in a theater together was 101 Dalmatians in 1996. And when we were first dating, I remember she mentioned that as a little girl, she dreamed of going to WDW on her honeymoon. So, later when get got married, the decision on where to go for our honeymoon was a no brainer! That started the tradition of including Disney in our family vacations and we've been going back for more ever since.



In more recent years, we've branched out from WDW and developed a love for Disneyland and the Cruises. We've had Aulani on our bucket list ever since it opened, but we figured that we'd have to wait until the kids are grown and out of college before we could splurge at that level. Needless to say, we were super excited when Stephanie's parents broke the news about the family vacation. We immediately started trying to figure out how we could incorporate Aulani into this vacation!!!!

Oh, and also noting, we will celebrate our own 20th Anniversary in 2017. We thought about going back to WDW, but ultimately decided on another parents only trip to California. We'll be doing a 4-night cruise on the Disney Wonder (from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas) and then driving back up to LA for a couple days in Disneyland before flying back home. I'm stoked!

Matt (me) - Please don’t ask how/why I came up with the MarbleBob screen name, because I don't really remember. (It’s hard to believe I joined DISBoards almost 14 years ago.) I'm not related to anyone named Bob and I don't even own any marbles. Some might argue that I've lost a few marbles, but that's a different story. About me? I’m an IT manager, skateboarder, gardener, and of course, a Disney fan. I tend to go through phases where I'm super into Disney, and then I focus my interest on other things. But I always come back!!!

30191155673_0fa9ed0bb9_c.jpg


Stephanie (DW) - My best friend and awesome mother to our 3 kids. She isn't really any more or less into Disney than I am, but she's certainly more consistently plugged in. I think she's listened to almost every DIS Unplugged podcast through the years (both WDW and DL) and she's probably listened to every one of Ricky Brigante's Inside the Magic podcasts too.

Stephanie is often more of a lurker on the DISBoards, but I'm sure you'll see her chime in from time to time. She goes by the screen name of @DaeHyFoog. This goes back to a nickname from her high school days, which is Goofy Head spelled backwards. It arguably makes a lot more sense than may stupid name of MarbleBob. :rotfl2:

30194324204_93f09483e1_c.jpg


I periodically make collages of our kids growing up with Disney. I thought it would be fun to make one out of a few scan’s from Stephanie’s trips to WDW as a kid.

16529939006_3cbe4bdb75_c.jpg


Princess (DD16) - My oldest daughter. Obviously, that's not her real name, but that's what we've been calling her in these trip reports. As mentioned above, she's grown up going to Walt Disney World and loving Disney princesses. She outgrew the princess loving stage, but her love for Disney hasn't diminished. She also loves everything Nintendo and Japan. She was stoked to experience a fair amount of Japanese culture on Oahu too!

30827455395_48f70c3a97_c.jpg


Buddy (DS13) - Also not his real name, but this is what we usually call him around the house. He's our engineer. He loves building things with his monorail sets, Legos, Rokenbok, trains, etc. And of course, his favorite past time is playing Minecraft on the computer. His favorite Disney attractions are the trains, monorails, Expedition Everest, and California Screamin’.

30192384913_fca0e7a459_c.jpg


Pickle (DD9) - She owns up to her nickname, and it fits her well. Very sweet and loving, but she can be a bit ornery and spicy too! I think she's finally outgrown the princess loving stage. She still likes them, but she's been more interested in Duffy Bear lately. And she was stoked to get some Duffy and Shellie May stuff on this trip!
30827634865_552e0c9e19_c.jpg


About the In-laws
Stephanie's family is fairly private online (most of them don't even have Facebook or Instagram), so I won't share too many details. But you'll probably see them in photos throughout this TR, so it's probably worthwhile to at least give them high-level introductions.

Stephanie's Parents (Nanny and Grandpa) - Grandpa is a HUGE Donald Duck fan! Otherwise, Nanny and Grandpa are fairly casual Disney parks fans. (For those who have followed along with our past trip reports, you may recall that we drove from St. Louis to California with them in 2015.) They are pretty big on Hawaii and have visited it a bunch through the years, and I guess that's why they wanted to celebrate such a special occasion with the rest of the family. Pretty awesome!

30191540413_b37e44377a_c.jpg


Stephanie's Sister and Family - They are not really Disney fans at all, so not much to say there. Also, this was their first visit to Hawaii too. Nice that their boys are closer in age to Princess and Buddy.

30191612013_c5c3b509ec_c.jpg


Stephanie's Brother and Family - They are moderate Disney fans. They've been to WDW once and they also tagged along on our California Road Trip in 2015. For the sake of the TR, we'll call the kids Luke and Leia - 'cause they are big Star Wars fans. And nice that they kids are so close in age to Pickle too!

30709799462_12dfd58726_c.jpg


I guess that'll do for the background and introductions. Let's get moving on the TR!

(Oh... and in case you are wondering about the beach photos above, Stephanie found an outstanding photographer online to take some family photos for us. It was a husband and wife team and they were awesome. I'll share more details later.)
 
Day 1 - Saturday, June 18 - Heading to Hawaii!
After months and months of anticipation, the big day had finally arrived! Hawaii, here we come!!! :banana:

The plan for the day was to fly from St. Louis to Los Angeles for a quick layover, and then fly from LAX to Maui. We had a long day of travelling ahead!!!

We arrived at the airport around 9:30 AM. It turns out that everyone else had just arrived too. There wasn't a line at the self-service baggage check area, so we were able to get all our bags checked within 10 to 15 minutes. And just like that.... we were all situated and ready to head through security. Even though the following picture doesn't really show it, we were all pretty darn excited!



Similar to baggage check, there really wasn't any line for security, and we pretty much just walked right through. What a break!!!

We ended up in the terminal about an hour before boarding time, so we all split up. Much of the group went to Chili's for breakfast… but Pickle wanted to go back to the play area that we passed on the way in. (It was created by the Magic House, which is an awesome children's museum in St. Louis.) So Stephanie and I took Pickle down there to kill some time. Such a cool place!

30193137273_14f530315e_c.jpg


It's nice because it's all behind one gate to keep the kids from running off. It has a bunch of play areas for kids... The MetroLink train, an airplane (with real seats and a cockpit), luggage transport items, a security area, a control tower, and an Enterprise Rent a Car area. Too cool!!!

30193116773_086da0cb26_c.jpg


Inside the airplane...

30828113815_452fa6f587_c.jpg


And the cockpit with controls and everything!!!

30740239001_ce79e4895c_c.jpg


30527155780_bbe7e6b4a1_c.jpg


The rental car station...

30791526796_be0e28f160_c.jpg


And finally a few nice chairs for moms to sit on :-)



Not much else to say about the morning, other than we were on the plane and ready to go around 10:45 AM.



The plane left on time and we had a smooth flight to LA!



We had about 40 minutes of a layover before our next flight, so we pretty much just ate the fastest thing we could find. Which was hard, LAX terminal 4 doesn't have great food options and the place was hopping!!!

We went ahead and had tacos at the food truck that was parked just outside our gate. LOL.





All things considered, it was actually pretty good. (Can't really judge it by the photo above, which didn't turn out well.)

So we scarfed our food, and a few minutes later, we were on our next flight.

30740523051_f073c168e1_o.gif


The seats on these American Airlines planes have something like a built in iPad with tv, movies, games, flight info and stuff. I watched a movie or two and played games on my phone to pass the time. I love how the interactive entertainment screens have maps that show your flight path, eta, speed, etc. Fun!

30238605030_97535672c5_c.jpg


Ultimately, another smooth and uneventful flight, which is good! And approaching Maui! The view from the airplane was breathtaking!!!

30449701931_679cbd42e4_c.jpg


30791943256_23819d136f_o.gif
30791941126_47d4380678_o.gif


I had never been to Maui before, so I had no idea what to expect, but the airport was open. Once you leaving the waiting area, everything is basically open to the outside. Wow!!!

30500640406_b4cdbc5992_c.jpg


30536694305_1a41737f5d_c.jpg


29903882003_768c504284_c.jpg


We pretty much made a bee line towards the baggage claim area. We waited a few minutes until the bags started rolling out. It was a completely full flight, so it took a while to finally get ours. It was pleasant though, especially with a few people playing live Hawaiian music to add to the atmosphere.

I can't believe it, we are here! Yahoo!!!!

Next step was the rental cars... Through Costco, we had four of them reserved, one for each family with Budget Rental Car. Unfortunately, they had a mix up... They saw that my father-in-law had reserved four of the same vehicle and thought it must have been a mistake. So they cancelled three of them without verifying it with him. In the meantime, they gave three of our cars away to someone else. Oops! That's bad enough, but their customer service was terrible. We ended up waiting over an hour to get things sorted out. Not cool after a LONG day of traveling! I have never personally used Budget before, but I certainly never will again!!! (Their service when we arrived in Oahu was even worse!)

But... We were in Hawaii, so it was hard to get mad. More annoying than anything. LOL.

So the drive to our condo near Kihei was going to be about a 30 to 40 minutes. We ended up all separating and meeting there later. Our plan was to get up early (like 3am early, and see the sunrise at the summit of Haleakalā.) It was about 7:30 PM local time (about 11:30 PM at home), so we were already tired and hungry for dinner. So while the others headed to the grocery store, we decided to just get some fast food and get to the condo as soon as possible. (That 3:00 AM wake up time was going to come sooner than we'd have liked.)

So you make it all the way to Hawaii for the first time in your life, and where do decide to make your first stop? McDonalds of course! (Face palm)

30536688815_01c4e905a4_c.jpg


Except for, Stephanie had read that they still have the old fashioned fried apple pies (like when we were kids.) That was the real reason we stopped... to relive our childhood memories. :rotfl2:

We were zonked and starved by now and nobody really cared what they ate anyway. So we got a couple burgers, fries, and fried apple pies.

29903630113_270795c535_c.jpg


Duuuuude....

29905989844_e4df87ecf6_c.jpg


These pies were amazingly good. Like, I'm dreaming of eating one right now good. I should have just skipped the burger and had a couple of these pies all to myself!

So yeah, it was time to head to the condo. We stayed just south of Kehei at the north end of Keawakapu Beach.



It was dark by the time we left... I'm not sure what time we got to the condo, but I'd say it was around 9pm. (1:00 AM at home.) Luckily, we didn't need a key as the condos all had key code buttons on the doors. We already knew the combination to our unit, so we let ourselves in. Unpacked a bit, and were asleep by 10:00 PM. That gives us 5 hours before we leave for the sunrise. Goodnight moon!!!!
 
Last edited:


Day 2 - Sunday, June 19 - Part 1: Haleakalā Sunrise

It turns out that viewing the sunrise from the summit of Haleakalā is consistently towards the top of most "must see" lists for Maui. (The tallest peak is 10,023 feet tall. Wow!) Since we had a rental car, this activity easily made our short list.

The thing is… sunrise is at 5:30 AM and you need to give about two hours to get there from Kihei. Which means leaving the condo around 3:30 AM. Yikes!!!! :eek: But… that's really 7:30 AM back home…. And the consensus is that it's best to do this early in the trip before your biological clock adjusts to local time. So off we went!!!!



The drive up was uneventful and somewhat boring (you're driving in the dark), until we got a couple miles from the entrance to the park…. Major traffic jam. We had padded ourselves with about 30 minutes to get their before sunrise, but we didn't expect this! We lost about 45 minutes due to the traffic jam, so the sun had already peaked over the horizon when we made it to the first viewing area at about 5:45 AM. The lady at the park entrance booth said that we could all thank the crazy taxi driver when we got to the top. Not sure what he did, but he basically blocked the road for at least 30 minutes and prevented anyone from getting into the park during that time.

I was pretty bummed out at the thought of missing the sunrise, until we pulled up and saw this!

29903828313_1b010ffa64_c.jpg


In the realm of "good, better, best", with the best case having us see the entire sunrise, this was exponentially better than any sunrise I have seen before. It was really moving.

Freaking cold though!!!! I don’t recall the temperature, but it was super cold. In the low 40's probably.

30500576306_45b4f57657_c.jpg


30500581686_7ccd522251_c.jpg


29906187544_6924934d61_c.jpg


30500564086_c572922a35_c.jpg


Check out the craters…

30500570746_83f413eac8_c.jpg


Despite arriving a little late, it was worth it though. We spent a good 30 minutes or so watching the sunrise and the kids climbed on the rocks for a while too… and then we headed up a bit further up the road to the visitor's center.

30449648481_6e966b3199_c.jpg


30420264682_d35f390829_c.jpg


30500553186_a5a63b1894_c.jpg


Oh, and it happened to be Father's Day too. Hau'oli La Makuakane!

30420262212_7f6a9cf382_c.jpg


30238515390_c4d9d54eab_c.jpg


Looking towards the NW coast of Maui…

30449650111_cff1f2f8ae_c.jpg


And then the observatory, looking almost due West.

30238519060_614288b2c7_c.jpg


And finally a couple panoramic iPhone photos before we head down the mountain.

29903865843_b9f9e2dfd9_b.jpg


29906251474_00c749324a_b.jpg


We ended up leaving around 6:45 AM, as the kids were sleepy and complaining about the cold. Stephanie and I would have loved to hike around the crater for a while though.

So yeah, the ride back down the mountain was pretty darn amazing… since it wasn't dark any longer! I put the GoPro on the dashboard and made a time-lapse video of the drive down.


We had decided to eat at a cool breakfast joint a little west of the airport, but when we finally found it, it was closed on Sunday mornings. Bummer! We explored our options for a bit and weren't feeling anything… and since we were all tired and a bit "hangry", we just stopped at McDonalds. Can you believe it? Our first two Hawaiian meals were are McDonalds. Doh! (Double face palm.)

The good news, is that we got to try their unique Hawaiian menu ("Local Breakfast Platters.") They had Eggs, Rice, and Spam; Eggs, Rice, and Portuguese Sausage, or Eggs, Rice and both Spam and Sausage.

30420301912_ba0992f65d_c.jpg


I don't like Spam, so I went for the Portuguese sausage platter.

30420300942_0f0507879a_c.jpg


It turns out that I don’t like Portuguese sausage either. It was a little funky. :rotfl2:

We "enjoyed" our breakfasts, and then headed back to the condo. I think we arrived around 9:45 AM.
 
Last edited:
Day 2 - Sunday, June 19 - Part 2: Our condo at Keawakapu Beach


So yea, our first chance at seeing the condo in daylight! Wow, this place sort of reminds of the Polynesian Resort in WDW. Hmm…







Pretty cool!

I guess the jet lag had got to me, because this day is mostly a blur… I don’t recall too many details. We took the kids down to the beach for a while, and then headed over to the grocery store to pick up food for the week. We came back, had lunch, and relaxed at the beach for the rest of the day. Trying our hardest to stay awake and adjust to the local time!

Here's the view from our balcony. Wow!!!



And then heading down to the beach… Here's the pool area that looks out on the beach. Boy, it was nice!



And then down on the beach!





Again, I don't remember what we had for lunch or most of the mid-day unpacking activities. But I do remember that white rum and POG juice are a match made in heaven!!!!



After an afternoon of relaxing… we headed down to the beach again to peak at the sunset before going out for dinner.



Breathtaking!!!!



Pretty awesome to see the sun rise out of the ocean on one side of the island and then see it set on other side that same day!

32448829880_99ba1c0dcb_o.gif



We ended up Yelping around for dinner and decided on Coconut's Fish Café. This turned out to be a fantastic choice. While it wasn't anything fancy, it turned out to be one of the best meals on the trip!



Apparently, they are known for their fish tacos..



We all put in our orders and had fun sharing our stories from the day while we waited.







The people who brought out our food were super friendly. Outstanding customer service here, all around!

And the food? It was fantastic. Here are a bunch of photos from the group. I'm not going to go over every item, but the consensus from everyone was that everything was outstanding!!! (And a good value too.)













Everyone's fried food looked amazing, but a few of us got the tacos. Holy cow, these things were good!!! I mean, I totally wish that I was eating one right now. The stuff that dreams are made of…



After eating, all the families gave their fathers day gifts to grandpa and socialized for a while. We were all stuffed, content, and feeling sleepy. Some of us were more sleepy than others…



So we packed up and headed back to the condo. What a long day, but we were stoked on how it went… and very much ready to say goodnight moon!
 
Day 3 - Monday, June 20 - Part 1: Beach and Shopping

All right…. Our second full day in Hawaii! The only solid plan we had for the day, was family photos on the beach around 6pm. For an anniversary gift, we all pitched in to hire a professional photographer to take pictures of the family. We decided to do this early in the trip, in case some of us ended up getting sun burned too soon. So, with the evening photos in mind, we thought that we'd spend the morning exploring the beach, then do a little exploring and shopping in Kihei in the afternoon, and eventually come back in time to get ready for photos.

Heading down to the beach, it was low tide, so we walked over to the tide pools to look for critters…



We saw lots of little fish and quite a few sea urchins… They are hard to see in this photo, the spikey things near the center are the urchins (I think.)



And looking back towards the condo…



We spent the better part of the morning just floating out in the sea. Man, the water was so clear and everything was just vibrant and alive. Easily the best beach I've ever visited. Just amazing!!!!









At some point the older kids were content to sun bathe and the younger kids were working on their sand castles… So Stephanie and I decided to go for a walk. We went for 30 or 40 minutes before taking a selfie and turning back.





When we got back from our walk, we swam a bit longer and then we were ready to head back to the condo for lunch.

We ended up having sandwiches and chips. Nothing special, but quick and convenient. And then we headed into town. First, we stopped at Kalama Park.



If you've followed any of our other trip reports, you might remember that one of my favorite activities is skateboarding. No room in our luggage to pack our gear, but we couldn't resist checking out the skatepark...





The idea of surfing in the morning, skateboarding, and the hopping back in the ocean to cool off sounds pretty amazing. Maybe next time!





Heading up north through town, we stopped at a couple tourist trap souvenir stands. And eventually, we made it all the way up to the north end of town. Snack time!!! Hawaiian Shave Ice! (Funny that it's "shave ice" and not "shaved ice".)













I don’t recall what flavors everyone had, but everything was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! We ended up trying several shave ice places during the trip, and Ululani's was easily the winner. (The ice was incredibly light and fluffy and the syrups were amazing.) Even better than the famous Matsumoto's on Oahu's North Shore.

After enjoying our treats, we browsed the gift shop next door (pickle purchased a purple sea turtle doll) and there is a farmers market next door. Buddy couldn't resist getting a fresh tomato. (He sometimes eats them like apples.)

We stopped at a flea market on the way back, but it was a bit too touristy. The kids did pick up a couple necklaces though.

 
Last edited:


Day 3 - Monday, June 20 - Part 2: Family Photos

Eventually, we made our way back to the condo. We got all cleaned up and in our nice clothes for the photo shoot.

The kids were ready before everyone else…



The photographer and his wife (Summer and Becky) were local and had already scoped out a good spot a few miles south of the condo. Stephanie had researched quite a bit and found that https://www.capturealoha.com had reasonable prices and a great reputation. It turned out to be a good choice. They were great to work with, especially with us being such a large group…

We probably spent about an hour and a half taking various shots. Individual families. Each family with the grand parents. Just kids and grandparents. Stephanie and her siblings with their parents. You get the idea. We ended up with hundreds of amazing photos. Here are just a few….























After photos, we drove back up north to Kihei and found another fantastic seafood joint across from the beach… Paia Fish Market.







Also very good!!!

Like the night before, we took our time eating and socializing. We eventually headed back to the condo and relaxed for a little while before heading to bed.
 
Day 4 - Tuesday, June 21 - Part 1: ʻĪao Valley

Day 4? We're on a roll now! The only solid plan for today was to drive up to Lahaina in the evening for the old Lahaina Luau. Besides the trip itself, this was the one big thing that Stephanie's parents wanted to do with everyone to celebrate their anniversary. So this was planned well in advance… and we were all very much looking forward to it.

Like most days, the individual families sort of each went out on their own until regrouping for the main event. We started our day out at the beach, and then we headed over to Costco and explored that area before heading up to Lahaina.

So yeah, a morning of fun in the sun!





And then we headed over to Costco to pick up a few items, and have a cheap lunch at their food court. And then we headed over to ʻĪao Valley to go on a short hike before heading over to Lahaina. The marker in the map below is where ʻĪao Valley is located.



Wow, this place was super lush and green. Much of Maui, at least in the area surrounding our condo, is more dry and arid than I would have ever guessed. But not this place. Super green!

You can read about the valley on Wikipedia or somewhere, but quoting from a gohawaii.com article, "Aside from its natural tropical beauty, sacred Iao Valley has great historical significance. It was here in 1790 at the Battle of Kepaniwai that King Kamehameha I clashed with Maui's army in his quest to unite the islands. Even with Iao Needle serving as a lookout point, Kamehameha defeated Maui's forces in a ferocious battle that ultimately changed the course of Hawaiian history."

So yeah, apparently a lot of people died here. That part is a downer to think about, but it did sort of added to the exotic vibe of the place.



You can hike up to the lookout area in front of the needle, or hike down to a river and botanical garden. Here's the garden…





And here's a panorama of the upper area…



Just beautiful!







I don’t have a photo here, but down below, there is a river/stream that runs through the valley. People actually come up here to swim in it. It looked totally refreshing and I wanted to hop in, but we were in our Luau clothes, so I had to look jealously at the people frolicking in the water. Ha!

After spending an hour or so exploring the valley, we hopped in the car and started making our way over to Lahaina. It took about an hour to get over there. What an amazing drive!



Coming around the bottom corner of the northwestern section of the island, we stopped at an overlook… where we could see back towards our condo.



We ended up arriving at the luau area about an hour early, so we decided to head over to the shopping center across the street.



The girls took the opportunity to use the restroom. I love the signs!!!



It was sort of an older mall that was maybe past its heyday, but we had fun exploring it for a while. And they had a cool toy store where Pickle ended up getting some hand made Hawaiian clothes made for American Girl dolls.
 
Day 4 - Tuesday, June 21 - Part 2: Old Lahaina Luau


Eventually, the others arrived and we waited for the luaua to start receiving people. Apparently, the Old Lahaina Luau is one of the best and most authentic luaus in all of Hawaii. It was indeed pretty darn awesome, and sort of made Aulani's version seem a bit lame in comparison.

Here's Grandpa getting us all checked in.



And the rest of us all chilled out for a while…





They greeted us with Mai Tai's. Yum!!!



And virgin versions for the kiddos too!



They showed us our table, and then we all wandered around for 30 or 45 minutes before the meal started. They had all sorts of activities, demonstrations, games, etc. How fun!

A few photo ops!





Learning to hula dance :-)





Sampling fresh coconut!



The beach!



We opted to pay a few bucks and get photos from their photographer. They turned out pretty good, I think :-)





They also had a few other things/events that I didn't get pictures of, one of them being the ceremony where they unearthed the smoked pig. Cool!

Eventually, we made our way back to our table where we enjoyed drinks and appetizers. Unlimited drinks too, we may have went a little crazy with the drinks.



This was some sort of frozen pina colada strawberry thing. So good!!!





They had a pretty exhaustive list of non-alcoholic drinks as well. The girls went a little crazier than the rest of us. Trying all sorts of rainbow and fruity concoctions!





Fried taro chips…



Eventually, they sent us up to the buffet in groups. I don't really remember all the food that they had, or what I tried. But it was mostly good. Not the greatest food ever, but certainly enjoyable.



Here's a link to the menu, if you are curious… https://www.oldlahainaluau.com/menu/

And a while later, the show started. I had expected the food to be awesome and the show to be good, but I was surprised to find the show to be awesome and the food to be good. The show was the real star here!







I don't recall exactly how long the show lasted, probably about an hour or so. But man, these people were talented! I'm not a big show person, but this was truly great. So happy that we had the chance to see it.

All in all, it was an amazing evening. Such great memories. Happy 50th, Dennis and Shirley!!!

After the show, we leisurely left the luau and headed back to Kihei.
 
Last edited:
Day 5 - Wednesday, June 22 - Part 1: Road to Hana


Moving on to day 5. We had all wanted to do the Road to Hana so we planned to do the drive today as a group. For the most part, this worked well… even if it was challenging at times to keep all four vehicles together… without cell reliable reception.



If you aren't familiar with Maui, this is one of the most popular activities to do on the island. The road is narrow and very windy as it snakes along the eastern coast of the island. There are all sorts of places to stop and see. Too much to do in a single day, so I can see why this is a highlight for repeat visitors. (It was only about 72 miles from our condo to our final stop, but it took the whole day and evening to get there and back with all the stops.)

We originally had a plan for what places we wanted to stop and get out at, but that sort of went out the window… and we just sort of winged it.

We started off at the Kuau Store in Paia to get box lunches. (It turned out to be true, but we had heard that there aren't a lot of places to eat on the road, and it's best to pack a lunch.)



They had a cool surfboard fence outside!



We all picked out our sandwiches and were ready to hit the road. We made it about 5 minutes until someone had to use the restroom. LOL. Luckily, there were portapotties at Hookipa Lookout, so it wasn't a problem at all. While the bathroom people took care of business, the rest of us explored a bit.

Wow, we aren't even 5 minutes into this drive, and it's breathtaking already!







I didn't upload a lot of photos of the windy roads, but it seemed as if there was a waterfall was at the corner of every turn!





Our first major stop was Twin Falls.



It's a small set of two waterfalls that you have to hike up a trail a few minutes to get to. It sure was pretty!



The upper falls are in this photo, back behind Pickle…



And the lower falls dumped into a pool. Here's one of my nephews jumping into it…



We spent 30 or 40 minutes enjoying the falls before heading back. It was quite muddy, so we took a couple minutes to rinse off our legs/feet at one of the slow spots of the steam before getting back to our cars…



I don’t have photos here, but back at the farm stand, I purchase some raw sugar cane and fresh squeezed cane juice. The idea of the cane juice sounded better than the reality. Either it wasn't ripe enough or something, or it normally has a funky grassy taste. I didn’t' really care for it, but I was glad that I tried it.

We hopped back on the road and drove for a while and eventually stopped at Keanae Lookout on Waialohe Point. Another breathtaking vista!



We somehow got split up with the other cars, and not having cell service in this area, we ended up pairing up with just Stephanie's parents for the next stretch of the road…. And a few miles later, we decided to pull off at another waterfall. I can't remember the name of this stop, but it was pretty awesome.



We hopped in the water to swim over to the waterfall, but it was pretty darn cold!!!



Everyone else ditched me, but I had it in my head that I wanted to swim out to the waterfall and I wasn't going to give up. Ha!

Eventually, we made it to Hana and stopped for lunch at Waianapanapa State Park. Just wow!



And we made our way down to the black sand beach.



Those black pebbles were super hot!!! But it was pretty awesome!

31986803774_1d724ceb12_o.gif


I didn't get any photos of the caves, but before we left the state park, we headed over to Waianapanapa Cave.



The cave wasn't too impressive, but it smelled like rotting flesh down there, so we didn’t stay too long. Hahaha!
 
Last edited:
Day 5 - Wednesday, June 22 - Part 2: Seven Sacred Pools at Ohe'o


We passed through the town of Hana and kept going to our final destination, the Seven Sacred Pools at Ohe'o. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip!



After passing the visitors center, you can walk down a trail towards the ocean. Looking to the right, you see this…





And then turning to the left, you see this!





How cool!!!

The kids didn't waste any time getting into the deep water!



We swam around in this lower pool for quite a while… watching people jump off the cliffs. Including my nephew… I asked him to hold the GoPro on this jump… LOL

32448832560_38ee1269aa_o.gif


And here's my brother in law…

32448831310_3da1b25e19_o.gif


And eventually figured out how to get to the next pool above the first waterfall. It had some small (maybe 8 or 9 feet tall) cliffs that the kids had fun jumping into the water from…



We spent quite a bit of time here while the kids took turns jumping in. Fun!



31986790044_cbe372299d_o.gif


We spent around two hours total at this stop. The kids could have spent all day here, but we had a long drive back to the condo ahead of us, and it was time to get on the road again.

Coming back was just as beautiful as the way out. Every turn of the road had either some amazing view of the ocean or a beautiful waterfall flowing down from the valley's above. This trip report can't even begin to do it justice!!!

About half way back, we saw the most vibrant rainbow. It was just too cool. I can't put words to it, but you could feel it in your soul when you looked at it..



Eventually, we made it back to civilization. And by then, we were all a bit tired and hangry, so we just stopped at McDonalds out of convenience. This time I was smarter though. Eat less dinner, so you can have two of them fried apple pies!

Eventually, we made it back to the condo. It was petty late, so we got cleaned up and just relaxed for a bit before heading to bed.
 
Last edited:
Day 6 - Thursday, June 23: Lava Fields

After a few busy days, this day was pretty low key. We didn't have firm plans up front, so we sort of played it by ear. But like most mornings, we spent a good amount of time swimming down at the beach in front of the condo.

As this was the last full day at the condo, we were running out of food. So we decided to head into Kihei again for lunch. While it looked pretty good on Yelp, we ended up making a bad choice with Maui Fish and Chips.



It was counter service. The guy at the register was friendly/smarmy at first. They have an iPad based cash register where you swipe your card. As a customer, you have to either tap one of the three pre-determined "tip" amounts or go out of your way to either decline or enter a different number. Normally not a big deal, but I'd rather give a tip after I've received service. And then have that tip be dependent up on the quality of service that I received. In this case, I didn't want to go against the flow, so I just tipped the standard amount. And after that, the guy wasn't so friendly/helpful anymore. It was clear, that he was just working us to that screen, and then the show was over…and he was ready to ignore us. After that, the service was pretty much non existent. Sneaky!!!

The food was just OK at best. It looked really good, especially for fried food. But the fish wasn't very fresh and the batter was bland.



Buddy got chicken tenders. He wasn't really enjoying them, so I took a bite. Gross. I think this stuff might be spoiled?!?! I should have went back and complained, but he was over it and just wanted to be done. So I let it slide…

An hour later, my stomach started feeling a bit queasy. But it hit Buddy hard. He was on the verge of having it come out of both ends and was miserable most of the afternoon. So yeah, if you are ever in Kihei, stay away from this place. Go down to Coconut's Fish Café instead. Similar price, amazing food, and people who work hard to take care of you…

Anyway, after lunch, we decided to head down south to the lava fields…



You pretty much drive down the coast until the road dead ends. Apparently, this is the site of the last active lava flow in Maui. Very different setting than the rest of the island. First, you drive through a road that passes right over the old lava flow. That was cool!



And then the parking area is literally right on the beach.



(That black Nissan is the car we rented.)



We explored this area for a while. Some epic blow holes too!







31986794164_0f9e85701b_o.gif


This was about an hour or so after lunch, when Buddy's stomach really started feeling upset so we headed back to the car so he could be still for a little while.

We had also wanted to see this other spot at Makena beach that we heard about, so we stopped there for a while on the way home. Amazing spot! A lot of surfers and boogie boarders here too!







We eventually made it back to the resort. We ended up watching the sunset on the beach at the condo again, since it was our last night there. Just stunning!





At this point, Buddy was feeling much better. And instead Princess was feeling zonked and just wanted to chill out in the condo. So the rest of us went to look for this wood fired pizza truck that had great reviews on Yelp. It turned out to be closed. We waffled around a bit and eventually decided to try this place that's popular with the locals. Zippy's. It was sort of like a Denny's, but with Hawaiian food..

Stephanie had a Korean fried chicken salad, which she thought was one of the best means on the trip.



Buddy and Pickle each had burgers. Which they enjoyed too!



I had this thing called a Zippy's Zip Pac. It sounded really good, but it was just meh at best.



The fried chicken reminded me of the gross fried chicken from school. The fish was like a glorified fish stick. Turns out that I still don't really like Spam at all. But... the teriyaki steak and rice were good. So it wasn't a total bust. Haha!

It was probably 9:30 by the time we left, so we when we got back, we mostly called it a night. Our flight to Oahu was around 2pm, so we had plenty time to pack our things in the morning.
 
Last edited:
Day 7 - Friday, June 24: Heading to Oahu


Not a lot to say about the morning. We got up fairly early and spent a couple hours packing our bags and cleaning up after ourselves.

We don't have cable or watch much TV at home, so the kids were glued to the Disney Channel and Cartoon Network whenever they had the chance. LOL.



The flight was at about 2pm and I think the goal was to drop the cars off around noon. So that gave us time to each lunch first. The Costco is right next to the airport, so we gassed up the car there and had lunch at their food court again.





We flew American Airlines on the way out, but today we were flying on Hawaiian Airlines. These planes are so cool!



Goodbye Maui. You were amazing! :hippie:



I think we were on the plane for a total of about an hour. It was a super fast flight. Just quick enough for them to get in the air, give you a drink, take your trash, and land. I bet the flight itself was only 30 or 40 minutes!

Passion Fruit Orange Juice?!?!?! Yum!!!



You can see Honolulu and Waikiki Beach off in the distance as we landed…



Wow, this is one pretty airport!







Whatever frustrations we had getting our car on Maui, this was twice as bad. It took forever. And then they messed up our cars and had to start over. The ladies behind the counter were clueless and they weren't very friendly either. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes. Which is nuts when you have a bunch of kids getting a bit restless. I'll never rent a car from Budget again. Ever!



But eventually, we did get our cars and off we went. We all decided to meet up at Safeway in Kapolei to pick up groceries before heading to the condo. And then we made our way over to Ko Olina.



So yeah, we stayed at the Ko Olina Beach Villas Resort, which is just next door to Aulani. This place turned out to be super posh, but we were especially stoked to be so close to Aulani.

Hello Aulani, we'll be seeing you soon!!!!



So this resort is private, we rented from the owners. Which was cool. They gave us tours of the units and showed us around before leaving us to be. (Their actual residence is in the area just north of Aulani. Lucky ducks!)

Not to bore you with all the photos of the interior, here are couple…







So yeah, we got all settled in and then explored the grounds a bit. We spent a bit of the evening down in the pool area. Which was fantastic. Stay tuned for more photos of the pools!

And after all that, we're now on Oahu, next door to Aulani! And I assume that if you are on this board and reading up to this point, you are probably interested to see how out adventures on Oahu went. Stay tuned!
 
Last edited:
Greatest trip report ever! We went to Aulani 2 years ago and back last summer and returning this summer as well with an added 3 days on Maui. What a great trip for your entire family.
 
OMG this is the best trip report ever. Your photos are amazing!!! You have the most beautiful family I was actually getting teary at the beginning with the collages from all the WDW trips. I need to do that. My DD also "grew up" at WDW.
Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed review.
I am so excited for our 1st Aulani/Hawaii trip this summer so can't wait for the rest of your report.
Thanks
Kerri
 
OMG this is the best trip report ever. Your photos are amazing!!! You have the most beautiful family I was actually getting teary at the beginning with the collages from all the WDW trips. I need to do that. My DD also "grew up" at WDW.
Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed review.
I am so excited for our 1st Aulani/Hawaii trip this summer so can't wait for the rest of your report.
Thanks
Kerri

I 2nd this!!!

We're coming to Hawaii this Nov for 3 weeks and also staying in Maui for 10 days and at Aulani for 11 days. Your info is so informative and helpful, thank you!! The pics, WOW!!!! I thoroughly enjoyed every min reading your review and can't wait to read more!!!

Thank you for taking the time to write this detailed, awesome review!!!

Cheers!!
 
Greatest trip report ever! We went to Aulani 2 years ago and back last summer and returning this summer as well with an added 3 days on Maui. What a great trip for your entire family.

Thanks! And I bet you are stoked to be returning this summer. :hippie:

OMG this is the best trip report ever. Your photos are amazing!!! You have the most beautiful family I was actually getting teary at the beginning with the collages from all the WDW trips. I need to do that. My DD also "grew up" at WDW.
Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed review.
I am so excited for our 1st Aulani/Hawaii trip this summer so can't wait for the rest of your report.
Thanks
Kerri

Thanks! Yeah, making those collages from time to time are fun. You should totally do it too! :thumbsup2 And how exciting that you are preparing for your first trip this summer. Hopefully, I'll have some good tips for you.

I 2nd this!!!

We're coming to Hawaii this Nov for 3 weeks and also staying in Maui for 10 days and at Aulani for 11 days. Your info is so informative and helpful, thank you!! The pics, WOW!!!! I thoroughly enjoyed every min reading your review and can't wait to read more!!!

Thank you for taking the time to write this detailed, awesome review!!!

Cheers!!

Thanks! Wow, you are totally doing it right. That sounds amazing!
 
Day 8 - Saturday, June 25 - Part 1: Pearl Harbor

The plan for today was to do Pearl Harbor in the morning and then hike up to the top of Diamond Head Crater (overlooking Waikiki Beach) in the afternoon. We reserved our Pearl Harbor tickets a month or two in advance, so that was pretty much set in stone. What we didn't know at the time, was that the USS Arizona Memorial was closed for refurbishment. (You could still take the boat out, but you just couldn't get off and see it up close.) Well, that stinks… but oh well, we still wanted to go anyway.



We arrived little over an hour before our 9am reservation.



They don't let you bring in purses, camera bags, or anything like that. But they do have an area where you can check your bags for a couple bucks each. Princess had one of those smallish Vera Bradley backpacks and they suggested that if we stuffed Stephanie's purse inside of it, then they'd only charge us for one bag. That's a pretty good tip, I think…



Anyway, we had plenty of time to get our bearings, use the restrooms, and tour the museum facilities.

They had a couple museum areas with exhibits. They were all well done and kept our kids attention really well. (I expected that they'd get bored and just want to sit on a bench somewhere, but they never did.) I guess it helped that they had a few interactive exhibits too.





Oh, and a model of the Arizona memorial…



At about 9am, they were ready to take us out to the USS Arizona Memorial site. First, you watched a 20 or 30 minute movie that gave you historical perspective and context for the attack. I think that helped the kids quite a bit.

And then we all got onto the boat. It was probably only a 10 minute ride or so out to the site. You can see the cranes and construction equipment off to the left of the following photo…



During the whole ride, there was a local man who was present during the attack, who told his story of what he experienced that day, and what it was like for his family afterwards. Apparently, they don't normally do this, but he was added as a "perk" to offset the fact that we couldn't actually visit the memorial site.



It was really fascinating. He was a kid at the time, I don't recall exactly maybe 9 or 10. His family were local farmers or something, and he was playing in the fields above the harbor with his buddies. When they realized what was happening, they pretty much sat and watched the whole thing. Having him describe his experiences was pretty crazy. And then having Japanese heritage, he shared what it was like for his family after the attack. I can't even imaging how difficult it was for them. It was an incredible experience. And in hindsight, I'm glad it worked out the way it did. If I really want to, I'm sure I'll have the change to go visit the memorial itself again, but I doubt that I'd ever have the chance to hear his story first hand again.

I wish that I would have recorded the whole thing, but here's a short clip with him speaking..


So yeah, the boat took us out to the site of the USS Arizona, we circled around it, and had the chance to see the USS Missouri too.



So the US's involvement in WWII started with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and ended with the Japanese officially surrendering on the USS Missouri. Interesting that you have the chance to explore both places on your visit.

On our way back, we passed a table with a WWII veteran who was willing to chat with you for a few minutes.



His name was Herb Weatherwax and he was stationed at the base, but was on a weekend pass in Honolulu when the attack started. He was recalled back to his duty station and apparently witness most of the attack as his bus headed back over Pearl Harbor.



The kids were intrigued by him and he signed their admission tickets for them…

Sad to read that Herb passed away in December at the age of 99.

Next up, we got tickets to go see the the Battleship Missouri Memorial. It's on the other side of the harbor, on the actual base, so you board a bus at the visitors center, and they drive you over. That was pretty cool!

The bus takes you over the bridge the in background of this next photo…





Wow, this was also a sight to see! While so much of Pearl Harbor is about remembering the attack and honoring the fallen, this site had more of a spirit of triumph. Lots of American flags and nostalgia.






You are free to wander around and explore the ship on your own, or you can join a tour. We opted for the tour first.



Our tour guide was fantastic, she really knew her stuff. And she was pretty energetic too!

She took us all around the main deck of the ship, explaining how the guns and certain things worked. What battle was like on the ship in general. And so on… And then she described how the Japanese officially signed the surrender documents here, and what that was like. Strange to think that although the ship was over in Japan at the time, that we were actually standing on the exact spot that they surrendored. Sort of surreal.



After the tour, we were free to explore. You could go inside and see the eating areas, kitchen, living quarters, all sorts of stuff. Buddy really enjoyed seeing all that stuff.

We grabbed a few photos up top…





Before leaving, we browsed through the gift shop for a while. Buddy ended up getting a USS Missouri tshirt (which he still wears a lot) and Pickle got a necklace.



Next up, we were all starving and ready for lunch. The guy at the ticket booth suggested that we try the restaurant in the aviation museum (just down the road from the Battleship Missouri Memorial and next stop on the bus.) We didn't actually go inside the aviation museum itself, but we decided to give its restaurant a try.

Ooh.. It has a 40's theme to it. How cool!!!!







It turned out to be perfect for our large group. Plenty of space for use to spread out, good food, and a very fun atmosphere! I'd recommend it if you ever visit Pearl Harbor.

Eventually, we made our way back to the main visitors center around 2pm. We explored around for a bit longer. (There is so much to see here.) Here's one of the anchors for the USS Arizona. Huge!



All in all, this turned out to be a fantastic visit. I enjoyed it a lot more than I would have expected. And the kids were all engaged way more than I would have expected too. I'm so glad that we did this!!!
 
Last edited:
Sorry to hear about the rental car problems. We had a similar problem with Delta. My son and I have the same first and last names but different middle names. We went to checkin for a flight at the kiosk and were told we had to see an agent.

The agent told us that since there were two people booked on the same flight with the same name, they had canceled one.

I told them that there were two of us, we had paid for two seats, and wanted it fixed. It was at this point the gate agent told me I would need to pay a $100 name change fee for my son. I asked why, the ticket was booked in his name? I just got blank stares and more demands to pay a $100 name change fee.

Two supervisors later we were finally checked in but were told never to book the two of us on the same flight or it would just happen again. From that point forward I have always had to add his middle initial to the end of his first name. It causes issues with the TSA, but so far they have always understood after a short explanation.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top