Trip Report: Our First Aloha - A Spring Break 2017 Hale Koa and Aulani Report

Hi Leslie! I am loving re-living our trip through you TR:rotfl2: we did so many of the same activities, just at different times. We were at the luau at the same time. We were standing just to the left of you and a couple of rows back . How did we not see each other :confused3 We went to Pearl Harbor and Dole on Monday, North Shore and Halawa Falls on Tuesday with pizza in the hallway lounge area. Wed. We moved to Aulani and ate at Monkeypod :goodvibes

We also loved the luau at Hale Koa. The ending "God Bless the USA" had us all in tears. Side note did you notice the blond chick that kept running up to the front and raised her hand for every situation that was mentioned? She was standing up blocking the couple married the longest or something near us, and the family chased her away. It was entertaining, but then I was thinking she might be a young widow or something, and I was ashamed for judging. :bitelip:

I fully agree with your assessment of Hale Koa. We found ourselves asking, "why didn't we do this before?" DS and his family took a hop over, and plan to do that again! We want to, but the new stuff at WDW is calling my name and DH is wanting to cruise. Not sure what will win out for us.
 
Hi Leslie! I am loving re-living our trip through you TR:rotfl2: we did so many of the same activities, just at different times. We were at the luau at the same time. We were standing just to the left of you and a couple of rows back . How did we not see each other :confused3 We went to Pearl Harbor and Dole on Monday, North Shore and Halawa Falls on Tuesday with pizza in the hallway lounge area. Wed. We moved to Aulani and ate at Monkeypod :goodvibes

We also loved the luau at Hale Koa. The ending "God Bless the USA" had us all in tears. Side note did you notice the blond chick that kept running up to the front and raised her hand for every situation that was mentioned? She was standing up blocking the couple married the longest or something near us, and the family chased her away. It was entertaining, but then I was thinking she might be a young widow or something, and I was ashamed for judging. :bitelip:

I fully agree with your assessment of Hale Koa. We found ourselves asking, "why didn't we do this before?" DS and his family took a hop over, and plan to do that again! We want to, but the new stuff at WDW is calling my name and DH is wanting to cruise. Not sure what will win out for us.

No! I didn't see the blonde! Wonder how I missed that - what a shame that she might have dampened someone else's enjoyment of the show. But you bring up a good point... you just never know anyone's circumstances and what makes them act the way they do.

I vote that you need to take a land/sea vacation. We are doing that next April. We'll be on the April 2, 2018 4-night Bahamas on the Dream, and then we'll finish out the week with a two-night stay at WDW (I know... not nearly enough time for either) - but we have to play this "school vacation" game now until our son is out of high school. Sigh.... I wanted a cruise, but I want to see Avatar land as well, and some other new things since our last visit - but cruising will always be my true love. :lovestruc Good news is that my Mom, sisters and niece are coming along - their first cruise ever, and I'm looking forward to getting them good and hooked. Our niece will be seven, which is a perfect age to have a lot of fun on a Disney Cruise!! (I think it would be fun if you were there as well.... just sayin'....) LOL!
 
Your land/sea sounds like a great idea! Thank you for the invite! You are so sweet! :hug: It would be great to see you again! With starting a new job, my time off is limited for awhile. We are working on a plan for next March again with Ryan. Their Break is the last week of March.
I was planning a similar get away for this fall until our clinic sold. Jim really wants to cruise and I want to see Avatar too. So much to see, so little time :rotfl2:
 


I'm just going to play around and test here to see if I can cut and paste directly on here, so excuse my ramblings. Just found out about the whole Photobucket thing, and I'm miffed about all this wasted time writing trip reports over the years, when all my photos have disappeared. If I can't get something else to work, I'm going to say goodbye to posting reports on Disboards for awhile. Sad....
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Well, that appears to work. I'll see if I can re-create some of the old posts before going forward.
 
Why me???!!! So I figure out what to do to insert my photos without using a photo hosting site, and now I see that I can only post 10 photos in a report rather than 25. Curses, Photo Bucket! And curses, Disboards, for getting me all excited that I can fix this, and then shutting down the editing of my posts, due to having more than 10 photos. What should I do now? Start all over from the beginning? This is ridiculous. I've wasted enough of my time today. Sigh.
 
Why me???!!! So I figure out what to do to insert my photos without using a photo hosting site, and now I see that I can only post 10 photos in a report rather than 25. Curses, Photo Bucket! And curses, Disboards, for getting me all excited that I can fix this, and then shutting down the editing of my posts, due to having more than 10 photos. What should I do now? Start all over from the beginning? This is ridiculous. I've wasted enough of my time today. Sigh.

You can insert 10 pictures/post, I believe. I think that I have posted way more than 10 in some of my reports.
 


You can insert 10 pictures/post, I believe. I think that I have posted way more than 10 in some of my reports.

Exactly - I have about 25 photos in some of my posts (the previous maximum) - so not sure what I can do now, other than starting a brand new thread for each trip report, which I will do someday when I have the time and energy. Otherwise, nothing will be in the correct order. Pretty devastated at the prospect - first world problems, right?? :)
 
Monday, March 27 – Part Two: Dole Plantation, Hale Koa Luau

We interrupt this program for a special treat: Dole Whip!

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From this place – the Dole Plantation.

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It was so crowded in the gravel parking lot, and we parked way out in the far corner. We were lucky enough to find a spot that fit our monstrous rental SUV. Phew!

We were happy to find that the Dole Plantation has a nice little café at the very back of the store, (which is primarily a gift shop where you can buy all things pineapple) called the Plantation Grille – the line was long, but moved pretty quickly. DH chose the pineapple chili dog, and DS and I shared this yummy Kalua Pork Quesadilla. The sauces drizzled on top were a sweet barbecue sauce and sour cream. Very messy, but absolutely worth it!

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The food was all very good, and we ate outside on the patio under an umbrella where we watched our friend “Kiwi the Bird” hop around and entertain us and try to steal people’s lunches. The Dole Whips came out first, and began to melt immediately in the heat, so we were forced to eat dessert before entrees. What a bummer. After lunch, we made a few purchases at the gift store, and this is my favorite: Pineapple Gummy Bears! Yum, Yum! They were pretty expensive, I must say, so we only got two bags. One for us, and one for a family friend who specifically asked for a bag if we went to the Dole Plantation. It was also his favorite treat from a past vacation.

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I also purchased some pineapple cotton candy, but I didn’t think to take a photo. It came in a small plastic tub. It was also good, but I would choose the gummy bears if I had a choice between the two.

Since it was so warm inland at the Dole Plantation, it was a relief to get back to the cooler shores by Hale Koa. We changed into some dressier attire, and headed down to cocktail hour at 5:30 at the Hale Koa Luau. The prices for this Luau were $60 per adult, and $23 for our teenager. It was a very good price for the wonderful meal, and it was nice that there was a price other than adult price for DS. It was the same way at the Koko Buffet on the first night at Hale Koa. We’ve been so used to paying “adult” price for DS’s meals on nearly every vacation (since the age of 10 at Disney restaurants), that it was like traveling back in time to 2011! LOL!!! Another note on the pricing: all seats were the same price, regardless of how close to the stage you were, and you could choose to sit at the uncovered tables near the stage, or further back, under cover, closer to the bar. We took a chance that it wouldn’t rain that evening, and booked early enough that we were able to get a seat front and center of the stage, at Table 4. I did worry about rain ruining our dinner, but it was a lovely evening, so we were very lucky.

This was our very first luau, so we didn’t know what to expect, but it seems to be standard at both luaus we attended (this one and the one at Aulani) for the guests to gather on the lawn to have a complimentary rum drink handed to them, a welcome lei either of shells, nuts, or flowers, and a family photo taken (which could be purchased later at dinner in a folder with the Hale Koa name on it.)

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Then we wandered around the luau lawn to watch demonstrations of Hawaiian cultural arts. There was a lei-making station, which seemed pretty time consuming to me and also had many little girls in line who would enjoy it more than I would, so we skipped it. There was also a headband making station, which was a braiding activity that was interesting and quick to do, so I made a headband out of palm fronds for DH. He liked it, and looked very tropical in his headband and Hawaiian shirt.

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We watched some of the entertainers climb the palm trees that encircled the lawn, which was neat. They really were comedians, and also very strong and talented. There was a bar set up behind the back rows of tables, with several bartenders who were serving many guests already at this point.

Before we knew it, we heard the call of the conch shells to get our attention.

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One of the performers, acting as an emcee for the evening, invited us all to gather around the “imu” – a Hawaiian style underground oven – which I like to simply refer to as the “pig pit”.

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It was really cool to see them unwrap the pig from its roasting place under the large leaves, and then place it on a litter to carry it to the kitchen where they shredded it to make Kalua Pork (which is just the term for pig cooked in an imu oven underground.)

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We were then invited to make our way to our seats, while the band played traditional Hawaiian tunes.

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We introduced ourselves to our table mates at our table for eight. There were a couple of other very nice families there. Soon, we were served our plated meals, which was different from the buffet-style “help yourself” meal at Aulani. On the plate were small portions of many different dishes, including the aforementioned Kalua Pork, fried rice, roasted vegetables, teriyaki beef, salmon and chicken. On the table, there was also salad as well poi, the traditional Hawaiian lavender-colored sauce made from pounded taro root. It didn’t have a lot of flavor, but poi is very healthy for you, apparently (we talked to one native Hawaiian who says that their family eats a lot of poi with every meal, and they have all lived long and healthy lives that they attribute to the poi.) It didn’t taste BAD, but also didn’t add anything special to the flavor of the meat, in my view… I had a little at both luaus and didn’t mind it at all.

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Up on stage, the entertainment began. It was a very nice theme – the different costumes, dances, and traditions of the various South Pacific Island Cultures. They paid homage to Hawaiians, Samoans, French Polynesians, Tongans, and others. Oh my goodness…. these performers were so amazingly talented, and gave us a great education on the pacific islands. There were also several fire dancing demonstrations from the various islands represented. My photos do not do the show justice. It was also very hard to get the action shots without a lot of blurriness – but here are a few of the ones that turned out decently.

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There was also a bit of audience participation, including a celebration of the couple married the longest in the audience, and honoring all the different military services in attendance. I think every service, including the coast guard, were represented by a large number of attendees. The evening ended with a rousing rendition of “God Bless the USA” sung by the performers and the audience, to end on a patriotic note. I cannot say enough good things about this luau, and enjoyed the show even better than the Aulani show, even though that one was also amazing.

After dinner, we headed back upstairs, and turned in early, since it had been a very full day, and we were headed to Aulani the next day!

Thoughts on Hale Koa: wonderfully priced, beautiful property, amazing luau, fantastic opportunity to stock up on supplies, liquor, gifts, food, clothing… you name it…. at the shoppette downstairs, which had a little of everything. I even bought nail polish and the combo detergent/fabric softener sheets that I couldn’t find back home. Very handy to use for vacation travels. We tried new types of Hawaiian rums and tropical juices, and a nice pineapple wine, bought a case of water, and took everything with us to Aulani. Only one complaint about Hale Koa… their shampoo / conditioner combination that they provided in the toiletries was horrible. Not sure which brand they buy and re-brand as their own, but it dried out my hair in the worst way. After two days of it, I bought a small bottle of conditioner from the shoppette to supplement, and it was a huge improvement. And isn’t that a silly thing to remark on as a hotel drawback?? J We are very blessed to be able to stay at this facility, and we wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. As a matter of fact, in a couple of years we are going to take the “Pride of America” Norwegian Cruise Lines sailing around most of the Hawaiian Islands, and we are going to stay another Saturday night there before flying home Sunday morning. We’ll plan to attend the Saturday night Surf and Turf buffet again at Koko at Kalia, for more crab legs and delicious food for dinner – fingers crossed that they are still offering it! If you are eligible to stay here, I highly recommend it if it fits into your plans. Make your reservations a year in advance, if you want your choice of rooms. You can always cancel it later if you change your mind. It also bears mentioning that down at the beach, a little ways further left down the paved path while facing the ocean, there is a stand (run by an independent company) that rents out beach chairs and umbrellas, paddle boards, surfboards, water trikes, small boats, large floating foam platforms, etc… to anyone, but offers reduced prices for military members. If we were staying longer, I would have definitely made use of renting their equipment to play in the water.

Not sure if its just me- but I'm not getting the photos
 
Is it only 10 photos per TR or 10 per post? There has been a per post limit for awhile. They are going to lose their audience if we can't post pics.
 
Is it only 10 photos per TR or 10 per post? There has been a per post limit for awhile. They are going to lose their audience if we can't post pics.

It's 10 per post - so I can re-do all my trip reports if I have the time to re-write them and split them up. Apparently, the limit was 25 per post if you used a hosted website like photobucket (which I did, and now I wish I had not). But back when I started writing trip reports, the only way to post a photo was by using photobucket. Since then, the DIS has revised their website, and now you can cut and paste directly into a trip report, but they only allow 10 photos per post when you do it that way.

So I'm looking at quite a long road to move forward. I'll have to start a brand new thread for each trip report and break each entry up into only 10 photos, which means my tables of contents will have to be revised to have more entries and new links to each post. Right now, I don't have the energy to start over. Guess I need another trip to Hawaii to get my happy thoughts back!
 
Not sure if its just me- but I'm not getting the photos

Not just you. Nobody can see them anymore, since I used photobucket, and now they're holding my photos for ransom for $400. Being a business person, I think they've just sunk their company. Hardly anyone will pay that, which means people won't use Photobucket anymore, which means advertisers will not be willing to place ads on their site, so they'll lose that revenue stream. Not a smart move in my book, and I'm trying to keep my emotions out of it here.
 
Yes I was thinking the same thing about Photobucket. I'm sure most of us have blank pages. I have most on pin drives I'm sure, but I'm going to download them all onto one and delete my account. It is like the DIS. Brings business to their site. If they started a membership, no one would be there.

I'm thinking i would repost a few pics if I were you, but not full on every TR. THAT WOULD TAKE FOREVER!! Good luck getting it together.
I got grounded by my son for sharing too much, so I've been MIA on mine.
 

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