A Big Circle

It had been so hot and humid that we left nice early for Pearl Harbour. Unfortunately for us, not early enough. Even though it was still before 8am, the heat had already become oppressive. We pushed on an explored the historic sites. The dock where the boats left for the USS Arizona memorial sank on the Saturday prior to our arrival and so was closed. We made do with the Pacific Aviation museum which took up most of our morning.

En route to the north shore, we stopped by Zippy's for lunch for some local fare. The rest of the afternoon consisted of many ticks off our to see list... Dole plantation, Waiamea Bay, and the many beaches along the famed north shore of Oahu. We kept driving around the East of the island back towards Waikiki. Our end destination was Ala Moana, where we wanted to check out the Shirokiya Village Walk, a Japanese foodcourt.

Upon our return to Aulani, it was well into the evening and everyone was exhausted. Plans to listen to the storytelling by the firepit was quickly abandoned as sleep became the preferred option!

Pearl Harbour

USS Missouri where the historic Japanese surrender occurred

Jonah reading his information handout intently

Stearman flown by George W Bush as an 18 year old who joined the war effort post the Pearl Harbour bombing

Adorable series of portraits of Japanese Americans

Family photo!

Zippy's famed loco moco

Chilli fries

A massive spam sushi

Waiamea Bay Beach

Ehukai Beach with the Banzai Pipeline breaking over the reef off it

Scenic mountain backdrop along the drive

No further need for a description...

Precious EVE

Time for dinner!

Inside the large Japanese foodcourt

Luau

Today was a typical Albany day. After ringing the character hotline right on 8am, the family decided that the only character we wanted to have a photo with today was Moana. 15 minutes prior to photo time we started the line to be first to greet Moana! She was gorgeous! It was then time to go snorkelling at Rainbow Reef. Snorkelling is a paid extra but Nana and Grandpa had gifted an experience for Jonah for his birthday. We were wise to be there first thing and they had the lagoon all to themselves for about 10 minutes before it filled up! With photographers covering all possible angles and taking stills as well as videos, I could say with confidence that footage for the event was well covered! The water was much colder in the fish pool. Jonah wished that he had some of Grandpa's blubber.

Malcolm was smart to hide his biceps with Moana around!

Guests had to shower each time before entering the snorkelling pool

The first ones in the pool!

All that pool to themselves...

The side-on camera and video crew

They were fortunate enough to be given the fish feeder!

'Ama 'ama came highly recommended and was our lunch venue for today. A 10% DVC discount didn't go astray! Between us we ordered the Poke bowl, catch of the day (opah or moonfish at $28), lobster sandwich, as well as the honey mochi cake and the pineapple cheesecake for dessert. The food was of good quality, well prepared and delicious! An expansive ocean view was an added bonus.

Our view

10% off. Let's drink up!

Poke bowl. LOVE the Mickey chopsticks

Lobster sandwich

Fish of the day

Honey mochi cake. AMAZING!

Post lunch, nana and Grandpa earnt their keep by attending a DVC presentation. The $250 giftcard was handy towards our meals at Aulani. Somehow they managed to get an $50 extra. I'm still not quite sure how this happened! 

It took us three days to find the perfect beach chair location which met the following criteria:

• Out of traffic but not too far away
• Views of the ocean but close to the pool
• Shade all day
• Easily obtainable
• Within the service zone of "Off the Hook"
• And not too far from below (see second photo)

We FINALLY found it! But it shall have to remain our secret I'm afraid!

Poolside toilets. Well themed!

Our evening activity was the Fia Fia Luau at the Marriott. It was rated as the number one luau and it didn't disappoint! Holo Ka'a is complimentary shuttle between the Ko Olina resorts. We caught the shuttle right at the entrance of Aulani to the Marriott. We bought general tickets but there were options to purchase premium and VIP tickets. To be honest, we didn't think the difference was worth paying. There were only 2 rows of tables, so the view from the general tables was quite good as well. The main difference was that the general tables got to the buffet last.

There were fun pre-show entertainment and activities with a beautiful sunset in the background. The food at the buffet was plentiful and delicious with a good offering and variety of local food as well as options for the less adventurous. As soon as the sun set, the show began. And it was wonderful!! We chose to stroll back along the beach front back to Aulani instead of taking the shuttle. The easy 15 minute walk was a good way to help digest the mountains of food consumed!

Holo Ka'a free shuttle from Aulani to the Marriott

Fia fia luau at the grounds of the Marriott

Pre-show activitty

Malcolm's final product

On the chosen model

Another pre-show warm up. Hula lesson. Spot grandpa....

A call for food. The roast pig about to be unveiled.

The pig being paraded to the guests

The sunset...a side show

The buffet

The show!

Welcome Home!

With DVC member celebrations only happening on Mondays. I had to go just this once to see what it was all about. The even started at 8am with registration from 0745am. Pre-registration prior to the event was also required. If I had known that family members were able to come along, I would have dragged the children! There was a simple breakfast provided. The morning consisted of a few games and a series of presentations which outlined existing properties, upcoming features across the Disney family as well as incentives for DVC add ons. It was very American, a little corny, very over the top but a lot of fun! I left with a free DVC cap :)

The registration line at 7:50am. It moved pretty quickly

Tables inside set out with leis for members

Breakfast goodies provided, along with teas, coffee and juices

Ballroom set up for games and presentations

The free gift!

The family had a few logistical items to get through in the first half of the day. A certain member of the family who had been gallivanting around Las Vegas with his high school buddies had to be picked up from the airport. However, prior to that, we had a room change to manoeuvre. We were moving from 2 studios to a 2 bedroom villa. Thankfully, Disney made the move extremely easy. They made sure our new villa was ready as a priority. By the time we called bell services for the move at 11am, we had a new room number. Bell services moved our luggage as well as our groceries and fridge items. They had special crates for food items and even pack and unpacked them for us! It was so stress free! The hardest thing was ensuring the children packed properly...

Living with 2 sofa beds

Kitchen/dining area

The King bedroom

Our new view. You can just see the ocean. We'll take it!

After we resettled into our new abode, it was time to pick up the last remaining Albany from the airport. Fortunately, the trip to the airport was without incident. We had arranged to meet at Thrifty so Malcolm could be added on as a second driver. We later found out that his plane was stuck sitting on the tarmac because they could not park at the designated gate on account of the plane already at the gate being delayed for take off...45 minutes later we were finally reunited and once again headed back toward Aulani. This time, the drive was without navigational drama!

Everyone was starving by this time and so we braved Hungry Mama's Snack Stop. It wasn't cheap at USD15/16 each but we tried three out of the four mains on the menu, fish and chips, ono sandwich (fish burger), and crumbed prawns. The food was reasonable. What we were really hanging out for though was the Mickey Ears shaped shave ice. As we watched kid after kid walk around eating them, we could resist no longer! Shaved ice, with syrup and condensed milk never tasted so good...(they'd want to at USD 5 + USD1 for mickey years!) You can choose your flavours with the price varying depending the number of flavours chosen.

One of the pool side dining option

Lunch

Mickey Ears shave ice

Yay Malcolm is finally here!

We spent our afternoon by the beach. Choice of dinner was unanimous, something not deep fried. And so we drove to Aloha salads which was conveniently close to Costco so Malcolm could have his fix too!

The view from the adult only pool

The beach in front of Aulani

Table tennis

Warm water with only gentle waves as it is a lagoon