This is my 1st trip report. I have been on countless trips to the Caribbean, Disney World, and other great places. I got some great tips and advice from this forum so I wanted to give back. I hope this is helpful to anyone planning a trip to Hawaii!
The group was myself Mike (48), my daughter Alyssa (14), Significant Other Becky (46) SO’s daughter Caroline (17), SO’s daughter’s boyfriend Cam (17)
We spent 5 nights at Aulani and 5 nights at the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas-North on Maui
Thursday 4/11
We left home at 1am (a 2 hour ride to the airport) for a 5am flight out of Boston connecting through Dallas/Fort Worth (35 minutes between flights…yikes!). The real scary part was that because Cam came late to the team, he did not have a seat assignment from DFW to HNL. A little back story: I would generally have avoided bringing the “boyfriend” however, Cam was the captain of the high school hockey team that I am the assistant coach for and have coached this wonderful young man for the past 4 years. He has never been on a plane or had a vacation like this so I was very happy to provide this opportunity for him!
DFW is a huge airport and the 1st time I have ever connected thru here (I did have Dallas as a destination a number of years ago). I did extensive research ahead of time to figure out the best way to get from Terminal A to Terminal D. I settled on the Skylink (internal shuttle/train fast and efficient). Our flight from Boston arrived a few minutes early but I didn’t want to take any chances so the Captain of this trip (ME…not you CAM) took off like a Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins defenseman for non-hockey fans) slapshot to get to the gate and secure Cam a seat! Lo and behold, not only did Cam get a seat, he got a 1st class-lie flat seat for the trip to Paradise while the rest of us flew premium economy (American Airlines 777-200 – what a great plane!) The flight, though long (around 8 hours), was uneventful and quite comfortable in premium economy.
Upon landing at HNL I headed to Alamo (off-site) to get our 4 door-Jeep while the team waited for our luggage. I used skip-the-line and was out of there in less than 5 minutes! I picked up the team and we were on our way to Aulani!
It was a short ride to Aulani (30 minutes or so). Check in was a little clunky (my fault not Aulani’s) as I did on-line check in but our room wasn’t ready (as expected and not an issue) and between having bell services hold our luggage, wanting to move the jeep to the parking lot and everyone’s excitement to see the property, I did a bit of running around. Finally, everyone had changed into their “Hawaii” clothes and when I caught up to them about a half hour later with our 1st of many Mai Tai’s (for Becky and I), the teens had ALREADY FINISHED their 1st of MANY cold treats (this was mickey-ear shave ice…not the best of the trip according to them but a great start!) After a dip in the lagoon, we headed to the great pools and hot tubs that Aulani has to offer. A quick shower and we were headed across the street to Monkeypod for dinner. We are a pretty simple group when it comes to eating so Monkeypod was pleasing to all (especially for Becky and I…Mai Tai #2 of the trip and maybe the BEST!) The teens got ice cream next door and Becky and I headed to Target for supplies for our 5 night stay in a dedicated 2 bedroom oceanview villa!
We were in room 1280 (I had requested a high floor with a room ending in 86, 80 or 74). It did not disappoint. We had a great view of the pool area, the lagoon, and sunset! I have been a DVC owner (1st BWV and now BCV) so I new what to expect from the villa and it served our purposes perfectly!
After a long day of travel and getting a taste of Aulani, we were ready to crash for the night before 9pm!
more to come...
The group was myself Mike (48), my daughter Alyssa (14), Significant Other Becky (46) SO’s daughter Caroline (17), SO’s daughter’s boyfriend Cam (17)
We spent 5 nights at Aulani and 5 nights at the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas-North on Maui
Thursday 4/11
We left home at 1am (a 2 hour ride to the airport) for a 5am flight out of Boston connecting through Dallas/Fort Worth (35 minutes between flights…yikes!). The real scary part was that because Cam came late to the team, he did not have a seat assignment from DFW to HNL. A little back story: I would generally have avoided bringing the “boyfriend” however, Cam was the captain of the high school hockey team that I am the assistant coach for and have coached this wonderful young man for the past 4 years. He has never been on a plane or had a vacation like this so I was very happy to provide this opportunity for him!
DFW is a huge airport and the 1st time I have ever connected thru here (I did have Dallas as a destination a number of years ago). I did extensive research ahead of time to figure out the best way to get from Terminal A to Terminal D. I settled on the Skylink (internal shuttle/train fast and efficient). Our flight from Boston arrived a few minutes early but I didn’t want to take any chances so the Captain of this trip (ME…not you CAM) took off like a Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins defenseman for non-hockey fans) slapshot to get to the gate and secure Cam a seat! Lo and behold, not only did Cam get a seat, he got a 1st class-lie flat seat for the trip to Paradise while the rest of us flew premium economy (American Airlines 777-200 – what a great plane!) The flight, though long (around 8 hours), was uneventful and quite comfortable in premium economy.
Upon landing at HNL I headed to Alamo (off-site) to get our 4 door-Jeep while the team waited for our luggage. I used skip-the-line and was out of there in less than 5 minutes! I picked up the team and we were on our way to Aulani!
It was a short ride to Aulani (30 minutes or so). Check in was a little clunky (my fault not Aulani’s) as I did on-line check in but our room wasn’t ready (as expected and not an issue) and between having bell services hold our luggage, wanting to move the jeep to the parking lot and everyone’s excitement to see the property, I did a bit of running around. Finally, everyone had changed into their “Hawaii” clothes and when I caught up to them about a half hour later with our 1st of many Mai Tai’s (for Becky and I), the teens had ALREADY FINISHED their 1st of MANY cold treats (this was mickey-ear shave ice…not the best of the trip according to them but a great start!) After a dip in the lagoon, we headed to the great pools and hot tubs that Aulani has to offer. A quick shower and we were headed across the street to Monkeypod for dinner. We are a pretty simple group when it comes to eating so Monkeypod was pleasing to all (especially for Becky and I…Mai Tai #2 of the trip and maybe the BEST!) The teens got ice cream next door and Becky and I headed to Target for supplies for our 5 night stay in a dedicated 2 bedroom oceanview villa!
We were in room 1280 (I had requested a high floor with a room ending in 86, 80 or 74). It did not disappoint. We had a great view of the pool area, the lagoon, and sunset! I have been a DVC owner (1st BWV and now BCV) so I new what to expect from the villa and it served our purposes perfectly!
After a long day of travel and getting a taste of Aulani, we were ready to crash for the night before 9pm!
more to come...