olliesmom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2015
Aloha and welcome to our Maui 2017 Trip Report!
The title for our report is borrowed from our favourite Disney restaurant, 'Ohana! So far, 'Ohana is as close as we've come to visiting Hawaii, and it has been a part of every one of our Disney trips! On one of our first visits to 'Ohana, the lovely singer who circulates the restaurant with her ukelele and leis repeated over and over throughout the evening over the restaurant speakers - "in Hawaii, we say 'alooooooooha!'" Somehow that turned into a household catchphrase and soon we will be able to practice our "alooooha" for real!
Following WDW trips in 2010, 2012, 2014 and a Disney wedding in 2015, we've decided to trade Mickey for Maui for our 2017 vacation! With the prices at WDW continually increasing and the current number of closures and amount construction, we made the (unexpectedly difficult!) decision to postpone our next Disney trip until some more of the current projects are completed. We are looking forward to seeing the new Pandora, Star Wars land, Toy Story land and Coronado Springs expansion, and are tentatively planning a trip back to WDW in 2019/2020.
Although this trip actually won't include any Aulani or Disney, as we are going to be on Maui for 7 nights, I thought I would post a trip report anyways as it seems Maui is a popular choice to combine with Oahu/Aulani trips, and hopefully our experiences can help others who are considering adding Maui to their Aulani vacations (or who just love a Hawaiian TR!).
First, some introductions:
Who: Myself (26) and DH (28). We live in Ontario, Canada and are both first-timers to Hawaii! I'm a fairly detailed planner (I think I have as much fun planning as I do actually taking the vacation!) and DH is pretty relaxed and easy-going. While we do plan to spend some time relaxing at the beach, we enjoy active vacations and hope to squeeze in some hikes and adventures! We also love to eat, although with the Canadian dollar right now, we will be focusing on local cheap eats!
What: 7 nights on Maui
When: March 29-April 5
Where: We've rented a condo through VRBO at Lahaina Shores Beach Resort in Lahaina for the first 6 nights of our trip, and will be spending the last night in Wailea at the Wailea Beach Marriott (using Marriott points).
Why: This trip came about in a rather spontaneous way - it all started off with looking at last-minute travel deals to Cuba and the Dominican Republic in the Fall, and before I knew it we had flights booked to Hawaii!! We knew we wanted a tropical beach vacation, but our options were growing increasingly limited by the spread of Zika. I found a good deal on flights Maui from Canada and we decided to go for it! As our original intention really was a more inexpensive all-inclusive, we are going to be trying to stretch our budget as much as possible.
So far, what we've done to keep the cost of our trip down includes: booking mid-week flights, using travel points wherever possible (I collect both Marriott and Aeroplan points), looking for Groupons for excursions, and staying in a condo vs. a resort hotel.
Our itinerary so far looks like this:
Day 1 (March 29) - Arrive in Maui at 9pm, drive to condo and collapse in bed!
Day 2 (March 30) - Pick up snorkeling gear at the Snorkel Store (pre-paid), spend the day snorkeling at Kapalua and Napili Bay.
Day 3 (March 31) - Morning whale watch with Blue Maui (Groupon), spend the afternoon swimming/snorkeling at Ka'anapali and/or Kahekili Beach, dinner in Lahaina.
Day 4 (April 1) - Up at 2am for Haleakala sunrise (reservation now required!), spend the afternoon exploring Upcountry Maui (Groupon for Surfing Goat Dairy tour), back to Lahaina for naps and dinner.
Day 5 (April 2) - Drive up the Northwest coast to the Nakalele blowhole and Ohai trail, afternoon swimming/snorkeling at D.T Fleming Beach and explore the Kapalua Coastal Trail.
Day 6 (April 3) - Drive the Road to Hana
Day 7 (April 4) - Check in at the Wailea Marriott, explore Ulua and Wailea beaches, happy hour at Monkeypod Kitchen.
Day 8 (April 5) - Pack up, stop for an early lunch at Tin Roof (Sheldon Simeon's new restaurant), return rental car and fly home!
We will likely end up having to switch a few things around depending on weather and how hard it is to tear ourselves away from the beach, but that's the general plan!
We're in our final countdown now (10 more days!) but if anyone has any last-minute Maui travel advice or recommendations, I'd love to hear it!
Thanks for following along! Mahalo!
The title for our report is borrowed from our favourite Disney restaurant, 'Ohana! So far, 'Ohana is as close as we've come to visiting Hawaii, and it has been a part of every one of our Disney trips! On one of our first visits to 'Ohana, the lovely singer who circulates the restaurant with her ukelele and leis repeated over and over throughout the evening over the restaurant speakers - "in Hawaii, we say 'alooooooooha!'" Somehow that turned into a household catchphrase and soon we will be able to practice our "alooooha" for real!
Following WDW trips in 2010, 2012, 2014 and a Disney wedding in 2015, we've decided to trade Mickey for Maui for our 2017 vacation! With the prices at WDW continually increasing and the current number of closures and amount construction, we made the (unexpectedly difficult!) decision to postpone our next Disney trip until some more of the current projects are completed. We are looking forward to seeing the new Pandora, Star Wars land, Toy Story land and Coronado Springs expansion, and are tentatively planning a trip back to WDW in 2019/2020.
Although this trip actually won't include any Aulani or Disney, as we are going to be on Maui for 7 nights, I thought I would post a trip report anyways as it seems Maui is a popular choice to combine with Oahu/Aulani trips, and hopefully our experiences can help others who are considering adding Maui to their Aulani vacations (or who just love a Hawaiian TR!).
First, some introductions:
Who: Myself (26) and DH (28). We live in Ontario, Canada and are both first-timers to Hawaii! I'm a fairly detailed planner (I think I have as much fun planning as I do actually taking the vacation!) and DH is pretty relaxed and easy-going. While we do plan to spend some time relaxing at the beach, we enjoy active vacations and hope to squeeze in some hikes and adventures! We also love to eat, although with the Canadian dollar right now, we will be focusing on local cheap eats!
What: 7 nights on Maui
When: March 29-April 5
Where: We've rented a condo through VRBO at Lahaina Shores Beach Resort in Lahaina for the first 6 nights of our trip, and will be spending the last night in Wailea at the Wailea Beach Marriott (using Marriott points).
Why: This trip came about in a rather spontaneous way - it all started off with looking at last-minute travel deals to Cuba and the Dominican Republic in the Fall, and before I knew it we had flights booked to Hawaii!! We knew we wanted a tropical beach vacation, but our options were growing increasingly limited by the spread of Zika. I found a good deal on flights Maui from Canada and we decided to go for it! As our original intention really was a more inexpensive all-inclusive, we are going to be trying to stretch our budget as much as possible.
So far, what we've done to keep the cost of our trip down includes: booking mid-week flights, using travel points wherever possible (I collect both Marriott and Aeroplan points), looking for Groupons for excursions, and staying in a condo vs. a resort hotel.
Our itinerary so far looks like this:
Day 1 (March 29) - Arrive in Maui at 9pm, drive to condo and collapse in bed!
Day 2 (March 30) - Pick up snorkeling gear at the Snorkel Store (pre-paid), spend the day snorkeling at Kapalua and Napili Bay.
Day 3 (March 31) - Morning whale watch with Blue Maui (Groupon), spend the afternoon swimming/snorkeling at Ka'anapali and/or Kahekili Beach, dinner in Lahaina.
Day 4 (April 1) - Up at 2am for Haleakala sunrise (reservation now required!), spend the afternoon exploring Upcountry Maui (Groupon for Surfing Goat Dairy tour), back to Lahaina for naps and dinner.
Day 5 (April 2) - Drive up the Northwest coast to the Nakalele blowhole and Ohai trail, afternoon swimming/snorkeling at D.T Fleming Beach and explore the Kapalua Coastal Trail.
Day 6 (April 3) - Drive the Road to Hana
Day 7 (April 4) - Check in at the Wailea Marriott, explore Ulua and Wailea beaches, happy hour at Monkeypod Kitchen.
Day 8 (April 5) - Pack up, stop for an early lunch at Tin Roof (Sheldon Simeon's new restaurant), return rental car and fly home!
We will likely end up having to switch a few things around depending on weather and how hard it is to tear ourselves away from the beach, but that's the general plan!
We're in our final countdown now (10 more days!) but if anyone has any last-minute Maui travel advice or recommendations, I'd love to hear it!
Thanks for following along! Mahalo!