HAWAII DIARIES / PART TWO

Aloha! I’m continuing on my tales from my Hawaii adventures. You can read part one here. Happy reading.

DAY THREE

It took a while for the kids to adjust to the timezone difference, and I actually think that if I let them they would have slept a day away catching up on their sleep… but I didn’t let them, of course. On day three we headed out to one of the fancier restaurants at Aulani, ‘AMA ‘AMA, which has beautiful views of the lagoon and coast while you dine, and the food is amazing.

I opted for the ‘AMA ‘AMA signature breakfast which was a bacon, eggs, heirloom tomato, avocado and lobster tail on beautiful brioche bread. It was as good as it looks.

Hubby went for the Loco Moco, which is a more traditional Hawaiian dish involving eggs, rice and gravy. He gave it a thumbs up. The kids ordered pancakes and toast from the kids menu, also delicious.

We then headed to the pools to do some more laps of the lazy river. Within the resort there’s a beautiful man-made reef called Rainbow Reef where guests can snorkel and experience the sea life. As we had planned to snorkel in the ocean later that day, Hubby and Lacey took some time out in Rainbow Reef to prepare Lacey for the ocean.

And then we headed out to the ocean. Can you even believe this?

Our snorkeling trip was an experience organised by the Aulani team, and in part hosted by them too. We had Matthew host us out to the reef, and he was a highlight of the trip. He was passionate about his home country and taught us in such an engaging way that we all adored him. Lacey loved snorkeling, and the water was calm enough that kids even younger than her were out enjoying the water. Lulu was super tired, so we hung out on the boat watching dolphins, turtles and everyone snorkeling together. Lunch was included, as were drinks, and there was an Uncle playing his ukulele as we sailed along. It was a huge highlight of our trip for all of us. 

After our snorkeling adventure, we headed back to our room and freshened up for dinner at Monkeypod. Monkeypod is a restaurant outside the Aulani resort, but only a 5 minute walk away. It’s part of a cute village that sits alongside a working railway used for sugarcane transportation.

The food was delicious {I had mushroom and truffle pizza}, but the highlight was the dessert. They make the MOST delicious pies, including strawberry pie, and also banana and caramel pie. You need to get your laughing gear around one of those in your lifetime. So yummy!

DAY FOUR

On our last full day at Aulani, we finished with another beautiful character breakfast at Makahiki. We met with Mickey, and then settled in for breakfast. At each character breakfast the Disney friends will stop by your table while you eat to say hello, and to pose for photos. Aunty also interacts with the kids, sings songs and gets them dancing with her.

After breakfast we had a whole day to do nothing… except relax and have fun. We swam, rode the slide, tested out every pool and did a few hundred laps of the lazy river, it never gets old.

There is also a Menehune Adventure Trail that is complimentary for guests. You can grab a tablet and explore the resort on an adventure. Once you find particular clues you can activate little secret parts of the resort, these might include secret waterfalls, fire and scary noises. It’s really cool.

After swimming ourselves silly, we went back to the room to freshen up and then over to Aunty’s Beach House to drop the kids off. Aunty’s Beach House is a kids club and is totally complimentary for all guests {such a rare thing!}. The offerings for the kids at Aunty’s will blow your mind. There’s a beautiful outdoor area, loads of activities, dress-ups, interactive screens for kids to play games and loads more.

I have kids that liked to be glued to me at all times, or Hubby, and have never really taken to any kids club. We’ve tried, but we also love spending time with them while on holidays {although being able to eat dinner as adults is ALWAYS awesome} so we wanted to try them at Aunty’s while we had one last dinner at Aulani. Well, they loved it, and happily skipped away from us, and of course didn’t want to leave when we went to pick them up.

While they played we had an early dinner at ‘AMA ‘AMA, which is in the perfect spot to watch the sunset. I may have taken 53 photos of that sunset. It’s something else!

The food at ‘AMA ‘AMA is more like fine dining and super delicious. They do a beautiful poké, but the shave ice dessert is what I would go back for time and time again. It’s amazing. As was Shane’s chocolate dessert.

I traveled with a few families as part of the trip, and over dinner we all talked about what we loved most. For some it was the pools, for others the food and for another person is was all about the spa. For me, it was the magic. Disney does this thing where they just capture the magic, and all the worries of the world just disappear. I didn’t see one couple or family fighting. Not one, everyone was happy. The staff love their jobs, everything is clean, and the vibe is just positive and awesome. That magic is rare, and visiting Aulani just fills my tank, and makes me soulfully happy.

I do wish that everyone could experience that magic, and the joy, and Hawaiian culture that exist at Aulani. It’s just something that you have to experience for yourself.

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