yolie912
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2007
I've heard great reviews on the Fia Fia Luau. I didnt know you can pay with the marriott gift card?
Has anyone done this before?
Thanks
Aulani and Ohau must dos
- Thread starter Hessie628
- Start date
I've heard great reviews on the Fia Fia Luau. I didnt know you can pay with the marriott gift card?
Has anyone done this before?
Thanks
Leaving next week for Oahu - not staying at Aulani (staying next door at JW Marriott). But wondering what restaurants you all suggest? I am hoping to walk over to Aulani for at least 1 breakfast at AmaAma (the french toast sounds great). But any offsite suggestions?
I'll have a car - I am tagging along on my husbands work trip so I will be by myself alot.
We do get to go to the NFL Pro Bowl luau at the Royal Hawaiian on Saturday night so I don't need a luau recommendation.
I'll have a car - I am tagging along on my husbands work trip so I will be by myself alot.
We do get to go to the NFL Pro Bowl luau at the Royal Hawaiian on Saturday night so I don't need a luau recommendation.
poohj80
Got Hunny?
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2001
poohj80
Got Hunny?
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2001
Very cool! I've always wanted to go!
mom2aidanNpiper
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2009
Offsite but close to Aulani (walking distance) - monkey pod is my fav!
In Waikiki we like rumfire (great happy hr and lunch-it's at the Sheraton). We also love dukes
. If you can splurge, an amazing date night is Alan Wongs.We like kalapawai cafe (not the one on the beach but the main location) in Kailua.
In the north we have eaten at luibeunos (great fusion Mexican and hawaiian place), haleiwa joes, grass skirt grill (best cheap eat), big wave shrimp truck, teds bakery for pie and pa'akai at turtle bay resort for a nice dinner.
There is a big thread on dining somewhere in the boards you should look for too!
Cinderpamela
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2011
I agree with all of mom2aidanNpiper's suggestions above me.... we especially love Monkey Pod across the street in Ko Olina Station, & Alan Wong's in Honolulu is great meal if DH gets a chance to break away from his work.
Roys at Ko Olina is also another favorite.
If you get a chance to get up to the north shore there is a great mexican restaurant called Cholo's that has now (as of our trip 2 weeks ago) been voted a family favorite... and of course Giovannis Shrimp Truck and Matsumotos Shave Ice.
We like to drive to the Leonards Jr Malasada Truck in Waikele Shopping Center that is about 10 minute drive from Aulani for fresh hot Malasadas, a great breakfast treat... there is a Starbucks across the parking lot there which makes for a great Coffee & Malasada breakfast. http://www.leonardshawaii.com/malasadamobile/
Across the street in Ko Olina Station there is also Island Vintage Coffee. Killer local coffee made with care and love (yep that means poured flower and heart designs in the milk). They also serve breakfast (amazing acai bowls) and lunch soup/sandwich fare. If you go to Island in the morn though be ready for a line. I waited 20 mins to get our drinks, but worth it.
Another place we really liked was Koa Pancake House, they have several locations, I loved the Red Velvet Pancakes, while my boys & DH loved the Loco Moco and the short ribs. Its more of a hole in the wall that locals frequent, lots of people getting their orders to go, but the food we had was really good.
lovetotraveltx
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2011
I googled Fia Fia and called directly and they said I could use a gift card. And, I haven't done it yet, but they even figured out how I can use it over the phone so I can reserve my seats early. You get better seats the earlier you book they said.
It's $95 per adult. Sorry, I didn't pay attention to the kids' price.
dreaming4disney
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2006
I did a spa treatment with my daughter. It was a nice way to spend half a day. snorkeling at the north shore- shrimp trucks- surf lessons- Pearl Harbor-Diamond Head
We had a great time on Oahu- I only wish we had more time to explore
We had a great time on Oahu- I only wish we had more time to explore
MissReeRee
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2010
For being an island there is SO much to do and see! Living here my bucket list keeps getting longer instead of shorter!
Kaena Point is a great easy walking hike (hot though) and you can almost guarantee to see Monk Seals.
If you are going in winter try to do a whale watching tour most leave from the west side of the island
BRAND NEW zip line on the North Shore http://www.climbworks.com/keana_farms
Kahuku Farm Tours http://kahukufarms.com/ (great cafe!)
Arizona Memorial (you can just show up later in the day and get in the stand by line, no tickets needed, I have done this every time)
Punchbowl Memorial
Makapu'u Lighthouse Hike (fairly steep but uphill and even stroller friendly, beautiful views can even see whales in winter)
Hanauma Bay, don't even need to snorkel, just stop and take some beautiful photos from the top.
Halona Blowhole
Lanikai Beach (the stereotypical what you think of Hawaii Beach, Beautiful)
Kualoa Ranch (horse back riding, ATV's, movie tours)
Mac Nut Farm (great samples, amazing tour)
North Shore: Stand up paddleboard down the river (lots of turtles there), hit a shrimp truck (I prefer Macky's over Giovanni's) shave ice (it doesn't HAVE to be Matsumotos) Turtle Beach (Laniakea) is crazy right now, they blocked off all parking and it's a huge headache. Waimea Falls are another easy paved walk/hike through a beautiful garden and you can swim in a waterfall at the end (lifejackets provided, conditions permitting) They also have a great farmers market on Thursday afternoons. North shore waves are BIG in winter. Most beaches will NOT be swimmable. Highly recommend Ted's Bakery, great food and pie (Chocolate Mac Haupia is my fav) great to go and eat at the beach watching the big surf.
Dole Plantation is a quick stop, don't need to do the train, maze or anything. Check out the beautiful rainbow bark trees in the parking lot. Feed some koi, take pictures of all the cute pineapple growing, stick your head through a pineapple cutout and grab yourself a Dole Whip. Done.
There is a great little coffee stop just south of Dole, Green World Coffee Farm, stop in.
In Wahaiwa town there is a yummy chicken place, Maui Mike's.
If you can buy souvenirs from the Aloha Stadium Swap meet. Most of the stuff isn't made here so why pay WAY more for it. Great place to get beautiful sarongs, muumuus and Aloha Wear for those Luaus! Exceptions! If you want a REAL Hawaiian Quilt it is going to cost a LOT (knock offs made overseas will be dirt cheap) there are also some local woodworkers there that are handmaking tikis, really cool.
Any questions?
Kaena Point is a great easy walking hike (hot though) and you can almost guarantee to see Monk Seals.
If you are going in winter try to do a whale watching tour most leave from the west side of the island
BRAND NEW zip line on the North Shore http://www.climbworks.com/keana_farms
Kahuku Farm Tours http://kahukufarms.com/ (great cafe!)
Arizona Memorial (you can just show up later in the day and get in the stand by line, no tickets needed, I have done this every time)
Punchbowl Memorial
Makapu'u Lighthouse Hike (fairly steep but uphill and even stroller friendly, beautiful views can even see whales in winter)
Hanauma Bay, don't even need to snorkel, just stop and take some beautiful photos from the top.
Halona Blowhole
Lanikai Beach (the stereotypical what you think of Hawaii Beach, Beautiful)
Kualoa Ranch (horse back riding, ATV's, movie tours)
Mac Nut Farm (great samples, amazing tour)
North Shore: Stand up paddleboard down the river (lots of turtles there), hit a shrimp truck (I prefer Macky's over Giovanni's) shave ice (it doesn't HAVE to be Matsumotos) Turtle Beach (Laniakea) is crazy right now, they blocked off all parking and it's a huge headache. Waimea Falls are another easy paved walk/hike through a beautiful garden and you can swim in a waterfall at the end (lifejackets provided, conditions permitting) They also have a great farmers market on Thursday afternoons. North shore waves are BIG in winter. Most beaches will NOT be swimmable. Highly recommend Ted's Bakery, great food and pie (Chocolate Mac Haupia is my fav) great to go and eat at the beach watching the big surf.
Dole Plantation is a quick stop, don't need to do the train, maze or anything. Check out the beautiful rainbow bark trees in the parking lot. Feed some koi, take pictures of all the cute pineapple growing, stick your head through a pineapple cutout and grab yourself a Dole Whip. Done.
There is a great little coffee stop just south of Dole, Green World Coffee Farm, stop in.
In Wahaiwa town there is a yummy chicken place, Maui Mike's.
If you can buy souvenirs from the Aloha Stadium Swap meet. Most of the stuff isn't made here so why pay WAY more for it. Great place to get beautiful sarongs, muumuus and Aloha Wear for those Luaus! Exceptions! If you want a REAL Hawaiian Quilt it is going to cost a LOT (knock offs made overseas will be dirt cheap) there are also some local woodworkers there that are handmaking tikis, really cool.
Any questions?
MissReeRee
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2010
Also wanted to add a couple more things!
Bishop Museum (right near the airport if you need to kill time before catching a flight) a ton of cultural exhibits for adults and a great science building for kids.
Iolani Palace the only palace in America. Downtown Honolulu, parking can be a pain, must wear shoe covers, not super little kid friendly.
Queen Emma's Summer Palace, off the Pali Highway.
Honolulu Museum of Art, love this museum! Amazing food at the cafe inside.
Shangri La, Doris Duke's home turned into a museum. Amazing Islamic art and architecture. VERY limited tours so book in advance. Not kid friendly.
Hawaii Plantation Village, haven't done this yet...
Kaneohe Bay Sandbar, we have rented our own boat and done this but I have seen tour boats.
Best snorkel spots: Three Tables and Shark's Cove at North Shore. Tide pools at shark's cove as well for kiddos. Hanauama Bay is good but gets crowded. Electric Beach on the west side close to Aulani. You can sometimes see dolphins swimming here in the morning. DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING IN YOUR CAR OR ON YOUR TOWEL UNATTENDED. Petty theft is out of control here.
Bishop Museum (right near the airport if you need to kill time before catching a flight) a ton of cultural exhibits for adults and a great science building for kids.
Iolani Palace the only palace in America. Downtown Honolulu, parking can be a pain, must wear shoe covers, not super little kid friendly.
Queen Emma's Summer Palace, off the Pali Highway.
Honolulu Museum of Art, love this museum! Amazing food at the cafe inside.
Shangri La, Doris Duke's home turned into a museum. Amazing Islamic art and architecture. VERY limited tours so book in advance. Not kid friendly.
Hawaii Plantation Village, haven't done this yet...
Kaneohe Bay Sandbar, we have rented our own boat and done this but I have seen tour boats.
Best snorkel spots: Three Tables and Shark's Cove at North Shore. Tide pools at shark's cove as well for kiddos. Hanauama Bay is good but gets crowded. Electric Beach on the west side close to Aulani. You can sometimes see dolphins swimming here in the morning. DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING IN YOUR CAR OR ON YOUR TOWEL UNATTENDED. Petty theft is out of control here.
DenLo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
The Pali Lookout recommended on page one of this thread, sounds interesting. I found this website that has an beautiful video about it and it's historic significance. http://www.gohawaii.com/oahu/regions-neighborhoods/windward-oahu/nuuanu-pali-lookout
MissDaisyofTexas
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2007
MissReeRee--thank you for the list of suggestions! I hadn't heard of several of those places and they sound neat! If only we had more time...we are going to have to make some tough decisions on how to spend our limited time.
Lissete
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 25, 1999
We have yet to visit Shangri La. It's been on my list every single time we've been on Oahu. This and Queen Emma's Summer Palace are the 2 places that I have yet to visit. Hopefully this time.
Anal Annie
at least I KNOW I'm a kook...I just can't help it
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2006
Just back last week. There are lots of things others list as must do's that I don't consider necessary at all (but this was my 5th trip to the islands, 1st to Aulani). One of my least fav. places on Oahu is the PCC for example. The Punchbowl and swap meet is another skip for me.
The biggest thing I would say that you SHOULD DO when you plan your trip is to visit at least one other island for a few days/nights. You would be doing yourself a huge mis-service to fly all that way and spend all that money GETTING THERE to not experience at least one other island. They are ALL DIFFERENT and they each have their own personalities and "clientele". Oahu for example is 50/50 US citizens and Japanese visitors. You will find that Maui hardly has any Japanese visitors. The majority of people on Maui are from the US mainland. There are a few Japanese tourists here & there but you will find more Europeans on Maui than on Oahu. It is a much more international island. ALL of the islands are beautiful. Again, each in their own ways.
On Oahu we have ALWAYS visited Pearl Harbor and the last 2 times included the USS Missouri. We mostly went again this time to take our DS who is 17 now. The last time he was only like 9 so we wanted to be sure he would remember these sites as we aren't likely to bring him with us again by the time we can get back. We probably won't go again on our next trip tho having been so many times now. But it is a definite must-do for your first time. The USS Missouri is a nice add-on. Allow at least about 5 hours to do both. Book early to reserve an early morning spot (it gets busy and HOT). We went from there on into Waikiki for lunch afterward. We went on a Sunday morning to avoid getting into rush hour traffic heading into the city. Made the trip easy peasy.
We decided to skip the Hanauma Bay snorkeling bit this time. We'd been a few times before - it gets crowded EARLY and is very touristy. Yes, the view from the top is pretty, but you can find equally as good snorkeling elsewhere where you don't have to share the space with 500 other snorkelers. Also, you should allow at least one day to go into Honolulu to visit Waikiki Beach. You can't go to Oahu and not come home without a picture of Diamond Head. It is such a world reknown beach it is a must do. But I honestly don't know why it is sooo famous. It is very short and can be steep in places. The tide was coming in when we stopped by this time and it washed all the way up to the end of the public sidewalk access leading to the beach. But you have to visit it at least once.
We finally decided it was time after all of these trips to finally get up to the North Shore. We had only ever stayed in Waikiki on previous trips and did not rent a car. I feel like a car is a necessity at Aulani. We booked surf lessons on the North Shore and spent the afternoon afterward driving around up there. I had heard that the North Shore is quite busy on the weekends so we planned that for a Tuesday. We had lunch at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck after our lesson and then we drove up to the famous Turtle Bay area to look for turtles. Unfortunately we there the day hurricane Julio was passing and although it wasn't directly hitting the islands it WAS stirring up some rough surf so a lot of beaches weren't really good for snorkeling or turtle sightings. But from Aulani it is a beautiful drive to go up there for some sightseeing.
We have done luau's on previous trips but always on other islands. I think there are better ones on Maui for example so I would plan that activity for my island hopping. They can be pretty pricey so be sure to book a good one with good reviews on Frommer's & Trip Advisor for the best experience.
We had 3 days at Aulani doing nothing but enjoying the resort. It was wonderful. Don't overplan!!!
The biggest thing I would say that you SHOULD DO when you plan your trip is to visit at least one other island for a few days/nights. You would be doing yourself a huge mis-service to fly all that way and spend all that money GETTING THERE to not experience at least one other island. They are ALL DIFFERENT and they each have their own personalities and "clientele". Oahu for example is 50/50 US citizens and Japanese visitors. You will find that Maui hardly has any Japanese visitors. The majority of people on Maui are from the US mainland. There are a few Japanese tourists here & there but you will find more Europeans on Maui than on Oahu. It is a much more international island. ALL of the islands are beautiful. Again, each in their own ways.
On Oahu we have ALWAYS visited Pearl Harbor and the last 2 times included the USS Missouri. We mostly went again this time to take our DS who is 17 now. The last time he was only like 9 so we wanted to be sure he would remember these sites as we aren't likely to bring him with us again by the time we can get back. We probably won't go again on our next trip tho having been so many times now. But it is a definite must-do for your first time. The USS Missouri is a nice add-on. Allow at least about 5 hours to do both. Book early to reserve an early morning spot (it gets busy and HOT). We went from there on into Waikiki for lunch afterward. We went on a Sunday morning to avoid getting into rush hour traffic heading into the city. Made the trip easy peasy.
We decided to skip the Hanauma Bay snorkeling bit this time. We'd been a few times before - it gets crowded EARLY and is very touristy. Yes, the view from the top is pretty, but you can find equally as good snorkeling elsewhere where you don't have to share the space with 500 other snorkelers. Also, you should allow at least one day to go into Honolulu to visit Waikiki Beach. You can't go to Oahu and not come home without a picture of Diamond Head. It is such a world reknown beach it is a must do. But I honestly don't know why it is sooo famous. It is very short and can be steep in places. The tide was coming in when we stopped by this time and it washed all the way up to the end of the public sidewalk access leading to the beach. But you have to visit it at least once.
We finally decided it was time after all of these trips to finally get up to the North Shore. We had only ever stayed in Waikiki on previous trips and did not rent a car. I feel like a car is a necessity at Aulani. We booked surf lessons on the North Shore and spent the afternoon afterward driving around up there. I had heard that the North Shore is quite busy on the weekends so we planned that for a Tuesday. We had lunch at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck after our lesson and then we drove up to the famous Turtle Bay area to look for turtles. Unfortunately we there the day hurricane Julio was passing and although it wasn't directly hitting the islands it WAS stirring up some rough surf so a lot of beaches weren't really good for snorkeling or turtle sightings. But from Aulani it is a beautiful drive to go up there for some sightseeing.
We have done luau's on previous trips but always on other islands. I think there are better ones on Maui for example so I would plan that activity for my island hopping. They can be pretty pricey so be sure to book a good one with good reviews on Frommer's & Trip Advisor for the best experience.
We had 3 days at Aulani doing nothing but enjoying the resort. It was wonderful. Don't overplan!!!
Pixie_Dust
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2000
My brother said Electric Beach had the best snorkeling on his trip. They didn't have any problems. Will we really have to be afraid of people breaking into our rental car there?
Girimama33
"I've disgraced the forces of evil."
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2012
Yes you do. I highly recommend you do not leave anything valuable in the car. This was an issue when I lived there in the 90's, and continues till this day.
Pixie_Dust
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2000
We would not leave anything in the car in any case. But would they still break into it? Just how bad is it?
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