Experience the Aloha! June 2021 Oahu/Aulani TR *COMPLETE* 3/7 Final Aulani Day!

[khertz]

Experience the Aloha!
June 2021 Oahu/Aulani TR

There’s no place I’d rather be
Than on a surfboard out at sea
Lingering in the ocean blue
And if I had one wish come true
I’d surf till the sun sets
Beyond the horizon...​

E como mai, everyone! Some of you may know me from my many WDW, Universal, and even DCL & ABD trip reports, but because this is my very FIRST Aulani TR, you may not know who we are. So let me do a quick introduction to our little family who will be the main characters in this upcoming trip report.

IMG_3493 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

First up is me, your narrator Khertz! I’m a pediatric & adult hematology/oncology nurse who absolutely loves planning my next trip. I have been a Disney fan since I was a kid, and started visiting the parks when I was about 9 years old. I’ve also been to Disneyland a few times, done one Disney cruise, and one Adventures by Disney trip. Some of my Disney favorites would include Rapunzel, Splash Mountain, Stitch, Mickey Premium Bars, Dole Whips, the Peoplemover, Via Napoli, and character hunting.

IMG_3564 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

I couldn’t do my TRs without DH, who is our family photographer! He is rarely seen without his DSLR camera, and does a fantastic job documenting our trips in photos to help make these TRs well rounded & complete. He works in the offshore business and luckily for me, loves all things Disney just as much as I do! He is a big fan of Donald Duck, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Dole Whip Floats, Sci-Fi Dine In, and The Enchanted Tiki Room.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Next up is our 10 year old son DS who has been visiting the Disney parks since he was 1 years old. He just finished 4th grade so he will be transitioning to middle school in the fall. So hard for me to believe! He too loves Disney, but is getting to the stage where he is more into Universal at this time. Sometimes he grumbles when I say “let’s go meet this character” but he turns into a big kid when we actually meet the character! He loves Pluto, Space Mountain, Flight of Passage, churros, and Wilderness Explorers.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

And finally is our 5 year old DD. She started out visiting Disney parks at the very young age of only 11 weeks old! We took a bunch of trips before she can even remember, even one to Disneyland, but we went to WDW last year in February before the pandemic, and it was like a first trip for her, and it was perfectly magical. She fell in love with Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Slinky Dog Dash, Mickey Premium Bars, Fantasmic, Frozen, and Dole Whip.

DH and I went to Hawaii many years ago in 2009 before kids, and we were able to visit for only about 4 ½ days. Granted we did a lot of things in those 4 ½ days, but we definitely did not get much time to relax. The flights were incredibly long, one of them a redeye. When our DCL cruise for January this year was canceled and we thought that Hawaii might actually be in the realm of possibility, we knew we wanted to do it totally differently this time with kids. Ultimately, we decided to split up our flights over two days each way instead of one long flight to get there in one go, and we used up all of our Wyndham and DVC points to be able to stay for a total of 12 nights.

So let’s just jump right in! I’ll have lots of tips that I will share along the way as we go through our trip. I’ll preface this by saying the first several days are going to be all activities around Oahu since we wanted to save Aulani for the second half of our trip. If you’re only here for the Aulani photos and information, I really do hope you’ll stick with me through the first half of this TR because we did a lot of activities that people staying at Aulani may also want to do AND we had a ton of fun!! Instead of the usual fun titles I do for each entry with something taken from that post, I’ll title them with what activities it includes so that if you’re only interested in checking out a review and photos from certain things, you can find them easily.

Mahalo for joining in!

 

[khertz]

...There’s no place I’d rather be
Than on the seashore, dry, wet, free
On golden sand is where I lay
And if I only had my way
I’d play till the sun sets
Beyond the horizon

Sunday May 30th & Monday May 31st
Pre-Arrival Planning
Day 0-1: Traveling to Oahu

Tuesday June 1st
Day 2 Part 1: Dole Plantation
Day 2 Part 2: Surf Lessons & Waikiki Beach

Wednesday June 2nd
Day 3 Part 1: Leonard's Bakery, Pearl Harbor & Aloha Stadium Swap Meet
Day 3 Part 2: Makapu'u Lighthouse Trail & Halona Blowhole

Thursday June 3rd
Day 4 Part 1: Koko Head Crater, Hukilau Marketplace
Day 4 Part 2: Polynesian Cultural Center Island Villages
Day 4 Part 3: Polynesian Cultural Center Ali'i Luau

Friday June 4th
Day 5 Part 1: Diamond Head hike
Day 5 Part 2: Wakiki Beach

Saturday June 5th
Day 6 Part 1: North Shore Shark Adventure dive
Day 6 Part 2: Waimea Valley & Falls
Day 6 Part 3: Waimea Falls continued & Matsumoto Shave Ice

Sunday June 6th
Day 7 Part 1: Ko'olina & Pizza Corner
Day 7 Part 2: Waianae Tower & Waikolohe Valley

Monday June 7th
Day 8: Makahiki Character Breakfast & Waikolohe Valley

Tuesday June 8th
Day 9 Part 1: Character Meets & Wishable Hunts
Day 9 Part 2: Menehune Trail & Waikolohe Valley
Day 9 Part 3: Ka Wa'a Luau

Wednesday June 9th
Day 10 Part 1: Kualoa Ranch Jurassic Adventure Tour
Day 10 Part 2: Kualoa Ranch Indominus Rex Paddock
Day 10 Part 3: Kualoa Ranch Jurassic Valley
Day 10 Part 4: Kualoa Ranch Visitors Center & Menehune Trail

Thursday June 10th
Day 11 Part 1: Secret Beach, Boogie Boards & Snacks
Day 11 Part 2: Character Meets & World Oceans Day Scavenger Hunt
Day 11 Part 3: More Character Meets, More Coco Nene & More Secret Beach!

Friday June 11th
Day 12: Final Day at Aulani

​

 

[khertz]

Pre-Departure Day

Getting to Hawaii is not as simple as jumping on a plane right now. I’m not sure how long the Safe Hawaii Travels protocols will be in place, but since the prep for our trip started a couple of days before our departure, I will include a little information about how we got ready for this trip.

safetravels by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

When we went, the rules were that whether or not you were vaccinated, everyone age 5+ needs a negative Covid test within 72 hours of the final leg of travel to avoid a 10 day quarantine upon arrival in Hawaii. (Starting this month, vaccinated individuals can bypass the testing part by uploading their vaccination cards.) DH and I each made a profile on Safe Travels website and we each attached one child to our profiles. Since our flights were split up over 2 days, a Sunday and a Monday, we had to test no sooner than 72 hours before our Monday departure.

Our tests were scheduled at a local Walgreens for Friday afternoon. There are 2 tests at Walgreens that are accepted by the state of Hawaii, the PCR test that takes 24-48 hours to get results, or the Rapid ID Now test that gives results within 24 hours. The Rapid ID Now test is not available at all Walgreens, but luckily it was available for us. There is a 3rd type of test available that is NOT accepted (the antigen test). The top two tests are accepted.

walgreens by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We did our tests in the drive thru and had results for everyone within an hour! Let me tell you, this was so nerve wracking waiting for those results. My nightmare would have been one of us testing positive without ever even knowing we’d had it! But thankfully, we were all negative and could breathe easy after that and really crank out our packing!! We uploaded our results to our profiles and they were automatically authenticated.

TIP: You'll get 2 PDFs emailed to you, one called a Lab PDF and one called an Easy Read PDF. Make sure you upload the Lab PDF! The Easy Read will not be accepted by the automatic system that scans your upload.

The last step was to do a health questionnaire 24 hours before our last travel day. Once that was done, we received our QR codes (one for each account) that we would need to show at the airport.

The other thing we wanted to prepare for was the total of 4 long travel days with 2 kids. We went to a local discount store that has a huge selection of cheap coloring books & activity books and we STOCKED. UP. DD had so many options that we were actually able to pack half for the way there in her backpack and have the other half in a suitcase to trade out for the way home! DS picked up a Dot to Dot and a Word Search book for himself as well as a couple of coloring/activity books. With this and their tablets loaded with shows, movies, and games, we hoped we were well prepared for our long travel days!

 

[khertz]

Day 0-1: Sunday May 30th & Monday May 31st

Finally, it was time to head to Hawaii! We got on the road for the airport at 7 am on Sunday morning, grabbing some donut holes for breakfast to snack on during the drive. We live about 2 hours away from New Orleans where we were flying out of, and my parents were kind enough to meet us nearby the airport and follow us there so that they could take our car to their house for the time we were gone to avoid paying parking fees for the whole trip.

Since our travel day would take us right through lunch and the flights are not serving more than some simple snacks, we had planned to get Shake Shack at the airport before taking off. However, the line ended up surprising us that early in the morning, and we didn’t have time to get something from there before boarding began. And that’s how we ended up spending $30 on a chicken salad sandwich and two ham & cheese sandwiches to take on with us. But at least between that and the snacks, we wouldn’t starve!

All of our flights were on Southwest, and we have flown them many many times. Typically, family boarding is offered after they let everyone with an A boarding group board, but we have noticed in the past that sometimes they do not offer the family boarding. Luckily for all of our flights both to and from Hawaii, we were able to take advantage of family boarding. For those who aren’t familiar, Southwest does not have assigned seating, so when you check in 24 hours before your flight you are assigned a boarding group (A, B, or C), and a number which designates when you will board the plane. Family boarding when available allows families with children aged 6 or younger can board between groups A and B no matter what their boarding position is. We usually ended up with early B’s anyway, but we decided to take advantage of the family boarding each flight anyway.

Even with family boarding, because so many people ahead of us chose completely empty rows, we ended up far back in the plane each time to be able to find an empty row where we could have 3 of us on one side and the 4th across the aisle. For this first flight, I sat on one side with a kid on each side and DH was across the aisle from us.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

After this day, we planned that DH and I would switch off the next day and he would sit next to the kids, then we’d do the same on the way home. But the kids actually requested to just sit with DH for all flights because “Mom, you just always fall asleep.” I take a Less Drowsy Dramamine before flights and it doesn’t usually make me tired when I’m up and moving, but when I’m just sitting around, like on a flight, I find it SO HARD to keep my eyes open!

We took off for our first leg of the day at 11:30 am heading to LAX on a 3 hour 45 minute flight. Thankfully, after an uneventful flight, we landed and had time to get to our next gate and even to use the restroom and refill our water bottles. Our last flight of the day was to Oakland, which took off at 2:20. Once we landed we took a short ride in the hotel shuttle to our hotel for the night, Holiday Inn Express Oakland Airport.

The hotel was perfectly average and acceptable. They even had onsite Covid testing with same day results if needed before flying to Hawaii! Nothing too exciting happened that night except that we had an awful experience trying to order food delivery! It took us forever to find a service that could get us Wendy’s nearby, then once we did we got our food and several items were wrong. But we had wanted that one in particular so that we could order dinner for the night, along with some chicken nuggets to keep in our in-room refrigerator overnight and heat up the next morning to bring on the plane for lunch in our Thermos containers since we’d be flying through lunchtime.

We got to bed as early as we could at 8:30 because after all the travel & time changes, we were pretty exhausted and we still had another day of travel to go!

Monday morning, we were up at 6:30 am to get ready to head back to the Oakland airport. The hotel was not serving a continental breakfast, but had grab & go options available. We had filled out forms the night before for each person with our choices and the timeframe we wanted to pick them up, so they were available for us in brown bags in the lobby. We ate in our room while picking up everything we had taken out the night before, then we caught the 8 am shuttle back to Oakland Airport.

Security was no problem, but it was a little bit funny that the kids’ backpacks required extra screening after going through the CT scanner because all of the activity books were so dense they couldn’t tell what it was! The lady doing the extra inspection told DH she was so impressed that they had their bags weighed down with so many books!

After security, we were able to prescreen for Hawaii! That was a very nice perk of flying Southwest, and we were so happy they offered this as not all airlines do. Basically instead of waiting in the sometimes-up-to-2-hours-long screening line upon arrival in Hawaii, we waited about 15 minutes in a line prior to going to our gate where they scanned our QR codes and gave us wristbands to show we had been screened prior to our final departure.

TIP: If you're doing prescreening, you'll need to have the address of where you are staying on arrival in addition to your QR code. They also will not accept simply seeing your negative results for the pre-screen, you MUST have your QR code or you'll need to screen upon arrival in Hawaii.

Again we did family boarding and headed to the back of the plane, this time DH sitting with the kids and me across the aisle.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3454 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3455 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3456 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3457 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

A couple of teenage boys whose parents were in the front of the plane ended up sitting with me. After my kids had complained about me sleeping the whole flight, I made sure to warn these boys that I do sleep a lot and to not be afraid to nudge me awake if they needed to get out of our row!

This flight was a little over 4.5 hours, and again the kids were great little travelers! We landed in Honolulu earlier than anticipated at 12:15 Hawaiian time.

IMG_3467 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3470 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We collected our luggage, and after the stress of all of the pre-travel testing, the thing we were both the most anxious about was our rental car. We had seen horror stories on Facebook groups of people with paid in advance reservations showing up in Hawaii and being told they had no more cars available and then they were stranded and had to figure out how they were going to get around. But we made it over to the Hertz counter and thankfully had NO issues with this! Soon enough, we were in our car and on our way to Club Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk.

wm_thumb_1170x780_wyndham-at-waikiki-beach-walk-51fff73c54180 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Check in is usually not until 3 pm, but we were even more relieved to find out our room was ready on arrival! If traveling anytime soon, be prepared to show your Safe Travels profile that shows you all have negative results and have been screened, as that will need to be shown upon check-in pretty much everywhere. I was able to pull it up easily and took a screenshot for later use, but DH was frustrated trying to find his because he’d never logged in on his phone, just his laptop, and didn’t know his password off the top of his head. We were on the 11th floor with no view whatsoever, but we had a little surprise waiting for us. Some sparkling cider, chocolates, and balloons. Unbeknownst to me, DH had told them we were celebrating my & DD’s birthdays during our trip (mine is in mid-June, hers is early August)!

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We wasted some time trying to find cheaper overnight parking nearby to avoid paying the $40 per night at the resort for valet, and in the end we had to suck it up and pay because we couldn’t find anything else. The rest of our arrival day was pretty uneventful. We grabbed some food in Beach Walk for dinner, then went to do our grocery shopping. Another tip, head to Target and save yourself the headache of the Waikiki Walmart. They had hardly anything, and many things were out of stock that we had hoped to get for cooking in our room. So we bought a few things there, then had to go to Target to get the rest. We also bought an insulated cooler bag at Target which we used many times. We used it to pack waters and Gatorades for beach days or long excursion days, and also for the day we changed resorts to keep our cold items while moving hotels and between rooms.

The evening was spent unpacking, showering, organizing, and getting ready for bed. Thankfully we made it until a respectable bedtime for the kids around 8 pm, and DH and I followed shortly behind them.

 

[pinkxray]

I am so excited you are starting your trip report! We were originally going to Hawaii next June for my 40th but schedule issues has us going Easter/April break 2022. We are doing 3 days in Waikiki before 6 nights at Aulani. I can‘t wait!

My Dd is a bit younger than your son but my Dd is close in age to yours. DS will be 7 when we go and Dd will celebrate her 5th bday at Aulani. I have read all of your Universal TRs to get some ideas for our trip next month. I am sure I will steal some ideas from this trip report too.

I am jealous you get to sleep on the plane. I haven’t been able to sleep onboard since we had the younger kids. I will have to take motion sickness pills this time so hopefully the kids let me nap a little.

 

[Hubie]

We've been to the Big Island twice, and found the same thing at the Walmart there. But they do have a large Safeway in Kona. Anyway, we haven't been to Aulani yet. Can't wait to hear what you think about it, and what experiences you all had. We almost booked a trip there for this year, but decided to return to WDW instead. Maybe we'll go in 2022.

 

[schmass]

Hi, I recognize you from some WDW trip reports! Thanks for the very detailed information about the Safe Travels process. We fly to Hawaii on July 13th and I'm stressing about getting our 8 and 5 year olds tested! Also stressing about the rental car, so glad to hear you had no issues! Looking forward to reading more.

 

[helenk]

Great reading so far I can't wait for more.

 

[khertz]

I am so excited you are starting your trip report! We were originally going to Hawaii next June for my 40th but schedule issues has us going Easter/April break 2022. We are doing 3 days in Waikiki before 6 nights at Aulani. I can‘t wait!

My Dd is a bit younger than your son but my Dd is close in age to yours. DS will be 7 when we go and Dd will celebrate her 5th bday at Aulani. I have read all of your Universal TRs to get some ideas for our trip next month. I am sure I will steal some ideas from this trip report too.

I am jealous you get to sleep on the plane. I haven’t been able to sleep onboard since we had the younger kids. I will have to take motion sickness pills this time so hopefully the kids let me nap a little.

Sounds like it will be a great trip!! We enjoyed all the stuff we did while we were in Waikiki, but I'm so glad we had so many days to enjoy Aulani after that, because we were ready to relax.

I am going to try to include as many tips along the way as I can, because I know how helpful it can be when planning!! Hopefully some if it will be useful to you.

I am not even sure if I'd get airsick, I've just always taken some Dramamine before flying because I don't want to find out that I am. The kids were mostly self-sufficient this time, but when they were younger and more needy, it was definitely tough because all I wanted to do was sleep!!

We've been to the Big Island twice, and found the same thing at the Walmart there. But they do have a large Safeway in Kona. Anyway, we haven't been to Aulani yet. Can't wait to hear what you think about it, and what experiences you all had. We almost booked a trip there for this year, but decided to return to WDW instead. Maybe we'll go in 2022.

It's definitely worth the trip out there! Hopefully you'll get to go. I'm glad we have been able to experience it at least once. I hope it isn't the last time we make it there, but at least we got to do it. I really didn't think it would be possible anytime soon because the airfare is so expensive. Who knew all we needed was a global pandemic to bring the prices of flights down when they reopened to travelers??

Hi, I recognize you from some WDW trip reports! Thanks for the very detailed information about the Safe Travels process. We fly to Hawaii on July 13th and I'm stressing about getting our 8 and 5 year olds tested! Also stressing about the rental car, so glad to hear you had no issues! Looking forward to reading more.

I figured it might be a little boring to include for some, but I know how helpful it is to have it all laid out so I figured someone may find it useful enough to include it! I totally understand the stress, I hope it goes as smoothly for you as it did for us! Of course the kids hated the actual testing, but a little ice cream after fixed that.

Thanks for joining in!!

Great reading so far I can't wait for more.

Thanks so much for reading!

 

[princessbelle2015]

Joining in. I read all of your trip reports so I know I will love this!!

 

[rdkeim]

I'm one of your regular readers - love your TR's and the wonderful photos. Although I'm not headed to Hawaii, reading about all the prep was interesting. Breaking up the flights seems like a great idea! Especially with kids. Wondering if Hawaii was more uncrowded than normal? Guessing some people wouldn't be willing to jump through all the hoops to get there. Anxious to read more!

 

[khertz]

Joining in. I read all of your trip reports so I know I will love this!!

Yay!! Welcome along I can’t wait to share all the amazing stuff we got to experience!!

I'm one of your regular readers - love your TR's and the wonderful photos. Although I'm not headed to Hawaii, reading about all the prep was interesting. Breaking up the flights seems like a great idea! Especially with kids. Wondering if Hawaii was more uncrowded than normal? Guessing some people wouldn't be willing to jump through all the hoops to get there. Anxious to read more!

Welcome!!

Breaking up the flights worked out really well. The kids were great travelers over 2 days but I think asking them to sit through an 8+ hour flight from the mainland wouldn’t have gone over as well. Plus overnighting in California helped just a little with the time change.

It was definitely NOT uncrowded! I think with cruise lines docked and international travel not an option, many many many people had the same idea to go to Hawaii. The beaches were hopping and some of the activities we did had sooo many people. The Facebook groups I’m in, people are saying it’s actually even worse now since we have been home. I bet December through March was probably pretty great, but it has definitely picked up since then! I am glad we are planners by nature because it seems from the posts I am seeing, people who are not are running into issues being able to book tours and luaus right now if trying to plan last minute.

 

[Verstehen]

Following along! I love your TR's so I'm excited to read. Where did you get DD's awesome dress? I get ads for "casual" Disney princess dresses for kids all the time but I'm not sure what brand that is or if you'd recommend it.

 

[nascargirl]

Loving this report

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay I am so glad you started this TR! I loved seeing all your pictures and can't wait to hear the details!

I am definitely going to be using your trip to get some pointers for planning mine! Fingers crossed I will be there in the spring!

Lots of travelling but sounds like everyone made it through unscathed!

 

[vamassey1]

I'm here and enjoying your report. I love the details and tips. I don't know if we'll ever make it to Hawaii but I can always hope and be prepared.

 

[alohamom]

This is awesome! Subbed and can't wait for more!

 

[tgropp]

Following and looking forward to more. My wife and I are taking our two children, their spouses and three grandchildren to Maui and Oahu next February. We are also staying at the Beachwalk Wakiki Beach for four nights and looking forward to your impression of the hotel.

 

[khertz]

Following along! I love your TR's so I'm excited to read. Where did you get DD's awesome dress? I get ads for "casual" Disney princess dresses for kids all the time but I'm not sure what brand that is or if you'd recommend it.

Welcome!!
I got her Moana dress along with several other princesses & Captain America from aliexpress.com. I have seen those ads on Facebook and while I don’t know the brand name they are a lot cheaper on AliExpress with the caveat that you need to order in plenty of time from when you need the dresses because they ship from China so it takes awhile to get them. I just searched on there (because it can be tough to find what you are looking for!) and the WonderBebe Store has them if you want to start there. They are only $7-8 each mostly instead of $15 on the Facebook ads!

Loving this report

Thanks so much! Glad to have you.

Yay I am so glad you started this TR! I loved seeing all your pictures and can't wait to hear the details!

I am definitely going to be using your trip to get some pointers for planning mine! Fingers crossed I will be there in the spring!

Lots of travelling but sounds like everyone made it through unscathed!

Great to see you! The pics I was able to post while we were there is just the tip of the iceberg. I am excited to share all our adventures!!

I hope your trip works out! With the way they are loosening restrictions now I’m sure by spring it will be close to normal.

Yes I was so anxious about the travel but the kids did surprisingly well and that makes it so much less stressful for DH and I. It was a pain with all that luggage sometimes but overall it went very well!

I'm here and enjoying your report. I love the details and tips. I don't know if we'll ever make it to Hawaii but I can always hope and be prepared.

Hopefully one day! I didn’t think we’d make it there anytime soon if ever with kids, so I’m really thankful this all worked out so well! We all had a great time. Thanks for following!

This is awesome! Subbed and can't wait for more!

Thank you for joining! Doing the TR when I get home makes the end of the trip sting just a tiny bit less lol

Following and looking forward to more. My wife and I are taking our two children, their spouses and three grandchildren to Maui and Oahu next February. We are also staying at the Beachwalk Wakiki Beach for four nights and looking forward to your impression of the hotel.

That sounds like a great trip!! The Wyndham was in a great location. This time we had a smaller unit than last time so the kitchen was a little smaller for cooking but otherwise we had everything we needed and it was very comfortable!

 

[khertz]

Day 2: Tuesday June 1st

On our first full day in Hawaii, we were up EARLY. I expected to be dead to the world all night, but I kept waking up all through the night, especially after midnight. Eventually we decided just to get up and make breakfast. We had eggs, bacon, and biscuits in the room.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

In my original plan for the day, we really had nothing scheduled until the afternoon. But as we realized we’d be up and ready to do something, we decided to go over to visit the Dole Pineapple Plantation. This was something we had planned on doing at some point, but I’d had trouble finding a place for it in our itinerary. Since we were up early with nowhere to be until well after lunch, we decided to spend the morning there. We left around 9 am, and got there shortly after it opened at 9:30. It was already pretty busy! Luckily, we were not planning to do any of the ticketed activities like riding the train or doing the garden maze, because the lines were already crazy long.

Instead, we took our time and got some photos out front before going inside and checking out the store.

IMG_0961 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_0963 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We spent some time looking at all the fabulous pineapple merchandise inside. DD absolutely loves pineapples, so she was in heaven and wanted all the things.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We went outside to see the small gardens where pineapples are growing, because all DD could talk about before heading to Hawaii was how much she wanted to see pink pineapples.

IMG_0966 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

She even had her own camera with her that my parents gave her, and she snapped SO MANY pictures of the pink pineapples!

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We thought maybe we’d do the garden tour, so DH went to see about tickets for that. But then we decided against it because we knew we’d be going to other botanical gardens.

We checked out the koi fish, who were going absolutely nuts with all of the people who had bought the fish food and were throwing it in the water.

IMG_0971 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

There were some painted cutouts to pose with that the kids thought were hilarious.

IMG_0973 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_0975 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_0979 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_0981 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_0983 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We went up to the train station to catch the train coming back in.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_0988 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_0990 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_0994 by disneymom1024, on Flickr




Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

The last thing we wanted to do before leaving was get a Dole Whip. By the time we got back inside, the line was ENORMOUS for the food location. There are 3 counters, but there was one long line coming out of the entrance so we got into it, assuming that as we got closer you could branch off into one of the 3 counter lines. We had barely shuffled ahead in about 20 minutes, so we knew we were in for a long wait. But then, a woman came by wanting to sneak past us to exit the store, and she was carrying a Dole Whip. DD pointed as she went by and said loudly, “Is that a Dole Whip?” The lady turned around and said, “It is a Dole Whip, and if that’s all you want, the line for counter 1 is around that corner and there’s hardly anyone in it!” Turns out, everyone was just doing like we did and joining the stupid long line for counter 2 instead of using all 3!

So we followed her directions and got in the MUCH shorter line for counter 1. And in almost no time, we had gotten a Dole Whip swirl in a cone, and one in the adorable souvenir pineapple sipper.

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_3493 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


IMG_0998 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

DD, DH and I shared our two treats. DS doesn’t like pineapple so he just asked us to hurry up and finish because he was tired of sitting there watching us eat. While eating the one in the souvenir sipper, DH realized there were chunks of frozen pineapple at the bottom. A nice surprise! They were incredibly delicious, but I’m glad we didn’t end up waiting forever for them.

We thought about heading to the nearby Wahiawa Botanical Garden after leaving, but realized we really wouldn’t have enough time to squeeze anything else in with the surf lesson we had planned for DH and DS for that afternoon. So once we finished our treats, we went back inside to see if there was anything we wanted to purchase before leaving. By that time, the line for food and frozen treats was nearly to the front entrance!! It had gotten considerably more busy inside while we had been there looking around the gardens and eating ice cream. The kids ended up deciding they wanted to get a new pressed penny book and getting a Dole pressed penny to start it off.

IMG_0997 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Once we were ready to leave, DH and DS stopped outside to record a video of DS opening some Pokémon cards “on location” for his YouTube channel. He had fun recording these in different spots around the island!

Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

And showing off his new pressed penny book.

IMG_3498 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

UP NEXT: Surf Lessons