[00:00:00] Speaker A: Which leads me to my next question.
How is the pool? Because the pool was a struggle for us when we were there trying to get chairs and seats and stuff, which may have been the reason you also booked a cabana at least one of the days. But how was that pool is my sense is people get up really early. They send poor grandma down because she's, she's an early riser.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: Am Right.
[00:00:19] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: Welcome back everybody, to this week's episode of the DCL Duo podcast, brought to you by my Path Unwinding Travel. And Sam, we're forsaking the high seas for the vacation we consider the closest to a Disney Cruise line vacation on land this evening. Is that right?
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Absolutely. I'm super excited because we ourselves are planning a vacation to the very place we're going to be talking about over Christmas this year. And it is pretty much our favorite place on the planet outside of Disney Cruise Line and maybe sort of closely, maybe tied with Disneyland. I don't know. I don't know. Like, at times I feel like this, this location like beats Disneyland and then other times I feel like Disneyland beats this location. But we're going to talk about Aulani today with a fabulous guest. Liz, welcome to the show. Liz.
[00:01:24] Speaker C: Thank you. Super excited to be here.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: We're super excited to have you here. Thanks for reaching out. We keep telling folks, you know, if you want to be on the show, reach out to us. Sorry. If it takes a few days or sometimes even a week for us to respond, obviously we don't do this as our full time jobs.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: You're being charitable, Sam. I think I've got some email in my inbox to respond to from like a month ago. So it's, it, if we haven't, if we haven't responded to you, it's not because we're rejecting you. It's because we have very limited time to do everything we do around the show. So keep reaching out and we will get back to you.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: Yes. And, and also to tell folks that if you are going on a Disney cruise and you come on our show, try and reach out to us like two, I know this sounds crazy. Two to three months before your cruise and we'll get you scheduled for a recording right after your cruise or other Disney vacation. If you're going on adventures by Disney, obviously we do a lot of coverage of that and occasionally we like to have some episodes that go a little bit beyond like today's episode talking about Aulani. But before we jump in to talk about your trip to Aulani, Liz, what We've got to ask you your Disney credentials. Like, where does the love from Disney come from? What's your cruising background? What's your Disney background? Let's hear it all.
[00:02:46] Speaker C: So Disney background goes way back. So I grew up in Mexico City and funny enough, a lot of people in Mexico City tend to go to Disney World in Florida. So have pretty much been going to the parks in Florida since I was 5.
And it wasn't until I moved to San Francisco for college that I checked out Disneyland for the first time. Loved it. After I had my first kid, went to Aulani for the first time, and that was in 2021. So quite different from this past experience I just had.
And I have done three cruises. So the Wonder in 1999 I think was one of the first sailings. Maybe in the first.
[00:03:24] Speaker B: Yeah, that would have been like her first. Yeah, probably her first season.
[00:03:29] Speaker C: Super fun. And then I more recently did the wish in 2023 and, and then the Fantasy last year and I'm doing Treasure next year. So I'll have to reach out to you guys and hopefully get something scheduled for a podcast then.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: Awesome. Love it. Yeah. So some, some really good cruising experience and lots of parks experience. Now what made you decide to book this trip to Aulani that you went on this year in 2025?
[00:03:57] Speaker C: Sure. So. So like I mentioned, we have a five year old and the, the purpose of the trip was our 10 year wedding anniversary. And my husband and I kept going back forth with like, where should we go? We tend to do a Disney trip once a year. We're feeling a little more adventurous thinking like, what about Costa Rica, what about Europe?
And when it came down to it, we were like, let's just go back to Aulani because it's easy. I mean, a Disney vacation is easy with a five year old. Right?
But then also, you know, there's the kids clubs. We'll be able to relax. And when we were last there in 2021, we told ourselves we would be back the next year. We didn't get the chance to do that.
So we've been wanting to go back for a while. And because it's our anniversary, it was a combo of like, let's make it easy but also enjoyable. So.
[00:04:44] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Now you guys are still based on the West Coast. Are you still in San Francisco?
[00:04:49] Speaker C: Yeah, we're actually in Marin County. So just north of Golden Gate Bridge. Yeah.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: Now, now when you go to Aulani, are you DVC members?
[00:04:57] Speaker C: No, not yet at least. We've discussed it quite a bit, but we did rent DVC points. This was actually our third time renting points and for Aulani specifically, and maybe we can get to that more when we talk about the room. But I don't think I'll ever want to go back to Aulani without renting points. I felt like the room, the perks were fantastic. Yeah.
[00:05:19] Speaker A: I mean, I will tell you, the thing that convinced me to buy at Aulani was the cost of the. We paid out of pocket for like half of a trip to Aulani and the other half using dc. And I was like, I could have owned a contract here for what I just paid to stay in a villa.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: So, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's talk about the mechanics of, of, of renting. So we are not a DVC podcast, so we don't go into the mechanics too often, but I think this is a really great way of understanding sort of how this works. I will tell folks, if you're listening, you want to deep dive into DVC and understand, like the mechanics of renting out your own points, buying points, vacationing at all the different DVC resorts. The My DVC Points podcast is the best resour out there in the community for sure. And of course, it's run by our friend Chad Pennycuff, so I gotta give a shout out to him. But I do think it's really like, like a Disney vacation can absolutely be more affordable either by owning points or by renting somebody else's points. So, Liz, explain to us one, how did you hear about the idea of renting points in the first place? You mentioned this is not the first time you've done it. And then two, explain to us the mechanics of what you did to rent the points.
[00:06:34] Speaker C: Yeah, so in my free time, I like to watch a lot of YouTube videos. And so I learned about renting points through some different, like, Disney influencers on, on YouTube renting points. I use like one of the major. There's like two or three like major point rental companies out there. If you Google it, it'll probably be like the first or second option that comes up. And essentially what I found is it's a, it's been a wonderful experience, no hiccups whatsoever.
But when you're looking for specific dates, it can be a little bit tricky.
In fact, for this trip in Aulani, we originally wanted to go back in April and we put in our dates.
They take some time. You put in a request for dates and then they take some time to try and find a renter that's willing to give you those Dates.
And that is nerve wracking because then you're running out the clock. Like it's getting closer to when you're supposed to go on your trip. Right. And so you're trying to save for it, but the room's not confirmed yet.
So what I found is best is to just book a confirmed reservation. And so on their websites, there will typically be an area that says like confirmed reservations that are available. These are rooms that a DVC owner already has booked and they just want to sell those exact dates. So that's what we ended up doing is we booked a confirmed reservation. And typically that whole process of getting the confirmation happens really quickly when you're looking at like confirmed dates versus putting in your own specific dates.
[00:08:03] Speaker A: And I would say definitely I steer people toward these reputable sites that you mentioned. I think it's really helpful for, for the safety and security of the transaction a little bit. There are plenty of Facebook groups out there where you can sort of negotiate price for the points, etc. But you know, it's sort of buyer beware in those groups as to who's a reputable DVC owner versus who is not.
[00:08:27] Speaker B: All right, so, Liz, after deciding to ren the points and getting that all kind of arranged and getting, you know, getting your rental, your rental coming through, what were the other things that you were looking to plan in advance? I feel like Avalani is somewhat similar to a cruise in that there are some things you can book in advance. Of course, dining is something you. You want to look at in advance. As far as reservations in certain places, there's a kids club that's of course different than kids club on ship, but you do have to book that kind of stuff. Well, you don't have to necessarily book it in advance, but you'll have better availability if you book that in advance. And of course, you know, cabanas, things like that. What kinds of things were you looking at when. When planning your trip?
[00:09:14] Speaker C: Yeah, so one of the first things I decided once I had the dates was that I wanted to extend it because that's the thing with renting DVC points with a confirmed reservation is you're bound to those dates. And so six nights didn't feel like long enough for us.
So we added two nights in Waikiki and planning around that, different restaurants and activities. And then for Aulani specifically, we knew we wanted a cabana.
We also wanted to lock in the kids club as many slots as possible. You have 24 hours to cancel in advance if you change your mind. But it Turns out our daughter ended up going way more than I thought she would.
And then the Makahiki character breakfast, that was the hardest one. That was the only one where, like, I'm very used to the parks and having to make, like, lightning lanes and virtual queues being right on the app. Right the minute the clock strikes, whatever it is. In my case, it was 3am to make a reservation, and I didn't get one the first day, so I had to wake up the second night, 3am finally got one, but that was the hardest one to get.
And then aside from that, it was other tour things around Oahu and, like, dining reservations, too.
[00:10:30] Speaker B: Yeah, well, that's a really Good point. The 3:00am issue, right.
To let folks know the way you book dining for Aulani for on resort, if you want a reservation at one of the, you know, places that require a reservation, like Ama Ama, or Makahiki, you are looking at midnight Honolulu Hulu time for when they open their reservations. Is it. Is it 30 days in advance or 60 days in advance? I can't remember, Liz.
[00:10:58] Speaker C: I honestly can't remember. I want to say it was closer to 30 days, but.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I think you're right. I think it's 30 instead of 60. You know, the parks, it's.
It's. It's further out, but, Alani, it's closer in. Although I think the cabanas open up, like, six months in advance. That's crazy.
[00:11:16] Speaker C: The cabanas.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: And I think that's changed, actually, because I know Chris in the concierge lounge, who we've had on the show before, was saying it's like a moving target now. I think it's closer to 60 days. They may have even shortened it to 30 days out.
[00:11:29] Speaker C: Yeah, for.
I know for the kids club, it was, I think, 45 days.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: Oh, my God. So there's all of these different.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: So for everything, Elani, the. I think the. The message is check the website and check it repeatedly and maybe check before you hit that 60 days before your vacation. Because I know that some. There are some deadlines. I mean, there were. I. I swear to God, it was like, six months in advance. It used to be for the cabanas.
[00:11:58] Speaker A: When were you shortening it? I know at one point they shortened it to three months. I think they're down to 30 days now from. I'm gonna ping our good friend Chris in the concierge lounge while we're recording and see if he remembers. So we'll move on from this. But. And it's. And it's like you gotta. It's like you gotta call each day. They used to say if you had a reservation number you could call, you could, you know, 60 days in advance and book for your whole trip. And now I think it's like you gotta call each day in the morning and they book up real fast.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: You know, I will say I actually like the calling every day better because then it doesn't give people an opportunity to like, book every single. Like, if you're there for two weeks and book every single day, and then nobody else gets a chance to book. Right. Whereas if you have to call every day, then it's like, who's the most diligent in calling and calling every day? Well, what did, what did you book in advance in terms of. Let's, let's talk like, off property excursions. What. What kinds of. And did you guys rent a car? Actually, that's a. Another important question. Yeah.
[00:12:56] Speaker C: Yes, we rented a car the first time we went to Aulani. We rented a car just there for the day. And we realized next time we come, we have to rent a car for the whole trip just because it gives you a lot more autonomy. I think after six days of being on the resort, while the dining is great and there's a lot across the street, it is nice to be able to have more flexibility.
So we rented a car pretty early on through Costco, got a really great rate. And then as far as what we booked, we booked Michael Mina's Fish House at the Four Seasons next year.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: And that, I think excellent taste. Excellent taste.
[00:13:31] Speaker C: That was like one of my favorite meals that we had, if not my favorite, that I think opened 90 days in advance on, like, Open Table. We also booked Roy's, which we ended up not going to. After several, what felt like several 300 dinners for the three of us, we just decided to cancel and hang out at the pool.
And then what else did we do? We booked a couple of excursions.
Well, of course, Makahiki Character breakfast. When we were in Waikiki, we did book like a snorkeling turtle excursion, which apparently kids as young as three can do, which was fun.
And then we booked several, I think every Auntie's Beach House Premium kids activity that was offered, she ended up doing so. And. And we thought we would cancel some of them, but we ended up going through with it. And then also Monkey Pod, which we ended up going back to three times, I think total. It was great.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: I was gonna say, for folks out there listening, like, it's really Important to know. So Aulani is a resort. It's. It's. But it's like right across the street from, like, a small shopping center. You know, it's nestled back in a resort area. There's multiple resorts along the beach there.
There's some condos back there. I'm sure there's some Airbnbs buried back there. And so there's some great stuff off property and you can walk to it. It's not. It is not a far walk. So Monkey Pot, as we've mentioned, there's an abc, you know, liquor store kind of across the way.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: Grocery store. Slash liquor store.
[00:15:02] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So it's like. It's a liquor store, but really it's a full grocery store. They even have prepared foods over there, but you can get groceries and stuff and waters and all that. All that fun stuff. There was a.
The pizza place closed, though, right?
[00:15:14] Speaker B: The pizza place closed, unfortunately. There's a Mexican restaurant. There's a Starbucks. There's a breakfast place.
There's Island Coffee as well.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: No, I think. I. I don't think there's a star. It's one or the other. There was a Starbucks.
There was a Starbucks, but I think this is the Starbucks still there. The Island Coffee moved. Island Coffee closed.
[00:15:37] Speaker C: Island coffee closed, and now it's Starbucks.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:39] Speaker B: Oh, okay. It moved because there was a Starbucks there and an island coffee.
That's right. The island. When Island Coffee closed, the Starbucks moved into Island. Island Coffee. Space is a better place.
[00:15:50] Speaker A: I still should have tear for Island Coffee because they had a. They had a macadamia nut latte.
[00:15:55] Speaker B: Latte. Yeah.
[00:15:56] Speaker A: Delicious.
[00:15:56] Speaker B: There is also an ice cream place there. I bet that's still there. Probably. Yeah. So it's. But anyway, it's. If you don't have a car, that's. Your options are basically, eat on Aulani property, eat on Four Seasons property, walk to the Marriott property, which is pretty close by as well, and eat at one of their restaurants or eat at the. Or eat at Roy's on the golf course or in this co. The shopping center. I can't remember what it's called, but it's like in Koina Ko olina. K O Space. O L I N A. That's the neighborhood that everything we've just.
[00:16:30] Speaker A: Mentioned is walking distance. A Marriott resort. You can walk down the beach to get to Ray's or Roy's. Sorry, you can walk to. And then Michael Mina is really like, step off Elani property.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: Step onto Four Seasons property. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And there's a few Restaurants at, at the Four Seasons property as well. But yeah, all great options that you don't have to have a car to get to. But all of those things, as you mentioned, $300 dinners later. Right. Aulani is not just Aulani is expensive, but Hawaii is expensive. And the restaurants near Aulani, other than Monkey Pod, which is quite casual and probably the Mexican place which is quite casual, most of the restaurants are kind of higher end. And so you are talking about a price tag on each of those restaurants. And so having a car gives you the opt to go to. I think it's called, is it Food Town, which is like not. It's only 10 minute drive away in, in a big shopping center. There's a Costco there, there's some other restaurants that are like quick service restaurants. A little bit more casual, probably a little bit more affordable. So you mentioned some excursion, you mentioned you booked a, an excursion in Waikiki.
How did. Well actually, you know what should we back up to, to talking about your room because you did mention how good.
[00:17:50] Speaker A: Your room was and I wonder if the comments earlier about the room and the dinners and stuff like is the kitchen a key feature for you at Aulani? And before you answer that question, I just wanted to say Chris, the concierge lodge did message me back and said 90 days is what he had heard and he's going to give that a shot for his New Year's trip. So we got to set a reminder, Sam, 90 days. And he said there's no official policy on booking day by day versus length of stay. It just depends on the cast member you get. So.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: Oh, interesting.
[00:18:18] Speaker A: Okay. Anyway, but room, room. Liz, tell us your room.
[00:18:21] Speaker C: Yeah, so the room. I think I made a comment about this earlier on that I wouldn't want to go back to Aulani without staying dvc. We've stayed DVC at Grand Californian. I will say our experience there both were studios. Our experience at the Grand Californian was it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. There's a difference between the hotel rooms and the DVC rooms at the Grand Californian. Whereas at Aulani they're on par as far as like quality.
But the DVC rooms do have like that kitchen. So we had a kitchenette with a villa and that was great. Mainly for breakfast. And so we did with the car rental. We went to that shopping center in. I think Capole went to Target, got just mainly drinks and like breakfast stuff and that helped save some cash. We also, I want to quickly mention this because you guys have to go. When you go in December, there's a restaurant. It looks like a hole in the wall. You may have heard of it by now. It's in that shopping center, and it's called Broke the Mouth Grinds.
Interesting game. But they do, like, Furikake fried chicken. I heard of it from a popular, like, YouTube Disney couple, and it was fantastic. And being someone that's like, in the San Francisco Bay area that eats, like, furikake chicken and just, like, a lot of Japanese inspired food, it was so good. And for the three of us, it was like under 60 bucks. So, like, the cheapest meal and one of the best meals that we had.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:19:51] Speaker A: We have to break that down, Sam.
[00:19:54] Speaker C: So good. This is a chain from Maui, but it's really, really good.
[00:19:59] Speaker A: Which shopping center did you say this in?
[00:20:00] Speaker B: The Capola one. The one with Target and. And the food line. The food town.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: Yeah, Costco's down there.
[00:20:05] Speaker B: Near Costco. Yeah. And there's also.
There's a Dunkin Donuts there too.
Yeah, we don't have Dunkin Donuts in Seattle. And you guys don't have it in the Bay Area either. And it's like. And it's my east coast heart like, like, yearns at times for Dunkin Donuts. And I'm like, go, I'm gonna go to Hawaii and have Dunkin Donuts.
[00:20:25] Speaker A: We always limit Hawaii. Got Hawaii. Got Canes. Hawaii, I think even might have an In N Out burger in Hawaii. And like, we're like, we're so stuck with McDonald's and, you know, we can't get a Cane's. We can't get an In N Out burger. Like, come on. On come on. We're on the mainland.
[00:20:40] Speaker B: I love that. So did you get a did what kind of room category did you go for? A one bedroom. Did you go for a studio? What? Yeah.
[00:20:47] Speaker C: So it was a studio and it was island garden view. So we. So ahead of time, I knew I wanted to be on the ground floor because the island garden faces that lawn where they have the luau and like the movie night and things like that.
So we ended up up requesting ground floor, and we got a fantastic ground floor room. We could walk close to auntie's beach house. They have the luau.
[00:21:12] Speaker B: Go see the characters. You can literally. You could be in your room. You see Mickey, like, doing. Taking pictures, and you go out to take your picture with Mickey and then go back to your room in your pajamas.
[00:21:22] Speaker C: Yeah. And in fact, I felt a little guilty because they were having a DVC member only event out on the lawn. And we just walked right out and there was no line to meet all the characters. And so we did that. I mean, I don't think was it. It's technically allowed as a non DBC person, but it was.
[00:21:38] Speaker B: Yeah, you were saying dvc, Liz, it's fine.
[00:21:40] Speaker C: Yeah, it worked out. It was great.
As far as the luau, when it was happening one night, my daughter ran out and they stopped her right away. So when she got past the little, like, stepping stones leading up to the, to our like, balcony area, they stopped her. But you could watch it just maybe a little bit obstructed just with the direction that our, our room was facing, but it was, I think, a little bit darker. I think they tend to be a little darker because they're on the ground floor. But, you know, you're not spending a lot of time in the room. And the ability to just walk in and out from your sliding glass, you know, balcony, I guess, or patio to the pool and auntie's beach house was, Was great. And also to leave all of our sand stuff out there. It was really great.
[00:22:23] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, that's really nice. Yeah, the. If you, if you request island garden view and to have a higher floor, you can sit out on your balcony and watch the luau, obviously every night that they have it. So if you're there for a week, that's going to be like three different nights you could watch the luau. I mean, that's good if you want to watch the luau and not pay for the food and the show and all that. But it's also a little bit loud. So, you know, it's a balance on, on those things. You know, I want to hear about Aunties because we only used aunties once. The last time that we were at Aulani, we made one reservation and Nathan went there for a few hours.
He got to make some kind of like, surfboard craft thing and that was. He enjoyed that. But we didn't sign up for, you know, a whole bunch of times at Aunties, but it looked like there were a lot of fun activities. I'm curious what activities you. It said sounds. You said you signed her up for all of them, but what were some of like, the favorites and, and give our listeners an idea of what the cost is for aunties, because Aunties is not free. It's not an, it's not an included thing with Aulani like it is with CRU line. But yeah, tell us sort of what, what it looks like.
[00:23:36] Speaker C: Yeah, so There are some free sessions, so the. But those are very hard to come by. So you really need to mark your calendar and your clock for when you can book those. They're an hour and a half and that's just kind of like free play. Like you can essentially go in color, do whatever you want, essentially. And then the premium activities at aunties are a little bit more structured. They have a theme. They typically will work on something like you said, the surfboard. My daughter did that one. It was called like Surfs up and she loved that. Her favorite was the Kakamora chaos with Moana. Of course, what's really cool about aunties and I think it's the same at the Oceaneers Club on, on the cruise, is that they get like one on one time with the characters interacting with them.
But what made it different, I think for at least the premium activities is that they did always come home with something. So she came home with the surfboard and then for the Kakamora chaos with Moana, it was like, like a canoe paddle that she dec decorated.
And those were about, I want to say there were two hours and they were about $60 each.
Now those are all like morning. That's what's interesting about Auntie's beach house is all of the sessions for the most part are in the mornings between 8 and like 11:30.
There is one session that's paid that was only $30 actually. And it's has like a more generic name, something like summertime activities, something like that.
That was two hours from 2pm to 4pm and like I said, only $30 for that one. So I don't think they have characters. I think it's just they work on crafts. So one day she did the kakamora chaos until 11:30 and then we picked her up, had lunch, swam a little bit. She went back for the, for the afternoon 2 to 4 activity. And then we really felt like we got a break that day because it was, it was nice. And you know, my daughter is like a very high energy kid. She likes free play more than structure. And so I was a little bit worried about how she would do in these more structured activities versus going in and kind of doing whatever she wanted. But she enjoyed it. And when she went back that second time on the same day, she didn't argue at all. She was excited. So overall it was a great experience.
Also, I said that she went more than I thought because we had booked certain times. But then day of when we didn't have an auntie's activity booked I checked the app and it was full. But I called and they were able to squeeze her in one day and then on another day we just showed up at like 7:45am is what they recommended.
If you see that it's full, apparently they hold like three or four spots each day so they can kind of squeeze you in. And if you show up at 7:45 you have a pretty good chance of getting in.
[00:26:31] Speaker A: So I'm looking at the site and just like a couple of things to add on here for listeners to know. So it's aunties is ages 4 to 12. So unlike going on a cruise where there's going to be like a tween and teen club, Aunties is really just a kids club. Although unlike the cruise line, they don't stop the club at age 10. They, they let it go up to age 12. Probably because most of Aunties is really, it's not free play, it's like supervised activities. And it says on here so you have to, you have to reserve. I think we mentioned that earlier, but it says on here the one and a half hour activity programming blocks are free. It's the three blocks that trigger the charge. So three hours or longer trigger a charge. And my, my memory, Liz, is that like basically you have to sign up for an activity to be in Aunties. There's no like drop off and let the kids hang out. Like they're really going for a specific activity.
[00:27:18] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, they're going for us. Even the free one. It's like a specific time slot. 1 1/2 hours for the free one.
So it's not like Oceaneers, you know, on the cruise line.
A lot more flexibility and it's open late now. It's worth noting the, the cast members at Aunties do stay at aunties until 8pm to take questions and if you know, if you want to go in and try to get a spa, even in the afternoon, if you don't make it in the morning, they're around until.
[00:27:47] Speaker A: 8Pm it says the hours are actually 8am to 2pm so it is a very. Yeah, it is morning to mid afternoon and that's, that's it. Do you do any other activities like around the resort? Because there's the DVC activities that they do like the ukulele class and the, I think they were doing ornament making or ear making at one point when we were there. Did you take advantage of any of those activities?
[00:28:09] Speaker C: Yeah, we did the, the free animation class, learning to draw Stitch. That was really fun. And my daughter Got super excited because the person leading the. The drawing was an auntie's beach house, like, cast member that was with her the day prior. So that was a lot of fun. And those do fill up up. Also. We also did the menehune adventure trail, where you, like, rent out the iPad. And it's like a scavenger hunt with auntie on the iPad.
That one was. It was a lot of fun. We loved it. But it was surprisingly long. It says it takes 45 minutes. It took us like an hour. But again, we're with a five year.
[00:28:47] Speaker B: Old, so it takes longer than 45 minutes. In fact, I remember the. When we.
I think the first time we tried to do it, they would only give you the iPad for, like, 30 minutes or something. So you had to, like, only do part of it and then come back and do another part of it. And I think that was. I think that was because of, like, COVID protocols or something. But it still was like, yeah, you can't finish this in that short of a time period. It does. It does take quite a long time. So depending upon the stamina of your child, it might be a good one, it might not be a good one. But I think it's a fun one to do. Even if you could just do the. The partial. Right. If you. Even if you. If you just do part of it.
[00:29:25] Speaker A: I think the sleeper hits that ukulele lesson because they. They make it feel so easy to play that instrument. And then you're like, oh, I'm gonna buy one. And Sam actually started taking lessons when we got home. And now we're hoping Nathan's gonna get into it. I might. I can't play. I tried to learn the guitar, and for various reasons, I. I was on again, off again. And now I just really can't do the fretting on the guitar. But I think I could do the fretting on ukulele. So I might.
[00:29:48] Speaker D: I might.
[00:29:49] Speaker A: We might pick up some Ukraine.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: And I believe the ukulele class is free. I think you just have to sign up for it in advance.
The one piece of advice I would give to people Is to look at those kinds of things ahead of time. Because there is an app that you can make or website app. I don't know. It's like you go to the app and then it takes you to a website. And you can reserve a lot of these things in advance. And whatever you can reserve in advance, do. Because everything there fills up. If it's something that opens up that day and you have to to be there in person. Like, there will be people lined up, I kid you not, like 30 to 45 minutes before, like the rope drop culture that is in the parks, like transfers to Aulani just like it does to Cruise Line. So just.
[00:30:32] Speaker A: Which leads me to my next question.
How is the pool? Because the pool was a struggle for us when we were there trying to get chairs and seats and stuff, which may have been the reason you also booked a cabana at least one of the days before. But how was that pool is. My sense is people get up really early. They send poor grandma down because she's, she's an early riser.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: Am, Right?
[00:30:53] Speaker A: Yeah. But yeah. Was it, was it difficult to get chairs by the pool?
[00:30:57] Speaker C: You know, we were, you know, we're on Pacific time, so we were also waking up at like 5am every day. And so I would send my husband down. He would happily go with his book and sit there. Around 7am it was pretty much empty and. But people were trickling in. And I'd say by like 8:30 it was pretty much book like full solid because it's July. And so we were kind of prepared for that. But we had no problems getting cabanas.
In fact, the. Or, I'm sorry, getting loungers. In fact, the cabana that we had booked, we ended up canceling. It's pretty pricey. It's like $650 for the day. And so we opted for a Casabella on the beach, which was only $85 and we really didn't miss it. In fact, I think we would have. We at least would have felt kind of not great about being in the cabana knowing that, like, we really didn't need it. And so, yeah, we ended up not needing that. And I was convinced we would need that cabana because it's July and it's going to be crazy. But I'd say as long as you get down there by like 7:30 at the latest, you'll be fine. You'll get loungers up until probably 8 or 9, but you'll get your ideal spot if you go closer to seven.
[00:32:09] Speaker B: Yeah, well. And if you want an umbrella, right. If you want a lounger that's next to an umbrella that's also going to. You're gonna need to be there early for that. So I think you're, you're right. Like you can, you will find some place to sit if you're there early.
And I think on the cabana side of things, I would say, like, I don't think a cabana is really necessary. It's a nice to have, particularly if you're a larger group, like a family of three, which you guys are, and we are. I'm not.
[00:32:37] Speaker A: Not.
[00:32:37] Speaker B: I'm not really convinced that a cabana is worthwhile for just us, but, like, we're. We're gonna. In. In December, we're gonna be with a family of four and a couple. And so I think with that whole group, like, a cabana would be a nice to have kind of a thing for maybe a day or two days, but it certainly wouldn't be a necessary thing, I think, for the three of us, especially if at least if one of us is going down to grab two loungers, you know, in the morning. I want to put a word out there that if you are a family of three and you. And the third person is a child, you do not need three loungers. You only need two loungers because, you know, that child is not sitting on the lounger. That child is in the pool or on the water slides or just running around chasing characters. So please don't. Until they need.
[00:33:24] Speaker A: Until they need us to pop a squat for lunch, Sam.
[00:33:26] Speaker D: And then.
[00:33:27] Speaker B: Well, but then they can share your lounger. You're not. You're sitting upright. When you're sitting. You know, when you're eating lunch on the lounger, you're sitting upright.
[00:33:34] Speaker C: On that note, that. That reminds me of another activity that we did. There are, like, certain activities on the beach, particularly that you can only book, like, day of going to Makiki Joe's, the little, like, stand by the beach.
Yeah. So we decided to do the, like, the outrigger canoe adventure.
Not something we were planning to do, but we just thought it would be fun. And. And that was probably one of the highlights of the trip, honestly.
And so it takes you. It's. You know, the canoe is like sitting on the beach. You'll see it as soon as you get there, and it takes you. I want to say it's an hour and a half. You don't get in the water, but it's low enough to where you can put your hands in the water. And we were a little concerned the day that we did that about losing our loungers, because there's that rule about you have to be with. You have to be at your lounger every hour. Otherwise they'll put a towel on it, and then that means they'll clear your stuff out after the hour if you're not back. Well, I think that rule applies more loosely to the loungers on the beach.
So we were a little concerned about losing our loungers while we went on this canoe tour, but we ended up getting beach loungers and I noticed they weren't really enforcing that on the beach at all. So it ended up being fine.
[00:34:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I think enforcement on that is varied in general. Like even. I think you're right. It's probably more strictly enforced by the pools because those are the loungers that are in the highest demand.
With the beach loungers, it's interesting to think, but the beach loungers are. If you want a beach lounger, you can probably come a little later and you'll be okay, you'll get one.
But I think you're right. Like there's the enforcement on the chair policy is. Well, it's sporadic, but more sporadic on the beach than by the pool as well. Yeah, the Casabellas, as you mentioned, are a nice option. Those are those kind of round bed that have a partial shade cover that kind of comes up from where the. Where your head would be laying on the round bed. Those are definitely a nice option. They don't provide you full shade, but they're a nice, you know, comfortable option. And as you mentioned, those are rent a day of and they have a bunch of those on the beach. You just have to go down to kind of where you, where you sign up for the, the Rainbow Reef, which is the little snorkeling reef, and also where that's the same place where you would check in for cabana rental as well. And so you go morning of as soon as they open and then, you know, until they, until they sell out.
[00:36:06] Speaker D: Are you listening to our show because you want to make the most out of your next vacation. Great news. The fabulous team over at My Path Unwinding Travel can help guide you so you don't miss a thing. Their team of professional travel advisors are caring, knowledgeable and experienced. It's why we use them to book our own travel. My Path Unwinding Travel is an authorized Disney vacation planner, which means they are recognized by Disposal Disney for their expertise and service. They have sailed on all the Disney ships, including in concierge, visited the theme parks, Adventured with Disney, Relaxed at Aulani, and so much more. Whether it's a Disney cruise, a theme park vacation or adventures by Disney, or if you are looking to expand beyond the mouse, My Path Unwinding Travel will elevate your next vacation planning experience. Even if you have already booked, reach out for a complimentary consultation to make your vacation even more magical. Ready to talk to the experts? Head on over to mypathunwinding.com DCLDUO or email DCLDUO mypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. Thanks. My path unwinding for sponsoring today's show.
[00:37:00] Speaker A: Now back to the episode.
[00:37:05] Speaker B: You know, speaking of the Rainbow Reef, did you guys do snorkeling in there?
[00:37:09] Speaker C: We wanted to, but we just never got around to it.
[00:37:12] Speaker B: So much to do, right?
[00:37:13] Speaker C: There's so much to do. Not enough time. Just a real quick, fun thing that we. That we came across with the outrigger canoe rental. I guess Jason Momoa's dad, like, works on it, and so he took us out on the sailing. Yeah, Uncle Joe. And it really is Jason Momoa's dad, so he's there all the time. So if you want to meet him, you might.
[00:37:36] Speaker B: Papa Aquaman. My goodness.
[00:37:38] Speaker C: Oh, and he told us. I actually didn't know this, but apparently there's going to be a Moana live action coming out. And he's in it with the conch shell. So every time this canoe goes in and out of the little bay there on the beach at Aulani, they blow on the shell or he blows on the shell to kind of let swimmers know to get out of the way.
And so he said he would be in the live action blowing the conch shell. And I just thought it would be so cool for my daughter to, like, later on show her pictures and say, hey, that's. That's the guy that took us out in a canoe. Yeah. That's so cool.
[00:38:12] Speaker B: That's awesome.
Well, another favorite beach there is of course, the.
The Dole Whip.
And then of course, on the property near the pool is the shave ice stand. So you can get dole whip or shave ice on Aulani property. Dole Whip is actually available in a couple different places. One is the stand down by the beach, and then one is the quick serve place up at the pool area.
Did you guys take advantage of those delicious treats?
[00:38:41] Speaker C: You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but we didn't get shave ice.
[00:38:44] Speaker B: Well, I'm going to tell you, their shave ice is actually not that good. So I actually, I don't think that's a.
[00:38:50] Speaker A: But then it breaks the rules, Sam, because anything Mickey shaped is supposed to taste better.
[00:38:54] Speaker B: I know. Yeah, you could. It takes a great picture to get the shave ice, but I think the shave ice off property is not bad shave ice. It's just the shave ice off property is better. So. Yeah.
[00:39:05] Speaker C: Yeah. And the hours are also super limited between that and then the snack shop next door, which is like fried fish or like fish and chips type. They're only open from I think like 11 to 5. And so every time we wanted one they were closed.
But we did have some Dole Whips down by the beach and they sell Dippin Dots now, which my daughter loves. So you got Dippin Dots a few times. But other than that, that's actually one of the only things I felt like was missing. And I did take the Aulani survey a couple of days ago. I wish there was, you know, on the cruise there's like the sweet shop right, where you can get ice cream. And I just wish that there was a little bit more of that, like some more gourmet sweet treats available.
There are some things available at ULU Cafe, like cupcakes and candied apples. But I, I don't know, I wanted something a little bit more. I don't know.
[00:39:59] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Well, and the gift shops don't have. They just have like the pre packaged like gummies and things like that. They don't have like the fancy sweets like you, like, you, you know, would find at. Yeah, the, the various sweet shops, like Jumbo sweets on the, on the, like which ship is that even on now? Jumbo is on the Treasure. Sorry, I'm like, it's. I can't keep them straight anymore. There's so many ships now.
I want to know about Makahiki character breakfast because obviously that was like a priority for you guys.
We did it once. We were, I'll be honest, we were a little underwhelmed by the experience. We have had multiple character meals. Most of the time we feel like the food's not great. You're of course paying for the character meet and greet. But I'm curious what you all thought of it and if your daughter loved it, then that's really what counts, right?
[00:40:52] Speaker C: Yeah, we are exactly on the same boat. Like we going into it, we weren't shocked by the cost. We knew what we were going to be paying for. And I had heard the food was. I don't know. I've heard mixed reviews about the food. I felt like it was okay, so it's not like a buffet, like some character breakfast. It was like plated and. And it was underwhelming in terms of food. The characters, they did have Max from the Goofy movie, which my daughter loves, and so she was excited to see the characters. For the three of us, I think it was like $150. I think it was worth going to. And we would still do it again, but just knowing that it's not going to be like, amazing food. Like, we've had, you know, storytellers at the Grand Californian, which is very good at least. Like, the food quality is really good. So not. Not great, but not bad either. I'd say, like, like it's worth doing, especially if, like, us, we don't really prioritize getting in line to meet characters. So that's kind of our opportunity to get all the character photos.
[00:41:51] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. That makes sense. I want to ask about some of your favorite meals outside of, you know that either on property or off property. I think a lot of people always want to know, like, where are the best places to eat? Of course we've mentioned a bunch of them, but I'm curious which ones, which ones were the big hits for your family?
[00:42:09] Speaker C: Yeah. So Michael Mina's Fish House is fantastic. We. We love that. And then I would say the Olelo Room is really good for sushi. I. It was pretty expensive. Like, again, 300 for the three of us and. But the sushi was really good quality.
So mainly we got like different sushi rolls and like nigiris. And what's great about it, it's like, it's a nice elevated experience because they have live music and you can get cocktails. But it's okay if your kids like running around screaming and.
[00:42:40] Speaker B: Right. Because it's. It part of Aulani for those who haven't been there, the Mina's is at the Four Seasons next door. But the Olelo Room is a sushi place on property. And it's kind of a. It's kind of a restaurant bar. But as you mentioned, it is kid friendly. Yeah, that's a great option.
[00:42:55] Speaker C: Yeah. And then honestly that. That place broke the mouth that I mentioned. It was very, very good. And especially for the price. It was. It was very reasonable. And then Monkey Pod. Monkey Pod was great. I got the Kahlua pork pizza because I remember hearing Sam, that you love that we went three times, got the same thing.
Good. And I guess it seems like Monkey Pods, the only place in Oahu that has jalapenos, because we were able to get like spicy margaritas with jalapenos in them and no jalapenos at Aulani anywhere. So just keep that in mind. Take your own jalapenos if you want them. But Monkey Pod was great and very reasonable too. Even, like, compared to the Bay Area, I felt like we couldn't get a meal that good for that price here.
So that was great.
One thing, and I don't mean to like veer off the dining topic, but I forgot to mention I did do several fitness classes which when I was doing research for the trip, there's not a lot of information about the fitness classes, but I did the one of them was paid, which was the sunrise yoga.
It was good on the beach. I'd say veering more for like beginners. There were three beginners in the class, so if you're worried and like you want to try it for the first time, totally you can. And then I did the Miki Mickey fitness walk and which was complimentary free and then the seaside stretch and that was free also. And they were all great. Honestly, I felt that the two free ones, the seaside stretch and the fitness walk were like on par with the paid yoga class.
And the, the fitness walk had like some push ups and some lunges to it, so you kind of walk around the resort. But I think all three of those classes had this like, aspect of, of learning a little bit about the history of not just Aulani, but also Hawaii. And like it was a little bit like almost meditative, which I really appreciated and it was a nice way to kind of start your morning. Also it seemed like each one of those classes had like walk ups available because people were showing up without a reservation and it was fine.
[00:45:01] Speaker B: I love that. I love, I love how at Aulani I feel like they try to incorporate like Hawaii storytelling in a lot of the different activities. I mean all of the, like all of the different, even the kids club activities. But the, you know, some of, of the classes that we've mentioned, like the, even the ear making and things like that in the ukulele class, like they incorporate like telling stories of Hawaii and of course then they do that storytelling out at the pool in the evenings with, with uncle who tells, you know, one night he'll be telling the story of Maui. A different night he'll be telling, you know, a different story. But I think those are, are really lovely as well. I just think they do a really nice job of integrating. It's kind of like what they've done at Lookout, which is, you know, integrating the culture of the Bahamas with Disney Cruise line. And I feel like with Aulani they've done this beautiful job of integrating, you know, Disney storytelling and branding with storytelling of, of the Hawaii, of Polynesia, but of the Hawaiian Islands in particular. So it's a really, it's a really lovely part of that. Now you did stay at Waikiki for a couple of nights. I'M curious where you stayed at Waikiki and how you thought it compared to staying at Aulani. Obviously it's a much more densely populated area.
Not like quiet Koina. It's like, it's Waikiki beach with the surfers and all of that.
[00:46:22] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. So we stayed at a hotel called the Lelo. It's like a boutique hotel. I think it's actually like a Marriott, not on the beach. And I think in hindsight, I should have booked one on the beach. I was interested in like the Royal Hawaiian, which was right on the beach.
The reason we didn't go on the beach beaches number one, it was like a little bit cheaper, but it's still like a cute, like, Instagrammable type hotel. But we also thought, well, we'll be in Waikiki doing a bunch of activities and we'll do the beach time at at Olani. But we love Waikiki Beach. So we found ourselves one day on Waikiki beach with no towels. I actually ended up walking barefoot into one of the hotels to an ABC store to buy towels because it's a lot of fun. It's a little bit of a different beach.
It's more crowded, there's surfers, but also the ocean. It's like actual waves. So it's a little different than the beach at Aulani.
But we stayed there, really enjoyed it.
They had a lot of perks like free shave ice and free mangoes at a certain time of the day. And that was really enjoyable. But mainly we did it so that we could do some activities in Hawaii like we did in Wy ke. I mean, we did the hiking of Diamond Head, which was so much fun. That was probably one of the highlights of the trip, just because my daughter did it and didn't complain. And it was really an enjoyable experience.
And then we did the a charter off of Wy KE to snorkel with turtles.
And that was fun. And so we thought, we're not going to be at the resort much. Let's do something that's like off of the beach a little bit cheaper. But in hindsight site, I think it would have been like a more resort like experience if we had stayed on the beach. But yeah, overall it was great. It almost felt, yes, more city, like busier. And then once we got to Aulani, it felt like, okay, now we can kind of like relax and kind of be catered to a little bit more.
[00:48:18] Speaker B: Where did you guys eat when you were in Waikiki? Like, were there. I mean, obviously there's A ton of restaurants. You're right. There's. You can walk to everything. I. I imagine. Did you have a car when you were there or did you get your car after you.
Oh, okay. But you probably didn't use it.
[00:48:32] Speaker C: Yeah, we didn't use it. We ended up paying like the, whatever, $65 a night for parking at the hotel. But even with that included, it still was cheaper to rent the. The car for the duration of the stay versus going to a rental agency. Halfway before we went to Aulani. I feel so lame saying this, but the first night we got there, I was convinced we were going to go to this dim sum place, Tim Ho Wan or something that's in the. In the. One of the big shopping centers. It's very popular. It's like a Michelin rated dim sum place. We were exhausted, so we ended up not having dinner the first night. And then the second night we went to Duke's, which is right on the water, you know, right there in Waikiki.
Food. Not great. Not bad, but not great. But really, the atmosphere is awesome at Duke's because it's lively, it's on the beach, live music.
And that shopping center that it's in, the International Marketplace place, that's got to be like the prettiest mall I've ever been to. Like banyan trees, like a stream going through the mall. It was amazing.
So unfortunately, didn't get to try a lot of food out when we were in Waikiki. But yeah, you know, really just two nights. I think I. I wouldn't want to stay longer than that. I don't think so.
[00:49:47] Speaker A: Sam, are you taking notes? Because I think we need to hit up Waikiki Beach. I think we need to do Diamond Head I swimming with sea turtles. Sounds right up Tracy and Michael's alley.
[00:49:58] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. We have to do that. Yeah. Our friends Tracy and Michael will be joining us. There are the couple. Well, we have them and we have our friends. The morals that will be with us as well. They'll be with us part of the trip. Tracy, Michael will be with us for the whole trip. And so. Yeah, absolutely. I think that that all sounds great. Do you remember what charter company it was through?
[00:50:17] Speaker C: Yeah. So we ended up doing. It's called Charter Oahu. They were great. But I will say I tend to get seasick, which I know it's crazy because I like going on cruises. I'll take Dramamine and normally I'm fine.
The boat that we were on was a little bit of a. Almost more of like a Fishing boat, like kind of taller. And so I noticed when we were in the water, I was already feeling kind of seasick. And I looked around and most of the other boats were catamarans. They were still as can be. And then ours was like flipping side to side and I thought, no wonder I'm seasick. I should have have just gone with a catamaran tour.
So I would recommend doing a catamaran, but the staff and everything at Charter Oahu were great.
[00:51:01] Speaker B: Yeah. I wonder if they have catamarans to book, because that's what I would definitely. I, I'm. I get seasick myself on particular on small boats.
And so. And occasionally even on a catamaran, you could have enough movement. It just depends on the. You know, it depends on the movement.
But, yeah, that sounds. That sounds like a great excursion, though. So that's something we'll have to look at. And, and of course, hiking Diamond Head, which we haven't done. We have. We have a lot of stuff that we do. We're going to be there for two weeks. We have a lot of stuff we want to do off property because the last couple times we've really spent the vast majority of our time, you know, on property because it's. It's so beautiful and relaxing and we really try to like, not. I have too much FOMO and want to go, go, go, go, go. And Brian is always reasoning with me to slow down and relax and have a cocktail, really. So I love it. I love it. Now, Liz, have we, have we missed anything?
You know, highlights, low lights, anything? I mean, are there any things that you. You've been to Aulani now twice. Are there any things you've sort of learned maybe your second time around that you didn't learn or, Or. Or lessons that you would sort of give to somebody else who, who maybe has never been?
[00:52:09] Speaker C: So I do have some tips. The last excursion that we did that I highly recommend is Kualoa Ranch, so. So it's like the classic.
[00:52:19] Speaker A: We have the curse.
[00:52:20] Speaker B: We have a saga. Yeah.
[00:52:21] Speaker A: We have a saga of like, yeah, we haven't been.
[00:52:23] Speaker B: We haven't been. We really want to go. But it's.
[00:52:25] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, it was amazing. I mean, just for photos and like, we did, I think the cheapest tour that they had, which is on an open air truck, kind of like a safari truck. Super bumpy. I was worried that I would get nauseous or my daughter would. No, we didn't get nauseous at all. It's open air. She was laughing the Whole time, loved it.
A little bit of history, not a ton, but great views and just a great experience.
Then as far as tips, I did take some notes on what tips? Definitely. If you are an Apple watch family, wear your Apple watches because it will not only help you communicate with each other like when you're swimming and in the ocean, but also to keep track of the time for your loungers since you have to be back to your lounger every hour.
So that was a huge thing. And then you can get your wristbands. So you have to go to the stand near the pool to get your wristband to be at the pool. Right. Like everyone has to have a wristband.
[00:53:23] Speaker B: On and that's daily. You need to have that wristband daily because if you're not staying at Aulani, you can't stay at Aulani, you can't hang out at their pool. Yeah.
[00:53:33] Speaker C: And we even had some, someone a cast member once asked to see our wristband. So you do have to have your wristband on and usually in the mornings there's a long line to get them but you can get the next day's WristBand Starting at 1:00pm so definitely.
[00:53:48] Speaker B: Dr.
[00:53:49] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:53:49] Speaker B: Very good tip. Absolutely. We would, we would try to remember before we left the pool for the day to go and get the wristband for the next day.
[00:53:58] Speaker C: Something else is if you can get towels. So when you get your wristband for the next day, also get some extra towels to take the next day in the morning to wipe off the loungers because the loungers tend to be wet in the morning. So if you want to sit down and read your book at 7am and hold your spot down, you know, bring a towel so you can wipe it down.
That I think is pretty much it. Oh, each building. So there's two main buildings and each one has a laundry room. So if you're staying on the hotel side or like a studio dvc, you don't have have in unit laundry, but there's only one laundry room for each building.
So if you are planning to do laundry on your last day, like we were your last morning before you fly out, make sure you factor in some time there because they were all full when we went. I think there was only like six machines and that's pretty much it. Yeah.
[00:54:53] Speaker B: Fantastic. I love it. So those are some great tips. I have to say. I love doing laundry on vacation and but we tend to get the one bedroom so we have the in unit laundry and I, I don't have to worry about everybody else. I could do Laundry every day if I want to, which I, I love. I just. It's not that I love doing laundry. It's. I love not having to do it when I get home is the. It is the big issue. Because I feel like it used to be I'd come home from vacation, I'd have this big pile of everyone's laundry and then I'd have to, you know, spend hours and hours doing it. Whereas if I do it across the trip, little by little, then it's. Yeah, yeah.
[00:55:27] Speaker C: Come home with clean laundry.
[00:55:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:55:30] Speaker C: One last thing is budget extra for whatever you think you're going to spend on food. Food. We were thinking 300 a day. No, it's going to be more. It's going to be closer to 400 a day. And that's just the three of us.
[00:55:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's really just for lunch and dinner because you. Because you were cooking or having cereal or whatever for breakfast. I highly recommend, I will echo everything you said about buying drinks and breakfast stuff for sure if you've got at least a kitchenette because that can make a huge difference in the budget and then even in like snacks as well. Right. Like if your kid is a snacker in particular or you're a snacker. Yeah. If you buy them at the grocery store, it's going to be a lot easier on your budget than buying, you know, french fries or whatever at the resort. Yeah, those things do add up. Well, I wanted to ask you a little.
It's going to be. We're going to do a mini rapid fire. It's not going to be. Brian doesn't need to do the intro and all that because I'm just going to do a little like mini rapid fire because you've been on the.
[00:56:32] Speaker A: I will, but I will. I think we've reached that point in our show where Sam gets to ask you some arbitrary questions, some arbitrary rules and apply more than a dash of judgment of the round we know as rapid fire. Now, Sam, you can take.
[00:56:45] Speaker B: Thanks, Brian. Yeah. I want to ask you a little bit of a versus between cruise line and Alani because I do think they are good comparison points. It's not like comparing parks and cruise line is more difficult. They're more dissimilar than they are similar. I think think Cruise line and Elani are, you know, are. Are closer. So I, I want to start with the. And you just tell me which one's better. Yeah. So just. Or if there's a tie, that's okay. As well. I want to pre booking activities and Whatnot. On, you know, on property or. Or on cruise. Who's easier to do that, do you think? Alani or. Or cruise line.
[00:57:26] Speaker C: I'd say cruise Line. Line.
[00:57:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so too. I think the. The problem with Aulani is there's too many different deadlines, as we discussed at the top of the show. Like, and they change within the deadlines. And the website's not the. As user friendly. I. I know that's weird to say. Like, the Dizzy Cruise line website's not great in and of itself, but it's. It's a little bit better than Aulani. Okay, what about food?
I mean, obviously we. One's included and one's not included, but let's. Food quality.
[00:57:56] Speaker C: Food quality.
Thinking just about what's available at Aulani. I would still say cruise line just because cruise line has Paulo. Enchante Remy. And so, yeah, I mean, there's good food at Aulani, but I feel there's more variety on the cruise.
[00:58:13] Speaker B: Interesting. All right, what about character experiences? Cruise line versus Aulani.
[00:58:22] Speaker C: I'm gonna give it to the cruise because of the sail away party.
[00:58:26] Speaker B: Yeah. You don't have the deck parties. Yeah.
[00:58:28] Speaker C: Yeah. Really? Mainly the deck parties because the kids club, they have characters at both.
So. Yeah, I would say Cruz also cruise has Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I know Aulani has the painted sky, but it's not the same.
[00:58:40] Speaker B: You're right. It's not the same. It is not. It does not.
It doesn't go to the same level of, you know, immersiveness as you get, of course, on the cruise line. Not even close. I'm going to disagree with you on characters only because you have Duffy and friends at Aulani. And until the adventure comes out, Duffy and friends are not on Disney Cruise Line. So that's the only reason I'm going to differ with you on that Kids club.
[00:59:07] Speaker A: Although we should say. I don't think we said this in the episode. Characters are one of the most infuriating things to figure out.
[00:59:13] Speaker C: Anyone.
[00:59:14] Speaker A: You have to call that phone line.
[00:59:15] Speaker B: To call that phone line. Now it's in the app.
[00:59:18] Speaker A: It is in the app. Okay.
[00:59:19] Speaker B: Yeah, it's in the app, but not until the day of. If you want to find out, like, before it populates into the app, then you have to call. But yeah, anyway, kids club, obviously, Auntie's beach house versus Ocean. I don't even know that this is a contest, but Liz, tell us.
[00:59:37] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, auntie's beach house is adorable. They have all the, like, surfing decor. And it's like auntie's house. It's super cute, but I'm gonna give it to, you know, Disney Cruise Line. It's, you can drop off, pick up.
[00:59:49] Speaker B: Whenever you want, whenever you want till midnight. And it's all included. Yeah, I'm with you. I mean like the one thing you can get an olu band at auntie's beach house, you can't get that olu band at on the cruise line. But I, I have to agree with you kids, club wise. Yeah, better. What about service? I mean, I, I think service is great on both, so this might be a harder one.
[01:00:14] Speaker C: But that's interesting. I feel like on the Disney Cruise line, everywhere you turn there's a cast member ready to help you. Like, it's incredible. You know, you're never within more than within a few feet of a cast member helping you. But I will say at Aulani, one of the things that stood out to me is I noticed most of the cast members are from Hawaii. You know, you could see their name tag and where they're from. And so the cast members and the service at Aulani was felt more like family. Like they call you, oh, hi ohana. You know, and there was just like more of a warmth to it. Not that Disney Cruise line doesn't have that, but it's almost like culturally tied to just like the whole aloha vibe. Right.
[01:00:55] Speaker B: And so absolutely, I am like, you and I are sympatico on this one because I was gonna use the same words, warmth and ohana. It's, it's the feeling like, yes, you're right there. Maybe you might have to look a little bit further to find the cast member. They're not everywhere or like as ubiquitous as on the cruise line. You turn and you run into a cast member. But, but like there's a warmth there that is just indescribable. Yeah, love that.
All right, I gotta ask what your daughter would pick as her favorite. Like, would she, would she say if you said tomorrow, okay, we're going on vacation, little five year old girl.
We could go on a cruise or we could go to Alani tomorrow. Where do you want to go? What would she say?
[01:01:43] Speaker C: Yeah, well, I asked her as we were walking through the lobby and we passed the, the replica of the Disney wish ship. I asked her like, what's been your favorite vacation so far? And she said, bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, which is the cruise done that on the cruise.
[01:01:58] Speaker B: She wants to be a princess.
[01:01:59] Speaker C: I understand cruise for her, but she was like, all giggles, in the best mood every day. She loves swimming. So she adored Aulani, but I think she would pick the cruise.
[01:02:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I didn't ask you because I think it's obvious. But if I ask, like, which is the best, like, Aulani wins, like, hands down. Right? Like, I mean, you, you have, you don't have, you do have like crowded pools, but it's not kids soup because you have a whole bunch of different pools and, and beach and all that. So it's, that's not a, again, it's, it's, you know, certain things are not a fair comparison, like inclusions. Right. Cruise Line, everything's pretty much included. Aulani, very little is included. Yeah. So I got to ask though, the last question is, which one is your favorite? Liz, if you, you set aside what your daughter's wishes were, if that was not sort of a, if that was not part of the equation, or maybe you're going on an adult only vacation, just you and your husband, would you pick Aulani or would you pick Cruise Line?
[01:02:57] Speaker C: I think if money is also not, not an issue, I would do, I would do Aulani just because I could go for longer. Unless you did like, I guess a back to back cruise. Right. That's an option. But I think I would pick a lot Aulani just because we love the beach. We love hanging out at the beach and just kind of lounging and relaxing.
But overall, I think Cruise line is a better value and it's less schlepping. I was really surprised how much walking I did at Aulani even compared to the cruise.
So in a way it's like less schlepping and less to worry about on the cruise. But I would probably choose Aulani.
[01:03:35] Speaker B: I mean, it's Hawaii. It's beautiful. Yeah. All right, well, thanks for playing rapid fire, Liz. I mean, there's really no wrong answers when you're choosing between Aulani and Cruise line. I think obviously Cruise line one, and if we do that head to head, even, you know, just in category wise, the number of categories that Cruise Line won in, but they're both just such great vacations. And I do think that as we mentioned at the top of the show, like, Aulani is probably the closest thing you'll get to on land that like, looks similar to a vacation on, on a cruise and, you know, because a park's vacation is just so very different. But anyway, with that, we very much appreciate you joining us today, Liz. This has been such a fun conversation.
[01:04:24] Speaker C: Yeah. Thank you both. Hopefully I'll reach out three months before my, before my next cruise on the Treasure and get something scheduled. But thank you.
[01:04:32] Speaker A: Even if you don't, even if you don't reach out.
[01:04:36] Speaker B: I know I hate saying that, but we're with that we're actually like we're booking two, three months out now for our, for our recordings. And I just want people to know because I don't want them to be disappointed if they have to either schedule something three months after their cruise or if we have to turn down the recording just because we don't have enough room in our schedule. So, but thank you for everyone who has reached out to us. Thank you to Liz for reaching out to us. And thank, thank you, thank you to all of you who are listening, who continue to listen and continue to reach out to us to be on the show. We so appreciate it. And with that, we'll just say good night everyone.
[01:05:11] Speaker A: Aloha.
[01:05:12] Speaker B: Aloha.
[01:05:18] Speaker D: Well, thanks to everyone out there for listening this week. We really, really appreciate it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast. You can keep getting great content from us every week. In fact, twice a week we publish shows. So be sure to hit the subscribe button to get all of those great episodes. And if you want to watch us live, we have a live show now every week, Monday nights, 5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern over on YouTube.com DCLDUO so be sure to head over and check that out. If you want help support the show, be sure to hit those five stars on Apple podcasts. And if you leave us a written review, a five star written review, we will read it at the top of one of our main episodes. So please head over there and hit those five stars. Of course you can also help support the show by supporting our fabulous show sponsor, My Path Unwinding Travel. You want to book your next Disney vacation? Head over to my path unwinding unwinding.com forward/dclduo or email them at dclduo mypathunwinding.com so they know we sent you their way. If you've got questions or you'd like to connect with us, the best way to do that is to head over to DCLDuo.com it's got links to all of our things. Full catalog of the podcast episodes including a searchable catalog for the podcast, links off to our vlog, a link to our Etsy store where we sell some fun fan inspired magnets. Link to our Patreon if you'd like to to help directly support the show each and every month, just head over to the website or patreon.com DCLDUO also as a way for you to sign up for our substack newsletter that we're hoping to start really pumping out monthly here, at least on a few blog articles that we've written. So DCLDUO.com is the best way to connect with us. You can also, of course, email
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