Bear Hugs & Piggy Kisses - Baby's 1st Trip ~ Updated 12/6: Aulani TR Started!!!

[Jennifer48]

I've missed a few updates!

What an awesome deal you got on Delta! I read about that error after the fact. Some people got flights for as low as $12!! DH & I went to Aulani back in September. We did a lot of driving around the whole island of Oahu. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Between the on time flight, walking onto ME, you had a great first day! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Dugette]

Izzy is doing so well with traveling. I bet she will do great with your trip to Hawaii. I think you are making the right choice by taking her with you and letting her have these experiences.

Thanks. I really hope that she continues to be a good traveler, since we both love to travel. And we have noticed that she seems to be very adaptable and open to new things, which may be a side-effect of the traveling and just generally taking her out and about with us.

I thought you would get a laugh out of this. We don't do cold, snowy, icy weather in the South. Last night, our school system canceled school for Monday and Tuesday due to potentially severe weather. It was 49 degrees at the time of cancellation. It is currently 30 degrees with no snow or ice. The wind is blowing like crazy and it is supposed to drop in the teens/single digits overnight. I guess they thought the bus stops and buses would be too cold or maybe black ice on the roads. Better safe than sorry. Since I work at a private preschool that follows the public school system calendar, I will be enjoying my 2 days off.

Ha, hope you've had some nice time off! Funny how balmy those temps sound! I think it's somewhere around zero here right now...an improvement for us!

Enjoying dreaming of being at the Poly as well. One of our favorite places that we've stayed. It's currently 22 below here. With the windchill it feels like 50 below. I'll take warmth anyway I can get it!

I can't remember, where are you? That sounds like our weather of the last two days. I was very lucky to be able to work from home yesterday so I didn't have to be out in it much (just to do daycare drop off and pick up).

Great update! I loved your description of how special the walk to your room was. I could almost picture the walk myself.
That feeling of knowing you have a whole trip ahead of you is the best. Disney magic in full force.

It really is the best feeling. I remember reading a trip report a few years ago where they were describing that first night feeling and it really stuck with me to slow down and appreciate that time and all the fun times ahead of you.

I get that impression a lot with the younger Cast Members. Sometimes I want to be like, "Look, I know you're reading from a script, but just keep in mind this is some people one trip of a lifetime. Don't act like you're putting them out by doing your job."
But, in the end, you were checking in to your Disney home for the time being, and got the room you requested, so I'm sure you didn't dwell too long on the CM's attitude.

Yeah, it didn't really bother me, but as you said, if it was someone's first visit, it would have been a bit of a letdown. There are some other cast members we encounter later on the trip (both at the MK) that made these guys look amazingly personable and sweet.

Siri is the ultimate babysitter. We changed Alex's name on his phone so Siri now refers to him by Landon's name, that way whenever he activates her, he thinks she's talking directly to him.

Ha, that's awesome to change the name to his! Love it! I noticed Izzy was confused by my phone yesterday. Since I locked it now, the Siri button doesn't do anything. She just kept pushing it and pushing it and trying to get it to work. Poor kid!

Getting all caught up!!

OMG your night before was crazy!! I *am* that crazy person who gets up super early on Disney days all wide awake, but I also get in bed by like 7:30 the night before lol, I can’t imagine going to sleep at 2AM! Amazing shopping spree though!! Nice you have free parking from the airport, and the $$ back for the 3rd checked bag is nice too.

Yeah, if I got to bed early, I might be slightly more enthusiastic. But, I'm still not a morning person (even though I get up by 5am daily for work...blah).

Glad to flight was smooth and quick and Izzy slept. I laughed regarding the Zoli cup. Glad you guys closed it up quickly. I think Aria might have been the culprit opening her cup which is why ours didn’t get closed fast enough hahaha. That pressure is crazy huh!

That was a crazy moment...it seemed slow-motion to me. I asked Dug to get the cup out, thinking he'd hand it to me and I'd try to release the pressure. But, instead, he popped it right open and the geyser erupted straight up! Hoping it didn't get on the person in front of us, but not sure. I think we got it closed quickly, but there was that stunned moment at first where we were just watching it dumbfounded.

Aren’t family restrooms wonderful! Wish there were more of them in the parks.

Yes, they're great! I also was impressed with some of the wheelchair-sized stalls in the regular restrooms. When I was on my own with Izzy in the stroller and had to use the restroom, they were great because they had plenty of room and even had their own sinks.

The rental car line was probably Hertz! LOL that’s what I ran into in August, but beat the system. Good idea to see if another company would match!

I think it may have been, but can't recall for sure. Glad you beat the system!

That’s cool about Siri and Izzy – I have a 4 so no Siri for me!

Ah, I have the 4S (Dug's old one, since he upgraded to the 5), so I guess I just got in on it. I could do without her. She never knows what I'm talking about. But she and Izzy had some great conversations. I've even seen Siri thinking that Izzy has said she loves her. They're close, I guess.

I LOL’d at your world’s worst entrance sign pics!!! Hey at least you got them!

I told Dug not to bother from our back-of-bus vantage point, but he had to do it! He's a good DIS-husband, I guess!

I love your description of your first walk through the Poly and taking it all in and totally appreciating being there, especially WITH Izzy this trip. I so, so get that! Such a magical moment and I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one to step back and appreciate that.

Can’t wait to hear how the first night went!!

I'm glad I was able to capture the feeling of that moment. Very special. I'd like to bottle it up and enjoy it often.

Joining in!

Great start to your report. Izzy is so adorable, and a little travelling champ! I can just imagine all of the emotions that you must have been feeling taking her on her first Disney trip

Thanks! It was so great to share WDW and the Poly with her! Looks like you are going to have your own little travel companion soon...congratulations!!

Joining in!

Your first TR as Mommy and Daddy was so helpful to me before this trip!! I read it a few times, just to get a feel for how a newly 1-year-old would be at Disney. And I really hoped that Izzy would love the characters as much as your little guy did (and I would say so, by the way!)

I've missed a few updates!

What an awesome deal you got on Delta! I read about that error after the fact. Some people got flights for as low as $12!! DH & I went to Aulani back in September. We did a lot of driving around the whole island of Oahu. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Between the on time flight, walking onto ME, you had a great first day! Can't wait to read more!

Yes, it was an absolutely amazing deal! I wonder where $12 would get you?

Oh, that's awesome that you were just at Aulani!! Dug wants to know if you went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and/or the Kualoa Ranch? He's looking for feedback on them. And I would say - if you have any general do's/don'ts, please let me know. This is all so new to me and I've been drinking up Aulani TRs, but there are not many of them, so the more info the better (you didn't do a TR on that, did you?)

Yes, it was a good first day and we haven't even made it to Kona yet!

 

[Dugette]

Before I get going with this update, I wanted to add a video from our Magical Express ride. I went through all our videos last night and will include them as we go. Also, I’ve just gotta say, when we get to the Crystal Palace videos, they are the perfect response to someone who asks why you’d bring a baby/toddler to WDW. So adorable!!! Anyway, this one’s not as adorable, but you can see what a loudmouth Izzy was on the Magical Express. I think she knew she was on her way to Mickey’s house:

(click to watch)

So, we left off walking through the Poly grounds, past the volcano pool, to our home for the next week in the Samoa building. We also passed the Hawaii building, our home 3 years prior, after a very magical upgrade, due to overly-noisy connecting-room neighbors. Ah, Club Level…it had been so magical!

We made our way inside Samoa and approached our room, 1614:



Dug’s Magic Band worked to get us inside! I think I also tried mine, just to make sure, and it worked too. This was actually really convenient for us. When you’ve got a stroller and a baby and whatever other stuff, it’s really nice to not have to dig out a KTTW card and instead just tap your wrist to the door. Same goes for buying things, by the way.

Oh, here’s the view looking down the hallway:



And, finally, we make our way in:



The Poly had been refurbished since our previous visit and we really liked it. I especially liked the bathrooms, complete with 2 sinks. Here are some room pictures:





(note the closets behind her...)

(Izzy and that pillow become friends later…)



You see that counter area past the sinks? I took one look at that and thought, “Changing table, built right in!” So, that’s what it became:



Worked great for diaper and wardrobe changes.

We let Izzy wander around and explore while we worked on getting the carry-on bags unpacked. She gravitated to the empty closet. And LOVED it. Who knew it was a full-fledged baby playground in there?! Here she is enjoying the inside of the closet:







And, because pictures just can’t do it justice, here’s video of her having the time of her life. I guess, to her, this was the Disney World she’d been dreaming of:

(click to watch)

After a bit, she also discovered the other closet. This one had a safe in it. Otherwise known as a super-fun, beeping, button-pushing machine! Yep, she was all over that:



Just her height too! Man, Disney thought of everything! We panicked a couple times when she entered codes, then pressed “Lock”. We were sure she was going to lock us out of our empty safe, but alas, she never entered the correct number of digits to create a code. Later in the trip, once we’d put things in there, we were worried she was going to change the code and lock us out. Luckily, we were spared and it was fine. But what a great toy!

While we’d been in the room, Dug had called to ask for our Pack ‘n’ Play, as per the instructions of the check-in guy. We were getting ready to go and it still hadn’t shown up, but then came a knock at the door. It was our luggage! Too bad we didn’t have time to unpack it, since we had an ADR. Dug asked about the Pack ‘n’ Play and the Cast Member told him that it would be brought in and set up for us while we were at dinner. Good deal.

Up next: We leave the room! Oh, and it’s to go eat at Kona Café! Yum!

 

[Imagineer5]

Oh i so wish i could see videos at work! LOL! Cute update though, glad you had a playground in your room!! Can't wait to hear about dinner!

 

[Dugette]

Oh i so wish i could see videos at work! LOL! Cute update though, glad you had a playground in your room!! Can't wait to hear about dinner!

I may or may not watch videos on my phone in the bathroom at work sometimes...

 

[JillianLeigh]

Izzy has been a ROCKSTAR so far on your trip!! DS would have been over it about 20 minutes into the flight.

That's awesome that you got all of your room requests. The Poly looks so nice. I'd love to be able to stay at a monorail resort someday.

Isn't it funny how toddlers can be entertained by something as simple as a closet!?

 

[jeni16]

Yum...Kona! The coconut chicken is one of my favorites. Oh & I'm in Northern Iowa. Just a couple hours south of you.

 

[Neeny17]

Hi, I just found your report and I have to say that Izzy is so cute! And also, I was looking at your picture of the bar in the departure lounge and thinking, that it looked really familiar and then I scrolled up and saw that you're from Minnesota. Did you by any chance fly out of Minneapolis-St Pauls airport? Because that's where I flew from when I went to Disney in the summer. The Poly looks fabulous, its definitely by dream resort. Looking forward to more.

 

[Dugette]

Oh i so wish i could see videos at work! LOL! Cute update though, glad you had a playground in your room!! Can't wait to hear about dinner!

Hope you got to see the videos later. The baby playground was great. Going to attempt to work on the dinner update next.

Izzy has been a ROCKSTAR so far on your trip!! DS would have been over it about 20 minutes into the flight.

That's awesome that you got all of your room requests. The Poly looks so nice. I'd love to be able to stay at a monorail resort someday.

Isn't it funny how toddlers can be entertained by something as simple as a closet!?

I think we are very lucky that she does pretty well on outings, in general. I remember being terrified to leave the house the first few weeks after she was born, but once I did, it turned out to be much easier than I'd expected. She likes to look around and flirt with strangers, which actually makes it easier to entertain her when we're out and about than when we're at home. Her meltdowns happen almost entirely at home. That said, I'm still pretty nervous about the long flight to Hawaii next November.

Yes, we were so lucky to get our room requests without any trouble. I'd been nervous about that since I'd realized that there were only 3 rooms that met all of our criteria. We love the Poly and it really is nice being on the monorail and walking distance to the TTC when you have a sleeping baby in a stroller.

It's always the non-toys that are the best. Closets, safes, trash cans (yet to come...). I sure wasn't expecting her to have such fun in the closet, though.

Yum...Kona! The coconut chicken is one of my favorites. Oh & I'm in Northern Iowa. Just a couple hours south of you.

Hmmm, the chicken, you say? You may be amused by a story from our dinner. Oh, and hello neighbor!

Hi, I just found your report and I have to say that Izzy is so cute! And also, I was looking at your picture of the bar in the departure lounge and thinking, that it looked really familiar and then I scrolled up and saw that you're from Minnesota. Did you by any chance fly out of Minneapolis-St Pauls airport? Because that's where I flew from when I went to Disney in the summer. The Poly looks fabulous, its definitely by dream resort. Looking forward to more.

and thanks! Good eye, that is indeed good ol' MSP airport. What were you doing here? Traveling around the country before Disney? Yes, I think the Poly is still our dream resort too, but we've been lucky enough to stay there a couple times. Hopefully more!

 

[JillianLeigh]

I think we are very lucky that she does pretty well on outings, in general. I remember being terrified to leave the house the first few weeks after she was born, but once I did, it turned out to be much easier than I'd expected. She likes to look around and flirt with strangers, which actually makes it easier to entertain her when we're out and about than when we're at home. Her meltdowns happen almost entirely at home. That said, I'm still pretty nervous about the long flight to Hawaii next November.

DS is also generally great out of the house. He's much happier going out than staying at home. Being on a plane though is a WHOLE other story. He's just so busy that it's hard to contain him and keep him entertained. We've taken him on 6 flights in his 15 months of life, and it just gets harder and harder to fly with him.

Lots of good toddler vibes to you guys for Hawaii!! 8 hours on a plane is no fun as an adult, let alone a 2 year old. Hopefully having her in a car seat will help and she'll sleep most of the flight. That's what I'm hoping for our trip to Orlando in November since we've only ever had him on our laps for flying.

 

[Dugette]

DS is also generally great out of the house. He's much happier going out than staying at home. Being on a plane though is a WHOLE other story. He's just so busy that it's hard to contain him and keep him entertained. We've taken him on 6 flights in his 15 months of life, and it just gets harder and harder to fly with him.

Lots of good toddler vibes to you guys for Hawaii!! 8 hours on a plane is no fun as an adult, let alone a 2 year old. Hopefully having her in a car seat will help and she'll sleep most of the flight. That's what I'm hoping for our trip to Orlando in November since we've only ever had him on our laps for flying.

Wow, he's taken a lot of flights. I'm sure the flight safety card and other contents of the seat pocket can only entertain a toddler for so many flights. Are your flights scheduled during nap time, by any chance? That was helpful for us. She needed that midday nap and could only hold out so long before going down (she was almost 2 hours late with her nap by the time she went to sleep). On the way home, it wasn't her normal nap time, but she was exhausted from a week of sleep-deprivation in Disney World, so that helped. She slept for all but the last half hour of that one (but was crying and confused when she woke up).

Yes, I'm also hoping the familiarity of the car seat will help, as she does sleep in it sometimes, when we are on the road during nap time. Hoping both kiddos do okay!

 

[Dugette]

I forgot to mention, before leaving for dinner, we got the room set up as much as we could to accommodate Izzy’s bedtime after dinner. We didn’t have the Pack ‘n’ Play yet, but figured our best option was against the wall between the bathroom and the bed. We got out her white noise machine and set that up on the nightstand nearby. Got her video monitor set up, looking down from on top of the TV, so that we could sit on the patio while she slept (in theory, at least). Gathered her fitted Pack ‘n’ Play sheet, jammies, sleep sack, teddy bear, blankie, and pacifier. The toughest task was inflating and putting the cover on the travel nursing pillow I’d bought. It’s just like the one I have at home, but air-filled instead of having a foam core. It took me some time to realize I had to put the plug thing in the hole and blow through it to fill it, then it was easy (hard to describe, but trust me, it made a big difference in inflation time). Then, getting the cover on proved to be a frustrating 2-person task. I guess I should have expected this, as I’ve had to put the cover on after washing the regular one at home and it’s been so annoying that I never want to wash it again. Anyway, after much effort, we had it together. And it worked great the whole time, by the way, so no complaints.

Our ADR at Kona was for 8:10pm and I think we left right around then for the short walk over. Checked in at the counter and parked the stroller outside. We had arrived:



I think this is us waiting for our buzzer to go off:



It wasn’t long and we were buzzed that our table was ready. The hostess did not seem very friendly at first (very emotionless face), but as she seated us, she suddenly started chatting and asking questions about Izzy and generally being nice, so I guess looks are deceiving.

In addition to her high chair, Izzy was given a kids menu and a crayon, so she was a happy camper:



We also pulled out her snack cup for her to enjoy an appetizer from (some Cheerios, it appears).

After she played for a minute, we got her bib on her and pulled out her milk (we still had some that we’d brought and had kept in the cooler, then put in the fridge). We also put down a sticky placemat for her from the package we'd brought along. I ordered them off Amazon, but I saw them at Target after we returned. And I know I’ve seen them at one of the baby stores (can’t remember which one). Anyway, they were really handy for giving her a clean place to eat from. We use them when we go out locally now too. Finally, we pulled out a little container of the blueberries and raspberries we’d brought along. She happily munched away on those:



Soon enough, the amazing Kona bread and Macadamia Nut Butter made an appearance:





Mmmmm, so good! By the way, someone at the table next to us had a nut allergy and I heard them telling her that the bread was fine, but they would bring her a different butter. I heard them going over lots of other food info with them too.

Anyway, we shared some of the bread with Izzy and she liked it okay. But not as much as we did. I’m pretty sure we polished off two loaves over the course of the meal. And that was with us trying to pace ourselves and not fill up too much on bread.

We each got a glass of water and we ordered an Island Sunset to share:



My favorite!!

Looks like we got Izzy started on a veggie/fruit/yogurt(?) pouch. Also, note the ladies in the booth behind us. Someone really needs to tell them not to order the chicken :



The fun of both having iPhones is we can randomly take pictures of anything we want at any moment. Which we both did (his, then mine):





I noticed that we had a lemon wedge, I suppose with the water. It reminded me of a meal out with my dad and stepmom last summer. They gave Izzy a lemon wedge just to see how she’d react, expecting it to be funny. Instead, she liked it. Just sucked away, apparently enjoying it. I thought it would be fun to see if she still had the same reaction:



She seemed to like it okay at first, but then decided it wasn’t all that tasty. I guess we also had an orange, not sure where from (the drink, maybe?):



Strangely enough, that one got the funny reaction. And this is a kid that can’t get enough mandarin oranges at daycare. Silly girl. (By the way, her face is all stained up from the berries).

We were seated within easy viewing distance of the sushi and desserts. Dug went up to admire the sushi:



And I snuck up to peek at the desserts (but didn’t take a picture).

We had debated heavily on what to order. We weren’t sure if we wanted to split something or each get our own. There was something that sounded good to Dug that didn’t really appeal to me (can’t remember…maybe the pork chop, since I wouldn’t like the coffee rub - yes, Dug said that was it), but I figured I could get the Pan Asian Noodles if he got that. However, if we shared, we wanted the steak:



So, after hemming and hawing for far too long, we got this to share:



That picture is just half of it, by the way, since we’d already split it. We also shared a bit of everything with Izzy. I think she liked the rice the best:



Looks like Izzy approves of the meal:



So, back to those ladies in the background. At some point, the younger woman started complaining loudly about what a tiny piece of chicken she got. She was not happy at all and talking about how “they’re going to hear about this!!!” I know at one point I heard a Cast Member talking with her about their portion sizes, etc. I tried not to pay much attention, so I don’t know all the details, but my goodness! She was just fixated on her chicken to the point that it was all she could talk about. Complain, complain, gripe, gripe, gripe. There was a constant stream of negativity coming from that booth. (Dug just mentioned that he heard it not so much in a bitter way as in a half-joking way). I don’t doubt that, when people ask her how her vacation was, she tells them about the sorry excuse for chicken she was served. If I remember correctly, she was also upset about the price. But, you know, it’s Disney World…if you want bargain chicken, head to Cosmic Ray’s, not a nicer place like Kona. Anyway, we were sure glad when they finally left. (So, Dug just informed me that he actually caught up to them while walking into the Magic Kingdom and they were still discussing the chicken! )

Our meal was tasty and no complaints about the size. We split it and that even left us a little room for dessert. We decided to each get our own. Dug got something that I can’t seem to find on an online menu anywhere. I’m fairly certain it was a no-sugar-added thing and I thought it had something to do with cheesecake. At any rate, he thought it was decent, but not the best:





Okay, I finally found something on touringplans’ website that probably is it: Jasmine Tea-Infused Cheesecake
With Orange-Ginger Balsamic Glaze. A Low-Glycemic Dessert Option (just verified with Dug - this was it)

I had originally planned to get the Banana-Chocolate Crème Brulee, as we’ve had it before and it’s great. However, I wasn’t feeling it that evening and decided to get the Kilauea Torte, which is essentially a warm chocolate lava cake:





So, so good! Dug had a bite and said mine was way better than his. We also shared some of the raspberries and whipped cream with Izzy.

She did a great job of hanging in there for the late meal. It had been a long day and was past her bedtime, but she was okay with that.

Even though she did well, it’s still hard to dine out with a baby and enjoy your meal. I’m sure this is not news to parents of little ones, but just wanted to point it out. I found myself longing for the days of savoring the bread and butter, casually sipping the Island Sunset, fully enjoying each bite of the meal and dessert, really taking in the ambiance, and focusing on the conversation being had. Those things are few and far between when you’re personal assistant to a toddler. Prepping for meal, giving food, monitoring food/drink intake, catching sippy cup, minimizing messes, stopping crayon-eating, retrieving pouches from floor, providing entertainment, cleaning up, etc. It’s exhausting and all-consuming. I made it a point to try to just look around and drink everything in once in a while, but it wasn’t the same. I miss knowing what’s going on around me. Anyway, it was a good meal and we finished it just in time for Dug to get to the Magic Kingdom at a reasonable time to catch the castle show and Wishes.

We finished up and Dug used his Magic Band to pay the bill. They bring out a little thing that you enter your PIN into.

We headed out and split up. Dug went to the monorail and Izzy and I went to the market across the lobby to get some milk for her. Happily, they had little bottles of whole milk in the fridge case. I think I got a couple and tapped my Magic Band (with PIN entry) to pay. Neat, since I was holding a baby.

Up next: I attempt to get Izzy to sleep (in the same room as me) while Dug frolics through the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Neeny17]

Not exactly. I'd been working at Camp Friendship in Annandale. Everyone else went to New York, Chicago etc. and I went to Disney.

 

[JillianLeigh]

Wow, he's taken a lot of flights. I'm sure the flight safety card and other contents of the seat pocket can only entertain a toddler for so many flights. Are your flights scheduled during nap time, by any chance? That was helpful for us. She needed that midday nap and could only hold out so long before going down (she was almost 2 hours late with her nap by the time she went to sleep). On the way home, it wasn't her normal nap time, but she was exhausted from a week of sleep-deprivation in Disney World, so that helped. She slept for all but the last half hour of that one (but was crying and confused when she woke up).

Yes, I'm also hoping the familiarity of the car seat will help, as she does sleep in it sometimes, when we are on the road during nap time. Hoping both kiddos do okay!

We've scheduled the flights during naps, but he's never been an easy napper, so sometimes he'd sleep, and others he'd fight it. Thankfully he's never full on cried, just fussy. Thank goodness for breastfeeding, or I think flying would have been much harder.

 

[JillianLeigh]

Looks like you had a nice dinner. Even if it was dinner with a baby!

It sounds like those chicken women were just looking for something to complain about. Maybe that's how they like to vacation... by making themselves miserable.

 

[jeni16]

Funny about the chicken. I remember it being decent sized. That's been 2 1/2 years ago though. I'm normally full from all of the bread & butter though so maybe it just seems decent sized because I'm not hungry by the time it comes

 

[amazingact21]

Your room looks really nice! I love that there was an open counter space for you to create a changing table.


The bread at Kona is the best. It's hard to pace yourself and not completely fill up on it before you entree arrives.

You're always going to have people that complain about their meals. I don't get it, but whatever. In my mind, it's their vacation they are ruining by griping and looking at the negative aspects.


Meals with kids is quite the adventure. It can be hard to take in all the beautiful surroundings when you're playing Pick Up for the 1000th time.

 

[dislover8943]

Great trip report so far. Your little one is adorable!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Great update! The Poly is so beautiful, I don't think I could ever get sick of seeing that place! I'm glad that the magic bands seem to be working well for you guys - it is definitely nice to not have to fish around for a key card when your hands are full. Izzy is such a great traveller so far! She is just going with the flow and loving it

 

[Jennifer48]

Oh, that's awesome that you were just at Aulani!! Dug wants to know if you went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and/or the Kualoa Ranch? He's looking for feedback on them. And I would say - if you have any general do's/don'ts, please let me know. This is all so new to me and I've been drinking up Aulani TRs, but there are not many of them, so the more info the better (you didn't do a TR on that, did you?)

We did not make it to the Polynesian Cultural Center but we did go to Kualoa Ranch. We took the 2 hr horseback riding tour and it was awesome! The ranch is unbelievably beautiful. They have lots of different tours to choose from. We wanted to go there because we are huge LOST fans!

I didn't write a TR but there were 2 that I found helpful. I think you can find them on the DVC TR board. I'll try to find out who wrote them later. I believe one was candesmom or something like that.

I can't say I have any don'ts. The island is amazing. We rented a car and DH loves to drive so that's what we would do, drive! If you like to snorkel, Haunauma Bay is amazing as well. Friends of ours did a few hikes if you want more info on that I can find out for you. That candesmom TR has lots of info on that as well.

The food at Aulani is very expensive but there are these small stores called ABC Stores that have everything from prepackaged sandwiches to liquor for reasonable prices and its located directly across the street from Aulani, walking distance.