lumpydj
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2007
First well start with our cast: DH Don (48), DD Amanda (14), friends Rob & Laura and their 2 children Kailee (17), Chelsea (15) and me Julie (42). In the photo, the guys are in the back (Don then Rob), the girls in the front left to right are Kailee, Amanda, Laura, Chelsea and me.
My husband and I have travelled with Rob & Laura before, but this is the first family trip weve taken together. The girls arent real close friends, but they get along great which we feel was better than taking a very close friend (been there, done that, dont think well do it again).
Im a Disney nut I was born the same year WDW opened, went for the first time when I was 2 or 3, and have gone many, many times since. DHs first time was our 1 year anniversary. He fell in love with it too although, hes not as crazy as me. We brought DD for the first time when she was 3. Now at 14, shes been to both WDW (8 times) and Disneyland (2 times). We ALLLL love Disney.
We decided on a 2 BR Ocean View villa for the 7 of us. I was able to book it right at the 7 month mark and got exactly what we wanted. From there, we booked our flights from Hartford, CT (14 hours in the air with two 1 hour layovers). I looked into rental cars and saw we could get a minivan to fit all 7 of us. I didnt book it then because I wanted to make sure the other family was good with it. I also found where we could order Pearl Harbor/Arizona Memorial tickets for free again, didnt book it yet because we didnt know which day we would go. We planned to get together to finalize the details a few months before the trip, but with our schedules, we didnt get together until a couple of weeks before. BIG MISTAKE not booking everything earlier; about a month before the trip, I checked out the rental car again for prices and the Pearl Harbor tickets. At that point, there was only ONE minivan left to rent on the entire island and there were no Pearl Harbor tickets left. I was so angry with myself, Im usually a much better planner the typical 180 days for the dining reservations, etc. Because we were going with another family, I didnt want to assume anything and plan things for them. However, at this point, I decided to take the last minivan and it was double the rate of what I had originally found! Ill tell you - that was the best decision we ever made. Without the rental car, we wouldnt have done nearly as much as we did, and we saved so much money doing it!
I also decided to order some groceries from the Aulani store so they would be delivered to our room. I only ordered breakfast food for the next day, so we didnt have to go grocery shopping right away. When we got there Saturday night everyone was so happy I did this because we were all so tired and we could go whenever we wanted the next day.
Day 1 - Arrival Day
Day 2 - Getting settled in & Exploring the Resort
Day 3 - Exploring the Island - Turtles, Waterfalls, North Shore
Day 4 - Surfing, Monk Seals, Luau
Day 5 - Snorkeling and Resort stuff
Day 6 - Pearl Harbor & Diamond Head Crater
Day 7 - Shopping, Exploring, & Paddleboarding
Day 8 - Departure Day
My husband and I have travelled with Rob & Laura before, but this is the first family trip weve taken together. The girls arent real close friends, but they get along great which we feel was better than taking a very close friend (been there, done that, dont think well do it again).
Im a Disney nut I was born the same year WDW opened, went for the first time when I was 2 or 3, and have gone many, many times since. DHs first time was our 1 year anniversary. He fell in love with it too although, hes not as crazy as me. We brought DD for the first time when she was 3. Now at 14, shes been to both WDW (8 times) and Disneyland (2 times). We ALLLL love Disney.
We decided on a 2 BR Ocean View villa for the 7 of us. I was able to book it right at the 7 month mark and got exactly what we wanted. From there, we booked our flights from Hartford, CT (14 hours in the air with two 1 hour layovers). I looked into rental cars and saw we could get a minivan to fit all 7 of us. I didnt book it then because I wanted to make sure the other family was good with it. I also found where we could order Pearl Harbor/Arizona Memorial tickets for free again, didnt book it yet because we didnt know which day we would go. We planned to get together to finalize the details a few months before the trip, but with our schedules, we didnt get together until a couple of weeks before. BIG MISTAKE not booking everything earlier; about a month before the trip, I checked out the rental car again for prices and the Pearl Harbor tickets. At that point, there was only ONE minivan left to rent on the entire island and there were no Pearl Harbor tickets left. I was so angry with myself, Im usually a much better planner the typical 180 days for the dining reservations, etc. Because we were going with another family, I didnt want to assume anything and plan things for them. However, at this point, I decided to take the last minivan and it was double the rate of what I had originally found! Ill tell you - that was the best decision we ever made. Without the rental car, we wouldnt have done nearly as much as we did, and we saved so much money doing it!
I also decided to order some groceries from the Aulani store so they would be delivered to our room. I only ordered breakfast food for the next day, so we didnt have to go grocery shopping right away. When we got there Saturday night everyone was so happy I did this because we were all so tired and we could go whenever we wanted the next day.
Day 1 - Arrival Day
Day 2 - Getting settled in & Exploring the Resort
Day 3 - Exploring the Island - Turtles, Waterfalls, North Shore
Day 4 - Surfing, Monk Seals, Luau
Day 5 - Snorkeling and Resort stuff
Day 6 - Pearl Harbor & Diamond Head Crater
Day 7 - Shopping, Exploring, & Paddleboarding
Day 8 - Departure Day