Duane

Now before I try to dive into this and explain our situation, let it be known that my most favorite dish ever is CROW... Love it, love it, love it! Especially the beak and the feet.... And trust me, I have eaten my share of it! Anyway, with that being said... before we bought into DVC, I was about the most anti-time share person out there... I could not fathom why anyone would pay for a place that you could only stay at for 1 week, at a specific time of each year... In fact, we got rooked into a presentation in Williamsburg, VA one time, and we didn't even know that was what was going on

They have something similar, which we did go to... It's called the Starlit Hui, It lasts about an hour, there is no food or drink involved, and best of all it's free. I think they perform this about every other night out on a lawn area behind the DVC wing. You just walk up, they give you a straw mat to sit on and just enjoy the show. There are hula dancers, Hawaiian songs, some other traditional dancing, as well as some character interactions. Claudine wanted to go to a "real" Luau instead....

Okay, let's get back on our regular schedule... at least of Hawaii... If you remember, when we all first tried to get out to the Arizona Memorial, we couldn't because of the high winds, so we bummed around Pearl City a bit, headed back to the Aulani for a while to laze around the pool, then it was time to head out to our Luau. Like others on this board, there has to be a planner, and I am the one nominated for that job in our family.... So when we decided to go to a Luau, I wanted to make sure, one, to get the most for my money, and two, choose something that everyone would like. So off I

I think we should take up a collection to send the TCD crew to Hawaii.... I have a couple of quarters and a Canadian penny that I will start things off with.... So who's with me? Like the old saying goes, "pictures don't do it justice", and that certainly applies here... With the breeze blowing all of the American Flags, and the size of that ship is just massive... There was no way to really capture it all in a pic. If and when you begin looking at flights, look at airlines such as Hawaiian Airlines out of San Jose, or Alaskan Airlines out of Seattle... I have heard that there are som

Present and accounted for! There is a special place in heaven for all of the brave souls that visit WDW on a major holiday... Just sayin' This made me laugh! Perfect timing, and straight to the point. I think the Troll needs to come out of his shell and tell us what he really thinks! Also one of my favorites!

I was just getting ready to hit the close button when I saw your post.... Boy, you had better jump on that if you can! Does it include all rooms or just the rooms on the "hotel" side? I'm not sure what one of the DVC rooms would go for, but that would be a sweet deal if you could work that out.

Let's move on shall we... I still have a few more things to tell everyone... So, once I made it back to shore from the Memorial, I boarded a bus that took me to the other side of Ford Island, to where the USS Bowfin was tied up. I'm sorry to say, that I do not have any pictures of the sub, but will mention a few interesting facts about it. The Bowfin was launched exactly one year to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec 7, 1942, so they nicknamed her the "Pearl Harbor Avenger". Out of her 9 patrols during the war, she sank a total of 44 ships, both merchant and military. If you

I couldn't have said it better myself. You are right about the Japanese being everywhere. There were alot of them at Aulani and many out on the Memorial. Side story... Before I went to work at the company I am currently at, I used to work for Mitsubishi Electric, in fact I worked there for 18 years until they closed their operation here in NC. Anyway, when I started, they sent a group of us to Japan for 6 months to train. During that time, my Japanese friends took me all over the place, including Nagasaki, one of the places that we dropped the atomic bomb on. And like us, they have a m

You are so welcome. This was the highlight of my trip... I often wonder how many pass by things like this and never stop to read them. You now will have to visit yourself to carry on the story to your kids and grandkids... Red I do remember them saying something about another memorial on the other side of the island. I think its for the Oklahoma, as it was one of the other ships that could not be raised and repaired to fight again. The pass that I purchased allowed me to visit all of the exhibits there. I didn't get a chance to see that or the aviation museum. Gwen, you need

May the choice you make, be ever in your favor!

One thing to keep in mind if you are looking to buy into DVC, like others have said are the maintenance fees... Maintenance fees vary from resort to resort. And from what I understand the fees have a lot to do with how and where the resort is set up and maintained. For instance, Vero Beach and Hilton Head have the highest maintenance fees because they are on the coast and are susceptible to hurricanes and just plain sitting out in the salt air. Therefore, Disney has to perform more maintenance as well as carry more insurance to cover any storm related damage. SSR and OKW are among the cheape

Might as well venture over to Pearl Harbor.... Like I mentioned before, when we were planning our trip, we each got a chance to choose 1 thing that we would like to do... Mine was to visit Pearl Harbor. And when I say Pearl Harbor, I mean all of it. Of course they have the Arizona Memorial, but they also have the USS Bowfin submarine, the USS Missouri battleship and the WWII Aviation Museum. And those things are RIGHT UP MY ALLEY. My girls absolutely refuse to visit old ships, planes or submarines, because I have to stop and read all of the materials, examine all of the gauges, and watch

I'm still figuring out how to work all of the bells and whistles on this camera... When I bought this one just recently, I wanted one that would take great pictures in low lighting. I think I found a winner. This place takes on a whole new atmosphere at night... During the day people are running all over the place, but when the sun goes down, it seems get an all laid back feeling. Believe it or not, it takes on sort of a "Fort" feel at night... you know when everything gets quiet and peaceful and the soft glow of awning lights, well its kind of the same thing, but just different. A

I'm actually finding time to read another TR... I feel your pain (well, maybe not pain, but sort of discomfort) with the new boyfriend. We are actually going down that same road with Ashleigh... The whole time we were in Hawaii, she kept the airwaves hot with texting him. Anyway, can't wait to hear about what happened at Security in the airport.... Since airports happen to be my second home and source of entertainment, I love a good airport story!

When we left off, we had just come back in from shark diving and we were starved... At least 3 of were. While we were gone, Claudine had gotten up the courage to venture out of the marina with the Jeep to forage for some food. For me and the 2 girls however, we were ready to eat some of the sharks that we had just dived with. We all got back in the Jeep and headed to the "spawling" metropolis of Haleiwa. Its a quaint little burg on the North Shore that is probably dripping with history. A lot of the buildings "downtown" date back to the early 1900's. It didn't take us long to find this p

This certainly was a "cool" excursion in more ways than one... Not only was the "cool" factor in place, but that water 20 minutes off shore was cool as well... Guys have a way of knowing these things... If you know what I mean :bugeyes:

SHARKS! "I don't think we will need a bigger boat" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gciFoEbOA8 Unlike 'ole Roy, We did not need a bigger boat... During our trip planning stage, we each got the opportunity to choose one thing or excursion that we would like to do. Jessie (my "adopted" 2nd daughter) chose swimming with the sharks. I neglected to tell her that swim with them everyday at my job, but that is another story... So anyway, we researched and found a provider that would supply that very experience. That is "Sweet Romina" standing beside our trusty Jeep. She passed on this

I have a few minutes before my IT guys come in, so I will see how far I can go this morning... He doesn't, but it does look like he could "sprout" one at any time. Typical Disney prices with a "Hawaiian upcharge" And there are still more to come... I just hate its taking me this long to get through them. Kind of sounds like what we did. Are you stopping for any length of time on the west coast? I think that worked well for us. It gave us time for our body clocks to adjust somewhat and we were not wiped out when we got to Hawaii. There are actually 3 grills there,

Before I call it a night, how about some food pictures?! We didn't utilize all of the eating joints on property while we were there. One, because I am cheap (to a certain extent), and two, we either grabbed something on one of our many travels around the island, we ate something in the room, or we just were not hungry at the moment. One morning, I think I mentioned this earlier, but after Claudine and I went for a walk, we passed Ama Ama and stopped to read the menu posted outside of the restaurant. Just as we were scanning the offerings, Claudine spotted the Chocolate Dipped French Toas

Okay, let's move along... I have a few more pics from around Aulani. In another one of my many lives, I used to be a property manager with a large corporate real estate firm, so whenever I go anywhere, I give the facility a "once over". I notice how many light fixtures are burned out, how well the elevator operates, what condition the carpeting and flooring is in.... you get the picture. Once I walked into Aulani, I was blown away on how well this place is kept up and the materials that were used to build it. Absolutely everything is top notch here and those little Disney details are ever

There is no time like the present to go ahead and buy a few points.... Go ahead and swallow that "best kept secret"! Its not that bad... We'll help you through it. Thanks Aaron. The drive to Pearl was about a 20 minute drive in good traffic. If you are driving from Aulani to Pearl, you are going in the correct direction with traffic. If you were coming from Honolulu or Waikiki, you could be stuck in standstill traffic. I dare you! I don't think you will do it!! Looking back on it now, I think we worked this trip out the right way for us... The SFO stop allowed us to ease

Made it to the country of Miami okay, and all settled in for the evening, might as well get some more of this TR pushed further along... Gwen, I don't need your camera, I need you, your camera and your skills to really make this place look more amazing... As for the Menehune, I had never heard of them in any other conversation other than associated with Aulani. Like I mentioned earlier, Disney really wanted to focus on Hawaiian culture with this resort, and that they did. Kind of like the hidden Mickey's around the WDW and DL, the Menehune are the spotlight here. Now don't get me w

Gwen, I hate we were out of town (on a "deserted" island) while you were just right down the road from us... I could have sent Ashleigh over there to give you a hand... She has turned out to be quite the babysitter. All of the kids that she watches from time to time absolutely love her. We could have put her in charge, while you and David escaped to the Angus Barn for dinner...

Great TR Michael. Our DVC "Home" is at SSR, but my real HOME is still the Fort. When we "do" DVC, we enjoy spending time there, but it does get a lot of bad press from time to time. I hated to hear about your A/C issues, because the royally SMB at anytime anyplace in Florida in the summer. I am with you on this being your first TR. I am trying to fumble through mine now. TCD and all of the other master writers on here make it look easy.

Hold on everybody, 'cause this ride may start and stop without warning... In case you forgot what this rag tag bunch looks like, we had all just gotten lei'd! They give you these when you check in From what I have read just after they announced the construction of Aulani, Disney met with all kinds of experts and authorities on Hawaiian culture and history. They just didn't want to create just another resort in a resort area, but really wanted to focus on telling the story of Hawaii and show case the culture. I have to say that as I walked around I was really impressed at the atten