Day 2 started early for us, as we all woke up around 6:30 this morning! The sun was shining, and we were ready to get up and enjoy the resort some more. Aulani is absolutely amazing, and when we decided to book this resort, we did so with the intention of staying at the resort. As you may know, Aulani is not exactly cheap, so we wanted to take advantage of all of the amenities we were paying for. Plus, their pool and beach areas are AMAZING, and Chris and I have been to Waikiki. Trust us when we say you are not missing out on anything by skipping Waikiki and staying at the Ko Olina lagoon.
After a quick breakfast in the room (donuts bought at Costco last night), we headed down to scope out some pool chairs. It is true that you need to get down to the pool area fairly early to get chairs, especially if you want to find some with shade. We grabbed some chairs by the Waikolohe pool, where we spent a lot of time yesterday, and got our wristbands (you get a different one each day for the pool area). Then we went over to the Pau Hana room to sign up for a crafting class later today. We learned yesterday that these book up early, and you need to plan the night ahead for what activities you may want to sign up for! Aly and I signed up for the Mickey ears class later today (pics below 🙂 ). They also have t-shirt stamping, animation, and ukulele classes throughout the week.
After we got signed up, we headed straight for the water slides. The Volcanic Vertical was Aly’s first choice! After a screaming ride down that, we hit up the Tubestone Curl and then straight into the lazy river. It was nice to float around peacefully before a lot of people made it down to the pool area.
We played in the pool area some more, especially in our favorite area, the Ka Maka Grotto, or what we refer to as Ariel’s Grotto. Quick lunch back in the room (leftover pizza from dinner last night) and back to the pool for more fun.
Aly and Dad spent some more time in the pool, while I relaxed on the poolside chairs for a bit. We then all went down the waterslides a few more times (they really are great here), and celebrated a great day with a Mickey shave ice (we chose pineapple, strawberry, and mango, with vanilla ice cream on the bottom)-yum!
Another awesome thing about Aulani is character meet and greets. The lines are so much shorter than at Walt Disney World or Disneyland. I had seen a great suggestion to pick up a rather inexpensive wooden surfboard cutting board from the ABC store across the street for autographs, and we had a nice souvenir to take home. The fab five are often around, and Moana made a daily appearance. A few other characters are also at Aulani, including Duffy the Bear which was one we hadn’t met before!
A quick dip in the hot tub (there are so many different pool areas here) and then back up to the room to dry off and get ready for our girls’ craft time together. Aly and I went down to make our Mickey ears together. Basically, we chose a Mickey ear headband color (Aly. . . pink, of course, and purple for me) and then we chose up to 5 flowers to attach to our headbands. They gave us a glue gun, and we were off! Aly informed me she knew how to use a glue gun because she helped Grandpa fix some stuff around the house with one. She definitely decorated hers all on her own, and I simply reinforced some of the glue spots for her. We had a great time spending a little time together just the two of us, and then she wanted to check out Aunty’s Beach House (the kids club) for a bit.
Chris and I walked down the beach, and came upon a monk seal resting on the beach. It was roped off as this is a protected species here, so we took a quick pic and continued walking until we got warm enough to warrant a drink back at the pool bar before we had to pick up Aly.
We had “fancy dinner” from the ABC store across the street tonight. FYI, a gallon of milk at the store was “on sale” for $6.99 and a small container of blackberries that Aly picked out was $6!!! I know that locals aren’t buying their groceries at the ABC store, but I can’t imagine how much a monthly grocery bill must be liked around here. Dinner on the balcony again tonight to wrap up another great day at Aulani. Good night!
