We started our day with a character breakfast at Makahiki's. We made reservations well in advance of our trip - if you want to do a character breakfast you have to book this possibly months advance since they fill up quickly. We were decked out in our Aloha wear to enjoy our time there. The kids got to take pictures with Mickey first and then we were escorted over to our table. It was a buffet and the food was great - a real highlight and what you should definitely try is the Hawaiian Eggs Benedict.
 |
| Makahiki's buffet restaurant |
 |
| omelet station |
 |
| rice with veggies, hash browns, stir fry sausages with veggies |
 |
| I had to try the eggs benedict, as well as the Hawaiian eggs benedict, with hash browns, bacon, and a chocolate chip mini muffin |
During breakfast "Aunty" gets everyone going with the Aloha show, which was great to get everyone in the Aloha Spirit. They march conga lines around the restaurant, there's music, they get the kids involved.... it's like being at a wedding reception and kid's party combined. Other Disney characters (Goofy and Minnie) were part of the show too, and in addition to dancing around and joining the conga lines, they came to visit every table.
 |
| Goofy visits our table |
 |
| Goofy and Aunty |
Eventually, the photocrew came by to our table to show us the pictures they took of us with Mickey and offered them for purchase. We knew about this and had originally intended not to get it since we also had them take pictures with our camera, but we took it since the pictures were actually better than what was in our camera and it came in a cardboard Makahiki Frame which made for a nice souvenir.
After breakfast, my hubby who had been doing some research, found out that we could attend an ukelele factory tour, but it had to be today, because they wouldn't be having another one before we'd be on our way home. This also gave us an opportunity to check out Honolulu and the Waikiki area.
There's an Alamo Rental counter right in Aulani (so it seems every vehicle we rented in Hawaii was from Alamo) and we got a Silver Toyota Corolla. The valet brings you the car and then takes it when you return. If we had rented a car for the whole duration of our stay from the airport we would be paying $35 a night parking at Aulani, so this was a cost effective alternative. Driving in Honolulu is like the GTA - the highways are like the 400 series Ontario hwy's and the roads in Honolulu are like that of any large urban centre like Toronto.
We got to the industrial area of town and found the KoAloha Uke factory. When we went into the compound it was very tight to drive in and there was barely any parking space, with most cars double or triple parked - there were many industrial businesses in this complex. We did a multiple point turn around and parked out on the street next to the canal. We walked through the complex all the way to the back and rang the doorbell to the factory (the place is locked up and has bars all over for security). The folks there were very friendly and welcomed us into the factory. To keep the kids entertained, they gave them little inflatable balls branded with the KoAloha logo.
After waiting a few minutes to see if anyone else would show up, they started the tour - we felt pretty special being the only ones shown around. They went into a lot of detail from the wood selection, to the manufacturing, finishing and quality assurance. All their ukes are made of Koa wood from the Big Island and a have a "better than the weather" warranty, which is best of any uke manufacturer. We even got to see and play the world smallest playable ukelele. They did have about four ukes on display which they were not going to send to the stores due to small blemishes - these are known as factory seconds and were available for purchase only from the factory for a reduced price compared to store prices. After playing some of the ukeleles, Nigel had to get a factory second from here since they were really great instruments, we saw where and how it was made, it was a really good deal and to be honest we can't even tell where the blemish is. Be prepared though, these are real instruments which will cost hundreds even at a discount.
check out their site:
http://www.koaloha.com
After the KoAloha factory, we went to the Ala Moana Shopping Centre, which is the world's largest outdoor shopping mall with a few stores that you wouldn't normally see in the Toronto area... but you'll still find the standards like Sears and Old Navy. The Waikiki Shopping (pink) Trolley stops here too and it's $2 per person one way to get on. We walked around the Waikiki Beach area and the hotel/resort area - the atmosphere and crowd reminded us of the tourist areas of Niagara Falls and the beach was packed.
 |
| Waikiki Beach |
 |
| A Hawaiian statue in the busy tourist shopping area |
It was really hot (92 deg F) so we stopped by the Paradise Flavors ice cream shop. It had some interesting flavours of which we decided to try: Carnival Confetti, Peanutbutter Entourage, and Asian Delight. The shop was busy, but it seems to come in waves - we ate outside, and by the time we done the place was almost empty.
 |
| inside the ice cream shop |
 |
| an abundance of ice cream flavours to choose from |
 |
| Carnival Confetti ice cream for Evan |
We checked out some of the streetscapes, and eventually worked our way back to the car. Diamond Head Monument is close by, if you want to hike that to get a nice view of the island. You basically drive up into the crater and hike from there - supposed to be relatively easy and popular with tourists, but we didn't bother since we'd already been in craters, and hiked to peaks on the other islands. I'd recommend to do this in the morning based on how hot it got in the afternoon. Be prepared for it to get crowded too as this is a popular activity for visitors.
Our overall impression with Waikiki is it is very touristy and wasn't what we were looking for. Driving back to Ko'Olina in the dark was easy and just like driving in the GTA.
We eventually decided that rather than using the next day (or any other day) to rent a car and check out Pearl Harbour and Diamond head, we were going to enjoy the Aulani resort, since it was expensive and we wanted to take advantage of what we were paying for.
 |
| Turndown service, along with Belgian chocolates and a bookmark, greeted us when we returned to our room |
0 comments:
Post a Comment