Aulani Waves and Disneyland Days: An Ohana Adventure - Day 3 Mongooses and Menehune everywhere!

[bambikate]

Introduction and Index

Day 3 - Mongooses and Menehune everywhere!
Makahiki breakfast, a full relaxing resort day, pools, lazy river, shave ice, and dinner and drinks at the Olelo room with live music.

Introduction and Index

We woke up around 6am which considering we had only just got used to the 8 hour UK-California time difference, with the additional 3 hour time difference between Hawaii and California, wasn’t too bad at all!

We spent a bit of time with a coffee admiring this view then got ready.



We had a reservation at 8:15 for breakfast at Makahiki, the character breakfast onsite. Andy and I relaxed on the balcony for a while with a coffee before waking the girls.

We all got ready and then strolled towards the lifts and took them to the ground floor towards Makahiki.

Once checked in they gave you a photo pass card and directed you outside to join a queue to meet the main man, Mickey Mouse in his Hawaiian vacation attire. They take a PhotoPass photo of you with Mickey (which they then print and try to sell you later during your meal for... $45!) but the cast member with the PhotoPass photographer will also take the very same photo for you on your own phone - for free...! Anyway - needless to say we didn't buy it.

Just a side note, this was the only upselling of photos we experienced at Aulani; we had a PhotoPass we pre purchased before going (it's only $79 rather than $99 if you buy before - their app isn't very intuitive and you have to actually buy it on the Disneyland app then activate it on the Aulani app or at the front desk.) We found it to be great and all other pictures are included including some amazing beach photos we got later in the holiday.



We waited a few minutes afterwards and were then called to our table, on the way you met Chef Minnie





Makahiki used to be a buffet but has been a three course set menu for breakfast since covid. The set menu was a basket of pastries for the table, seasonal fruit plates each and then you could choose one entree each. It also came with drinks and cost $45 per adult (over 9) plus tax and tip.

The pastries to share



The fruit plate each



Andy, Immy and I all chose the Kalua Pig Omelet - 3 cage-free eggs, kalua pig, baby spinach, local tomatoes and gruyere cheese served with potatoes.

Izzy chose Cinnamon French Toast with pastry cream, bacon, fresh berries and warm Vermont maple syrup.

We also ordered a half portion of the buttermilk pancakes with macadamia nut Tahitian vanilla sauce and caramel, which we had seen on lots of vlogs and we really wanted to try it but we didn’t want all sweet (apart from Izzy who has a sweet tooth!)

They also served POG juice here - so as well as waters for the table and coffees for the grown ups, we all ordered a glass each. It was the ‘new’ brand they started serving at WDW so as you can see it’s pinker than it used to be. It was very nice but not as good as the original!

The pastries were very nice and included mini croissants, coconut pastries and guava pastries. The fruit plate was delicious, especially the pineapple - so fresh and sweet!

Dale was first to visit our table and was completely enamoured with the girls’ bags



The pancakes!



OK I’ll admit it - the macadamia nut sauce looks….well…unappetising but it was gorgeous!



Our next visitor was Chip and Izzy took a cute selfie again!

The Kalua Pork Omelette was delicious and Izzy said her French toast was incredible. With the girls being ‘adults’ and having to pay for an adult meal, neither of them could finish theirs and they both got about half of their entrees in to go boxes.





Near the end of the meal, our server brought out a cute little birthday cake for Andy



Chip came back for a second round of hugs and photos before we went.



Overall, we really enjoyed breakfast, it was very expensive but we probably would go again if we ever go back.

We had a lovely relaxing day planned - literally just spending a full day enjoying our beautiful resort!

We went back up to our room, put suncream on and got into our swim / sunbathing attire and off we went down to the pool area!

Ready!



One thing we liked spotting were the hidden ‘Menehune’ around the resort, there was a specific trail you could do with an iPad but we didn’t get round to it this trip (always got to leave something so there’s an excuse to come back - right?) I believe there are over 300 Menehune around Aulani Resort.



First on our plan was the Waikolohe Stream - Aulani’s very own lazy river - this was super relaxing and we went round quite a few times.

[bambikate]

We all tried out the different pools and Andy and I then checked out the adults only hot tub area. It was all complete bliss and the weather was perfect and not too humid.





For lunch, we wanted something super quick and simple and went to Mama’s Snack stop, which is right by all the pools.

On the way we spotted this lovely cat





We got 2 chicken fingers and fries and a coconut breaded shrimp and fries but it ended up being way too much food - in hindsight, we should’ve got 2 meals between the 4 of us.



After our food went down for a bit, we went back into the pools and the lazy river.

We made use of our refillable mugs throughout the day and after a couple more hours we decided we wanted to try a shave ice.

We had heard that the non-Disney ones elsewhere on the island are much better and more authentic (I think the ice is more powdery and less crystallised in the authentic ones) but we still wanted to try the Aulani version and we did pay the extra $1 to get the ears!





We chose lilikoi (passion fruit), mango and guava and you could have condensed milk on it but we had it without.

On the way back to our loungers to share the shave ice we spotted a mongoose!

ZOOM RIGHT IN!



I had heard that there were mongooses at Aulani from a Tim Tracker vlog! Apparently, they were imported to control the rat population years ago but unfortunately, rats are nocturnal and mongooses are diurnal, so their contact was very limited and rat control was ineffective.

The mongooses are unwelcome in Hawaii because they eat native birds and their eggs among other small creatures. That being said, they were very very cute to look at and although we saw them with our own eyes a few times, we only caught them on camera once - you really need to zoom in - look at their little face!

We had noticed that Immy’s lilac bikini she had bought from Target the day before was now almost white! It had lost almost all of its colour, which was disappointing because it cost over $30. We said we would look to take it back later in the week as it was only up the road, which we did and it was no problem at all.

We went back to our room to change, relax and get ready for our evening meal.

We watched the sunset from our balcony.



Also, look at this lovely view of the mountains from the other side of the tower







The Olelo Room from our room - where we would be going for dinner!



You can’t pre book this and we got there about 7:20pm and we got a table at 7:30pm and were seated right in the middle outside in front of the singers. The girls took their refillable mugs we just filled up at Ulu Cafe - to save buying soft drinks at Olelo Room.

Andy had a 'Tropical Itch' that came with it’s own souvenir backscratcher (Don Q Passion Rum, Jim Beam Bourbon, Orange Curacao, Liliko’i (Passion Fruit), and Pineapple Juice with a float of Whaler’s Dark rum) it looks red here but it wasn't.



I had the lychee en voyage (Kai Lychee Vodka, Gifford Lichi-Li Liquer, Lychee nectar, lemon juice).





The singers were absolutely brilliant and provided the quintessentially Hawaiian relaxing atmosphere and music. It felt like a dream to be sat there listening to them whilst sipping delicious cocktails that evening.



Part way through their set, they made an announcement that there was a local celebrity there, everyone cheered and the cast members seemed to recognise her but I didn’t catch her name. I tried to Google her afterwards but didn't have any luck. I understand she was a famous singer and hula dancer.

They invited her to the stage and her friend also came and hula danced. They were both so beautiful and glamorous and she had such a lovely voice - we were very lucky to be there that night. Does anyone know who she is?



Food wise, we wanted appetisers for dinner and ordered edamame beans.



“Pua Kalua Gratin” (Kalua pork, cream cheese, maui onion, parmesan cheese, loom loom tomato and naan bread). This was delicious but very rich.



Bacon cheeseburger sliders (fresh ground chuck, bacon, aged cheddar, Roma tomato, pickles, bbq garlic aioli, toasted brioche)



And Kara-age chicken (Japanese fried chicken bites with green onion sauce and lemon)



We originally wanted the steak bites but were informed by server the steak wasn’t very good today and had been sent back a few times - we appreciated his honesty and didn’t order and chose the Pua Kalua Gratin instead.

Our entire evening here was perfect, we absolutely loved it and were so happy and relaxed. We all agreed we wanted to come back again before we went home.

After dinner, we took a short evening stroll then went back to our room to chill with some wine and crisps, spent some time on our balcony and watched some TV in bed.

[Wonder]

Another fabulous day Kate, seems like you all had a well earned relax after being so busy!

The lazy river looks fabulous, and all the pictures of the resort make it look just so magical.

[margyloveswdw]

Lovely day….the resort looks fabulous. It took me a while but I did find the mongoose in the picture 😄

[rachelhelen82]

Anther lovely day and fab pictures. Aulani is absolutely beautiful, we’d love to go back at some point ☺️

[Cutiepie]

Wow, it all looks amazing

[Pep]

All of it looks like pure paradise!

[mintybadger]

took me ages to spot the mongoose. Loving the report. Resort looks amazing.
The cat is stunning. Wonder what type of breed it is?

[bambikate]

Originally Posted by Wonder

Another fabulous day Kate, seems like you all had a well earned relax after being so busy!

The lazy river looks fabulous, and all the pictures of the resort make it look just so magical.

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Thank you! We loved the lazy river It's such a magical place x

Originally Posted by margyloveswdw

Lovely day….the resort looks fabulous. It took me a while but I did find the mongoose in the picture 😄

See more...

Haha yay glad you found it in the end. Thank you x

Originally Posted by rachelhelen82

Anther lovely day and fab pictures. Aulani is absolutely beautiful, we’d love to go back at some point ☺️

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Thank you! Yes, us too - it's so beautiful x

Originally Posted by Cutiepie

Wow, it all looks amazing

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Thank you TFR x

Originally Posted by Pep

All of it looks like pure paradise!

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It really was TFR x

Originally Posted by mintybadger

took me ages to spot the mongoose. Loving the report. Resort looks amazing.
The cat is stunning. Wonder what type of breed it is?

See more...

Ahh glad you found it in the end haha - thank you Yes it almost looks Bengal or Siamese! TFR x

[Florida1972]

Sigh…. Lovely day, relaxing, eating, drinking everything a holiday should be. Really enjoying the report, thanks for posting 😊