Aulani, Hawaii

Getting thereDay 1Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Aulani

Chicago Midway (MDW) · United States
San Diego International (SAN) · United States
Honolulu (HNL) · United States
Aulani, Hawaii · United States

MDW → SAN

SAN → HNL

Chicago Midway (MDW)

Packed & ready to go! I was so excited for my trip! I drew a picture while on the long flight to Hawaii. Leo had never been on a plane before. He was very excited! Looking down on the clouds from above is so pretty!

Honolulu (HNL)

By Lisa

We rented a Jeep. We stayed at Aulani, a Disney Resort. We found the pin trading & photo locations. Leo likes the Disney resort. Hawaii has their own language as well as English.

Lisa and I sign I love you before takeoff

By Michael

Here we go!

Lisa with a snack at the San Diego airport

This was the start of our Father Daughter Hawaiian Adventure: Lisa and I flew from Chicago Midway to Honolulu by way of San Diego, changing planes there before the long flight over the Pacific. We signed I love you for a selfie in our seats before the first takeoff. Leo, the lion mascot from Lisa's Camp Chris, had never flown before, and she held it up to the window above the clouds and the desert. I fell asleep on that first flight, and Lisa photographed me doing it. On the long flight she drew Hawaii, signed and dated February 27, 2024.

Lisa catches Michael asleep on the flight

Someone is REALLY ready for this exciting trip.

Lisa and Michael signing I love you on the flight to San Diego

Lisa's drawing of Hawaii, dated February 27

Lisa's travel companion along for the flight

Red rock canyons through the clouds below

Aulani, Hawaii

Lisa at dinner under the palms, our first night

By Michael

Flying in over Aulani and Pearl Harbor.

We landed in Honolulu in the late afternoon and picked up a rental Jeep. We drove out to Ko Olina as the sun went down and checked in at Aulani, Disney's resort on Oahu, at about half past six. The TV in our room was waiting with E Komo Mai, Ka 'Ohana Rennhack: welcome, Rennhack family. Lisa put a flower in her hair, and we had dinner outside under the palms to end the first day of our father-daughter trip to Hawaii.

Dinner after a long day of travels.

Checking in at Aulani's colorful front desk

Day 2Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Aulani

Aulani, Hawaii · United States
Luau at Aulani · United States

Luau at Aulani — Lei of kukui nuts, a hula lesson; check-in 5:05 pm, the luau 5:10 to 7:00 pm, with an ASL interpreter for Lisa

By Lisa

Because of the time change, we woke up before the sun! (5 a.m. in Hawaii is 10 a.m. at home) Leo enjoyed watching the sun rise! Leo thinks the ocean is beautiful. He also liked the volcanic rocks. He liked the Hawaiian plants & enjoyed the sun! Mickey Mouse signed my surfboard. I met Goofy and Pluto. Moana lives in Hawaii. Angel is Stitch’s friend. They live in Hawaii. Went swimming with Goofy. Said hi to Duffy. Hawaiian Shave Ice.

Disney provided an interpreter for the Luau. She taught me how to sign Aloha. They gave us a Lei made from nuts. I learned how to make Poi, a Hawaiian food. (I did not like Poi) I learned how to play the Ukulele. We learned how to Hula dance. There are many types of Hula dances. This dance is the story of Maui. What a night, time for bed!

Aulani, Hawaii

Lisa and Michael watch the sunrise together

By Michael

Lisa and I were up before the sun, five in the morning in Hawaii but ten back home in Michigan. We walked down to the lagoon for the sunrise, and Lisa set Leo up on the volcanic rocks to watch it too.

Breakfast came with characters. Mickey signed Lisa's surfboard ("Aloha, your pal, Mickey Mouse"), Pluto came by the table, and Lisa got Mickey waffles. Later we met Moana on the resort grounds and looked over the Aulani pins. In the middle of the day we went swimming, and Goofy posed with us at the pool. Then Hawaiian shave ice, and Lisa took Leo to the beach. Late in the afternoon, dressed for the evening, we met Minnie, and she signed the surfboard too.

Mickey's signature on Lisa's surfboard, Aloha your pal

Pluto with his surfboard stops by our breakfast table at Aulani

Lisa, Goofy in his aloha outfit and Michael at the Aulani pool

Michael, Minnie Mouse in her blue evening dress and Lisa at Aulani

Pointing out the sunrise view along the beach

Lisa and Michael under the trees by the lagoon

Lisa, Mickey Mouse in his aloha outfit and Michael at Aulani

Michael, Goofy in his chef's outfit and Lisa at Aulani

Pluto stopping by our breakfast table with Lisa

Aulani's pools and lazy river from above

Moana between Michael and Lisa on the resort grounds

Michael, Daisy Duck in her purple sundress and sun hat and Lisa at Aulani

Lisa and Michael with Chip and Dale in their aloha shirts on the lawn at Aulani

Michael meets Moana in the resort gardens at Aulani

Michael, Angel in her flower lei and Lisa at Aulani

Lisa, Duffy in his aloha shirt and Michael at Aulani

Minnie Mouse in her blue evening dress signing Lisa's surfboard at Aulani

🎭 Luau at Aulani

Lisa and Michael in our leis before the luau

By Michael

The evening was the luau at Aulani, check-in at 5:05 and the luau itself running until about seven. They gave us leis of kukui nuts, and there was a hula lesson. Disney provided an ASL interpreter for the luau, and she taught Lisa how to sign Aloha. Lisa also learned to make poi (she wrote afterward that she did not like poi) and to play the ukulele. We had our photo taken with two of the luau dancers, then watched the show: hula and a fire knife dance. Back in the room Lisa posed Bob and Leo in their leis. As she wrote in her trip book: "What a night, time for bed."

Lisa with her ASL interpreter for the luau

Dancers in feathered headdresses at the luau

Day 3Thursday, February 29, 2024

Pearl Harbor · USS Arizona Memorial · Magnum Helicopters · Diamond Head · Sacred Falls · Kualoa Ranch

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii · United States
USS Arizona Memorial, Hawaii · United States
Magnum Helicopters, Honolulu · United States
Diamond Head, Hawaii · United States
Sacred Falls, Hawaii · United States
Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii · United States

Pearl Harbor: USS Arizona Memorial & USS Bowfin — The USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum, 8:30 to 11:30 am, with an ASL interpreter for Lisa from 8:45 to 10:45
Magnum Helicopters doors-off tour — Diamond Head, Hidden Dragon Waterfall, Sacred Falls and Pu’u Kanehoalani, 12:00 to 1:35 pm, a loop from the heliport by Honolulu airport
Kualoa Movie Ranch Tour — Movie sites including the Kong: Skull Island set and a World War II bunker, 2:45 to 5:00 pm, with an ASL interpreter for Lisa

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

By Lisa

Pearl Harbor provided an interpreter. USS Bowfin Submarine Museum in Pearl Harbor. This ring is the size of the submarine. The Japanese had a larger military than the US.

Diamond Head, Hawaii

By Lisa

TV Show ‘Magnum PI’ was made in Hawaii. We dressed like Magnum PI. This is the helicopter from the TV show. Diamond Head Volcanic Cone.

Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii

By Lisa

The Movie Ranch provided an interpreter. This bunker was used in World War 2. Kong, Skull Island movie set.

By Michael

Lisa and I dressed as Magnum PI for the day: red Hawaiian shirts and Detroit Tigers caps, like Magnum's. Bob wore a matching red Hawaiian shirt and came along too.

Lisa and Michael ride the boat out to the memorial

We started at Pearl Harbor, and Pearl Harbor provided an ASL interpreter for Lisa from 8:45 to 10:45. We walked the historic sites and the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum, then took the boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial. From the rail we looked down at the rusted base of one of the Arizona's gun turrets in the water, and inside, flowers lay above the names of survivors who chose to rejoin their shipmates.

From there we drove to Magnum Helicopters, near the Honolulu airport, and added sunglasses and stick-on mustaches. We sat in a red Ferrari in front of a green screen (with Bob between us), posed with the orange and yellow Magnum PI helicopter, and Bob had his picture taken in its seat. Then the doors-off flight, Lisa's first time in a helicopter: over Diamond Head, Hidden Dragon Waterfall, Sacred Falls and Pu'u Kanehoalani, round the North Shore and back down over Pearl Harbor. As Lisa put it, "It's windy with the doors off." We landed back at the heliport we left from, and her hair showed it.

After lunch we drove to the Kualoa Movie Ranch, Lisa taking a selfie of the three of us in the open Jeep with Bob in his sunglasses along the way; the tour ran from 2:45 to 5:00, and the movie ranch provided an interpreter too. We posed in front of a Kong mural, then toured the film sites: the Kong: Skull Island set and its giant bones, a Jumanji sign, and a World War II bunker, Battery Cooper. Lisa photographed the Ko'olau cliffs on the drive back to Aulani, where we were by half past six.

Lisa and I, dressed as Magnum PI, at Pearl Harbor

Lisa with her ASL interpreter at Pearl Harbor

Lisa and Michael at the USS Arizona Memorial

Lisa and Michael look down at the Arizona's gun turret

Lisa, Bob and Michael head to Kualoa in the Jeep

Lisa with her ASL interpreter at Kualoa Ranch

Lisa and Michael posed against the Kong mural

Lisa and Michael among the giant bones at Kualoa

Magnum Helicopters, Honolulu

By Michael

Magnum PI helicopter tour.

Lisa and Michael with the Magnum PI helicopter

Lisa, Bob and Michael in the photo-op Ferrari

Lisa and our helicopter pilot after landing

Day 4Friday, March 1, 2024

Aulani

Aulani, Hawaii · United States

The surfboard signed by Disney characters, in the sand

By Michael

Our last morning at Aulani started with a Mickey-shaped breakfast from the market. Then Lisa took Leo and Bob down to the beach one more time. Bob wore a lion's mane, and as Lisa wrote in her trip book, "Bob pretended to be Leo." She posed the two of them in the sand and on the surfboard Mickey and Minnie had signed, while a sailing canoe with a red sail crossed the lagoon.

We packed up, left about half past ten and drove to Honolulu, returned the Jeep, and went on to the pier, where our cruise began. That is its own story.