HAWAII

       This is the outside of the Aulani driving up to it from the road.

      This view is from out by the ocean looking back toward the resort.

       Our view of the pool/beach area. 

 Welcome from our t.v. that we got every night.  It was fun to have it all so personalized.

             The lei the girls were presented on check-in.  Very fragrant!!

So, we went to Hawaii.  It was unbelievably fun and so beautiful.  We stayed at the Aulani-A Disney Resort.  I put all that because that is what it was always called.  The first installment of these updates will be pictures taken around the resort.  It was an amazing place.  The lobby was all open air from one side to the other so there was always a breeze going through.  When we arrived there was a bellman there to put our luggage onto a cart.  He handed us a ticket and told us to give it to the person that checked us in and they would see that our luggage made it to our room.  Then we were greeted by another young lady and she presented us girls with VERY fragrant leis and Philip with a nutshell necklace.  We were then given the grand tour of the lobby and taken to the check-in counter.  We were all given room keys with our own names on them-even the kids and proceeded to our room.  About 5 minutes later, the nice young bellhop arrived with our luggage.  He offered to get us ice or water or whatever we needed.  Overall, I think it was one of the easiest check-ins we have ever done.  Once in our room, we checked out the view---WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Of course the kids wanted to get changed and hit the pools.  Considering we had no transportation that day, we decided we might as well.  In our haste, we forgot sunscreen.  Woops.  Oh well, we lived.  Just a few highlights of the resort:  Poolside service--no matter where you are around the pool, you can flag down a wait person and make an order from one of the restaurants there and they will bring the food to your seat.  Plus (which can become a bad thing) you can charge it to your room with the room key so that is all you have to carry.  Another highlight is the flyer they put out every morning so you can plan your day.  It lists all the activities for all the different age groups for the day so you can plan and know where you need to be when.  Also, the hotel has a concierge for planning activities there through the resort, or off property activities.  They even have a place on property that you can rent a car for the day.  It is a bit more expensive than elsewhere, but definitely more convenient.  I have decided that I really like the extra mile that Disney goes to make it special.