Makahiki character breakfast was good fun.
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The Luana lounge you can book on checkout day for an hour at the front desk but my issue is that you have to go back to front desk to get the key. They should give it to you all at once and it only works after the set it like your room key. Also it’s not a solo area like I expected for some reason so you will be sharing it. The locker room has two showers with shampoo, conditioner and bath wash but it’s not like the spa locker rooms with mouthwash, feminine hygiene products, plastic bags for your wet swimsuit etc so come prepared if you did like my and beach/pooled it to the last minute! It is free and you can’t beat that. 
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hawaii.
Tomorrows itinerary.
7:35 AM Arrive AUS
Short and sweet lol
I may or may not go to work.
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Thanks for taking us along on your journey! What an amazing trip! Memories to last a lifetime.
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By the way the pineapple itself was literally one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my life. I was breaking it apart and eating off the chunks it was so good.
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I enjoyed following your report so much and, selfishly, it has given me so much to think about for our trip now semi-confirmed for April/May 2024.
I know what a huge cost (in time and $) this trip involves and you deserve to love every painstakingly planned second of it but I really really appreciate your candid takes on a lot of things that you didn’t love too. It helped me fully accept that ABD is not the way to go for us as much as I would like to try it.
I suspected that the days would be too long for our early-to-bed early-to-rise crew and your experience really seemed to underscore that. Your food reports give me confidence that me and Google (if not our actual TA) can do better especially for the 2/4 of our group with tricky dietary restrictions than the options ABD went with and we don’t do well with long bus-type excursions so yeah…
On the other hand, you really made Hawaï look good and I’m so happy to see you get a bit of a vacation from your vacation!
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Hello Lone 
state. Thanks for the warm welcome (ahem 10 days of over 100 temps to look forward to). 
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Welcome back!! Fantastic trip 
Thanks for sharing with us.
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DM wasn’t feeling well yesterday and today. Thought it was a hangover from Ama Ama but she just took a covid test and it’s positive 
It’s still out there folks. I’ll keep you posted about us and be careful if you’re high risk.
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So sorry to hear this! I hope it is mild - and I’m very glad that COVID did not impact the trip itself.
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Oh, no! Hopefully your DM will recover quickly.
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Mine is negative so far.
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We all agree HI was the best part of the trip! Not that we didn’t have fun in Japan but there was very little wrong with Aulani. And we had more freedom to split up like we did with half of us ATVing and the other half doing water activities. So I think the flexibility of doing it yourself personally make us happier. But I do also get that a guided tour is easier for those that don’t enjoy planning and have a lot of endurance. Personally, I’d recommend doing day tours like we did in China for some things. They are personalized to your desires but can help with language barriers without being daily restrictive. Overall I am not happy with how much I paid tbh. I just know I could have done it better. But at least I can now say I’ve tried it as an adult and know guided group tours aren’t for me.
Also my most favorite parts of Japan were mostly the things I booked and did like Disneyland. I did enjoy the drumming and biking and being in Takayama parts of the tour a lot though. And the torii trail was awesome. So I’d try to find day guides ways of working in some of the interesting things Disney included. That’s what I did in China. Like I saw they did a Sichuan cooking class I was interested in so I booked us one on a day tour.
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DH and DFather also Covid free so far.
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Kukui beads! 
Great photo.
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Which we saw live ones on the tree during our hike (I think it was on a tree and not a bush, I’m not a plant person LOL!)
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Got my positive today too. Ugh.
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