"I Just Wanna Feel Some Sunshine" - Aulani May 2024 - Updated 5/28 Noe Italian & Stitch

[Dis_Yoda]

Jurassic Adventure Tour Continued


This stop is also the same at the Movie Tour we took 8 years ago and it was raining more. We got silly with our photo with the Jurassic Park log.






After these stops, our next locations we would stop at would be unique to the Jurassic Adventure Tour. Unfortunately, it kept raining, especially hard, as we got to the Gyro sphere Station so I ended up with no decent photos of anything but the waterfalls that were starting to form along the mountains.




Our driver talked about how productions film here on site. Usually they work around the tours going on as if they want to rent the entire place out – they have to pay for every single seat on every single tour and pay all tour wages. The only movie that has done was Windtalkers on the days they were planning on using explosives.



The fourth stop was at the Jurassic World Entrance to visit some raptors and get in a cage with them.






Afterwards, we took about a 20-minute drive towards the Hakipu’u Valley to visit the Indominus Rex paddock. While on this drive, we saw some original Hawaiian housing that is being used for an upcoming TV Mini Series – Chief of War - with Jason Momoa and the bone yard from Kong.





We also saw the single Longhorn on the ranch & her new baby.




Also, it was interesting seeing how there’s actually spots around here that the new iPhone SOS feature doesn’t work for.

​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Jurassic Adventure Tour Continued

Our drive continued to Hakipu'u Valley











Apparently Chris Pratt is one of the few people allowed to fish at the ranch in their lakes at any time. He was well liked among the staff.

Eventually, we arrived to the Indominus Rex Paddock









One thing we noted while looking at the sites, Kualua Ranch doesn't maintain the sets and lets them go back to nature eventually. The sets are made with Hollywood Magic (aka cheaply) unless its a true safety issue. We noted this especially as we headed to the observation deck of the paddock.

​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Jurassic Adventure Tour - Conclusion

Up at the observation deck, we enjoyed the signage.





We were happy the rain had finally stopped. You can see my progression of how soaking this morning's adventure had been.









We loaded back onto the vehicle and made our way back to the main visitor area of the ranch.

Along the way back, we saw more cows.





There also was a portion of the traditional boundary markers for the Ahupua'a (the Hawaiian term for traditional subdivisions of land)
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[franandaj]

Unfortunately, it kept raining, especially hard, as we got to the Gyro sphere Station so I ended up with no decent photos of anything but the waterfalls that were starting to form along the mountains.

Ugh, that's one of the things you can expect in Hawaii, lots of rain.

Usually they work around the tours going on as if they want to rent the entire place out – they have to pay for every single seat on every single tour and pay all tour wages.

That's a LOT of money!

Our drive continued to Hakipu'u Valley

That's really beautiful!

 

[alohamom]

Following along!

 

[jedijill]

That tour sounds really good...I wasn't sure if it would be hokey or not but I'm putting it on the potential to-do list!

Jill in CO

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Ugh, that's one of the things you can expect in Hawaii, lots of rain.

That's a LOT of money!


That's really beautiful!

Yeah - it was an unusually late in the season low pressure system that made sure we had lots of rain this week.

It is a lot of money! I can see why most movies don't go for that option.

Following along!

Welcome!!!

That tour sounds really good...I wasn't sure if it would be hokey or not but I'm putting it on the potential to-do list!

Jill in CO

If you are a fan of Jurassic Park, it is totally worth it. Less intensive than doing the UTV tours but the cost is more than just the basic movie tour. It's vacation though so what's a little extra splurge?

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Tropical Farms

We were hungry after our adventure but figured we could get a nice snack at Tropical Farms as we headed to Byodo Temple. Tropical Farms is a macadamia nut store where you can taste various flavors and get to crack your own nut as well. We got our sample cup of Kona Coffee as well and sampled most of the options of macadamia nuts they had. My favorite was the Maui Onion & Garlic flavor while my husband liked the sweeter versions. We bought a bag of macadamia nut and chocolate covered popcorn, the Maui onion nuts and I got myself a hibiscus fruit punch popsicle to enjoy on our way.










Once we were back in the car after the farm, I set our GPS to Byodo Temple and went driving down the highway. Well, when I was originally planning this trip, I didn’t really put the two and two together that it was Mother’s Day. There was a huge line heading into the Valley of the Temples that was slow moving. We looked around and saw families having picnics by the graves. We saw cars being turn around at the gate while others were going through. Based on the speed this all was happening, we decided to U-turn ourselves and go back to Aulani as it didn’t seem like visiting was a wise choice this day!​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Noe

Back at the resort, I headed to the pool to enjoy a couple rounds of the lazy river before taking a nice soak in the tub and enjoying a short nap. We headed next door for dinner this evening at the Four Seasons. We had enjoyed Noe during our last trip and were hoping for a repeat performance. It met those expectations!



We were sat outside at a lovely table for 2 overlooking the gardens. My husband decided against us ordering a bottle of wine so I just went with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc to start while he had a glass of prosecco and looked over the menus and heard about the specials going on the evening. We both ended up deciding on specials for our entrees rather than off the main menu.




Focaccia Bread

I started with beef carpaccio which was a nicely smoked with a bearnaise sauce, pine nuts, and lemon zest. It was a nice light start to the meal.


House-Smoked Beef Carpaccio

For my main, I had the sweet pea ravioli with a white wine sauce. The insides were the right mix of ricotta and sweet peas so it wasn’t overly sweet like some spring pea dishes can be.


Chef’s Special Stuffed Pasta – Sweet Pea Ravioli

My husband had the other special – saffron risotto with king crab. He was shocked at the amount of meat that was included! The risotto was appropriately rich and he could only get through about half of it. I stole a few bites and enjoyed the flavors.


Chef’s Special – Saffron Risotto w/ King Crab

Halfway through my main, I had finished my wine so I went with the special cocktail of the evening. It was a vodka hibiscus spritzer and I was surprised when it came out with a chocolate covered strawberry. I put the strawberry to the side until it was time for dessert.


Mom’s Indulgence

As we ordered dessert, I went for a third drink and got a limoncello to do with our Olive Oil Cake. The olive oil cake was served with oranges and ice cream. It was a nice balance of flavors and felt like the perfect end to the meal.


Limoncello


Olive Oil Cake

We paid our bill and walked back to Aulani.​

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Stitch Time!

Back at the room, we got our backpack situated for the next day as we would be waking up at 3:30AM as we had a flight to the Big Island leaving at 6AM. I had another thing I had to handle this evening though as a few weeks prior, we ran Stitch’s 19.3 Mile Challenge at Springtime Surprise Weekend in Walt Disney World. Stitch was a good reason to get out of my RunDisney retirement and I brought that medal along for a photo session with Stitch & then Angel. As these meet & greets were later in the evening, they weren’t busy at all!














Afterwards, I headed back to the room and went to bed.​