Why I Oughta...

On most days, I commute to and from work through Chicago's Union Station and barely notice the station as I hustle off the train, down the platform and up/out of the station. But a few weeks ago, Nat sent me/tagged me in a friend's Instagram post while I was at the office.  At first, it didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.  Brooke's post is embedded below and if you're following her on Instagram, it shouldn't come as a surprise that her photo features Mickey Mouse.  But, then the caption hit me and realized that she was talking about *my* train station.  She was there, on a fake beach with Mickey the Mouse.  What the What? View this post on Instagram Mickey and some friends from @disneyaulani showed up at Chicago’s Union Station today and reminded me how much I love that Hawaiian paradise. Brb checking flights. 😎🏝🌺✈️ . . . . . #alohawindycity #disneyaulani #disneyvacationclub #hawaii #mic

One of the kids bought this Duffy pin during our stay at Aulani from earlier this year, but I just found it amongst their toys randomly.  But, I should have known that there was a third pin because I only documented two Aulani-related pins from our trip:  the O'lu turtle pin and this "Happy Holidays" Aulani pin featuring both Duffy and Shellie Mae . This "Aloha Duffy" with his Hawaiian shirt and luau necklace is going right on our pin board ( here's the first one and here's the second one ) in the garage alongside the rest of the pins we've collected. With my travels to Tokyo Disney, I've been able to bring home a few other Duffy and Friends-related things for the kids and they seem to love him.  Despite being pulled out of the American parks in all things but for the "Good Night Show" that they play at the resorts.  Oh, you haven't had your kids watch it?  Mine love it and this version on YouTube means we can even watch i

Keeping the pool bracelets that they give guests (in an attempt to keep the resort pool to guests staying there only) on your wrist as a collection isn't just for kids.  It is also an Adult Aulani pro-move, too.  Nat didn't participate, but that didn't stop me from rolling the rainbow collection up my arm while we were there.  I mean....why not go down the tube slide with this many bracelets on your wrist, right? 

In early January, I posted about 2019 garden trends and highlighted gabion-style walls (retaining walls made of loose stone/other items that are kind of bound by wire/mesh fence) while discussing how the style was appealing in what we're thinking about for our own backyard.  But, while on vacation in Ko' Olina in Hawaii at Disney's Aulani, I noticed that they've selected a different wall style that they use across the resort.  You can see it above and below in two different uses.  Top is a waterfall along with retaining wall.  Below the photo is just a retaining wall.  In both of these cases, they've used what I presume to be a stone/rock veneer that is all one color and irregular in shape.  Mostly round(ish) and stacked without thick mortar lines in most areas, but clean, straight lines at the top and on the corners/edges.  Kind of the best of both worlds:  natural shapes from the material, but clean lines from the edges.  There's a stone veneer availab

Could there be anything more adorable (and Instagram-ready) than this use of day-old bananas at breakfast?  These banana dolphins are at breakfast at Disney's Aulani in Hawaii.  Along with those Mickey Waffles, this is a cute kids plate, right?  And, these would be so easy to replicate for a kids party, wouldn't they? Sure, Disney does a great job being authentic to Hawaii at Aulani.  And they give you great customer service.  And they do a great job with the kids.  But they also do the little things like this banana dolphin that make the experience a little bit better.

If you're anything like us and have been to Disney Parks from time to time, your kids have probably been covered in various character stickers from cast members.  Most often these days, those stickers are coming from cast members (salespeople) who are manning Disney Vacation Club kiosks in the parks and in/around the resort hotels/property. The stickers that are most common are of just Mickey the Mouse himself.  Either of his head by itself of his whole body .  There are other, what I'll call 'more rare' stickers that you can get inside the parks and I've chronicled some of those.  Most recently, we were given this 'Honorary Aviator' sticker from the guys at Soarin' in DCA .  Job-specific roles on the cast have stickers, too.  Here's one from a custodian .  And one from a Monorail pilot .  And we were given this Minnie Mouse sticker somewhere in the parks - which is less common than Mickey. However, during our stay at Aulani in Hawaii, we cam

If you're a Disney person, you've probably heard about the Disneyland cats.  This Vice story does a good job unpacking the whole feline operation in Anaheim .  There's more than 100 feral cats that live in and around Disneyland Park that are fed and tended to (even tagged and neutered!) by Disney cast members/staff.  All in the name of reducing the rodent population - which they do a pretty great job. Just to be clear here:  We're not cat people in the Parrillo household.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to rain on your cat parade.  Just not going to be besties with Beth O and bring in cats to our house.   Seeing cats out in the wild?  Just fine, though.  And, for the record, this is the first entry into the archives with the [ Cats ] tag. As a Disney fan, you likely know the Disneyland cats story.  But, here's something you may not know:  there are cats at Disney's Aulani in Hawaii, too.  Here's a couple of photos of them.  The one up top

There are hundreds of unique things about Disney's Aulani Resort in Hawaii that we encountered during our stay and many of them were 'traditional' or true to Hawaiian culture.  But the most interesting ones (for me at least) were the activities and experiences that kind of sat at the intersection of Hawaii AND Disney.  And, I think that's what makes Aulani such a special place.  You get all the awesomeness of Hawaii PLUS the Disney experience.  That means great service.  Great 'show' (landscaping, buildings, etc).  And sometimes you get a little bit of Disney theme'ing.  These Mickey Mouse shave ice cups that you see in the photo above is one of those things.  Aulani has a place that serves shave ice (not "shaved ice") called  Pāpālua Shave Ice that is kind of situated on the island in the middle of the pool area.  The entire middle grounds of the resort - which includes the pool area and some restaurants is called the Waikolohe Valley Pool

A week back, I posted a photo of the Christmas-themed pin from Aulani that one of the kids picked out and mentioned that we picked up a few other ones.  Today is the pin featuring 'Olu the Turtle.  He's "A Disney friend of Duffy".  Who is 'Olu the Turtle? And how did he meet Duffy? From the Disney Parks Blog : As Mickey and Duffy sailed the islands on a quest to find the perfect birthday present for ShellieMay, rhythmic sounds of an ‘ukulele called to them over the ocean, leading them to a cozy cove and to ‘Olu, a kindhearted turtle playing happy music.  ‘Olu smiled and shyly greeted Duffy, “I play my ‘ukulele to make songs of love. Want to sing with me?” ‘Olu strummed a beautiful song for his new friends. “That will be the perfect present for ShellieMay!” said Duffy excitedly. Off to the party they went, singing the special song together for their birthday friend. He's exclusively at Aulani in Hawaii, so they have a full suite of 'Olu the Turtle

Have we talked about Aulani?  A little bit on the blog, right?  Welp, here's a coaster that I added to the [ coaster collection ] here on the blog from the Aulani Resort in Hawaii.   This is the 35th coaster in the collection and follows the most recent addition of #34 from the Lamplight Lounge at Disney's California Adventure .  This is the 12th Disney-related coaster in t he collection - which means more than 1/3rd of them are Disney-themed. The full Disney list includes: 1. The standard one you see in your rooms @ Walt Disney World resort hotels . 2. This black and white one from the original Disneyland Resort Hotel . 3. This *new* Walt Disney World resort hotel version that updates the look of #1 above. 4. One from the Irish pub Raglan Road restaurant in Disney Springs. 5. From inside the Magic Kingdom comes this one from the Skipper Canteen . 6. Right outside the Boardwalk Inn Hotel is where we got this coaster from the Flying Fish restaurant . 7. Back in D

Before we get too far away from the holiday season, I wanted to post this new addition to our pin board:  a Limited Edition 2018 Happy Holidays - Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa Christmas ornament pin that opens up to reveal a couple of special Aulani friends: Duffy and his lady friend ShellieMay.  You Disney pros know who they are.  But those of you who are confused why Mickey the Mouse isn't in there?  Read this piece about who is the most popular Disney characters in Asia . We've been to Disney Parks in the past around Christmas time and because of that, we usually end up with at least one Christmas-related Disney Pin.  I've covered some of these on the blog before. Here's a photo and post about a Stormtrooper with a candy cane holiday Disney pin .   Here's a Haunted Mansion Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party pin from 2015 .   We also bought two other pins from the same party in 2015 including one with Mickey, Minnie and Pluto and the other