Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - the Hawaii section part 2 THIS SECTION COMPLETED 2/3 - Page 22 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
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It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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What a relaxing day! And in such a beautiful atmosphere!
Weird that there is no hot tub in the adult area?
The only thing I can think of is that it's an area they added on after they completed Aulani and maybe they couldn't fit one in. I'm not quite sure what the story is with the expansion of the grounds, whether it was always intended to happen or whether they had to do it, realising that they didn't have the capacity they needed?
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Your pictures are good for the soul! It's been a rotten month here in South- Eastern Ontario and snow is falling yet again so the beautiful images of the sunset and trees are making me happy! If this is a so-so sunset then I can't wait to see a good one (maybe from your tour tomorrow?)
There was one night where I would say the sunset was spectacular, but you will have a bit of a wait for that one.. By spectacular, I mean sky all brilliant orange/red - that's the sort of sunset I adore.
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Thursday 7 November – part five: one of the best desserts ever!
We carried on wandering and got a few more twilight photos….
… and then headed back to the room to get ready for our dinner at ‘Ama Ama.
We wandered over there, getting some night time shots on the way…
This was the first time we’d really been inside ‘Ama Ama, and it’s very beautiful:
If you’ve wondered about its name, and I know I have, here’s the explanation:
We were seated a couple of minutes after we arrived at one of the front row tables, which would have provided a beautiful view of the beach, had the sun not already set but it was still fun to sit there, and watch the world go by, albeit at night.
The front of the menu
We saw a fair few planes come and go while we sat there, and we both commented that they must’ve changed the flight path, as we hadn’t seen as many so far this stay as we had today.
We also got some photos of the restaurant from our table:
Jamie-Lynn was our server, and she was very good, and patient with us, as we tried wine after wine after wine, before I decided on a Riesling, and Mark went for Conundrum. We got there in the end, getting a glass of each! By now, it was 7:00pm, having been seated half an hour earlier, and we did wonder if that meant that we’d have a long meal, but not a bit of it. We weren’t rushed, but equally the service wasn’t slow, it was very well paced.
For appetiser, I went for the roasted Kamuela tomato soup with a mini truffled Brie cheese and Portuguese sweet bread “sandwich”. The flavours in this were superb, and really impressed me. However, the only issue was the presentation of the dish. Beautiful as it was, it just wasn’t practical, as when it came for me to cut into the thing, I almost sent the whole dish flying.
Mark had the shaved Serrano ham flatbread topped with Nicoise olives, Manchego cheese, Maui onion with roasted garlic, and red chimichurri sauce. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the greatest choice for him, as the cheese affected his sinuses.
For entrée, I had the Hawaiian snapper with a fricassee of keahole lobster, artichoke, and Kahuku corn, served with white wine lemongrass sauce. Unfortunately, it was a bad choice for me. I haven’t had snapper in a couple of years now, and boy my tastes have changed, as I really did not enjoy this. It wasn’t the taste, it was the texture of the thing I couldn’t deal with. I ended up leaving a fairly large chunk of it. It wasn’t Disney’s fault, these things happen, but it was a shame, as the appetiser was so good to begin with.
Mark went for the beef filet with a braised short rib croquette, horseradish potato puree with espelette, served with a sauted island kale and bacon.
I wanted to get rid of the taste of the snapper, so I had a look at the dessert menu, and immediately the pineapple crème brulee in puff pastry with pineapple compote jumped out at me, so I ordered that, and we shared the dish. We both agreed that this was a complete winner, it was just wonderful.
It had been a very good meal, with the exception of my entrée. It was a shame that it was ruined to a certain extent by the large group in the corner, who did get quite loud at times. It also meant that we didn’t see as much of Jamie-Lynn as we’d have liked, and she did apologise for that, and we ended up with another server pitching in, but as Mark said, it shouldn’t have happened like that, and it’s a shame the front desk didn’t plan it a bit better.
The meal was expensive, but thankfully, from looking at the menu, I was expecting that. I’d budgeted $200 for this meal, and including tip, it came to $191, so I wasn’t far off. It’s certainly in line with a signature meal at Disney World, possibly a bit more pricey, but then again, that’s what you expect with Hawaii.
’Ama Ama
Appetiser 10 5½
Entrée 6 9
Dessert 10 10
Service 9 9
Atmosphere 9 9
Value for money 8 8
Average score: 8.54
We left around 8:15pm, amazed by how quiet this place was. I was getting the impression that a lot of people staying here are heading over to the shopping complex we’d visited a couple of days ago to get their dinner, as there certainly weren’t very many people here. It’s a shame, as it’s well worth a visit.
We made our way back to the room, getting a few final night-time shots on the way.
The weather today was hot with some sun and some cloud with temperatures in the low 80s. The best thing today was spending the day at Aulani. The worst thing today was my choice of entrée at ‘Ama Ama. The funniest thing today was Mark sleeping on the lazy river! Today we tried the Makahiki character buffet And the result was we both really enjoyed it. The most magical moment today was Minnie putting our rings together for a photo.
Next: I can see why they call this the garden isle!
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Looks like a very nice restaurant, but I'm not surprised that a lot of people go to the shopping strip nearby. If you're at Aulani for a week, you might have one or two meals at each restaurant and then want to try something different.
Wow...that Grand Villa is really something else. And the views....pure heaven.
Breakfast looked fun. It's so nice when the characters make it extra special.
You lazy day sounds wonderful. I could go for that right now....it is bitter cold here.
Dinner looks nice, though too bad you didn't like your entre. But I have done that before, where I order something I think I like, but it's just not the same anymore to me.
Even though you didn't have a brilliant sunset, I do think the pictures are beautiful.
Beautiful shots of the resort at night, they did a great job with the lighting! Sorry your entree was a bust, but at least the rest of the meal was tasty
Twilight is just the best. Photos usually don't do it justice, but yours are looking pretty good! Bummer your choice in entree didn't turn out as good as it could have been. But dessert, wow! I never thought of creme brulee in a pastry before. And with Pineapple! Totally makes up for it!
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What a wonderful, relaxing day! The grounds are truly spectacular. Hope we can see it for ourselves some day! Sorry you didn't care for your entrée. That is a shame, though the dessert looks yummy. Hopefully that compensated for the disappointing fish. I'm enjoying your pictures so much... the resort is so beautiful! Looking forward to hearing about your next day.
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I'm not quite sure what the story is with the expansion of the grounds, whether it was always intended to happen or whether they had to do it, realising that they didn't have the capacity they needed?
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By spectacular, I mean sky all brilliant orange/red - that's the sort of sunset I adore.
The adults only pool looks beautiful.
but it was still fun to sit there, and watch the world go by, albeit at night. 
By now, it was 7:00pm, having been seated half an hour earlier, and we did wonder if that meant that we’d have a long meal, but not a bit of it. We weren’t rushed, but equally the service wasn’t slow, it was very well paced. 
Totally makes up for it!
Aimee
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