WooHoo - 2007 trip set

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

This morning found that I have a week on hold at Paniolo Greens, summer 2007. This will match up with the week we already have confirmed at Kona Coast. Yippee!!! Now I just need to work on getting the airline tickets with ff miles.

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

Congratulations - it's nice to have something to look forward to.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

And always nice to hear about a wish fulfilled, enjoy!

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

congrats.....I'm glad it all came together for you....enjoy!!!

[jd2601 Member Find all posts View Profile Close jd2601]

Congratulations, You will have a great time. We just returned from Paniolo Greens. There is so much to do on the BI. While at Paniolo Greens we toured Kona Coast II, not sure if this is the other resort you have reserved.

Have a great time and let me know any questions I can answere.

jd2601

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Good Deal!

I'm glad that on-goings still get filled (you'd never know from the way mine is going ). You must have been thrilled when you checked your account!

Now where are you going in 2008?

[Ann-Marie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ann-Marie]

I can feel your excitement! I have my 2 weeks back to back for next summer, and just got the first leg of the FF seats. Hopefully I get the return as well.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Now where are you going in 2008?

Hmmm, that would be a "non Hawaii" year. Not sure yet,

And I just booked the first two nights of our trip into the Kilauea Lodge, a favorite of ours. I had used their online system to request two nights in August, 2007 and got a message back that they were already booked. When I called I found that it was 2006 that was booked, not 2007. I was pretty sure this was the case. Now, just waiting for the date to start trying for the ff miles.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I'm curious, LuAnne... if you had ONE week on the Big Island (as I do), and had a choice b/t Paniolo and somewhere in Kona (I've got Fairfield Kona Hawaiian village), which would you choose? This is our first trip, and I've been warned by FFKHV that I will likely end up in an older unit on the groud floor....

Also, if we are at Paniolo Greens, how far is the drive to VNP? Is it still long enough to warrant an overnite at VNP (we would do that if staying in Kona).

I know I need to stop looking at last minute avaiability, I just can't help myself!

Thanks,
Avery

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Avery, wherever you stay on the Big Island you're going to have to do quite a bit of driving to see everything. There are pluses, and minuses, to both locations. If you stay at Paniolo Greens you are closer to the beautiful beaches at Hapuna and the Mauna Kea, to Hawi, Waimea and the Waikoloa Resort area. I also think it might be quicker to get to Hilo. If you stay in Kona you are closer to Kona itself and all points south. And yes, you would be a little closer to Volcano National Park (it will still take you a couple of hours to get there).

What we've usually done is just take the luck of the draw and go with wherever we get a week. If I actually had the choice between the two locations I think I'd be torn. I would probably go with the Kona location since I love the little town. We've stayed at both resorts and think both are really nice. Paniolo Greens is older and is in a location that can get very windy. Kona Hawaiian Village was very nice, much newer. One kind of strange thing is that there is no dining table in the unit, so you either end up eating out on the lanai (which is usually quite pleasant), but doesn't give you the option of eating inside (although there may be a breakfast bar, I don't really remember).

Actually, you really can't go wrong with either location.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Just a note to let you guys know about the Volcano. When you go start out early you want to walk out in day light. It takes a long time to get over there since you have to drive around the Volcano park. The sooner you get there the closer you can park to it. Each person in your party will need 2 bottles of water, 1 flashlight, a walking stick and old comfortable shoes that you don't mind throwing out after going there.
Oh and don't forget the camera.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Actually in all of our trips we have never walked out to see the lava flow. We did try the first time we went to Volcano National Park, but with two relatively young kids at the time and a klutz of a mom (me) it was obvious we weren't going to make it. Last summer (2005) when we went they trail out was actually closed as a portion of it had either fallen into the ocean, or was just about to. I've heard the viewing is incredible if you do make it out, but you also need to check and make sure the lava will be viewable before making the trek. There is still lots to see in the park even if you don't make it out to the lava flow.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Avery, wherever you stay on the Big Island you're going to have to do quite a bit of driving to see everything. There are pluses, and minuses, to both locations. If you stay at Paniolo Greens you are closer to the beautiful beaches at Hapuna and the Mauna Kea, to Hawi, Waimea and the Waikoloa Resort area. I also think it might be quicker to get to Hilo. If you stay in Kona you are closer to Kona itself and all points south. And yes, you would be a little closer to Volcano National Park (it will still take you a couple of hours to get there).

What we've usually done is just take the luck of the draw and go with wherever we get a week. If I actually had the choice between the two locations I think I'd be torn. I would probably go with the Kona location since I love the little town. We've stayed at both resorts and think both are really nice. Paniolo Greens is older and is in a location that can get very windy. Kona Hawaiian Village was very nice, much newer. One kind of strange thing is that there is no dining table in the unit, so you either end up eating out on the lanai (which is usually quite pleasant), but doesn't give you the option of eating inside (although there may be a breakfast bar, I don't really remember).

Actually, you really can't go wrong with either location.

Well, I spent the last few hours at the beach perusing my Big Island Revealed and came to pretty much the same conclusion. Since it seems Paniolo will not save a lot of driving to VNP, we will end up shelling out the $ for the cottage at VNP anyway, so I can't justify keeping PG to use for just a couple of nights. So I am going to release it, if anyone wants to try to coordinate, the check in is 8/12, it is a 2 bedroom.

Thank you for your input, and to both you and Frank for the VNP tips.