Tag Archives: Vacation

TRAVEL

A Sincere Thank You From the Wanderlust Souls at Paupers

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Kualoa Ranch, Oahu, Hawaii

By Lakshmi:

Today marks a very special milestone for us at Paupers.  It is our 2ooth post and in just over five months we have had over 13,000 visitors from around the world visit our little alcove in cyberspace.

I want to take a moment to extend a sincere thank you to each and every one of our readers.  Through our posts and your feedback, we have been enriched with the ability to network with other wanderlust souls across the universe who continue to encourage us each day.   To us, writing about travel is sheer joy….the fact that you all chose to read us is a real privilege.

As mentioned in our posts, we start and end our days thinking about travel.  We talk incessantly about trips we have taken and places we would like to go to.  When anyone talks about their travels, we jump right in to listen.  We take equal joy in the actual act of travel as we do living vicariously through the adventures of others.

We dream about locales, people, hotels, hikes…there’s just too much out there to experience.  We devour frequent travel blogs to see how we can squeeze in yet another trip without breaking the bank.  We read twitter feeds from a multitude of hospitality companies, design firms, restaurants and more to keep us dreaming.  Our home and electronic devices are brimming with books, articles, tips and pictures that keep tempting us each day.

There is so much to do and experience and having the ability to share a little slice of our joy/adventure and tips with you all just makes our life complete. And please continue to share your incredible experiences with us! We want to continue the dialogues, the exchange of stories is what makes this so tremendous.

Thank you once again from the bottom of our hearts and please keep visiting and sharing your thoughts.  You complete our circle of life!

TRAVEL

A Kualoa Ranch Adventure on ATVs

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ATV Tour of Kualoa Ranch

By Siddhi: 

Who?  Anyone 16 years old and above interested in experiencing some of the most stunning natural landscapes on the island of Oahu while keeping their adrenaline levels high.

What? An ATV tour of the Kaʻaʻawa Valley (Kualoa Valley) that provides movie and TV lovers (especially Lost and Jurassic Park aficionados) with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean tucked between the majesty of expansive hills and arguably the most vivid greenery on the island. The Kualoa Ranch has become a top destination for travelers for both its standout scenic qualities and its proud stamp as the home of several screen wonders. An ATV tour takes you to Godzilla’s real footsteps engraved in the mud, Hurley’s golf course from the epic sci-fi drama Lost, and the set of 50 First Dates among many other cinematic locations. You can choose either a one or two hour excursion. And the best part? After a brief ten minute introduction of the vehicles and some safety instructions, you’re the master of your Kualoa adventure, even if you’ve never driven an ATV before in your life.

How? Because the ATV tours fill up very quickly even in non-peak travel periods, it’s best to book your seat online ahead of time if you know you’ll be in Oahu on a certain day. The Kualoa Ranch website makes booking a simple process:

http://www.kualoa.com/tours/

You can also call the ranch directly:

Toll Free: (800) 231-7321
Tour Desk: (808) 237-7321

We were fortunately able to call and reserve spots the morning of our ATV tour, but being one of the most popular Kualoa attractions, it’s easy to miss a spot when you want one.  The one-hour tour is $69.00 and the two-hour tour is $99.00. Also, have some cash on you if you’re interested in taking home some photos of you on your ATV. When your tour finishes, printed images of you manning your vehicle are available for purchase.

Why?  Oahu is hands down one of the most beautiful places we have visited. And those who’ve been on the island know that there is no shortage of excursions offered to take in the stunning Hawaiian scenes. But from helicopter tours to boat rides out into the Pacific, many of the island viewing approaches rely on someone or something else controlling the way you perceive the world around you. What’s incredible about the Kualoa Ranch ATV tours is that even within the structure of a “tour”, you’re driving and steering your own vehicle through some truly heart-stopping natural sites. The experience is the ideal marriage of energy and visual bliss, and is a must-do for anyone who wants to add a zealous punch to their Hawaiian adventure.

And if you’re not old enough for an ATV, the ranch also offers horseback riding, sailing tours, and movie site bus trips among a list of other options so that you can still explore Kualoa in all its glory.

DEALS

David’s Disney Vacation Club Point Rentals- A Great Discount System

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Disney’s Old Key West Resort
(www.disneyworld.disney.go.com)

By Siddhi: 

As a college student on a limited budget, I was concerned when my friend told me that our road trip to Disney would entail staying at the Old Key West Resort, one of the more upscale hotels on the property that houses the largest rooms of all the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) resorts. Browsing the site’s incredible amenities just added onto my anxiety about how I would afford paying for a DVC room in Orlando at the beginning of the summer amusement park season.

But when I found out I would only be paying a total of $200 for four nights, I was shocked. We split the cost of a room at Old Key West, so that meant that the total cost for the four of us was around $800. Still, the price tag of an early summer vacation at a high-end DVC resort seemed almost deceivingly inexpensive for what the hotel was offering, including stunning scenery, a fantastic pool, a boat rental service, a gym, and much more.

When I asked my friend how I was paying so much less than the rate that was showing up for the same four nights on the Old Key West website, he told me that he used a service called David’s Disney Vacation Club Point Rentals.

What the site essentially allows you to do is rent points from members of Disney’s Vacation Club, a timeshare program that lets guests enjoy deluxe resort and entertainment offerings. But several people who belong to the club don’t end up using all their point allotments. And so to avoid losing money on the DVC club membership, they sell their points to non-DVC members. David’s site is a highly reliable hub for people to rent these unused points.

It sounds a bit technical, but the process is very simple. David’s site provides an easy breakdown of how to go about the process.

Now I did a test to see just how dramatic the difference is between booking on actual resort sites and booking through David.

Sample Stay Dates: Sunday , August 26th – Friday, August 31st of 2012

One Bedroom Villa through Old Key West Website: Total of $4,023.46

One Bedroom Villa through David’s Website: Total of $1755.00

For the same dates and the same room, that is one heck of difference.

So if you’re planning your next vacation to Orlando’s Walt Disney World, make sure you check out David’s Disney Vacation Club Points Rental service. Old Key West is only one of many points offerings for hotels including Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge, The Contemporary, Animal Kingdom Villas, Boardwalk, and even some off-resort properties.

You can look at the point offerings and details at this site:

http://www.dvcrequest.com/

And if you are a DVC member, this is a great place for you to sell the points you can’t use as well.