Mililani High School Carnival

As an alumni, I wish we had this back when I was in school. Such a fun and smart fundraising idea, but a great way for us alumni's to give back and support. So it's inevitable that I'll run into others that I once had class with or teachers I remembered. My family and I enjoy all the rides and games. I finally won 2 huge smurf dolls from playing the challenging milk can game. We try to make an effort to come out to this one since it's so close instead of the 50th state fair, Punahou, Hawaii Kai, and Waimanalo. But I can say that I've been to all and even worked at some way back when. On the other hand, it's can get overly crowded and parking lots around the school, YMCA and Mililani Waena charges a $5 parking fee.. street parking is free if you're lucky. The carnival is currently on this weekend. During the evening and at night I wouldn't recommend bringing a stroller. It's so crowded in the top parking lot that it's such a hassle to walk through. However I can't believe they fit everything on the top lot. Would be nice to have it at the football field but I'm not sure if they would need to stake the nice grass turf.

The sky was gloomy with a light drizzle, but it didn't stop the crowd from showing up to the annual Mililani High School Carnival this past weekend. It seemed very well organized. There was ample parking on campus for a $5.00 fee or drivers could take their chances finding street parking nearby. The uniformed military personnel and students at the gates were very polite, respectful and helpful in providing directions upon arrival.Next, the layout of the event was sectioned off well. As families entered, I noticed the childrens' eyes fill up with excitement as they ran in towards the carnival rides pulling their parents' arms encouraging them to hurry-- my daughter included. Coupon booths were strategically placed in all of the right places for customer convenience. The rides were separated for the "big kids," then a little further in, on the left, the little ones could enter "Keiki Land" for their rides. Ride coupons cost $15.00 for a sheet of 10 scripts and $1.50 for individual tickets. Most rides were 3-4 scripts by the big kid section and 2 scripts in Keiki Land.Directly across Keiki Land, were booths from HPD, where parents could sign their kids up for a free photo ID (fingerprint included), and The U.S. Vets, where the children could pet a few service dogs while they waited for their IDs to print. Other booths included a place where kids could get temporary tattoos ranging from 4 scripts to 14 scripts depending on the design choosen. Again, script booths were strategically placed for customer convenience.Adjacent to those specialty booths was the dining area and food booths. There was a variety of options to choose from, such as Tacos in a Bag, Filipino plate lunches (the pork belly is roasted right in front of you), as well as desserts like shave ice and ice cream. All seemed like popular choices judging by the formation of the lines in front of each booth.Then, inside the cafeteria were even more booths, such as the official photo booth for the event, which cost 8 scripts for one sitting. Going back outside, you'd find the carnival games and circle back to the "big kid" rides again.Overall, this event was a very well thought-out, well-planned and well-executed event. At the end of the day, my daughter told us that she had a lot of fun and the 4-star rating was actually hers, which I thought would be appropriate to ask her for her opinion being that this was a family event geared toward kids.

After a 20-year absence, the Mililani High School Carnival returns to the community! 2015 dates:Feb 20, 2015 Friday from 3 PM to 11 PMFeb 21, 2015 Saturday from 11 AM to 11 PMFeb 22, 2015 Sunday from 11 AM to 6 PMPARKING is to be found along the side streets or you can pay $5 at Mililani Waena Elementary for parking. Ride tickets = one coupon $1.50 or a book of ten for $15.00RIDES by EK Fernandez = there's a mix of rides for the tiny tots to the Screaming Fire Ball - the 360 degree roller-coaster where you go around in circles upside down and hope the Funnel Cake you ate doesn't come flopping out of your gut onto your face. Kiddie rides include the carousel, Magic Maze (hall of mirrors and a slide), Crazy Plane, Helicopter, Super Slide and the speedway (fixed rail car buggys).Other rides for tweens/adults and daring kids include the Zipper, Area 51 UFO ride thing (a slow human centrifuge), the ferris wheel, the jungle twist (like a teacup zippy ride in a car-shaped cart), Pharoah's Fury (like the Pirate ship ride, goes back and forth like a crazy banana) and the Fire Ball!Kiddie Rides are 2 coupons. Pharoah's Fury, Jungle Twist and Ferris Wheel are 3 coupons. Zipper, Area 51 and Fireball are 4 coupon rides.Bathrooms = you can use the high school toilets (unless locked) or the luxury porta-potty trailer. Sinks are outside of the trailer. FOOD = Not sure how much food scripts cost, but Beef Stew and rice with mac salad is 10 scripts. Some booths take cash, some scripts. Funnel cake $6, Cotton candy bag $6, Cotton candy $3, Candy apple $3, hot dog $3, corn dog $3, whole pepperoni pizza $28, pizza slice $3. Variety of soft drinks, Icee. GAMES = Your typical carnival fare, i.e. dull darts aiming at somewhat deflated week-old balloons; knock over milk cans. Aim gun ball at cans on a pedestal; shoot water gun at target to win florescent squid hats. The only game we "won" at was the fishing for a turtle in a turtle-pond-game for $5 - guaranteed to win a large nubby rubber ball or a plastic helicopter you assemble yourself - no time limit. Great for people who want to win something and not shell out $30 to win a stuffed animal.WHAT WOULD MAKE IT BETTER = a White Elephant or Garage sale type event in the cafeteria including plant sales. If I'm going to waste money, I'd rather buy other people's junk and I guarantee the school would make tons money off of other's donations. RETURN FACTOR = yes. It's a small carnival but the money goes to the Mililani Trojans so its for a good cause.

The past two years I really enjoyed the Mililani High School Carnival... this year it was different. I thought since the carnival has been coming on our side of the island it's a good thing. We don't have to travel to the Aloha Stadium and pay for parking, then pay for admission. The Mililani High School Carnival has no admission and lots of free parking around the residential area. With the transition from scripts to card credits it's a bit confusing. The inconvenience to have to purchase the initial $20 card with 200 credits can be a nuisance. All rides and carnival foods are to be purchased with card credits. If you're only there to get a funnel cake for $6, you're required to purchase a $20 card, sounds like a money trap to me! First thing when arrived, I filled our card to $40. Our rides of choice: the swings, Century wheel (I'll never get over the name change!), and the seven seas. Because I've been majority focused and determined to save for Disneyland and Disneyworld, we were on a strict budget. $200 was my limit and that got such little play now days. The initial $40 = 400 credits went like water in the first swipes at the swing! 5 swipes at 60 credits a piece came out to 300 credits and my card was pretty useless after that! If you're with me on the math, that's $30 for 5 to ride, basically $6 a person! The rides prices rise and the ride length shortens... I felt robbed. At least with scripts you had something tangible to spend. You were more aware of the value per ride. Now it's made so easy to have your money for from your pocket to theirs. Within our 90 minute visit at the carnival we rode 3 rides, and played maybe 4-6 games. It's really sad how you need to spend loads of money to have fun at the fair. I really wanted to support the Mililani High School kids with the food tents and all, but after the rides, I couldn't bare it. I am definitely tight with my money when it comes to a lot of things so this one will have to be it. Unfortunately this will probably be our last trip out to the Mililani High School Carnival if it's still being hosted here in the future. I would much rather save the money and take a trip out to an amusement park where the fee is paid once and the rides are a plenty.

It's amazing they fit so much all in one parking lot!! The makai-side is all EK Fernandez rides & games (& EK food trailers with funnel cakes, etc)...that side is cash-only. The mauka-side is all the local-style food booths, some activity booths run by clubs & local organizations, more food booths...that side is scrip-only (50 cents per scrip), & definitely the bigger draw for me. 0=) Here's a rundown of what we tried: - Kalbi plate (14 scrip, $7) was probably the best buy for savory foods...tender & well-marinated, very little gristle or fat, with 2 big scoops rice and a side of corn (can-kine)...all good! Servings were consistently good, b/c we got one plate at 5pm, and one around 7pm...both had the same (good) size portions. - Green river ju-mui (ice) pops (only 2 scrip, $1 each!!!) were awesome, not too sweet, not too watered-down, and by far the best bargain in the food booths section. I just wish we'd gotten more...they ran out before 7pm!! - The grilled corn (6 scrip, $3) was pretty good, decent size, cooked perfectly, with a light char all around...but both the "original" and "garlic" versions were sooo salty!! If they took that down 5 about notches, and maybe added a third version of shoyu-butter/Japanese-style corn...I might go back for this alone!! - The beef stew (10 scrip, $5) was ok, good flavor, meat was SUPER tender...but there should've been more meat for that price (only got 3 tiny pieces), and it really needed salt...keep in mind, it was only a mini-plate w/ 1 scoop rice, small-scoop mac salad. Servings were also inconsistent, as my friend got the same thing 2 hours later, and was given an even smaller portion. - Clam chowder in bread bowl (14 scrip, $7) was so-so...the clam chowder is just made from an instant mix (i.e. add water & serve), so it was nothing special...but the bread bowl was pretty good, crusty (not hard) on the outside and soft inside. - Chocolate-chip cookies (4 for 2 scrip, $1) were cheap but not great; kinda just tasted like slice-&-bake.There was also a kiddies-game section further into campus, which was very cute. Cafeteria had a few live performances, but hopefully they'll have a fuller lineup if they do this again next year...and maybe some special food-option in there too (like how KS & Punahou do Hawaiian plate in the cafeteria); that could be a big draw. I think there were some 2nd-hand knick-knacks for sale in the back of the cafeteria, but if they had better quality items it would feel more like a "White Elephant" and less like a "garage sale."...gotta start collecting months in advance, to weed out all the junk (which can be donated somewhere), and just sell the "really good stuff." =) Overall, I was pretty impressed by the organization & quality of this event, especially since they haven't done it in 20 years!! Nice that parking was available on campus ($5 is totally worth it not to have to circle the block), and the students who directed traffic did a great job. Things started getting WAY too crowded after 6:30/7:00pm (remember it's "all in one parking lot"!)...so go earlier in the day to avoid the hoards. Love that the money is going to a good cause!

I was excited that I would be able to take my family to the carnival since I had the night off. Now I must add, I have never been to this Mililani carnival, or any EK Fernandez carnival in a long time. As someone mentioned from a post a few years back, we had to purchase a card, and add 20 dollars to the card. That's fine with me. However, why wouldn't the machine take 2 ten dollar bills? It's still adds up to 20. So this is where it gets bad for me. My kids, ages 7 and 3 wanted to ride the merry go round. 35 scripts, or what ever is was per person. My 3 year old who wasn't tall enough needed an adult so that was fine. Might as well make the ride a family affair. So that's already 140 tickets/tokens or what ever it was. Now we go to the games. My oldest wanted to play a shooting game. 35 tokens or one swipe of the card for 1 ball! Are you kidding me? Why not make it 2 or 3 balls? I recharged my card with another 60 dollars. Two rides later, most of all of the credits on card was gone. Grrrr. On the bright side, the food was good. My kids loved h noodles, and my wife and I was surprised on how good the tofu shooters were! Cotton candy and icee was good too. Over all fun , but to expensive! I stop it right there. Since when did the carnivals get soo expensive!?! The Punahou carnival and iIolani carnival was cheaper.

I can't believe it's been 20 years since the last Mililani High School Carnival. I flew in from SD and excited to bring my family here. We went on Saturday at about 4:30pm and it was already beginning to get crowded. I don't know how all the EK Fernandez rides and games were able to fit in that small parking lot but they managed to make it work. As crowded as it was, we had to ended up leaving at 8pm. No way of walking around and the lines for everything were extremely long. Before leaving, we were able to play some games which was definitely fun. But I need to point out that on Saturday the turtle fishing pond next to the slide was $6 then I returned on Sunday and it was $5. Unreal! They changed the prices and wasn't consistent. On Sunday we returned to use all the scripts and ride tickets I bought. The lines were much shorter and the crowd was much nicer. Parking wasn't too hard. If you wanted to park close to the carnival without any hassle then it was $5 otherwise look for street parking. The rides were reasonably priced and fair. For the games, they only took $1 bills or $1 Susan B Anthony coins. Go figure even though you wanna play 5 games the attendants will send you to get change. Overall, regardless of being so crowded, I know I'll always return to carnivals in Hawaii.

I love the Mililani carnival! Speaking a an alumni, I am proud to say this carnival is fit for the entire family! It's only gonna be open till tomorrow? But you should definitely try and come down. There's great rides, especially rides for the little kids, games and plenty of food!! Finding street parking maybe hard but you can always go to Mililani Waena for $5.

It was a great environment but disappointingly expensive. They were charging 10 scrips ($5) for an ice cream cone!! Needless to say we passed on that, but I saw a sign for $2.50 for fried snickers bar. Having had this previously at several state fairs, I ordered it. However, I watched the girl walk over to a table where they had the snickers sitting out on the table. She returned with a soggy fried mini snickers bar that I ended up throwing away after the first bite! I'm all for supporting events such as this one to benefit schools, but the organizers here had absolutely no sense of balancing the need to make a profit and what people are likely to pay. Speaking only based on what I can afford to dish out, I would've spent a lot more if I felt concession items were reasonably priced. But unfortunately, it isn't likely change, so we'll just have our ice cream at home afterwards.