Aulani + Disneyland??

hehillier

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 28, 2015
Hi everyone, I am a newbie here, first post. Our family has been to both DW and DL, and are planning a trip to Aulani in January 2016, for 9 days. We are flying from western Canada, so are thinking of spending 4 or 5 days in DL on the way home. We were just in DL last year, but had SUCH fun with our 5 year old son that we'd love to have a repeat of that experience.

I'm wondering if anyone else has done DL and Aulani in one trip, and if there are thoughts regarding this. We could also do DL first and end at Aulani- I don't know if there would be a benefit one way or the other.

Any feedback would be appreciated!
 
I think I would do DLR first so that I do not have to adjust to the time difference at DLR...I would rather do that at home.
 
We did this in May 2012. We did five or six days at the Grand Californian and then a week at Aulani. We flew from the east coast and had a great time.

I agree that it is better to do California first, rather than Hawaii.
 
Sound like fun either way! It's not that big of a time adjustment from the west coast to Hawaii so probably not too big of a factor. My only thought was a 5 year old might be so excited about getting to DL and be thinking about that more than Aulani although there's lots to do there too. So my thoughts are also DL first followed by some more relaxing time at Aulani.
 


my parents and I did this for my college graduation trip, it was fantastic! we flew from east coast to hawaii, then to DL, then we went all out and did 5 days in san diego since we'd never gone. Our first night was a bit crazy in hawaii due to me staying up the night before submitting med school applications, but one good night's sleep and we were set on time the entire trip. I think it depends if you're morning or night people which way the time difference works for you, since we're night owls we just went to bed at a normal person time in hawaii.

Also, I may have been 22 when I went, but personally I love ending with disney park magic. Not that aulani lacks disney magic at all IMO, i just think ending on a park is my personal preference. have a fantastic vacation regardless of the order!
 
hi:wave:

We are flying to San Francisco for a couple of days on the way out to break up our journey and to start to get used to the time difference.:thumbsup2

We are then staying at Disneyland on the way back - we are from the UK so it's a very long way and we felt it was too much for our children (ages 11 and 8) if we tried to do it all in one go. Hopefully this plan will work out well:thumbsup2

I agree with the prev poster who mentioned whether you are an early bird or a night owl - unfortunately we are early birds and previously on trips to california it's taken us quite a few days to get used to the time change - virtually falling asleep in dinner and then wide awake at 3am! Hoping to conquer that this trip!:goodvibes
 
as we also did Hawaii with a 5yo from west coast - the 3 hrs difference is a big deal to a 5yo. So i recc doing DL first . then hawaii. it messes up bedtimes, naps, all kinds of things. If you had older kids, i'd say no. have fun.
 


We did a combo trip last summer, starting with DL. Coming from the east coast stopping on the way was a tremendous help with the jet lag. This was my 5th trip to Hawaii but the first time stopping half way for a few nights and I would highly recommend doing it that way to anybody. We only had 3 nights at DL so it was go-go-go for us - we really enjoyed finally getting to Aulani with time to relax. I would say it's kind of like doing a DCL combo with the parks - do the parks first then enjoy your time to unwind and relax. Even tho you say you're coming from western Canada you'll still have a half day or so of travel to get there so that would help lessen the impact of being so travel weary. JM2C.
 
This past Feb I did the combo, however I chose to do DL after Aulani, to break the jet lag on the return home, and to break the excruciatingly long flight (to Ohio). We did the over night flight from Oahu to LAX, got some nap time on the flight (pay for the economy plus for space, pillow and blanket, its worth it) went direct to hotel, checked in and walked over to the parks every thing worked great for us.
 
We go regularly to both Aulani and Disneyland with small kids - although never in the same trip. However, if I were to do this with our small kids I would likely start in Disneyland and then fly from LA to Hawaii. An earlier post was right - being in the same time zone for your child would be easier for the Disneyland portion. Then once at Aulani - lots of time for relaxation and time to catch up on sleep! Aulani is amazing and your 5 year old will have a ball!!

That's my thoughts!
Have a great and magical time!!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!









Top