Help, should I stop in L.A. to visit Disneyland on my way to Hawaii?

[Alexsandra]

Hi, I really need help deciding if we should stop in L.A. to visit Disneyland California on the way to Hawaii in March and I did not know where to post this.

My husband, my two boys (DS5, DS9), and myself are leaving for a trip to Hawaii. We are planning to rent a home in Oahu for most of the trip and then staying at Aulani for a few days towards the end to celebrate a vow renewal.

We are from the East Coast of Canada (Montreal) so the flights are going to be really long with a stop-over in a west coast city. We originally were planning a two week trip to take advantage of the long haul flights. I am flying using points on my frequent flyers account so there are a lot of blackout dates which makes it more complicated. With these blackout dates, traveling over the week-end is out. I need to take a week day flight. The flight I chose leaves on Friday Feb 19th to come back on Thursday March 3rd which is still during the kids' Spring break holiday. That will give the kids enough time to recover from jet-lag before they start school on Monday.

This is where I am having trouble deciding.

The debate is when I started looking into maybe breaking up the flight on the way to Hawaii to make the trip more manageable for the kids. I found that I could fly to L.A. in 6 hours and stay there a few days before taking another 6 hour flight to Hawaii. That would give the kids a break and it would give us the opportunity to visit Disneyland for the first time. Seeing that I am a huge Disney fan, I really, really, really love the idea of visiting Disneyland but there is a catch. The catch is that this options shortens our trip to 11 days and it means we loose 3 days traveling. So I discussed this with my husband and he is not a big fan of this idea. My husband prefers getting all the traveling done in one shot! Even if the flight is really long he prefers getting it out of the way so that he can get to his destination faster then spend the time there relaxing. He does not like the hassle of packing and unpacking and changing hotels and doing the airport security check all over again. Anyway, you get the drift. He prefers skipping L.A. and Disneyland and going straight to Hawaii but he said that if I really have my heart set on it, he will go along with it. Now I don't know what to do! The kids and I would love to incorporate Disneyland but my husband does have a good point.

Here are three options I am considering:

1.Fly straight to Honolulu from Montreal on a Friday with a quick stopover in each city. Stay 13 nights in Hawaii before departing two weeks later on the Thurs.

Depart Montreal Fri Feb 19th
8:10 -11:50 (transfer in San Fransisco)
16:10 -19:48 (Honolulu)

Return to Montreal Thud March 3rd
23:55-14:10 (Transfer in Toronto)
17:00 -18:18 (arrive in Montreal)

or

2. Fly to L.A. from Montreal on a Monday. Take shuttle bus to hotel near Disneyland. Spend 3 nights there and visit Disneyland for 2 days. Then take flight from L.A. to Honolulu on Thurs. Arrive in Hawaii on Thursday and stay 7 nights. Depart on the following Thurs. This is a shorter trip overall but gives the kids a break in the long haul flight on departure.

Depart Montreal Mon Feb 22nd
18:30 - 21:53 (arrive in Los Angeles)

Spend 3 nights at Disneyland hotel.

Depart Los Angeles Thu Feb 25th
08:45 - 12:19 (arrive in Honolulu)

Spend 6 nights in Hawaii

Return to Montreal Thu March 3rd
23:55-14:10 (Transfer in Toronto)
17:00 -18:18 (arrive in Montreal)

or

3. Fly to L.A. from Montreal on a Monday. Take shuttle bus to hotel near Disneyland. Spend 4 nights there and visit Disneyland for 3 days. Then take flight from L.A. to Honolulu on Friday. Stay 6 nights in Hawaii. Depart on the following Thurs. means we got more days to visit Disneyland but less days in Hawaii.

Depart Montreal Mon Feb 22nd
18:30 - 21:53 (arrive in Los Angeles)

Spend 3 nights at Disneyland hotel.

Depart Los Angeles Thu Feb 25th
08:45 - 12:19 (arrive in Honolulu)

Spend 6 nights in Hawaii

Return to Montreal Thu March 3rd
23:55-14:10 (Transfer in Toronto)
17:00 -18:18 (arrive in Montreal)

What do you think?
Any help would be appreciated, Thanks

 

[TechGuy]

I never see a reason to go to DL as a bad thing. Hawaii is nice but nothing else is Disneyland. I was married on Maui, I have been to DL at least 30 times...I go again next month.

 

[Butterfly123]

I know this is a Disneyland board and all, but to be honest I don't think I'd want to go all the way to Hawaii from Montreal and only spend a week there. I think that you would be spending a lot of time traveling, and not as much time vacationing, in addition to the 3 days you would lose. That would just be my take on it.

Is it possible to just plan another CA vacation sometime, and visit Disneyland and some of the other great vacation spots we have?


ETA: Your kids are still small, and could miss a couple days of school. Could you add a couple of vacation days to make Hawaii a little longer? Then I would say a stop in DL would be worth it.

 

[Alexsandra]

I know this is a Disneyland board and all, but to be honest I don't think I'd want to go all the way to Hawaii from Montreal and only spend a week there. I think that you would be spending a lot of time traveling, and not as much time vacationing, in addition to the 3 days you would lose. That would just be my take on it.

Is it possible to just plan another CA vacation sometime, and visit Disneyland and some of the other great vacation spots we have?


ETA: Your kids are still small, and could miss a couple days of school. Could you add a couple of vacation days to make Hawaii a little longer? Then I would say a stop in DL would be worth it.

I can't really add more days to our trip because of budget if not I would have done that for sure but I can plan another trip to California another year. I just figured that a 13 hour flight is really long for the kids so breaking up the flight with a few days in L.A. was a viable option. However it will make for a less relaxing trip and also a shorter trip. As you said, it does not give us much time to really take advantage of all that Hawaii has to offer. Especially when we loose 2 days traveling.

 

[Butterfly123]

I have only been lucky enough to visit Hawaii once...and it was for one week. It felt like way to short of a visit...the time just flew! It is so beautiful there, and there is so much to enjoy, I would hate for it too feel rushed for you. If and when I go again, I'll plan for enough time to really enjoy it.

Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll have an amazing vacation.!

 

[Susie63]

Sounds like me! We are flying on points too and are doing a 3 leg journey. We are flying from Edmonton to LAX and staying for 2 nights in Anaheim. Then we will fly to Orlando for two weeks and then back to Edmonton. Our initial plan was just to go straight to Orlando, but given the weather this winter....I would rather skip the East coast when flying. If I get out of Edmonton....I am landing in California. No getting storm stayed along the way.
It will cost me no more for the plane tickets, and I get to do Disneyland during the 60th. It will be a short stay. Arrive at the resort on Thursday at noon at do DCA and do DL on Friday and fly out Saturday morning..... and my plane tickets only cost me $619 for three of us. I guess the question you need to ask is....are 2 or 3 days in Disneyland going to take away from your Hawaii vacay.....or would it be the icing on the cake.

 

[Susie63]

By the way.... if budget is a big corcern.... skip the on property hotels. They are expensive! I have stayed at the Disneyland hotel and The Grand Californian and while they are lovely... we didn't spend any time there. There is a brand new hotel opening this summer and the walk is probably the same as the DLH at half the cost. There are lots of older motels across the street that are even cheaper. You should also check if your reward program has Disney tickets. I just got 3 7 day park tickets through Air miles.... for free!
As for the packing thing... we will pack one suitcase with everything we need for the three of us, clothes, toiletries, park bag and then you only have to open one suitcase at your stopover. Label it and leave the rest unopened by the door in your hotel.
Rental cars are cheap through Costco.com if you are up to driving to the resort( easy). You could get a full size 3 day rental for under $100 all in.

 

[agamble]

Personally I love Disneyland and visiting is such a great vacation. And I see your point about the LONG flights. However, two days at Disneyland and a shorter vacation with an extra day of traveling does sound like a hassle. I would ask husband about planning a vacation for next year to Disneyland and try to spend a good 4-5 days there and maybe see something else in CA too. I know it's a long flight, but I agree with your husband that it is nice to just get it over with and enjoy your time in Hawaii.

 

[cmpeter]

Are you just planning on staying on Oahu? If so, I would vote for the stop at DL. We have been there three times and spent 5 nights on each trip. I felt like that was plenty for Oahu. If you were planning on visiting any of the other islands, then I would skip the DL part of the trip. But, I am a huge Disney fan. We are going to Europe this summer for two weeks and visiting Disneyland Paris for 3 days. Probably not my husband's first choice, but I can't wait for that part of our trip.

 

[Fantaluminishes]

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't include Disneyland in your vacation. It will be like 2 vacations. I've been to Hawaii many times, and we plan to move there in a couple years. But I'm also a Disneyland local, and go to th parks several times a month.

I'd spend the first part of your vacation at Disneyland, staying at an off site hotel. Then I'd head to Hawaii for the bulk of the trip (at least 1week), and skip Aulani. The rental house is a great option. We've done this many times and live it. If you decide to skip Aulani, you can use the money savings to stay at an onsite Disneyland hotel, or do something else in Hawaii.

One week on Oahu will give you a great introduction to the island. Combining this with a visit to Disneyland would be a truly magical vacation.

 

[tiffjoy]

I love Disneyland. I love Hawaii, and Oahu is my second favorite island (after the Big Island).

I'd personally skip Aulani, as PP suggested, and do DLR. We didn't stay at Aulani because I couldn't justify the cost. We stayed at the Marriott Vacation Club (and have stayed at the Ihilani there too, before) just down a few from Aulani. We went to Aulani for a character meal, and I found it to be commercial feeling, crowded and hectic, and not relaxing feeling. But that was just from the area we were in, not from staying there. Still, it turned us off from ever going. I love Ko'Olina, though, very much, and we are planning another trip there next year. I'd personally pick DLR over Aulani if that would change anything.

If not, is skip DLR. Hawaii is amazing and so much fun! We spent 8 days with our kids there two years ago and were never bored, and that was our third and shortest Hawaii trip. Make another DLR trip another day. We just traveled to Japan with a three and five year old; a long travel day is tiring, but it is doable.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Hi, O.P., from a fellow Montrealer.

We have been to Disneyland several times, and it's always worth the trip. Especially since you have two sons, this is a no brainer. Go to DLR, you will not regret it. Thank you. Over and out.

 

[mr.bungle]

Disneyland is not in L.A. so you may not find it if you stop in L.A.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

Are you just planning on staying on Oahu? If so, I would vote for the stop at DL. We have been there three times and spent 5 nights on each trip. I felt like that was plenty for Oahu. If you were planning on visiting any of the other islands, then I would skip the DL part of the trip. But, I am a huge Disney fan. We are going to Europe this summer for two weeks and visiting Disneyland Paris for 3 days. Probably not my husband's first choice, but I can't wait for that part of our trip.

I was going to say something similar. If traveling to the other islands, I'd spend more time on the Hawaii part of the trip. However with Oahu I have found that a week is a perfect amount of time. I can get done all of the sight-seeing I want to do and then still have time to just relax and sit around. By the end of the week I feel ready to go home. If I had to spend 11 days there I actually think I'd get a bit stir crazy, but I am the type who has trouble relaxing, I prefer to be doing/seeing something almost all the time on my vacations.

If you don't plan to come back to California for a long while, then I would certainly say to include Disneyland in your trip. However, if you have the time/resources to take a California trip sometime in the near future then you can wait to do Disneyland then instead. I know many like to do a combined DLR/Yosemite trip (it is a several hours drive but so worth it), or drive up/down the coast between DLR and San Francisco. This could be a very fun trip in its own right. Perhaps you could run this idea by your husband and see if this is something he would be interested in planning for.

 

[gottalovepluto]

With the ages your boys are at I would add in the Disneyland portion. Personally I found Hawaii kinda boring as a kid, as an adult I love it, but if someone gave me the chance as a kid to cut a couple days out and do Disneyland I'd have done it a little heart beat!

 

[NewbieMouse]

I'd do Hawaii and skip DLR, doing it another time. LA & DLR is worth its own trip. I'd also skip Aulani in Hawaii. Hawaii is unique - I'd save save Disney for Disney. Hawaii with kids is wonderful.

 

[Alexsandra]

Thank you for all your feedback everyone, I truly appreciate it. I think after reading all the comments and discussing it further with my husband, I believe we will just skip Disneyland and leave it for another trip. I really want to visit California more thoroughly and I think we will just incorporate Disneyland into that trip. Even though it would be easier on the kids to break up the trip, it is just going to eat up too much of our time and it will make for a less relaxing trip. We really want to make this trip about Hawaii and are looking forward to just getting there and getting some much needed R&R. We will do some site seeing but mostly want to do a lot of beach lounging and surfing.

We are renting a home in Kailua and are going to take advantage of Lanakai beach. We are trying to avoid the crowds of Waikiki except for a quick visit to the beach and dinner one day. We were planning on going to Aulani on the last two days of our trip to spoil ourselves and let the kids enjoy the pools, lazy river and Aunty playhouse. We were planning to have our vow renewal on a secret beach in Ko-Olina near Aulani but after reading all the comments here about the resort, I will see if it is really worth it. I am looking into the Marriott's vacation club or another resort in Ko-olina instead but still not sure.