East Coast to Hawaii Ideas

[moericus]

That being said, if you have your heart set on Disneyland then by all means you should go!!! Maybe just make the stop one way, as opposed to both. Coming back from HI, you will most likely have an overnight flight. Probably would be best to have that be your long one, hopefully your kids will sleep!

How old are your kids? We live on the East Coast also and a while back took our then 5 month old to HI. No direct flights from our airport, so we flew into Atlanta and it was an 11 hour flight from there.

This will be my first trip out to the West Coast. I don't know how often I'll get back there. So yes, I'd like to squeeze in some of California along the way.

My kids were pretty easy to deal with when they were infants. I miss those days. So what if you lose a little sleep? They don't move, don't get bored, and their whining is generally related to food coming or going. The simple life. We originally wanted to take our first over to HI a little over that age.

 

[moericus]

Also, if you are considering staying in Yosemite, you need to book that about a year in advance.

I was looking at cabins and similar private rentals close to the park. Did you stay at a hotel/resort/cabin?

 

[MPS516]

We have found multi city Delta reservations to be cheaper than direct. I am not suggesting Delta is my airline of choice but since the Northwest takeover I am stuck with them. We book to Orange Co than LAX to Honolulu than home, 3 legs normally save me money. Than of course we stay on hotel points across the street from DL so only real cost is shuttle to LAX (ok, and DL tix)

 

[SuperRob]

One idea I like is taking two weeks off and spending couple days in California before and after the flight to Hawaii. My wife wants to see Disneyland and I want to see Northern California (never been to either). Room and board in Hawaii isn't going to cost us much so we'd have some more to spend on this.

Anyone done something similar? Is a 7-month reservation at DGC a pipe dream? Another option would be to pay out of pocket for random hotels in Cali. and use those points on Aulani. Aulani isn't exactly a must for us but it would be really cool to see.

It's possible to get into VGC at seven months (I've done it myself), but it is difficult, and only getting worse. As others have said, be prepared to be online right at the opening of the booking window, and pray for a little pixie dust!

Regarding California, it's a BIG state. If you only have a couple of days, and Disneyland is in the plan, I'd say stay down there. You could do San Diego easily, or even take a day and go up to LA to do Universal Studios (Harry Potter!) and maybe Hollywood. Trying to go too much further north, like San Francisco, and you'll kill most of your vacation time traveling. But I think you're smart to make it an extended layover and enjoy Disneyland enroute to Hawaii.

Have a blast! Sounds like a great trip!

 

[quinnc19]

I was looking at cabins and similar private rentals close to the park. Did you stay at a hotel/resort/cabin?

We are going this June and are staying at the Ahwahnee hotel for 1 night and the Wawona for 1.

 

[wendyt_ca]

I say do it! I love doing things like this! It's really not that much of a hassle stopping over somewhere for a few days and it's MUCH more cost effective if it is somewhere you really want to see vs two separate trips. We are going to Hawaii in April and if we weren't using Aeroplan reward flights I would prob do the same thing on the way there. I found an option to add a stop anywhere in the same point range for no extra cost though so we are going to Orlando for a week after Hawaii (and that's out of the way and def adding flight time but we don't care). It's giving us an entire extra vacation at what feels like no extra cost since flights cost nothing extra, we have our DVC points for the hotel and have an AP for our tickets. It's cheaper than a stop anywhere else for us because of this.
We have flown to California a couple of times then over to Vegas and home. We went to Europe a few years ago. Flew to NYC first then over to Europe with a 3 day stopover in Iceland on the way. And it was cheaper doing it that way than flying direct from here since JFK has so many flights and we got to see extra places out of it.

So if it was me I would be doing it for sure!! I would just try to book VGC immediately and you can waitlist. We have had that come through in the past.

 

[abja09]

We go non-stop from Newark, NJ. Nowadays, it's a morning flight, which I find better for transitioning...arriving early afternoon in Honolulu.

I live in NJ too and am looking into planning a trip to Aulani in 2017. What airline do you fly that offers direct flight from Newark? TIA!

 

[nono]

I live in NJ too and am looking into planning a trip to Aulani in 2017. What airline do you fly that offers direct flight from Newark? TIA!

United.

 

[southerngirl528]

2) That being said - if you have never been to LAX - keep it that way. If I were to break up a flight, I would try to go to Orange County (SNA), spend a few days at DL and then go up to LAX. But, I avoid LAX more then JFK as it is a hot mess!

Woo-eeee! Do I EVER agree with this! LAX is my least favorite airport.

I'm in the get-me-there-as-nonstop-as-possible when flying from FL to Hawaii. We always have flown with AA to DFW then nonstop to Maui or Oahu. But lots of folks break it up for multiple reasons....kids that could take LONG flights, wanting to visit on the west coast or whathaveyou.