Hawaii more expensive than WDW?

[cardaway]

Well, you really aren't doing a fair comparison. To truly determine the cheaper vacation, you have to compare all the same variables.

 

[DawnCt1]

Out of curiosity not including airfare how much was your trip to Hawaii? We really want to go I was looking at the Turtle Bay resort but renting a condo never even crossed my mind.

I won't compare Oahu because there, we were able to stay at the military hotel Hale Koa, but I will use Kauai and Maui as examples. On Kauai, we found a very nice, very clean and updated 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo at Outrigger's Lae Nani for $260 per night. A one bedroom would have been cheaper. The car rental for 5 days was about $200 or so. Most of what we enjoyed on Kauai was hiking the Kalalau trail, driving up to Waimea Canyon, visiting the North Shore and the Kilauea Lodge and bird sanctuary, dining out; we ate at Dukes and a few other places whose names escape me. In fact, on Kauai, we ate out every night. On Maui, we stayed at the Ka'anapali Alii in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit that we found for $347 per night on VRBO. It wasn't an "official" two bedroom because the den area was used as the second bedroom and didn't have a window. It had a large, fully equipped galley kitchen, dining area, living room with a sleep sofa, a large lanai,and the master bedroom suite was huge with a laundry room. In the closet there was a supply of snorkel gear, boogie boards, beach toys, etc.
The pool/grill area of the Alii is wonderful and we enjoyed cooking out there as much as we did dining out. Car rental for nine nights, ten days ran around $360 or so, now that I think about it. The condos to the north and towards Kihei are considerly cheaper. I would head more north in the summer and more south in the winter. There are lots of resources on the net and in the Wizard Publication books for good suggestions for accommodations.

 

[DawnCt1]

I just randomly chose September 1 - September 8. Flights to Orlando were $364 per person, Honolulu was $675. And with 5 people in our family, that is a difference of over $1500 just in airfare alone.

Anyway, my point is that I am sure that you can go to Hawaii on a budget, but you can do the same at WDW. And at both places, you can spend a LOT of money as well.

One of these days I will take the family to Hawaii.

With regard to the extra $1500 in airfare. For nine days, the six of us spent more than $1700 for Stars and Stripes (length of stay passes) to get into WDW and that was discounted without sales tax. I don't think that we have ever spent anything approaching that for entertainment, tours, etc in Hawaii.

 

[Laura]

Hawaii is definitely more expensive. More expensive to fly to, and more expensive to stay there (food may be about equal; they charge a lot in the parks but food is spendy in Hawaii). With WDW, we can get a cheapo Motel 6 room, a Ding! fare on Southwest, and the cost difference between the flights alone is more than enough to pay for park tickets.

Is Hawaii the bank-breaking vacation people make it out to be? Not really; for most people it's the flight $$ that's a drag, but even then there can be great deals. The Delta Amex isn't for everyone. I have a rewards card that's much more flexible (Citi PremierPass Elite; I can use any airline), but we don't have enough points to fly to Hawaii.

 

[Bob Slydell]

With regard to the extra $1500 in airfare. For nine days, the six of us spent more than $1700 for Stars and Stripes (length of stay passes) to get into WDW and that was discounted without sales tax. I don't think that we have ever spent anything approaching that for entertainment, tours, etc in Hawaii.

That's because there are no theme parks in Hawaii, just like there are no craters, snorkel trips and volcanos in Orlando.

This really isn't a Yes/No answer sort of question, you realize that, right Dawn? For some people, WDW will be more expensive than Hawaii, for others, it will be the opposite. You really can't do an even comparison of the two vacations because they're two drastically different destinations.

 

[Banshee]

I won't compare Oahu because there, we were able to stay at the military hotel Hale Koa, but I will use Kauai and Maui as examples. On Kauai, we found a very nice, very clean and updated 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo at Outrigger's Lae Nani for $260 per night. A one bedroom would have been cheaper. The car rental for 5 days was about $200 or so. Most of what we enjoyed on Kauai was hiking the Kalalau trail, driving up to Waimea Canyon, visiting the North Shore and the Kilauea Lodge and bird sanctuary, dining out; we ate at Dukes and a few other places whose names escape me. In fact, on Kauai, we ate out every night. On Maui, we stayed at the Ka'anapali Alii in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit that we found for $347 per night on VRBO. It wasn't an "official" two bedroom because the den area was used as the second bedroom and didn't have a window. It had a large, fully equipped galley kitchen, dining area, living room with a sleep sofa, a large lanai,and the master bedroom suite was huge with a laundry room. In the closet there was a supply of snorkel gear, boogie boards, beach toys, etc.
The pool/grill area of the Alii is wonderful and we enjoyed cooking out there as much as we did dining out. Car rental for nine nights, ten days ran around $360 or so, now that I think about it. The condos to the north and towards Kihei are considerly cheaper. I would head more north in the summer and more south in the winter. There are lots of resources on the net and in the Wizard Publication books for good suggestions for accommodations.

Thanks for the info! We wouldnt be going till 2009 we want our DD to be a little older.

 

[DawnCt1]

That's because there are no theme parks in Hawaii, just like there are no craters, snorkel trips and volcanos in Orlando.

This really isn't a Yes/No answer sort of question, you realize that, right Dawn? For some people, WDW will be more expensive than Hawaii, for others, it will be the opposite. You really can't do an even comparison of the two vacations because they're two drastically different destinations.

Yes Bob, I do realize that, however, I see it posted quite often that Hawaii is too expensive and that Disney is more affordable. I can assure you that we spent at least as much at WDW in the last nine days that we would have spent in Hawaii, if not more.

 

[Laura]

Yes Bob, I do realize that, however, I see it posted quite often that Hawaii is too expensive and that Disney is more affordable. I can assure you that we spent at least as much at WDW in the last nine days that we would have spent in Hawaii, if not more.

Sure, it's probably pretty close depending on what discounts you get. But for a lot of people, WDW is cheaper. Many might drive to Orlando instead of fly, have FL resident discounts, etc. For us, Hawaii is more expensive, because Southwest doesn't have Ding! fares to Honolulu.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Yes Bob, I do realize that, however, I see it posted quite often that Hawaii is too expensive and that Disney is more affordable. I can assure you that we spent at least as much at WDW in the last nine days that we would have spent in Hawaii, if not more.

I'm sure it was cheaper for you to go to Hawaii, but in most people's situations, that's not necessarily the case.

 

[grlpwrd]

...You need apples to apples... not apples to bread.

True.

Other variables to consider: Hawaii residents get the kama'aina (resident) rate which makes a difference and is a lot different than getting admission to one place if you are a FL resident (WDW), food/gas/and entertainment cost a bundle there even if there is Costco, Walmart, and Sam's Club, and also the fact Hawaii has a different real estate system (mostly leasehold) and hotels factor that in the cost, I am sure. Not too many people can stay at Hale Koa either because it is for the military only. Too many variables to consider.

Me? I can get discounts because my 2 brothers work for a local airline and they can get me a discount in tickets and get me a hotel room, I am able to stay with family if I want to, and I usually get the kama'aina rate because I own land in Hilo. Of course, it will be cheaper for me because of those variables.

It's still cheaper for us to go to WDW because it's just a drive down, we budget for expenses and we have more variables to work with (ie offsite v onsite), and bam we're there. lol

 

[mirthmaiden]

We took our whole family (6 people) to Hawaii for 12 days in 2002. We spent about $15k. We can do WDW much cheaper than that.

 

[Disney-Kim]

Even if we had to pay for our room cash (we are DVC) plus airfare...WDW is still cheaper than Hawaii for us staying in equivalent deluxe accomodations. We just stayed at the Polnesian last month with points...but even if we paid cash plus air...it was less than Hawaii for that same week...we priced it when we were planning our trips....we tried to go to Hawaii...but just not worth it...so we went back to WDW...not that I am complaining...

We have used miles over the years for at least 1 free ticket to Hawaii per trip but the hotel rooms have gone up $100 per NIGHT since our last trip in 2005 so its a lot more for us to go to Hawaii.

Our cruise with airfare is cheaper than Hawaii too.

so it depends on how you travel...but for us...to stay in deluxes its more.

luckily we have been 4 times in the last 6-7 yrs so ok with going less often.

 

[DawnCt1]

The Delta Amex isn't for everyone. I have a rewards card that's much more flexible (Citi PremierPass Elite; I can use any airline), but we don't have enough points to fly to Hawaii.

I have MBNA World Points. I have used the card to pay tuition for DS's 2, 3 and now, #4. After all of those years, I still don't have enough to buy one first class ticket to Hawaii...well maybe one, or two coach tickets. One of these days I will spend those points. The Delta Amex card does charge a membership fee but miles are doubled a couple of times through out the year plus doubled on things I use everyday. Just doubling miles on gas these days is a huge benefit, not to mention groceries for a family of six. In addition, there are Dining rewards that give 10 miles per dollar at selected restaurants.

 

[Laura]

We took our whole family (6 people) to Hawaii for 12 days in 2002. We spent about $15k. We can do WDW much cheaper than that.

We spent about $3000 on our honeymoon to Maui and the Big Island in 2003. The big splurge was a helicopter flight over the Big Island, which cost about $700. This was with free 1st class tickets to Honolulu (Dad's frequent flier miles) and a free stay on the Big Island (MIL's timeshare). Our trip to WDW and St. Augustine last year cost about $2500. Both trips were the same number of nights.

It all just depends--last year we could have used MIL's timeshare to trade for Orlando, or we could have driven down to Florida, and that would have made WDW even cheaper.

 

[DawnCt1]

We took our whole family (6 people) to Hawaii for 12 days in 2002. We spent about $15k. We can do WDW much cheaper than that.

Last summer six of us went for 18 days with a friend of DS#2 joining us for the last nine on Maui. Excluding airfare, we spent less than $10K. That included the interisland flights we had to buy not available with airmiles, food, car rental and accommodations.

 

[Laura]

I have MBNA World Points. I have used the card to pay tuition for DS's 2, 3 and now, #4. After all of those years, I still don't have enough to buy one first class ticket to Hawaii...well maybe one, or two coach tickets. One of these days I will spend those points. The Delta Amex card does charge a membership fee but miles are doubled a couple of times through out the year plus doubled on things I use everyday. Just doubling miles on gas these days is a huge benefit, not to mention groceries for a family of six. In addition, there are Dining rewards that give 10 miles per dollar at selected restaurants.

The Citi card we have does give us double points for grocery stores, gas stations, more than double for many online retailers (6 points per $1 at Overstock.com, for example), a point for every mile we fly, etc. And they charge a $75 fee.

Still not enough miles to go to Hawaii.

 

[JennyMominRI]

Dawn, How is the military hotel? I was trying to figure out which rate was for retired...I would qualify under the retired or 100% disabled rates

 

[Disney-Kim]

I have to say again that I still think WDW is less.
Comparing deluxe resorts to deluxe resorts (which is still apples to oranges but...)and airfare its cheaper. I know you have to buy passes...but we buy AP's and that stretches over 2 yrs for us.
we budget $100 per day for WDW spending and its always right on for all our food (and we eat out A LOT) and souvies.
airfare for us to WDW is never more than $360 and Hawaii is more than that 80% of the time...but equivalent at other times.

its the HOTEL prices in Hawaii for DELUXE accomodations that is the difference IMHO because we always stay deluxe in Hawaii and WDW

 

[Disney-Kim]

Dawn, How is the military hotel? I was trying to figure out which rate was for retired...I would qualify under the retired or 100% disabled rates

Jenny...we have not stayed at the one in Honolulu but we have stayed next door at the Hilton Alii tower 4 times and it looks over the Hale Koa (sp?) it looks like a FANTASTIC resort and I have read many good things about it.

 

[DawnCt1]

Dawn, How is the military hotel? I was trying to figure out which rate was for retired...I would qualify under the retired or 100% disabled rates

You may be able to figure out the rate from their web site but if not, call them. www.halekoa.com I LOVE the Hale Koa. It is on the widest part of Waikiki Beach right next door to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The grounds a very nice. It isn't too big. We walk next door to the HHV and it is HUGE! Huge shopping area, etc. A nice place to visit but I am happy to go back next door to the Hale Koa. The common areas, lobby, etc are all very nice. The PX on site has good bargains on the usual stuff. The restaurants are much better than Shades of Green. The rooms are not unlike a Marriott, etc. Nothing really special, but nice enough. Its not going to be a Hyatt or a Westin in other words. There are two pools, an adult pool and a family pool. Lots of places along the beach for surf lessons, boards, etc. The guests are really friendly. Its not unusual to be able to strike up a conversation with another guest and have them buy you a drink. There is an ocean bar. NO TAX on anything. On Friday nights there is a fireworks display at the HHV so its an easy walk next door for that. The parking garage for the Hale Koa is right across the street. It is also an easy walk down town. The Luau is the cheapest in all of the islands. Around $35 per guest. The performers perform at other venues and are there 2 or 3 nights a week. I can't remember the emcee's name but he had a popular record out a few years ago. He is a teacher on Kauai in his "real life".