Help me decide, Disneyland California on the 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

 

[luvmy2babies]

I've actually thought about this because we live on the east coast of the US. My daughter found out that her father and I went to Hawaii before she was born and also that he lived there as a child and has been asking to go. I loved the place and would love to do it; but thinking of that flight plus the time change with her and her brother has me I figured the only way I would do it is if we stopped in California for a couple of days.

I know you didn't ask this and I don't know if it is even possible with what you have mentioned with your points black out dates and such. But honestly, it's the flight on the way home that is really brutal at least as I remember it. If I was going to do a stop in California, I'd likely do it on the way back if possible.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

When did Montreal move to the coast?

Personally, I wouldn't enjoy a 2 week vacation to Oahu; too boring for me. However, it seems simpler to make this a beach vacation. Visit Disneyland another time and spend some time exploring CA then.

 

[Alexsandra]

I've actually thought about this because we live on the east coast of the US. My daughter found out that her father and I went to Hawaii before she was born and also that he lived there as a child and has been asking to go. I loved the place and would love to do it; but thinking of that flight plus the time change with her and her brother has me I figured the only way I would do it is if we stopped in California for a couple of days.

I know you didn't ask this and I don't know if it is even possible with what you have mentioned with your points black out dates and such. But honestly, it's the flight on the way home that is really brutal at least as I remember it. If I was going to do a stop in California, I'd likely do it on the way back if possible.

I will look into that possibility. Honestly I did not even think of that! Thanks

 

[Alexsandra]

When did Montreal move to the coast?

Personally, I wouldn't enjoy a 2 week vacation to Oahu; too boring for me. However, it seems simpler to make this a beach vacation. Visit Disneyland another time and spend some time exploring CA then.

Hihi, I know it is not really on the coast but I wanted to get my point across
I think in the end, I will just though out the flight and skip California. Disneland, I will get to visit you one day, I promise!

 

[nalajms]

I agree with your husband, get the traveling down in one shot and go to DL some other time.

We went to Asia 2 Christmas ago. Flew from east cost and stopped in San Fran for a few days. I had the same thought that it would make the time change and travel easier for the kids. It didn't. If we had spent a week in CA, that might have been different. But a few days is really nothing to the kids. They still got up at east cost time and we were in bed before it was dark!

We did take a "red eye" flight back, which helped somewhat. By the time we got to the states it was mid morning and the transition back was much smoother.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You really should post the same question on only one board:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/he...visit-disneyland-on-my-way-to-hawaii.3410381/

 

[Alexsandra]

You really should post the same question on only one board:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/he...visit-disneyland-on-my-way-to-hawaii.3410381/

Sorry about that! I was not sure where to post so I wrote the question in one board, then I started to doubt myself and post it here.

 

[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.

 

[Thing 1]

We live on the East coast as well, though very much south. The time change from here to Hawaii is pretty tough. My family has done just what you are considering. Stopping in LA not only gives you a chance to see DL, but makes that time change a lot easier to deal with. DL is so different than DW, but its something every Disney fan needs to see once!