Need help planning a family trip to Hawaii

[ZuZugal]

Our family of five (me, DH, DS19, DD17, DS10) would like to travel to Hawaii this summer. I love to plan Disney vacations because we have been a few times so know where to go, stay, etc. I know nothing about Hawaii. We would like to stay on a beach, but have close access to other activities (we don't want a week of solitary beach time.) We plan on renting a car. 7 days/6 nights would be our max. Not sure of accommodations that the 5 of us can stay in comfortably; might need 2 rooms?

I think we are leaning toward Oahu since we would like to visit Pearl Harbor and the North Shore. We love to sight see, and walking is great but we are not "hikers" (10 yr old can't always keep up!)

I am hoping not to stay at a tower type hotel/resort. When at Disney we love to stay at the Poly as opposed to CR.

Questions:
Where have you stayed that you can highly recommend? (Also let me know of places you do NOT recommend.)

What activities did your family enjoy most? Did you plan those activities before you traveled or after you arrived?

Can anyone recommend a guided tour?

What things do you wish you would have packed? (I always seem to miss out on packing something important.)

We will be flying out of St. Louis. Any flight recommendations would be welcome.

Any feedback is appreciated!

 

[NYDisGuy]

I went for my Honeymoon in Maui. We stayed there the whole trip but I would of liked to try island hopping. We stayed at the four seasons which had an amazing private beach and view of the mountain. We did some water activities like Snuba and dolphin watching. Depending on when you go, you can whale watch too which is a can't miss activity.

Just be prepared to bring alot of money when you go. Food is not cheap there because everything is imported. Rental cars and gas are expensive as well. We tried to spend alot of time at the beach/pool to offset the costs and purchased alot of grocery items so we didn't have to go out all the time. Also be careful of the tourist traps there. Some of the tours are good but others were awful. I would check trip advisor and see the reviews for things your interested in.

 

[AboutTheMouse]

We visited Hawaii last spring. We did not go to Oahu, but to Big Island and Maui. I can't help you with activities or accommodations, but will pass along what we learned.

First things first, book your airfare now. We live outside of Chicago, so not too far from you. Even from O'Hare, we switched planes in LA on the way out and Denver on the way back. For us, that plan was a good one. We had time to get off the plane, get some food, stretch our legs and then get back on for the second leg of the flight.

Remember that you will likely lose almost an entire day each way due to travel. On the way back, we booked a flight out of Maui at 10:30 pm so that we had the whole last day to enjoy the beach / pool. Then we flew overnight and were able to get some sleep on the way home. Jet lag was worse when we got back as opposed to when we arrived in HI.

Second, book your rental car now as soon as you have your airfare. Rental cars are in finite quantity because you are on an island. I would recommend either Costco or www.discounthawaiicarrental.com.

For a place to stay, look into condo rentals. It was invaluable to have the additional room and a place to make a pot of coffee or have breakfast in the condo instead of going out. We were told that Costco is the best place for supplies - water, milk, beer, snacks, etc. Everything is very expensive in the islands, including eating out and gasoline, because it all needs to be shipped in from somewhere else. I expected things to be more expensive, but not as much as we wound up paying.

For packing, lots of sunscreen, our hiking boots (you might not need these), and casual clothes. We didn't dress up beyond khakis and a polo for DH and a sundress for me. Shorts were acceptable almost everywhere except for fine dining establishments. Depending on where you go, you might also need a jacket and long pants. We went up to Haleakala for sunrise and it was definitely cold up there - long pants, fleece jacket and windbreaker layered together type cold.

Our favorite activity was to rent snorkel gear from Snorkel Bob's for the week and then leave it in the rental car. We wore our swimsuits pretty much all week and if we found a good roadside snorkel spot, we just jumped in. Best $35 we spent all week. Where we were, there are many waterfront beach parks. It was great to just say - 'hey, this place looks good' and just go for it.

You might look at the tripadvisor message boards, too. Lots of good information there on activities, tours, accommodations, etc.

Have a great trip!

 

[woodkins]

This past Thanksgiving we spent ten days at Aulani, we visited both the North Shore & Pearl Harbor. We rented points for our stay & had a 1br which was great for the kitchen & laundry, plus the extra space. It is a tower style hotel, but amazingly beautiful & the pool and beach were unbelievable.

 

[scubamouse]

We're going there in mid July, you need to get planning ASAP. I've been booking flights and excursions since January. Pearl Harbor books up very quickly and dates are already booked in July.

We are going to Maui, Kauai then Oahu over two weeks. In Oahu we're staying at a Marriott next to the Aulani. My kids are 11 and almost 13 when we travel. We've got a snorkel excursion on Oahu planned along with Pearl and Diamond Head. We've got ziplining and scuba planned for the other islands.

 

[Pakey]

I leave next week for my 7th vacation in Hawaii. I've been to Oahu, Maui, Hawaii. I did one of these vacations as a split/island hopping but prefer going to one and staying on one. My favorite is Maui.

With that many people, I would look into a condo rental also. When we took the entire family, we rented condos and bought groceries. It was a very nice vacation. For this vacation, we were on Maui and stayed in the Kapalua villas in ocean front condos.

I've stayed at the Four Seasons, Grand Wailea, Ritz Carlton and Aulani. I don't remember the hotel on my first visit to Oahu but it was not spectacular and I wouldn't recommend it even if I remembered it!!!! All are high rise type motels. Oceanfront real estate is prime there so high rises are to be expected.

I second the suggestion to get airfare now. The flights to/from are always fully packed. I suggest you look at some smaller airports in CA to leave from if you can connect there. We paid half last year, leaving out of Oakland, what it would have cost to leave out of Los Angeles.

As far as packing, I have learned to take less and less with each trip. We use very little as it's casual and no need to dress. The days are spent in bathing suits or shorts. Only for the dressiest of restaurants has my husband worn khaki slacks, most often its shorts for him and capris for me.

I don't think the food is that unreasonable. Some places are ridiculous (we once had a one salad, one sandwich and two iced teas for $50) but most places are not out of line. Pool drinks can run up the costs rather quickly though!!!!

Our first time we did a few guided tours and then realized that they were unnecessary. You need a rental car anyway so you might as well drive/guide yourself so that you see what you want at your own pace. The only thing I would recommend as "guided" was a helicopter tour over the volcano on Hawaii. I thought that was nice and provided scenery you couldn't get with a car.

If you are going to Oahu, I would recommend Pearl Harbor and Polynesian Cultural Center for sightseeing. I have learned that what I enjoy most about Hawaii is doing nothing. If you are going to do Pearl Harbor, you want to get your tickets ahead of time (free on the website; you just pay for postage). The lines to get in standby are ridiculous.

Also at Oahu, I can't go without recommending at least one night at Aulani if you can swing it. I spent a week there last year and although it's not nearly as luxurious as the Four Seasons or the Ritz, it's a stunning resort and Disney got it right in my opinion. The pool is fantastic and I would try to swing a night/day there just to hang out at the resort and use the pool.

My kids (young adults) favorite activities have been surfing (or trying to surf as they aren't very good) and ziplining. They were not impressed with sightseeing and preferred to spend their time at the beach or pool.

 

[clarkshel]

I have only been to Oahu. We stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore. I thought this was an excellent hotel. Food was expensive on the resort, but very good. There are a lot cheaper food outside the resort. I especially loved all the shrimp trucks. If you do travel down to the North Shore, make sure you visit Ted's Bakery at least once. I loved the food here. We had breakfast here every morning, and lunch a couple times.

At the Turtle Bay Resort they have their Ocean Villas. You can rent these out from the resort and I also think you can rent them out from the owners too. A friend of mine stays here every year as they have a big family that goes down.

I am trying to find something to Maui for this summer. We never been there, so having a hard time trying to pick a reasonably priced resort. My wife wants a water slide for the kids, so we are limited to the higher priced places.

 

[sk!mom]

I'll be following this thread for suggestions. We are going to Hawaii in July. We are spending the week on Oahu for two reasons. DH really wants to see Pearl Harbor and we had enough Air miles to get us there for $5 each. We had enough miles left to book the car for the week.

I've reserved Pearl Harbor. I've been told that surf lessons can be booked on arrival. I'm now trying to decide on a Luau. They all get mixed reviews but we think that we still want to do it.

 

[Kimberle]

Last August, we spent 10 days at the Hyatt on Waikiki beach. We did not rent a car. When you stay at a Waikiki area resort, there are tons of tours that pick you up at your hotel. We booked them when we arrived. Expedia had a tour desk right in our hotel lobby. There is also a delightful trolley system to take you around Honolulu. My fav was the green trolley that took up into Diamond Head.

We took a wonderful full day tour of Pearl Harbor, USS Missouri, USS Bowfin, and an Air Musuem (the name escapes me right now.). We also toured the Dole Pineapple plantation, took a tour around the entire Island (Oahu), went to the zoo, took surfing lessons, etc. There was just so much to do. You can also take day trips to other islands so you don't have to change hotels.

As soon as you book your hotel, contact their Concierge or Activity desk for tour info. We didn't actually book anything until we arrived, but got our list of "must do's".

If you rent a car, hotels and most places charge for parking. $25-$30 per day was pretty common during our stay.

Be sure to pack lots of sunscreen. The sun is strong!

 

[friend of pooh]

We loved the Polynesian Culturl Center. Plan to spen he whole day there to see and o it all. The show at night was awesome! Definitely get to the Big Island to see the volcanoes....at least fly over if not a day trip.

 

[luvgoing2disney]

We've been 4 times and the last trip we combined with a stopover in Anaheim for our first visit to Disneyland. So you might want to throw that in

On our last trip which was our sons first visit so we stayed on Oahu to do the historical sights: Pearl Harbor, Iolani Palace, climbed Diamond Head etc as well as the typical touristy things--Polynesian Cultural Center, circle Island Tour, Luau at the Royal Hawaiian and a water park Oahu is beautiful but I must warn the city of Honolulu is quite busy and is now or was at our last visit the 9th largest city in the US so dont expect it to be just sunset strolls on the beach. I m not saying to not visit Oahu especially if you have an interest in the historical side but just don't want you to be taken by surprise at the congestion When you get on the "other" side of Oahu you will see just how pretty the place is and can imagine how it looked in years gone by.

We stayed at the Sharaton Waikiki and enjoyed being right on Waikiki beach.

It's a long trip over but in my opinion worth every penny. We're planning a cruise to Alaska then I want to go back to the islands. Truly beautiful and worth visiting at least once.

 

[sbtrfly74]

I lived on Oahu for 3 years but that was 20 years ago. I would rent a car and buy a travel guide book then do it yourself tour instead of all the expensive tourist trap stuff. It only takes a couple hours to drive around the entire island.

I loved Waimea falls and Hanama bay, sorry my spelling is probably off by now. Arizona Memorial is great, it was kinda funny there were a lot of Japanese tourists there and they loved to take pictures with men dressed in their uniforms and lots never saw anyone with red hair before and spent all day googling over my daughter. Surprised someone said it books up quick, we just showed up but wow have things changed.

I never went to the Polynesian Cultural Center but heard its great, pearl city has a great mall if its still there use to cost .25 cents to take the monorail from one mall to the other think called pearl 1 and pearl 2.

 

[CynBeth]

A few years ago we took a 7 day cruise on Norwegian. It left from Oahu and if you arrived the day before you could go on an excursion early in the day the ship set sail and during the week it went to Maui, Kauai, and both sides of the Big Island. The day the ship returned if you had a late flight or were staying over there were more choices of excursions.

 

[lemondog]

DH and I just got back from Hawaii last week. If you go to Maui I recommend the Grand Wailea - great for families and was just named by USA Today as one of the Top 10 hotel pools in the US. It shares a beach with the Four Seasons and Wailea Beach Villas. These 3 properties are where most celebrities stay on Maui - there were actually paparazzi on the beach, lol! We absolutely loved it but be prepared to hemorrhage money. Like another poster said everything there is crazy expensive.

 

[sbtrfly74]

Im not sure if its still there, but my favorite place to visit ever was Wyland Gallery. It was a place on the North shore and he was an artist but I loved to go visit the gallary and wish I could have purchased once of his paintings.

It may have changed by now but the dole plantation was a complete bore and I wouldnt bother.

 

[sbtrfly74]

Beyond off topic.. but when I lived there almost 20 years ago we lived at Barbers Point and made $1350 a month with housing. We managed with a family of 3 but its just still funny to me how much tourists are taken advantage of. I learned really quick to call up and say "what is the kamahima(sp?) discount to many places which means Im white and living here and want a discount. I found it as a military thing and got use to saying it.

Please dont point me as racist, I went through 50/50% of ppl hating that I was living there (older generation) and ppl that more than welcomed me.

Edit to only say a funny story....back when I lived there we were told not to go beyond Barbers Point... which is where im pretty sure where the new Disney Resort now is. Well, we went there and were scared crapless when ppl approached our car when we were site see'ing. Talk about scarey. But the locals were very nice and made me feel much better about where we lived. We were use to constant comment about "why are they here, they aren't welcome, they need to get the F out"

BTW college att. was 17.50 a credit and I LOVED going to college there, the younger generation was Awesome!

 

[jsmith]

I find it really interesting that people are 'booking' Pearl harbor. We travel to Hawaii frequently but generally are there in the off season either in early November or between thanksgiving and Christmas. The only tour of pearl harbor i have ever 'booked' was one provided by the US Navy thru the protocol office on Joint Base Hickam Pearl. the arizona memorial itself is administered by the US Park Service and admission is free-you simply have to stand on line and pull tour tickets so you need to get there very early-if you are booking tours of other sites then this makes sense.
I would look at staying outside of Honolulu-we have a place we prefer but it is military only. If you are going to stay down town the Hilton Hawaiian village is nice as is the Royal Hawaiian. The traffic in Honolulu is obscene and you will kill alot of your day in early morning and late after noon traffic if you are staying down town.

 

[clarkshel]

Tell me about it. It took us 2.5 hours to get back to the north shore from Honolulu during the afternoon rush hour. This was the reason we only went to Honolulu the one time. Except to fly out of course. Traffic is really insane here.

 

[woodkins]

I find it really interesting that people are 'booking' Pearl harbor. We travel to Hawaii frequently but generally are there in the off season either in early November or between thanksgiving and Christmas. The only tour of pearl harbor i have ever 'booked' was one provided by the US Navy thru the protocol office on Joint Base Hickam Pearl. the arizona memorial itself is administered by the US Park Service and admission is free-you simply have to stand on line and pull tour tickets so you need to get there very early-if you are booking tours of other sites then this makes sense.
I would look at staying outside of Honolulu-we have a place we prefer but it is military only. If you are going to stay down town the Hilton Hawaiian village is nice as is the Royal Hawaiian. The traffic in Honolulu is obscene and you will kill alot of your day in early morning and late after noon traffic if you are staying down town.

We "booked" the Pearl Harbor Arizona Memorial tour. We went over Thanksgiving & I am glad we did. We booked the second tour of the morning, and when we arrived there already was a 3-4 hour wait for the standby visitors who hadn't booked ahead. It was worth the approx $8 service charge I paid to know we were guaranteed a spot at the time we wanted. I know my ten yr old wouldn't be too happy waiting around 4 hours, and neither would I.

 

[Laura]

The islands are very different. I've been to Maui and the Big Island. They're both awesome but have very very different atmospheres. Maui is more what people imagine Hawaii to be like. Oahu has a huge urban area, but it has the attractions you want to see, and lots of nice beaches. Traffic can be a consideration for where you want to stay. Aulani is one place many DISers will think of, but it is rather out of the way. There are lots of accommodation choices in the Waikiki area, you'll be by the beach and still have many things nearby to do.

This little comparison might help you with what island to choose if you're really on the fence:
http://www.gohawaii.com/statewide/choose-an-island