Planning trip to Hawaii Summer/Fall 2011 from East Coast - ?'s

[Hillbeans]

I am in the planning stages of a family trip to Hawaii for next year. I was really hoping that the DVC in Hawaii would be open for the summer but it seems as if that won't be the case.

Anyway - just wanted to know when the "best" time to visit Hawaii in the summer months would be as far as weather, crowds.

Also, since we're coming from the East Coat we were thinking of making a stop in San Diego for a few days and was just wondering if it's better to stop there on the way out from the East Coast or on the way back to break up the trip. I am leaning towards stopping on the way out but just wanted to see what others did and what worked best for their vacation.

TIA!

 

[deebits]

We flew direct from the East Coast to and from Hawaii. When we do it again, we are going to fly direct there and stop in CA on the way home. Since we gain the hours going west and will lose them coming back, we want to gradually adjust.

 

[kenny]

We went during the fall season and weather was perfect. Mid 80's every day with nice breeze off the ocean.

we made a stop in San Fran on the way out and did direct on the way back. My thinking was if you do a stop on the way back with the time change, you really only stop in CA to sleep. Didn't make sense to pay for a hotel room just to sleep. At least on the way out we had the day to enjoy (actually stayed 2 days). If you are going to stay a few days, then I guess the way back would be better. At least this way if you took a morning flight from SD you would get back to NY late afternoon, early evening.

The flight home was long though. We flew out of Kauai, changed flights in San Fran (or LA can't remember) and flew back to JFK. We left Kauai at 1pm and landed in NY around 6 am the next day.

There is no place like Hawaii. It is just absolutely beautiful. Can't wait for the kids to be a little older so we can go back.

 

[justhat]

Hillary you should go this fall cause we're going in November! But anyway, we went in 2005 and my mom flew from Newark nonstop both ways. We flew from DC and stopped in Dallas on the way there and Salt Lake City on the way back. I only mention that to give you an idea of how long each flight was so this makes a little more sense. When we flew out there we had a morning flight, arrived in Honolulu in the early afternoon and were very done for the day. We pretty much checked into the hotel, ate something small for dinner at the hotel, then went to bed. It was probably something like 7pm, but we were wiped out. I know we didn't last till my mom arrived and I can't imagine her flight got in much later than 8pm.

And we were there 6 days, I think, and Madison was pretty much like that the entire time. Granted she wasn't even 2yo, but she was literally asleep by 6pm every night, and you may remember this is the kid who never slept, so that says a lot. We had to eat dinner as soon as restaurants opened each day otherwise she would be asleep for the night and not eat anything.

On the way home our flight left overnight, got to Utah early in the morning, around 6 or 7am, and we were so exhausted at that point. After that was back to DC sometime mid-afternoon.

My mom, and all her coworkers who flew on her nonstop flights, was much less fatigued than us. But while that could be that they had the direct flights and could just sleep or whatever without connecting and trekking through airports, they also didn't have little kids so that could have been part of it too.

Anyway, that said, I guess I would stop on the way out there just because, like I said, Madison never really adjusted to the time change, and really, both Joey and I were done by 9pm everynight too. For him that's normal, for me, not at all. A big part was Madison waking up by 5am everyday I am sure. But if we did stop in CA on the way out there (like I had wanted to...) then we would have had those 3 hours down for a couple of days before heading on to Hawaii so it wouldn't have been so drastic. On the way home I don't think it would have been as necessary because we got back into our routine of school/work and that got us reset pretty quickly.

I can't really give you a best time to go as we've only gone in November and that's when we're going back, but FWIW the weather in November was great.

 

[LindaR]

I went in May 2007 and again in Sep 2009. It was much "quieter" (and less expensive) during the September trip. That is low season!

 

[Hillbeans]

Thanks everyone for the ideas/advice. I really would like to wait and see when the DVC opens in 2011, especially because schools in NJ often start a few days after Labor day. I guess we could wait until 2012, but since I really have been itching for a trip to San Diego I thought it'd make sense to combine it into one trip.

Hillary you should go this fall cause we're going in November! But anyway, we went in 2005 and my mom flew from Newark nonstop both ways. We flew from DC and stopped in Dallas on the way there and Salt Lake City on the way back. I only mention that to give you an idea of how long each flight was so this makes a little more sense. When we flew out there we had a morning flight, arrived in Honolulu in the early afternoon and were very done for the day. We pretty much checked into the hotel, ate something small for dinner at the hotel, then went to bed. It was probably something like 7pm, but we were wiped out. I know we didn't last till my mom arrived and I can't imagine her flight got in much later than 8pm.

And we were there 6 days, I think, and Madison was pretty much like that the entire time. Granted she wasn't even 2yo, but she was literally asleep by 6pm every night, and you may remember this is the kid who never slept, so that says a lot. We had to eat dinner as soon as restaurants opened each day otherwise she would be asleep for the night and not eat anything.

On the way home our flight left overnight, got to Utah early in the morning, around 6 or 7am, and we were so exhausted at that point. After that was back to DC sometime mid-afternoon.

My mom, and all her coworkers who flew on her nonstop flights, was much less fatigued than us. But while that could be that they had the direct flights and could just sleep or whatever without connecting and trekking through airports, they also didn't have little kids so that could have been part of it too.

Anyway, that said, I guess I would stop on the way out there just because, like I said, Madison never really adjusted to the time change, and really, both Joey and I were done by 9pm everynight too. For him that's normal, for me, not at all. A big part was Madison waking up by 5am everyday I am sure. But if we did stop in CA on the way out there (like I had wanted to...) then we would have had those 3 hours down for a couple of days before heading on to Hawaii so it wouldn't have been so drastic. On the way home I don't think it would have been as necessary because we got back into our routine of school/work and that got us reset pretty quickly.

I can't really give you a best time to go as we've only gone in November and that's when we're going back, but FWIW the weather in November was great.

OMGosh Justine - you're going in November? You are a brave woman! Are you traveling from Phoenix or straight through from DC? Where are you staying?

We're going to AKV in November for Jersey Week this year, can't wait! I've never been to WDW in November and am excited to see a different side of WDW when it's not as hot and the sun sets earlier.

 

[justhat]

Thanks everyone for the ideas/advice. I really would like to wait and see when the DVC opens in 2011, especially because schools in NJ often start a few days after Labor day. I guess we could wait until 2012, but since I really have been itching for a trip to San Diego I thought it'd make sense to combine it into one trip.




OMGosh Justine - you're going in November? You are a brave woman! Are you traveling from Phoenix or straight through from DC? Where are you staying?

We're going to AKV in November for Jersey Week this year, can't wait! I've never been to WDW in November and am excited to see a different side of WDW when it's not as hot and the sun sets earlier.

Hillary, you will love November in WDW, despite all the NJers around. We've gone Jersey week (which I realize makes little sense since we don't live there anymore, but we usually have conference days here then too) and had great weather and crowds.

We're moving to Tucson in July (though I guess I never officially announced that, but we just decided on it last week so it's still pretty new news), so we'll be flying from Phoenix which will make the trip a lot easier, at least I think. Not so much easier since we'll have 3 kids instead of just the 1 like last time, but hopefully it goes well.

We're staying at the Royal Hawaiian this year, and in 2005 we stayed at the Halekulani (I think I spelled it right). While we liked the last hotel, it was way at the end of the 'strip', so to speak, so we had a decent walk pretty much anywhere we wanted to go, and there was very, very little beach. Yes, there was a pool, but I could stay in DC if I wanted a pool!

We also liked the Hyatt a lot (my mom's coworkers were there) and the Hilton Hawaiian Village. That resort was great, a lot of stuff around, but you'd need a car to get to the main area of Waikiki Beach and I'm thinking with 3 small kids I'd rather not have to pack them into the car all the time. The Royal Hawaiian has a new kids complex by their pool which looks like fun, and it has a nice beach, so I think we'll like it better.

The only real reason we are going then is that my mom's annual conference is in Hawaii every 5 years (hence 2005 and now). So I figure if we go with her we'll get the bonus of some extra hands for the kids and the perk that she's been there every 5 years for the past 35 or so, so she knows where to go and what to do. And Joey gets a ridiculous amount of vacation time at his new job, so we may as well use up his time!