What is the "right" age for a one-time trip?

Kmedders

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 27, 2015
My kids and husband have never been to Hawaii, and I envision going once. My girls are 8 and nearly 10 now. We have enough DVC points to cover a week at Aulani and a week at the World next year, so I am weighing whether or not it would be worth it to splurge and do both in one year. What is the best age to take kids to Hawaii? I want them to be able to enjoy the full benefits of the resort and also appreciate all that Hawaii has to offer off-property. Ideally, we would participate in a hike, dolphin swimming and snorkeling, a luau, as well as a few resort days. Would love any input you have to offer! We are from Texas, so I do have the time change in mind and what effect that would have on them as well.
 
I think they are at a great age right now to enjoy most things on the island. I think it depends on the hike and the dolphin swim, though. Do you know which hike and dolphin swim you want to do? For example, I saw one excursion for hiking where kids need to be at least 10 years old. If there are particular excursions you want to do, I’d look to see if there is an age requirement.

I’m planning on going with my 8 year old son next month and he meets the requirements for most things. It’s like a whole new world compared to when we went when he was 3 years old.
 
My kids are 7&9. We are going to wait a couple more years simply because of the time change. Its a 5 hr time change from where we live and knowing my kids, right now they wouldn't adjust to that well. Also, If im going to hawaii I'm going to stay 7 or more days and thats going to require me to build up some more vacation time.
 


We took ours the first time when they were 9 & 14. The intent was it was going to be a one time thing. Our girls were old enough to not only enjoy and remember it but also respect and understand it (different culture inside the US, significance of the USS Arizona, luaus etc). Of course, we then fell in love with it and it wasn't a one time thing.

You know your kids the best. If you think they're ready, they probably are. Look at the things you want to do and check ages ... If you're kids can't swim and snorkeling is on the must due list, probably need to fix that first... If ziplining is a must have and they can't meet the minimums, better to wait. If you look at everything you want to do and your girls will not only remember it but be able to process it, go for it.

I'll also say, Aulani, for us, is a great place to explore Oahu from but remember to explore... experience the North Shore, go to Waikiki, do the Diamond Head Hike, have garlic Shrimp.
 
My kids are 7&9. We are going to wait a couple more years simply because of the time change. Its a 5 hr time change from where we live and knowing my kids, right now they wouldn't adjust to that well. Also, If im going to hawaii I'm going to stay 7 or more days and thats going to require me to build up some more vacation time.
Thank you! That was my next question - what’s the right length of time to appropriately adjust? Nine days?
 
We took ours the first time when they were 9 & 14. The intent was it was going to be a one time thing. Our girls were old enough to not only enjoy and remember it but also respect and understand it (different culture inside the US, significance of the USS Arizona, luaus etc). Of course, we then fell in love with it and it wasn't a one time thing.

You know your kids the best. If you think they're ready, they probably are. Look at the things you want to do and check ages ... If you're kids can't swim and snorkeling is on the must due list, probably need to fix that first... If ziplining is a must have and they can't meet the minimums, better to wait. If you look at everything you want to do and your girls will not only remember it but be able to process it, go for it.

I'll also say, Aulani, for us, is a great place to explore Oahu from but remember to explore... experience the North Shore, go to Waikiki, do the Diamond Head Hike, have garlic Shrimp.
Yes, if a really great destination becomes so appealing, then (curiously like an intended tattoo parlor visit) an intended one-off may become repeated....
 


Thank you! That was my next question - what’s the right length of time to appropriately adjust? Nine days?
I find that the bigger adjustment is coming back, not going there since they are behind us. Plus, everything seems to start early in HI and end early. A lot of water activities start as early as 7, wanting you to be there at 6:30. Most activites do not have an evening time (you can't go snorkeling with a tour at 5 p.m. for instance). At Aulani, the pools close at 8.
 
Thank you! That was my next question - what’s the right length of time to appropriately adjust? Nine days?

I think 8 & 10 are good ages for a Hawaii trip. We started traveling extensively with DS when he was 5. When reminiscing about trips, his most vivid memories are from the trips we took when he was 8 years and older (which makes me think we need to revisit some of those earlier destinations!). In terms of adjusting to the time change, we flew from NYC to French Polynesia a few years ago and it took us about 3 days to completely adjust to the time change. The first two days were pretty hard! I would probably schedule resort days for your first few days and then plan your day trips from there.
 
I’d probably give it two more years, just for a little more size, strength, and judgement for active stuff like hiking and snorkeling. But be warned—in day two of our “once in a lifetime” trip, I was planning our return. Will be booking those flights soon 🤣🤣🤣
 
I’d probably give it two more years, just for a little more size, strength, and judgement for active stuff like hiking and snorkeling. But be warned—in day two of our “once in a lifetime” trip, I was planning our return. Will be booking those flights soon 🤣🤣🤣
🤣 well I guess that is highly possible with dvc now!
 
I find that the bigger adjustment is coming back, not going there since they are behind us. Plus, everything seems to start early in HI and end early. A lot of water activities start as early as 7, wanting you to be there at 6:30. Most activites do not have an evening time (you can't go snorkeling with a tour at 5 p.m. for instance). At Aulani, the pools close at 8.
This is SUCH helpful advice, thank you!!
 
Depending on the kid, I think these are great ages. We travel a lot with our kids, who are now 11 and almost 18. When we first went to Aulani, they were 6 and 12. For the things we like to do (which include hiking, snorkeling, sightseeing), they were definitely old enough. In terms of time change, I think I suffered more than either of them! Lol. In terms of trip length, our first trip to Aulani was 8 days, all at Aulani. Second trip was 10 or 11 days, 6 at Aulani and 4 on the Big Island. This upcoming trip is 14, with 2 days at Disneyland, 5 days on Maui, and 7 days at Aulani. Knowing how long the trip is and the big time difference, we won't ever do fewer than 10 days. Oh, and we also fall into the "our first trip was supposed to be a one-and-done" category--now we're on trip #3, AND we bought a second DVC contract with Aulani as our home. Lol!
 
I think it depends on your kids. My daughter hates hiking and will wilt/complain the whole time if it is hot. She is 12 and there has been a huge difference in her stamina and willingness to try new things in the past year. I am taking her this year and I think it is the best chance yet that I will have to get her to try a lot of active things with me. We are planning to hike, surf, snorkel, zip-line at Kuoloa Ranch, etc. Trying to get her to help me pick activities-hoping she will buy in more. Some kids are ready to go much younger...
 
I don't have kids, but I'd agree that it would depend on how well they'd do with the long, potentially grueling travel and time change. I think 8 and 10 are old enough to enjoy many of the activities Hawaii has to offer, and they're probably still in the sweet spot of enjoying Aunty's (whenever it reopens). I've read other reviews that pre-teens/younger teens are often bored at Aulani because they're too old for Aunty's and characters, but too young to do much else on their own, and the resort can lack for things to do in the evening. Hawaii in general lacks night life, so I agree with PP who mentioned a lot of activities are early starts. We are normally night owls, but found ourselves in our room watching TV by 9pm each night. We took advantage of early morning activities so we could maximize our time during the day.

I think snorkeling, catamaran tours, swimming with dolphins, beach time, Kualoa Ranch, etc can all be enjoyed by kids that age. The Diamond Head hike was a little more challenging than I was anticipating so that might be one to consider leaving out. Pearl Harbor is always a must do recommendation from me, especially on a one and done trip, but I know that can be a challenge for kids.

IMO, 10 days would be the minimum amount of time to visit if you can swing it. Coming from the east coast, it took us 2-3 days to fully get acclimated to the time change (6 hours for us during daylight savings time). You gain time on the way there, but lose time on the way back, and many flights going home are redeyes. You want to make that distance and length of travel worth your while, especially if you think it will be a once in a lifetime trip. I would skip WDW or make my WDW trip shorter to have more time in Hawaii, if I were planning both in the same year.
 
We’ve been taking our kids to Oahu since they were 6, 4 and 2 - our last trip pre-COVID they were 14, 12 and 9 from memory. My rule of thumb is every hour of travel is 1 day at the destination. Hawaii is almost 10hrs away from Australia so we never go for less then 14 days. However we never stay just in Ko Olina - it is normally a split stay between Ko Olina and Waikiki. As the kids are getting older they are actually preferring to just stay in Waikiki as Ko Olina is a very quiet sleepy enclave.
 
My kids are 9 and 11 and we did Hawaii 3 years ago. We're on the west coast so the time change was not as bad. However when they were 7 and 9 we went to France, which is a huge time change, and they did fine. Kids are resilient and most will adapt better than adults.

They were the right ages for everything we wanted to do at Aulani, and I feel like if we go next year they are getting a bit on the older side for Aunties. I don't think there's any reason to wait at those ages, assuming everything else aligns.
 

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