Our Hawaii trip begins soon! Less than 48 hours to be exact! I’m super excited to be going back. I began thinking about taking my adult kids to Hawaii in January of 2022. My kids have never been (despite being born and raised in CA).
It’s hard to coordinate their schedules. One works in the DC for a digital media firm and they do a lot of politics, so we have to work around elections. One works in aerospace, so we have to work around launches. The third works for a hospital and there are rules around vacations around holidays and how you request time off. We ended up with the third week in June, as one child gets off Juneteenth so it’s one less vacation day. This date also worked for my other kids and their work schedules. Our plan is to fly Saturday June 17 to Sunday June 25.
My husband really wanted to stay at Aulani. We stayed in April 2022 (just dh and I) but when I looked at booking, we were looking at just under $700 per night for one room, or with tax, about $5700 for one room with tax for the week.. We need 2 rooms, plus a third adult in a room ($100 per night) or a third room, plus parking ($37 per night). So basically about $12,500.
I also looked at a 2 bedroom villa, but there weren’t any available.
Another issue is that my daughter's boyfriend may come, but he is finishing his Ph.D and won’t know if he can come until he matches for his clinicals, which we won’t know until February. If he comes we will need a third room, which also adds to the expense.
Given that we will want to do some fun (and sometimes pricey) stuff and my very particular family also wants to eat and drink, Aulani (sadly) was out of our budget! I looked at hotels, especially Marriotts (because I am Titanium Elite) but with three rooms and resort fees, they were also going to be expensive. So I began looking on VRBO. I am not typically a fan of home rentals (especially AirBnB) because I have heard of so many horror stories. But, I found a 3 bedroom condo (which is hard to find, most are 2 bedroom), with ocean views, air conditioning, a lanai, washer & dryer and a 5 minute walk to Waikiki beach. The unit is owned by a premier host and his excellent reviews go back 8 years. It is also 100% refundable up to two weeks before you travel. Even better (for me), it has a Lahaina Shave Ice in the lobby of the condo! (247 Beach Walk, Honolulu 96815). Cost wise, it’s a significant bargain (well, for Hawaii) and with all taxes and fees, comes to $4500 for the week.
I know I’ve talked a lot about hotel budgets, which is kind of boring, but I hope the information will be helpful. And I realize this is an Aulani message board, and we’re not staying there (just doing a visit for a meal), but hopefully the remaining information will be helpful to all.
I booked airfare for all of us in October. While I got fairly reasonable flights for our two kids in the Bay Area, the flights from the DC were crazy. And dh and I are flying first class (yes, we are spoiling ourselves in our retirement). We ended up changing our days a little bit, so the kids fly home Saturday instead of Sunday. Not really because of the fares (although it helps), but because with the time change, they’d get in late and have to go to work the next morning. And for ds in the DC area, he is now leaving Friday night at 9pm, and getting home Saturday evening. We also decided to add extra days to our trip for dh and myself.
I should add, at this point, that my kids are all very different: very different politically, personality, interests, eating and activity level……you name it. They’re all good kids, just very different. It makes me so sad that they haven’t been really close (like they were when they were little), but at least now they are mature enough to be around each other and not be obnoxious and do seem to be working to build relationships with each other. So that makes me super happy and I am excited for this trip. This is the first time in a long long time we have all been together, in the same house, doing the same things, for more than a weekend, in many years.
So, I am doing a couple of things to make our trip go smoother. I have sent two google forms. One was for what to do while in Hawaii and the other for food and meals for the condo and where to go out to eat.
I asked for input on a variety of activities, essentially asking “do you want to do this?”. Choices for answers included, “yes”, “no” and “not really, but I’m okay and will go along if others want to do it”.
I was actually surprised that all wanted to see all the museums around Pearl Harbor and on Ford Island. No interest in a luau or evening booze cruise, but yes to seeing Iolani Palace and Kualoa Ranch. It was easy to plan once I had this information.
I then looked at restaurants we could walk to from our condo or were near places we planned to go. I sent the form with a link to the menu so everyone could review before we go. That way, I already have restaurants that would work for my vegetarian daughter, my picky meat eater son, and me (picky but in a different way). I didn’t want to spend vacation time trying to find a place everyone would like.
Finally, I have planned for a few meals from Costco that we can eat at the condo and asked for input for that as well. I also got input on what everyone wanted for breakfast and lunch. We’ll do these from the condo. (I am packing two foldable coolers to take with us for lunches).
We ended up with some changes…..dd and her boyfriend broke up (we were kind of expecting an engagement, so this was a big surprise) and then the youngest ds ended up needing to change his flight on the way home. All of this got settled and now we are leaving in 36 hours.
Our itinerary is as follows:
Thursday June 15: dh and I fly to Oahu. We’ll probably head to the beach for a while and we love the beachside bar at the Ala Moana, so that’s what we’ll likely do.
Friday June 16: dh has wanted to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We may go here or may see the Queen Emma summer palace and bishop museum. Since we need to buy tickets ahead of time, we really need to decide soon! (Dh wanted to go to the PCC, but when he found out the cost, kind of gulped. I really don’t care at all about seeing it, but am happy to go if dh wants to do it).
Saturday June 17: dh and I will get up and pick up two of our kids at 10:30 (assuming the flights are on time). We’ll run out to Costco and then Safeway and then check into the condo (we can get in at noon). No plans yet for the afternoon…..probably head to the beach. Our oldest son arrives about 8pm so we’ll run and pick him up
Sunday June 18: beach day, and then drive out for dinner at Aulani. I didn’t want to plan anything big for this day in case of flight delays. We will pack lunch for the beach.
Monday June 19: Pearl Harbor. Dinner will be from Costco. Lunch….I’m not sure. We will drive our car to Pearl Harbor, so I do plan on bringing water and lunch stuff, but not sure how easy it will be to do.
Tuesday June 20: Walking around Waikiki and then two kids are going to Coral Crater. Third child will stay with dh and I and go to Kawaiaha’o Church and Iolani Palace. Dinner tonight will also be at the condo. Early lunch at the condo before we leave for the afternoon.
Wednesday June 21:Kualoa Ranch (Jurassic Park tour and Secret Island in the afternoon). Dinner will be at the Kahuku Sugar Mill (food trucks). We can bring lunch here, so we will eat between tours or at the beach.
Thursday June 22: Two kids are hiking Diamond Head early. The rest of the day will be a beach day. Dinner will be pizza from a local place at the condo. Lunch will be packed from the condo.
Friday June 23: no plans yet. Maybe another beach day? Two kids fly out about 8:45pm. Dinner will likely be leftovers.
Saturday June 24: pack up and leave the condo. Third child departs around 1:30 and dh and I fly to Maui not long after. Check into Sheraton Maui and walk around Whalers Village.
Sunday June 25: dh and I have reserved loungers. The area looks to be just between the beach and the pool, so we have easy access to both, It was $60 for two loungers for the day,
Monday June 26: we are going to Lahaina and meeting friends of dh to do something (no plans yet). We’ll probably walk around Lahaina. I do want to go to Fleetwoods, so I am hoping
Tuesday June 27: We rented loungers again today.
Wednesday June 28: Once again rented loungers. One evening during the week we’ll probably go to the Warren and Annabelle show. My husband loves magicians.
Thursday June 29: fly home (boo hoo).
I would be happy to answer questions if I can, once we arrive in Hawaii.
It’s hard to coordinate their schedules. One works in the DC for a digital media firm and they do a lot of politics, so we have to work around elections. One works in aerospace, so we have to work around launches. The third works for a hospital and there are rules around vacations around holidays and how you request time off. We ended up with the third week in June, as one child gets off Juneteenth so it’s one less vacation day. This date also worked for my other kids and their work schedules. Our plan is to fly Saturday June 17 to Sunday June 25.
My husband really wanted to stay at Aulani. We stayed in April 2022 (just dh and I) but when I looked at booking, we were looking at just under $700 per night for one room, or with tax, about $5700 for one room with tax for the week.. We need 2 rooms, plus a third adult in a room ($100 per night) or a third room, plus parking ($37 per night). So basically about $12,500.
I also looked at a 2 bedroom villa, but there weren’t any available.
Another issue is that my daughter's boyfriend may come, but he is finishing his Ph.D and won’t know if he can come until he matches for his clinicals, which we won’t know until February. If he comes we will need a third room, which also adds to the expense.
Given that we will want to do some fun (and sometimes pricey) stuff and my very particular family also wants to eat and drink, Aulani (sadly) was out of our budget! I looked at hotels, especially Marriotts (because I am Titanium Elite) but with three rooms and resort fees, they were also going to be expensive. So I began looking on VRBO. I am not typically a fan of home rentals (especially AirBnB) because I have heard of so many horror stories. But, I found a 3 bedroom condo (which is hard to find, most are 2 bedroom), with ocean views, air conditioning, a lanai, washer & dryer and a 5 minute walk to Waikiki beach. The unit is owned by a premier host and his excellent reviews go back 8 years. It is also 100% refundable up to two weeks before you travel. Even better (for me), it has a Lahaina Shave Ice in the lobby of the condo! (247 Beach Walk, Honolulu 96815). Cost wise, it’s a significant bargain (well, for Hawaii) and with all taxes and fees, comes to $4500 for the week.
I know I’ve talked a lot about hotel budgets, which is kind of boring, but I hope the information will be helpful. And I realize this is an Aulani message board, and we’re not staying there (just doing a visit for a meal), but hopefully the remaining information will be helpful to all.
I booked airfare for all of us in October. While I got fairly reasonable flights for our two kids in the Bay Area, the flights from the DC were crazy. And dh and I are flying first class (yes, we are spoiling ourselves in our retirement). We ended up changing our days a little bit, so the kids fly home Saturday instead of Sunday. Not really because of the fares (although it helps), but because with the time change, they’d get in late and have to go to work the next morning. And for ds in the DC area, he is now leaving Friday night at 9pm, and getting home Saturday evening. We also decided to add extra days to our trip for dh and myself.
I should add, at this point, that my kids are all very different: very different politically, personality, interests, eating and activity level……you name it. They’re all good kids, just very different. It makes me so sad that they haven’t been really close (like they were when they were little), but at least now they are mature enough to be around each other and not be obnoxious and do seem to be working to build relationships with each other. So that makes me super happy and I am excited for this trip. This is the first time in a long long time we have all been together, in the same house, doing the same things, for more than a weekend, in many years.
So, I am doing a couple of things to make our trip go smoother. I have sent two google forms. One was for what to do while in Hawaii and the other for food and meals for the condo and where to go out to eat.
I asked for input on a variety of activities, essentially asking “do you want to do this?”. Choices for answers included, “yes”, “no” and “not really, but I’m okay and will go along if others want to do it”.
I was actually surprised that all wanted to see all the museums around Pearl Harbor and on Ford Island. No interest in a luau or evening booze cruise, but yes to seeing Iolani Palace and Kualoa Ranch. It was easy to plan once I had this information.
I then looked at restaurants we could walk to from our condo or were near places we planned to go. I sent the form with a link to the menu so everyone could review before we go. That way, I already have restaurants that would work for my vegetarian daughter, my picky meat eater son, and me (picky but in a different way). I didn’t want to spend vacation time trying to find a place everyone would like.
Finally, I have planned for a few meals from Costco that we can eat at the condo and asked for input for that as well. I also got input on what everyone wanted for breakfast and lunch. We’ll do these from the condo. (I am packing two foldable coolers to take with us for lunches).
We ended up with some changes…..dd and her boyfriend broke up (we were kind of expecting an engagement, so this was a big surprise) and then the youngest ds ended up needing to change his flight on the way home. All of this got settled and now we are leaving in 36 hours.
Our itinerary is as follows:
Thursday June 15: dh and I fly to Oahu. We’ll probably head to the beach for a while and we love the beachside bar at the Ala Moana, so that’s what we’ll likely do.
Friday June 16: dh has wanted to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We may go here or may see the Queen Emma summer palace and bishop museum. Since we need to buy tickets ahead of time, we really need to decide soon! (Dh wanted to go to the PCC, but when he found out the cost, kind of gulped. I really don’t care at all about seeing it, but am happy to go if dh wants to do it).
Saturday June 17: dh and I will get up and pick up two of our kids at 10:30 (assuming the flights are on time). We’ll run out to Costco and then Safeway and then check into the condo (we can get in at noon). No plans yet for the afternoon…..probably head to the beach. Our oldest son arrives about 8pm so we’ll run and pick him up
Sunday June 18: beach day, and then drive out for dinner at Aulani. I didn’t want to plan anything big for this day in case of flight delays. We will pack lunch for the beach.
Monday June 19: Pearl Harbor. Dinner will be from Costco. Lunch….I’m not sure. We will drive our car to Pearl Harbor, so I do plan on bringing water and lunch stuff, but not sure how easy it will be to do.
Tuesday June 20: Walking around Waikiki and then two kids are going to Coral Crater. Third child will stay with dh and I and go to Kawaiaha’o Church and Iolani Palace. Dinner tonight will also be at the condo. Early lunch at the condo before we leave for the afternoon.
Wednesday June 21:Kualoa Ranch (Jurassic Park tour and Secret Island in the afternoon). Dinner will be at the Kahuku Sugar Mill (food trucks). We can bring lunch here, so we will eat between tours or at the beach.
Thursday June 22: Two kids are hiking Diamond Head early. The rest of the day will be a beach day. Dinner will be pizza from a local place at the condo. Lunch will be packed from the condo.
Friday June 23: no plans yet. Maybe another beach day? Two kids fly out about 8:45pm. Dinner will likely be leftovers.
Saturday June 24: pack up and leave the condo. Third child departs around 1:30 and dh and I fly to Maui not long after. Check into Sheraton Maui and walk around Whalers Village.
Sunday June 25: dh and I have reserved loungers. The area looks to be just between the beach and the pool, so we have easy access to both, It was $60 for two loungers for the day,
Monday June 26: we are going to Lahaina and meeting friends of dh to do something (no plans yet). We’ll probably walk around Lahaina. I do want to go to Fleetwoods, so I am hoping
Tuesday June 27: We rented loungers again today.
Wednesday June 28: Once again rented loungers. One evening during the week we’ll probably go to the Warren and Annabelle show. My husband loves magicians.
Thursday June 29: fly home (boo hoo).
I would be happy to answer questions if I can, once we arrive in Hawaii.
