Family-Friendly Travel Tips for Hawaii

If you have ever been to Hawaii or even saw images you would realize that it is truly paradise. Hawaii is the pick for Honeymooners and families alike due to its beautiful beaches, amazing backdrops, and great climate. The laid back vibes add to its charm. If fact, we went for our honeymoon in 2014.

Make the Decision

Toward the end of 2021 we had our first kid. After the pandemic, we experienced the life-changing shock of having a kid. We were finally ready for our first family vacation. At this point, we knew we would parent anywhere. We would deal with the same issues of bottles, diapers, and cries whether we were in paradise or not. Always choose paradise. We had taken some shorter flights with our daughter so we knew what to expect for traveling with her. This was going to be her longest flight to date. It was potentially going to push us mentally and emotionally. But again, always choose paradise.

Set Expectations

We knew that parenting was going to be ‘hard’ no matter where we were. We were sleep deprived (as she started being a more regular night time sleeper at 18 months) and trying to settle a child with popping ears and no understanding of staying in their seat during the flight

We call them family trips. Yes, we can have trade off and lead parent moments to give breaks. We might as well be in paradise.

We have a very energetic daughter. We knew that for the longest flight to date, we would need some travel tactics in place. 

Managing Travel

For the Airplane:

We bought our child her own iPad. This is controversial as screen time can be very divisive among parents. Still, we thought for our sanity and those around us on the flight if we can download some shows that will hold her attention we will appreciate a few less cries on the crowded flight. We still keep it loaded with her favorite shows and take it to meals or activities where she may want some quiet time to herself or we may have to be out beyond her natural attention span. We feel as though certain circumstances just allow for us to be a bit more flexible than we would normally be with screentime. 

Create a Snacklebox. We jumped on the bandwagon and amazoned a tackle box set up for snacks. We created the perfect menu: a mix of healthy /normal snacks but also some more of the prized and valued snacks that we may need as a reward or distraction (e.g., m&ms). 

Tip: Use this wisely and pace yourself. My husband pulled it out before we even taxied and we lost a lot of potential occupied time. 

Club Lounges

Another controversial take is that we utilize club lounges extensively even with a kid. Check with the particular club lounge but there are age guidelines for cost (i.e. 2 and under) where they are free, which can be a savings of approx. $50 a visit. The ease of sitting comfortably with all of the lounge amenities and perhaps an adult beverage while you are trying to manage a child, luggage and the stressors of travel more than pays for itself.  

We have had exceptional experiences with Delta SkyClub specifically where they went above and beyond for our family. They gave us extra attention and service to help us get our meals and also keep our area clean. On one of our visits the staff brought our daughter her own stuffed Delta plane that she carried around the whole rest of the trip. I think they created a lifelong customer out of her on that trip. 

I will say on one of our evening trips we were questioned and nearly scolded for kid cries for the staff to only realize it was one of the babies in the lounge. There is a level expectation around what is and isn’t acceptable based on age and situation. 

Accommodations

Stay on the Beach

We decided that for the cost to stay right at one of the prime hotels on the beach in Waikiki was going to give us the most value. Children tend to wake up early, have a nap schedule and have small attention spans. We figured we had enough items to tackle that walking or logistics was not going to be one of them for this trip.

We purchased our accommodation package through Costo Travel. It was a great value for us. On top of being competitively priced just for the accommodations, it included add-ons like included meal vouchers, in room gifts, a Costco shopping voucher and airport transfer service.

The meal vouchers were gold for us. They included the buffet meals. If you have a small child you know the value just in fruit consumption alone. Being able to just walk down to the various restaurants and have everything included was so valuable to us. So much so that we had numerous additional meals at the hotel that we paid out of pocket.. 

Book a Stay with a Pool

We spent a lot of great time in the ocean swimming, floating and watching the turtles and tourists. Tide and overall weather conditions can be unpredictable even in the peak travel season which lead to some beach closures.

Unless you are at a beach club the pool offers some great amenities that the beach does not. Our daughter explored the entire smoothie menu. We were able to still get food service. This service didn’t interrupt swimming activities. If you have a kid who never wants to leave the pool, this is worth its weight in gold.

Cost Tradeoffs

Our flights are practically free as we utilize our credit card points strategy for flights specifically. For our spending habits and trip decisions having flights covered always means that we pull the trigger for trips. This also means that nearly all of our vacation budgets go to hotels, food and experiences. Our credit card strategy also includes our lounge access for the whole family. Once you have that privilege it is very hard to go without it.

Kid Travel Essentials:

Travel Car Seat

Carset Cover

Ipad or Amazon Fire 10 Kids Ages 3-7 or Amazon Fire Kids Pro Ages 6-12

These bags are essential as daily go bags, organizing toys

Snack Box Types: All smaller than shown above and dishwasher safe (a must)

Snack Spinner or Bentgo Boxes that will be utilized for years to come

That’s It Bars, Sweet Thins, M&ms or Unreal

We keep a packit in the freezer to transport bottles/sippy cups

Travel for Parents:

Entertainment: Kindle, iPad, Go-To Headphones

The best phone mini charger

Pictures from our Family Vacation: