Months ago, we planned a trip to Lake Tahoe for my husband’s 30th birthday. It’s a place we have always had on our bucket list (and still do!), and we were so excited for it. As it got closer and closer though, the weather started to look not-so-hot. Literally.
Since it was June and we had a warm-weather vacation in mind, we started to consider relocating our trip. Peter hasn’t taken a full week off of work since he started his company 5+ years ago, and he FINALLY felt confident enough to do so!
A long time ago, I had heard about Disney’s Aulani Resort & Spa. I randomly stumbled upon it once a while back and was so intrigued by it, and then I saw Rachel Hollis rave about it on the ‘gram a few months later. If anyone is a truly influential influencer for me, it’s her.
Long story short, we got serious about looking into it and changed our trip. All the stars aligned just 3 days out from our trip– flights were available at ideal times, and rooms were available in their peak season! We took the plunge, even though we were both SO nervous about how long the flight is to get there.
I know you’re already questioning our sanity for changing our trip at the last minute to somewhere ridiculous like Hawaii. I’ll now make you judge me even harder when I tell you that the total flying time was a little over 10 hours…with a 1 year old and a 5 year old. Not including layovers 🙂
On the way there, we had a quick 30 minute flight to Detroit. Then we flew to Salt Lake City, which was about 4 hours. From Salt Lake, the flight was 6 very very long hours.
I was honestly really impressed with how both of our kids did. Peter Joseph is an expert flier. I swear we could fly to Mars with him and as long as he has his iPad and headphones, he’d be cool. Benji on the other hand is just still so little and so restless.
I’d say the hardest part of the flights there was Benji’s motion sickness. He sometimes gets car sick so I knew he might get a stomach ache on the flights, and he did. He puked all over me on both of the longer flights…thank God I’d packed two changes of clothes for him (and myself)!
I really think the key to traveling and flying with kids is being prepared for it. I have a blog post here with all my suggestions for easy travel (it includes a packing list)!
Once we survived the flights and got to Hawaii, we realized how worth it this trip was going to be. I have never seen such a beautiful place in my life! And the kid friendliess of our resort was top notch (I’ll go into more detail on that later).
One thing I will say that I don’t think people talk about enough: the time change/jet lag is freaking BRUTAL. Hawaii is six hours behind Ohio, which is a really big time change. Not only did it take a major toll on Benjamin, but it was extremely tough for me too. I felt so exhausted basically our entire trip, and the Benj man was pretty miserable too.
All that said, below is a list of PROS and CONS (very few cons) of the resort we stayed at, along with a recap of what we did/where we went each day! I hope you all have the opportunity to travel to the islands at some point in your life if you haven’t already!
PROS:
- Transportation available from airport, car seats included! Aulani has a shuttle company they partner with. All you have to do is call them ahead of time and tell them what time you’re landing/how many people.
- Overall, it’s just the most kid friendly resort I’ve ever encountered. Upon check-in, they offer you everything you could need: pack n’ play, diaper pail, bottle warmer, you name it. They offer car seats if you ever want to leave the resort, free of charge.
- The Kid’s Club called Aunty’s Beach House is absolutely amazing. Kids ages 3-12 are welcome to come hang out in the supervised, super safe and secure club. You have to register your child in advance and they take it very seriously…it feels like the damn TSA (but gave me great peace of mind). Right when you walk in, there are these adorable little water troughs for each child to wash/dry their hands before entering. Once you’re in there, there is an arts and crafts room, a movie room, and a game room. The fenced-in outside area is huge with tons of games and a playground. There is SO much they can do through the kid’s club– click here to check it out.
- Storytelling at the massive bonfire (this was called the Mo’olelo Fire Pit Storytelling). This happens a couple of times a day and a very animated master storyteller delivers Hawaiian legends to the kids. So much fun!
- Multiple different pools which was nice to be able to switch things up each day! There is one adult pool and all the others are open to kids/families. There was the most amazing lazy river (decked out with caves and waterfalls), and a little splash pad as well which was awesome for Benji! PS: they also have free life jacket rentals for the kids at the towel huts!
- Several of the same “attractions” as Disney World: they have big Mickey shaved ice, Dole Whips, etc. They also have breakfast/dinner options with the characters, and sometimes the characters just rome around the resort which was super fun!
- Great food! There are a few different dining options on the resort: one is a buffet which was SO good, and one is a nicer restaurant that’s right on the water with the most insanely beautiful view and amazing food (called ‘AMA’AMA). There are also a couple of small cafes and pool bars– check them all out here!
- Move nights on the lawn. This was so much fun and I will never forget how much Peter Joseph loved it. We watched Finding Dory with tons of other families under the stars after dinner one night. They have a huge projector screen and it wasn’t buggy at all!
- They offer a luau that you can buy tickets for on the same lawn at the resort. The tickets are pretty expensive, but it’s awesome that it’s right there on the property with food and entertainment. We wished we would have done a more “authentic” Hawaiian luau (think pig roast and flame throwing 🙂 ), but this was a super convenient option with the kids.
- The spa was beautiful. Definitely one of the nicest spas I’ve ever seen! There was this whole outdoor community shower situation that I’ve never seen before (they call it an outdoor hydrotherapy garden)…more on that here.
- The resort has a trusted babysitting service that you can pay for. It’s a very experienced group of babysitters that have had extensive background checks, etc. and they will come to your room for you and babysit as late as midnight!
- The location of the resort was great. It’s in an area called Ko’Olina which felt very safe and exclusive…it sits back on one of 5 or 6 lagoons and each lagoon has a very nice resort on it. Right next door was the Four Seasons, and a couple lagoons down was a very nice Marriott. There is a bike path that runs along the beach and the views in the mornings were breathtaking. Across the street is a little shopping center which was really convenient– there was a market (which is also an ABC store), a breakfast place, some small boutiques, a coffee shop, and a really yummy bar/restaurant with live music.
- The lagoons made for extremely clear/safe water, free of basically any sea animals other than teeny tiny fish! They put nets way out at the end of the lagoon to make sure the water stays crystal clear. It looked and felt like bath water!
CONS:
- It’s very expensive. Plus everything you buy on the resort is comparable to buying something at Disney…very expensive as well.
- It was crowded! We did go at their peak season, so it was to be expected. But it was annoying at times. The pools opened at 8am every day and if you weren’t down there prior to that saving a couple seats for you and your family, it was likely you would get one until later in the day when someone left.
- There were lines. Just for silly things like the bathrooms and elevators and food but again…it was definitely crowded.
- It wasn’t the most “relaxing” vacation we’ve ever been on. Don’t get me wrong, it was one of the BEST trips we’ve ever been on, but I wouldn’t consider it relaxing. It’s definitely a place made for children and families…not necessarily a Four Seasons geared at helping you relax with poolside cocktail service 🙂
OUR ITINERARY!
DAY 1:
- Our flight arrived at about 3pm local time, which was 9pm Ohio time. AKA our kids were tired AS HELL. We took the shuttle to the resort (a quick 20-30 min drive from the airport), checked in and got settled, and then everyone laid down for a short nap.
- We woke the kids up after a couple of hours in an effort to try to get them adjusted to the time change. We walked around the resort for a while and then grabbed some dinner and drinks at ‘AMA’AMA on the property. After that we were all SO exhausted so we headed up to bed!
DAY 2:
- We were all up and wide awake at about 4-5am local time (crazy to think that’s 10-11am in Ohio!) so we decided to start the day with a long walk along the bike path. The sun was just starting to come up and it was so pretty!
- We spent that day near the pirate ship pool that has a fun little slide, which was also right by an entrance to the lazy river. Benji was miserably tired and basically laid on me the entire day…but we still had fun!
- Later that night after naps, we decided to check out the buffet restaurant. There were SO many food options for both adults and kids, including several items on the healthier side which I was impressed by!
DAY 3:
- On the third day, we finally slept a little longer, but still were up close to 6am. We went on another morning walk along the beach and then grabbed some breakfast/acai bowls at the cafe on the property. We hung out at the main pool on this day which was great because it’s a zero entry pool.
- After naps we went next door to the Four Seasons and had the most delicious dinner and champagne! The restaurant was outside and right on the beach. There was even an in-house fisherman that catches all their fresh fish each day that came out to talk about their specials. Peter Joseph LOVED this and thought it was so cool!
DAY 4:
- Day four was our beach day. The resort had tons of super comfy chairs on the beach which were also first come/first serve, but it never seemed like you couldn’t find a few open seats on the beach.
- This was also the first day Peter Joseph tried out the kids club! He was in heaven and didn’t want to leave when we picked him up 🙂 We ordered room service for dinner this night and just hung out around the pool.
DAY 5:
- My hubby’s 30th birthday! Peter had a massage in the morning and I hung with the kids, and then we switched. How nice of him to book me a solo massage on HIS birthday, right?! The spa was so nice and so relaxing. We both really needed some time to just chill and recharge after all the crazy travel and kiddo time.
- Later on in the night we had Peter’s birthday dinner at the nice restaurant on the property (‘AMA’AMA). I also ordered a birthday cake from a local place called “Cupcake and Things” and they delivered it to the restaurant!
- After dinner, we were walking back to our room and realized there was a movie on the lawn so we stopped and watched it. It was the perfect ending to the night as a family… I felt really really lucky in this moment and will never forget it.
DAY 6:
- Started the day eating breakfast across the street at a DELICIOUS diner called Eggs N’ Things. We were really craving a greasy, non-fancy breakfast when we woke up 🙂
- After breakfast we had another lazy pool day with the kids, but at night I planned a date night for Peter and me! We used the babysitter service and went out to dinner. First we stopped at the Four Seasons for a drink (and a cold brew, lol), and then we headed to the nice restaurant at the Marriott for some Italian food.
- Pro tip if the babysitter thing freaks you out: bring a camera with you. We always bring our WiFi NEST camera on trips to use as a monitor if needed. When we booked the babysitter, it gave me such peace of mind to have that hooked up and to be able to check on the kids throughout the night. We politely told our babysitter that there was a camera just to ease our minds. Every sitter will respect that and if they don’t, I consider it a red flag.
DAY 7:
- On this day we decided to spend the morning at a small public beach within walking distance of the resort. We had heard from the locals that you can often spot sea turtles over at this beach! Sadly, we didn’t see any…BUT, it was the most gorgeous little beach/cove with tons of other sea life/fish that they boys were so excited about! This beach is just past the Four Seasons.
- That night was dinner with the characters. Peter J was absolutely in LOVE and has basically told every human being he’s come in contact with since we’ve been home about it! Benjamin was very hesitant about the characters and only liked them from afar 🙂
DAY 8:
- Another pool morning and we finally got around to trying the Mickey shaved ice which the boys loved!
- We had lunch at the small cafe, and then after naps we headed to a local rum distillery! This was called Ko’Hana and it was very small and kid friendly. They give you a tour of the distillery which was actually very interesting, and then they do a tasting for you. They give the kids gelato while you sip on rum. It was cool to leave the resort for a bit and do something different!
- That night when we got back, we did the Luau. Benji and I went down and got our dinner, but we were both so tired we could barely keep our eyes open. I took him up to the room, and Peter & Peter stayed down for the entertainment. I was actually able to watch it from our room for a bit once Benji went to bed! The lawn that they have it on was right outside our balcony.
DAY 9:
- Time to travel back to Ohio 🙁 We packed up our things and had room service breakfast, and then headed to the airport. The flights home were pretty brutal yet again, but this time we only had two flights and we took the red eye so the kids were crazy tired and slept a good amount! It was crazy to leave the resort at noon Hawaii time on Friday, but not get back to Ohio until 6:30am our time on Saturday. That’s what a 6 hour time change will do!
Aside from the jet lag we experienced going there AND coming back, it was truly the trip of a lifetime. I will never ever forget the magic in our kids’ eyes at this resort and the time we were able to spend together as a family. Travel can be really intimidating with young kids, but in our opinion it’s so incredibly worth it for the memories.
If you have any questions about our trip, please reach out to me! I hope you can all experience Hawaii someday.
XO
