When my daughter Lottie was a very busy two year old and I was 5 months pregnant with my son Sol, My husband Ben and I chose to travel to Hawaii for a Family Holiday. It was honestly one of the best trips we have ever had. I haven’t shared much about Hawaii on Mum with Wings, as I had lost the memory card that held all my treasured Hawaii family travel photos and as images are such a big part of instagram, face book and blogging I just left Hawaii out…..Until now, Today I found the lost memory card, or rather- it found me!!! The images were on the beginning of the card I used recently and they were just there on my computer today! How ironic that its throw back Thursday today too! Ive just been looking through and I get so sentimental over photos especially when my children have grown so much. Happy memories are the absolute best! So here it is my well and truly over due review on Family Friendly Hawaii.
Getting There– From Melbourne we flew QANTAS via Sydney. You can also get there on Jetstar. The flight time is around 9.5hours. Which is long enough for a movie and a good rest.
Pre Travel– As Hawaii is part of the United States of America, entry to Hawaii has to meet US requirements. I believe Australians with a current Australian passport can travel within Hawaii for up to 90 days without needing a visa. This can be done under the Visa Waiver Program. However, Things can change, So I always advise that you check current visa requirements before traveling to any International destination.
Accomodation- I really think a recommendation from a friend who has been is always the best advice and actually thats exactly what I try to do here on my blog. Share my family travel knowledge in the hope it will help other families want to travel more. A friend highly recommended the amazing Hilton Hawaiian Village. We absolutely loved it. It was perfect for families. Right on Waikiki Beach it had 5 amazing pools to choose from, Its own ice cream parlour, fire works (that Lottie thought were put on just for our arrival! haha!) real pink flamingos and even its own lagoon! The location was great. Close enough for us to walk into town to shop and dine. Not that we really needed to as there were many shopping and dining options within our resort. There was also a great public park just next door that we visited daily.
Dining– My favourite places to eat in Hawaii are at the famous ‘Dukes’ and also the popular chain ‘ The Cheesecake Factory’ However I found everywhere we dined super child friendly. Mostly we dined at Tropics Bar and Grill which was situated within the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I will never forget how impressed I was with the little things they did to make families more comfortable. My two year old daughter was at the age where she didn’t sit still and would knock over drinks easily. Her drink was delivered in a take away coffee cup with a lid and straw and she was given a kids activity pack to keep her busy. Even though I had brought along lots to entertain her. Kids always love being given something new and different. We were made to feel welcome while travelling with a toddler. It was perfect. If the kids needs are meet and they are happy it equals relaxed parents! Really cant ask fro more than that!
Sight Seeing– We loved walking along waikiki beach, watching the surfers and taking the aloha beach culture in. We also did the hop on hop off bus, but I don’t think that was really worthwhile. Hawaii is more of a relaxing holiday destination than a sightseeing one. Although what I do highly recommend is the Pearl Harbour Tour. That was a moving experience and something Im glad we included in our trip.
I think I’ve covered the main reasons why I loved Hawaii so much, I also just wanted to mention how clean and safe I found it too. A lot of people worry about getting sick while travelling and lets be honest some parts of the world are more hygienic than others. I would definitely recommend Hawaii for a Family Holiday. After finding my lost photos this morning, I really want to take the kids back one day soon. I hope that by sharing my own travel experiences with you, you can create your own amazing family travel memories too and for those of you who are nervous of travelling with kids, I hope my tips give you some confidence and re assurance before you travel. As always if you have any questions feel free to email me Jade@mumwithwings.com.au
Safe Travels, Jade
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