I've visited Hawaii more than 40 times and I know ALL the tips and tricks for planning the ultimate Hawaii family vacation! I offer free Hawaii planning email courses. I also send weekly emails on Fridays where I share my top things to do in Hawaii with kids, the best family resorts in Hawaii, and my ultimate packing lists! Mahalo!
Hawaii Thanksgiving: Open & Closed, Plan Ahead
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Aloha Reader! Spending Thanksgiving in Hawaii this year? Smart move. But here's what you need to know (that nobody tells you until you're already there): WHAT'S OPEN:
WHAT'S CLOSED OR LIMITED:
THE REAL TALK: If you're used to big family Thanksgiving, Hawaii Thanksgiving might feel... different. Your kids probably won't care because BEACH, but you might feel a little twinge of missing the tradition. My recommendation? Embrace it. Do Thanksgiving brunch at your hotel, then spend the day at the beach. Make new traditions. OR - and this is what some families do - cook a mini Thanksgiving in your condo. The grocery stores have everything you need, just on a smaller scale. The biggest surprise? How many OTHER families are doing the exact same thing. You're not alone out there. The resorts are full of parents who chose palm trees over pumpkin pie. Want more insider tips like this? I share tons of "what to actually expect" advice on my podcast. Perfect for listening while you're doing all that trip prep.
Aloha, Marcie P.S. - Seriously, make those restaurant reservations. Thanksgiving week books out WEEKS in advance. |
Aloha! I'm Marcie with Hawaii Travel with Kids
I've visited Hawaii more than 40 times and I know ALL the tips and tricks for planning the ultimate Hawaii family vacation! I offer free Hawaii planning email courses. I also send weekly emails on Fridays where I share my top things to do in Hawaii with kids, the best family resorts in Hawaii, and my ultimate packing lists! Mahalo!
Aloha Reader, Something funny happened last week. Within a few days, several different people reached out and asked me basically the same thing: "Marcie, can you just look at my itinerary and tell me if it's good?" So I built a service for exactly that. Starting now, you can submit your Hawaii itinerary for a full review. I'll go through it, flag anything that concerns me, answer your itinerary-specific questions, and send it back to you within 48 hours. It's $50. This is a great fit for you...
Aloha Reader! I'm just going to be upfront with you: Hawaii is not cheap, and the numbers have gone up. If you've been Googling "how much does a Hawaii trip cost" and getting estimates that feel surprisingly low, it's probably because those articles are using old data. Here's what the realistic picture looks like for a family of four in summer 2026. Flights This is where a lot of families get sticker shock. The old benchmark of $450 to $900 per person roundtrip that you'll still see in a lot...
Aloha Reader! I got a version of this question a lot in February: "We have 10 days in Hawaii. Should we do one island or two?" Sometimes it's "should we do Maui or Oahu for our first trip." Sometimes it's "we really want to see both but we're not sure we have enough time." The wording changes but the underlying question is the same. How do we make sure we're making the right call on something this big? Here's the honest answer: it depends, and the things it depends on are really specific to...