We're planning on going to Hawaii later this year. By then DD1 will be almost 4 and DD2 will be almost 1.5. The direct flight is 9 hours and this will be the longest flight we've ever flown with them. The longest in the past was 4 hours.

I usually love non-stop flight options when traveling with kids but because of the long flight time I wonder if it would be better to break it up. Our other option would be to make a pit stop in San Francisco (4 hours flight time) and spend a day there. We have extended family we could visit. And then fly from SF to Honolulu (5 hours flight time). I'm just not sure it's worth the inconvenience of going to the airport twice with luggage + two kids.

So if you were me, would you rather do the non-stop 9 hour flight and hope the kids don't go crazy or do a stop over and give the kids a break?

And not sure if this matters but we will be traveling with my parents too. So, an extra set of hands on the flight.