Hawaiian Adventure Day 9

Maui to Oahu

So having a construction view room hasn't been an issue for us at all. But then we have been here over the weekend.
Today is Monday morning and it's barely after 7 am... it's not wake you up loud, but they are working over there now, and they hadn't been over the weekend. It makes sense, but I guess I just didn't think about it until today.

I have enjoyed seeing different islands on this trip, but the pack everything up and move part of that... not as much. And today we did it again. However we moved to Disney's Aulani and I can't believe we are finally here! More on that in a bit....
Our flight was easy. Just over 30 mins and we were on the ground on Oahu. The flight attendants got some juice passed out and picked up... then we landed. Not even time to get bored ;)

Our vehicle here on Oahu was a last minute upgrade. And its it by far the most comfortable and has the most "get-up-and-go" of all the vehicles so far. But no good way to play the audio off our phone so we can hear the GyPSy guide well. It's the first time hubby has encountered a vehicle with an RCA plug in for audio. No other option. It has Bluetooth for phone, but not audio :(
So, when we stopped to grab a few food things, we grabbed a cord as well.
Now the vehicle is perfect.... until we need to fill it with gas ;) Oh! its a Nissan Pathfinder, if you were curious. [Editor's note: To the people at Nissan: What kind of incompetent product manager decided that they should build a $30K+ SUV with back-up cameras, sonar to keep you from backing into things, push-button start, remote start, etc. but *not* include Bluetooth audio?]

So, 6+ years ago we came to Oahu and stayed at the Marriott timeshare in Ko Olina. Disney was building Aulani, but it was nowhere near done. We walked down the beach a ways to see the construction on that trip and have been sooo excited to eventually come back and stay here. Disney + Hawaii... what could be better? :)
What has made it even better is being here as Vacation Club members. We didn't notice it at the time, but our check in experience was much nicer as a member than it would have been if we had paid cash. It was more of what I assume a concierge check in is like.  And a number of things are free to us.. parking for one ($37 a day otherwise). [Editor's note: OK, I know Disney can be crazy expensive, but $37/day for parking for regular resort guests? That's insane...]
The rooms are laid out in a very DVC way. The format is similar to many other DVCs we have stayed at. And our view is wonderful... we can see the pool, lazy river and beach in the distance. [Editor's note: Our view is wonderful because while we are DVC members, Aulani is not our home resort, so we don't get first shot at booking it. The "ocean view" rooms cost the most points and so they tend to be the ones that are most likely available when non-Aulani DVC members are able to book.]

I see it!
(pay no attention to the Four Seasons sign... it was next to us when I took the pic) 

A very understated sign, we almost missed the sign completely. 

Living room. The hidden bed is under the TV, and of course the couch converts as well. 

Kitchen. Nope, no vanilla ice cream... yet!

view out the window 

Such a fun picture. I won't tell why :)

Once we got settled we wandered around to explore and get a feel for the resort. We grabbed some food to go from the counter service place and ate an easy meal in the room. But we did make some reservations for the character breakfast and a buffet dinner in a few days.
The adventurous in the group hit the pools tonight... but after all the hub-bub of the day, some of us just wanted to relax in the room.

(Update from the pool goers - the pools are AWESOME! She won't stop talking about them :) The slides are AWESOME! The lazy river is terrific too. All followed by "When can we go back to the pools?")

News from the weekend has caught up with us. And is messing with our vacation bubble - that sounds selfish, I know, sorry. I really don't want to return to the real world. So thankful we have a few more days :)

Taken from the bed... ahh, this is nice.