Spring Break 2021: Day 7

We had a lazy morning and slept in because we knew it would be a long day before our flight at 11:30 pm! After checking out and dropping our bags off at bell services, we took a lyft back to a restaurant where we'd gotten take-out earlier in the week. They offer a Korean tofu burger and I can't even describe how good it is! After lunch, we stopped at a little shop for a lychee smoothie and then took another lyft back to Aulani to spend the rest of the day relaxing. We ate shave ice, we took some character photos, we had dinner, we watched the sunset, and we got a final Dole Whip. Overall, such a lovely day!

Aulani is an absolutely beautiful resort and I'm so glad we visited and checked another item off our Disney bucket list! As a wrote a few days ago, it's the third stand-alone DVC resort and there is no comparison between Aulani and the other two. I liked Vero Beach and would consider going there again, but Hilton Head was absolutely a one-and-done place for me. If there weren't so many places in the world I want to see, Aulani would be a place I'd visit again and again and again.

Of course the worst part of any hotel stay are some of the other guests, and despite Aulani being on the fancy side, it's still a DVC resort. Our neighbors were pretty awful - yelling and arguing at 6:30 in the morning - and we witnessed many families letting their kids run wild in the hallways, shouting and screaming. I have no problem with excited, loud kids at the pools or beach, during activities, or when meeting characters; not only do I expect it, but I'm usually pretty entertained by kids' antics. But honestly, behave inside the hotel. This is not your house and you are not the only people here, so try having some consideration for your fellow guests. I don't blame the kids for this, but I most certainly blame their parents for not teaching their children how to behave in shared public spaces.

While Aulani is more focused on the Hawaiian theming and less on the Disney theming, one little detail I loved was the elevator music, which was a collection of Hawaiian versions of Disney songs. I loved it so much that I searched to find the name of the album, which is Mele from Aunty's Beach House: Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa and it's available on Apple Music. The songs are The Bare Necessities, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride, Under the Sea, Welcome, You've Got a Friend in Me, Be Our Guest, Colors of the Wind, We Belong Together, That's How You Know, It's a Small World, I Just Can't Wait to Be King, and When You Wish Upon a Star. I highly recommend it! The arrangements are beautiful and I love listening to the songs in Hawaiian!

When it was time to go to the airport, we collected our bags and checked on the status of the lyft we had scheduled. Well, guess what! No cars were available! It felt like the Seinfeld episode where he made a rental car reservation only to arrive at the counter and be told there were no cars available. What is the point of making a lyft reservation when it apparently does nothing to secure a ride?!?

Over the course of our travels, I have been extremely unimpressed with lyft. In cities, at WDW, near home...it has been incredibly unreliable in my experience compared with uber. We've almost always used uber, but recently upgraded our credit card to one with additional travel perks, and the card is affiliated with lyft, which is why we've used lyft this week. Again, not impressed whatsoever. Thankfully, we were able to get an uber very quickly and got to the airport in plenty of time. It's a red-eye flight, so I'm hoping to sleep through most of it!

spotted at the Honolulu airport

Happy Tails to you!