I got up at 5am to shower, and then our cab came at 5:45. We had a pretty normal flight out of Winnipeg, and then were greeted by rain/ice/snow slush in Denver (and coming from Winnipeg, I was not thrilled to see my first bit of snow for the year... Ill get enough of that later this year!).
Denver Weather
The flight from Denver was normal as well, but I now have to warn anyone that hasnt been to the Phoenix airport to be prepared. We were in a different terminal when we landed, and it turned out we had to take a shuttle to the other terminal, but to get on that shuttle (a bus) you have to leave security, and go to the shuttle area (one comes every 7 minutes they said), get taken to your terminal, go through the baggage check area to find security, go back through security, and then still have a ways to go to get to your gate. We had almost an hour between our Denver plane landing and our Phoenix plane leaving, and we were the last people to make it on the Phoenix plane (greeted with we didnt think you were going to make it!).
For anyone who has not had long flights before (normally I fly two 2-hour flights from Winnipeg to Orlando) my best advice would be to pack snacks (unless you like the sandwiches the plane serves, I don't) and if you get any sort of motion sickness take your Dramamine and pass out in the corner. I didn't bring snacks, which lead to me eating some chips and cookies from the plane offerings and then being super hungry (in addition to super tired) when we landed. It was nice that I was able to take my motion sickness medicine and pass out on our second plane, but the last one I was in the middle and didn't get to sleep off my Dramamine, which left me just feeling funky later.
Honolulu Airport
We landed in Honolulu to clouds and light rain, but it was still so beautiful (especially since I love warm rain). We had to get our bags and get our rental car (the shuttle system wasnt very clear we didnt see anything that indicated where each shuttle stopped, so we stood by the Rental Car Shuttle sign and we had to hail down the National shuttle for them to stop where we were). We had pre-ordered the rental car so getting it was painless, and then getting on the H1 was painless as well. I was a little surprised by the traffic (we were later told that they say almost one million people live on Oahu and you can see 80% of them in rush hour, lol) and also by the dark. It got dark around 6pm (so not a whole lot of pics today)! It was pretty easy to get to Ko Olina off the H1 though (everything is well marked).
As soon as we pulled up to the gate of Ko Olina to tell them who we were, we knew we were at Disney the cast member at the gate was high energy, enthusiastic, friendly, and helpful. We felt exactly like we had pulled up to a Disney Resort! When we pulled in saw a Lot Full sign at the self park parkade, so we went to Valet and I told him I was a member. He said they could valet my car for 10-15 mins while we check in, or that I could go ahead and park into the lot because they keep spots open for members even though it says full. We opted to park and roll our bags up because I was pretty tired and didnt want to deal with going back to the car. We found an elevator in the parkade that takes you to the lobby level, and then took a nice (albeit dark) path to the resort. Because it was around midnight our time (and we had been up since 5am our time) I was pretty tired and just ready to get to the room, so we beelined it past all the valet and bell services and into the lobby to check in, but then I heard someone calling out. We turned around and a cast member (RJ) had been waiting for us! He gave us our lei and kukui nut necklace, then walked us into the lobby and out the back to look at the Waikolohe Valley (pool/lazy river).
Forgive the blurry pic of Waikolohe Valley
Then he surprised us with our room keys since we had done online check-in (he was my hero at this point)! Then he walked us to our elevator (and he told us "Welcome Home," although I felt more like I was intruding on the home of those that are actually lucky enough to be able to own Aulani) that would take us to the 9th floor to our ocean view studio.
Since we had skipped going to get groceries and I was too tired to go too far, we ended up getting hot pockets from the resort store, eating one, and then passing out!
Up Next: Day 2, Part 1 - Yoga and Exploring Aulani
Thank you for including your non-Disney Hawaii planning links. I too, am a meticulous planner. 
