Benefits of Online Check In?

[juju]

I completed my online check in but I am wondering what the benefit is. Just to save some time? How do you get your key or access to your room? I know at WDW I can use my phone, magic band etc to access my room, but will not be using my magic band at Aulani. Also, is the PIN the same one I set up at WDW? I saw something about the PIN setup on the Aulani app but couldn’t see how to change. I am bringing a friend who will be in another room. I set her up in my Friends and Family list. I think I need to have Disney send her an invite and after she accepts she can also try online check in and set up her CC and Pin?
Aloha all.

 

[DenLo]

We checked into to Aulani on August 14th around 10:30 AM. And we walked right up to the front desk. But that afternoon there was a long line of people checking in and small line for those that had done online check in. So I expect those that did online check in were noticing the difference.

Regarding the PIN number, our first visit to Aulani was in 2012 and we set up the pin at that time. We used the same PIN to keep it simple.