Hawaii Here I Come! TR July/Aug 2011 UPDATED 8/23 - Page 17 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
You did get a lot accomplished! Sounds like you needed a nice massage and nap by the end, though. Have you had a Kaki Gori at Epcot? It's the real, light, powdery shave-ice, not the slushie stuff you usually get. And the syrups are delicious, not too sweet.
Just catching up on all your updates!
Sounds like you guys had a great time!
Yes, we really did! Now I just wish I could have a short vacation to recover from the Hawaii trip, lol!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
You did get a lot accomplished! Sounds like you needed a nice massage and nap by the end, though. Have you had a Kaki Gori at Epcot? It's the real, light, powdery shave-ice, not the slushie stuff you usually get. And the syrups are delicious, not too sweet.
Well, you know from my PTR why we schedule the trip the way we did (because of Baby K), but it really would've worked perfectly if we had done Oahu first and then had a week on the Big Island doing nothing but sleeping, swimming, and eating!
On my only trip to WDW (so far!), parts of the Japan pavilion were behind construction walls, so we didn't spend a lot of time there, and I missed getting a Kaki Gori but I do intend to rectify that on my next trip! Also, that trip was in January 2009, and most of the days were cold (highs in the 50s and 60s, lows in the 20s and 30s), so there wasn't as much of an incentive to cool off!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Not sure how I missed your PTR, but I am in the process of getting caught up on your TR! The view from your room is gorgeous! Ok, I am off to finish reading...
Not sure how I missed your PTR, but I am in the process of getting caught up on your TR! The view from your room is gorgeous! Ok, I am off to finish reading...
Glad you're here! I really miss the Big Island. I mean Oahu was fun, but Big Island just speaks to me, you know? I am so at peace when I'm there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Sounds like another great day!
Great, but exhausting!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Morning of Day 11, our last and almost full day in Hawaii
In our hotel room, they have several channels of food choices at the hotel, shopping choices, activities, etc. One of the first things I did on the night we arrived was watch the entire loop of the food choices (come on, you should all expect this of me by now!). I had also checked out the hotel website weeks if not months ago to see all the choices. I had thought that we'd be able to try several restaurants at the resort, but as it turns out, we only tried two (and that just reminded me that I forgot to mention we ate nachos and a teriyaki chicken plate at the Hau Tree pool bar/restaurant after the day with "the longest pool slide in Waikiki" lol! I didn't have my phone or camera with me, so I had completely forgotten about that until now!)
One of the restaurants (of many) that looked interesting was Tropics Bar and Grill. It's a restaurant that sits right by the beach but isn't a beach/pool restaurant, as you must be dry and have a cover-up to eat there. All the seating is on an open patio covered with lots of umbrellas and awnings. It looked like a nice setting that was also good for kids. We decided we would try it for breakfast this morning. Another thing that looked interesting about it is that there is a serve yourself cereal/granola bar where you there were about 7 or 8 containers from which you could serve yourself. It's what we had expected of Lagoon Spoon over on the Big Island except that we discovered you can't serve yourself at Lagoon Spoon Tropics was different and all 3 of us chose the all you can eat continental breakfast that came with fresh fruits, pastries, cereal/granola, fruit juices, and coffee. Evan went to town on the Fruit Loops (we were on vacation, so it was ok ) and Cheerios with a touch of Rice Krispies. Sophia and I enjoyed the papaya, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew. For some reason, I don't see pineapple in my picture, which seems odd...now I can't remember if I ate it or if they didn't have it.
I also enjoyed some mixed granola and meusli topped with 3 different flavors of yogurt (vanilla, strawberry, and another 1 one which wasn't identified, lol, but I'm daring that way!). You can also see Evan's cereal mix and my guava juice in the pic.
The juice bar had pineapple juice (which Sophia enjoyed), apple juice (which Evan loved), and guava juice (which I liked a lot). I also got coffee (I think just a Kona blend). It was at this point I realized that I still hadn't had any 100% Kona coffee on this trip! What's going on?!
After going back for a few more pastries, we were stuffed. The kids each got a little stuffed toy (I think it was a gray dolphin and a white seal, you can sort of see one of them in the picture above of my fruit) sort of like the ones you'd get with a Happy Meal. We left the restaurant and walked around the resort to explore some more. Sophia and I had also decided we'd come back here for lunch before we left the resort.
We got our cookies from Honolulu Cookie Company (free samples, too!). Sophia wanted to browse through some of the clothing boutiques (yes, she's only 11, but I can tell she's going to be my fashionista!). We saw a coffee/chocolate shop, and went in there to browse. They had 100% Kona in there, and I got a free sample! Hooray! I finally had some 100% Kona coffee on this trip! We saw lots of nice things, but in the end our only purchase was the cookies.
Well, our original plan was to eat breakfast early, browse a bit, and then go swimming in the ocean (the resort has a nice stretch of beach). I had called the night before and got late checkout for 12 noon (regular checkout is 11). Well, as we were finishing up our browsing, it started to rain...not a drizzle, but a steady rain. Ugh. It only lasted about 10 minutes, but it was enough to get everything wet, and we were no longer in the mood to go swimming. So we just browsed a little more and went back to our room for final packing and checkout.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Last edited by Dlandmom2; 08-12-2011 at 12:09 PM..
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Those pancakes looked pretty good, although maybe a tad more whipped cream than I'd want. My kids would have LOVED them, though!
You should've seen the full size order of pancakes. The pancakes were about the size of those white plates, and then I think they spoon on your choice of topping, and on top of that they put a MOUNTAIN of whipped cream...and I'm not exaggerating about that. I really wish I had taken a picture of the tables near us (but I thought that would've been rude). The whipped cream was at least 6 inches high! After seeing that, the whipped cream on our little pancakes didn't seem like a big deal, lol! Still, we only ate maybe half the whipped cream and scraped off the rest of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Sounds like you're neatly getting through the list of things to do!
I am, but boy, at the end of that day, I was not a happy camper at all. If it weren't for my kids, there's no way I would've left the room (and my bed) to walk to dinner and back! And I was really stressing that I wouldn't be able to find the shirt my mom wanted (her request was specific, but the kids just wanted any humuhumunukunukuapua'a shirt), because in 10 days of looking around, I hadn't found anything remotely like it.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
I'm so sad that the trip is coming to an end...I have more coming, but not much more!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
You're making me hungry with all those food pics!
I'm making myself hungry, too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
That sounds like the perfect breakfast spot. I'd have chosen just what you got-- fresh fruit and muesli!
The muesli was really good, too...I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of the buffet area because I can't remember what kind of muesli it was. I want to say it was something like "island muesli" and then there were I think 2 types of granola. You saw what kind of food we had been eating on this trip, so my body was really craving something fresh and healthy! I wish I were there right now, because I'd have that for dinner tonight if I could!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I'm having so much fun sharing my experiences with you, and I'm so glad you're all along to share them with me...but I'm getting sad that it's coming to an end soon. But I'll keep going because I can't let you down!
Ok, at this point we were all packed. Sophia and I came to the realization that there was just no way that we were hungry enough to eat lunch before we left...and knowing that we had to get some gift shopping done, we couldn't figure out a way to make the parking work...once you check out, you can use your room key once before 5pm that day to get out of the parking structure, but after that you're on your own. It was already 11, so there was no way we could leave, go shopping and be back before 12 noon to check out. Oh well, plan 2.
We checked out around 11:30am and drove over to the nearest Walmart, which was very close by. Within walking distance from the hotel (a long walk, but doable) is the Ala Moana Mall I "think" it's the largest outdoor mall in America, but don't quote me on that. Just behind the mall is a huge Walmart/Sam's Club complex. I don't have a Sam's card, so it was into Walmart we went. We went straight to the "tourist" section and checked out their stuff. They had lots of shirts, t-shirts and tank tops, but nothing that had our fish on it. Ugh. My mom had a specific request for Hawaiian Host chocolate covered whole macadamia nuts, and we found that, thank goodness! But, we had to move on to another Walmart.
We got into the car, and I remembered that we hadn't been to Island Slipper! There's an Island Slipper store that's at Ward Center (small shopping center) which is just down the road from the mall area.
Sophia and I made a beeline for the clearance section in the back. They had the sale items grouped by size, and there wasn't a huge selection...usually it's just a style or two or a size or two that's not selling well, I imagine. Sophia didn't find anything she liked, but I found one similar to one I've had before that I really liked, so I got it. The original price was $54.95, I think, and the clearance section is 50% off, so good score for me! Oh, I forgot to mention that the sales tax in Hawaii is only about 4.7% which is about half what it is in the rest of the US, so that's been nice, too! I guess it's a small offset to the generally more expensive prices than the mainland.
Ok, sandals purchased, we drove toward Perri's house. I know I've been to a Walmart near his house, so I figured I'd drive toward his house, pull over when we found something we wanted for lunch, and then turn on my new best friend, the navigation app on my phone, and find the nearest Walmart. We got off the freeway near Perri's house, and Evan spotted the golden arches of McDonald's, so that's where we went...chicken nuggets kid's meal for him, and a regular hamburger kid's meal for Sophia, which she didn't finish, so I had a bit of it, too.
We drove about 15 minutes by street to the Walmart per my nav. We entered and couldn't find a touristy section anywhere! Ugh! We went to the general clothing section, and I found some t-shirts for my mom...one had a silvery design with "Hawaii" on it, and the other one had some Hawaiian turtles on it. Oh well, I tried. We found a turtle shirt for Evan as well, but Sophia decided she could do without a shirt. While we were shopping, Perri texted that they were still at the doctor's office for Baby K's checkup, so we could either go their house where Minnie's mom was watching Baby D or just shop some more to kill time. I told him we would go to the Pearlridge Mall that's near his house, and he said that would be a great idea and he would let us know when they were heading home.
On the drive back, Sophia wasn't in the mood for more shopping (she was both tired and sad to be leaving, otherwise I know she'd be up for plenty of more shopping!). We decided to just go to Perri's house. As we were parking, we saw Minnie's mom and Baby D walking up the street. Baby D saw us and broke out into a huge grin! I wish we had a camera out, because it was just so precious!
So we went in to play with Baby D one last time for this trip. I lugged all our bags into the house so I could repack everything to fit our new purchases. Once Perri & Co got home, we started getting ready for dinner. The plan was to go out to dinner with Perri's family and Minnie's parents, and then Perri would drop us off at the airport for our 9:40pm flight. As with any big group, it took a while for everyone to get ready. Perri took a family picture before we left, and I'm waiting for him to send it to me so I can share it with you!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
but I do intend to rectify that on my next trip! Also, that trip was in January 2009, and most of the days were cold (highs in the 50s and 60s, lows in the 20s and 30s), so there wasn't as much of an incentive to cool off!
PassPorter Guide Author
) and Cheerios with a touch of Rice Krispies. Sophia and I enjoyed the papaya, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew. For some reason, I don't see pineapple in my picture, which seems odd...now I can't remember if I ate it or if they didn't have it.
Linear Mode
