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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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I've been searching the web and have found a lot of general information...but I'm looking for the nitty-gritty:
* Are there grocery stores nearby?
* Do the excursions mentioned on the Disney.go Aulani website cost extra? If so, is there a price list somewhere? Are those excursions hosted by Disney or the general resort area?
* Is there ample transportation or should we get a rental car to visit places like Pearl Harbor?
* Just how expensive is the food? How much is reasonable to budget daily for food?
* When is "rainy season"?
* Will we be eaten alive by the local insect population?
* Is it really mild all of the time, or should we bring jackets? (We live in Phoenix, AZ)
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Across the street from Aulani is an ABC convenience store. They have hot dishes and some fresh fruits and vegetables available. The nearest regular supermarket is over in Kapolei proper, about 4 miles away. Kapolei also has a Target and a Costco there.
You will need a rent a car. I did a post on my blog about transportation in the area. As of right now, there are no public buses that run into the Ko Olina resort area and taxis are expensive. Right now, no plans for DME. Look up Thetikioutpost and then search for transportation.
Food is pricey. Fruits and vegetables are sold by weight since most things are shipped in. depending on where you go, a gallon of milk is $5 or more. I just bought 42OZ of Western Family oatmeal. It was $3.69 and that is the cheapest I can find it anywhere.
Insects...no, not around the resort. If you go hiking, bring the OFF.
Rainy season is Oct-Apr. It can get cool. Right now the highs are in the upper 70's and the lows mid to low 60's. If you get some of the trade winds blowing, a light jacket can help. If you go to higher elevations, then take that into account.
For excursions, right on the page they have this "* Excursions are operated by independent contractors that are neither agents of, nor supervised or controlled by, Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina, Hawai`i." I would think that once they get themselves more established, they might try to do their own.
You've already got some great answers! And I agree with them!
I would, however, bring the bug spray with you even if you don't plan on hiking. In the evening hours, bugs come out like crazy. There is an outbreak of dengue fever, that is being transmitted by mosquitos here on the island. I would not want to risk that on vacation! My family and I (we live about 1/2 mile in from the coastline, 8 miles E of Ko Olina) get bit up all hours of the day.
Some food items are not far off from mainland prices...others are vastly different. Current milk prices are in the $8 range/gallon, Coffee Mate is $6.39/half gallon. Basically, the dairy, meat, produce sections are where you'll see the shockers. Even a little box of local bakery donuts is about $7. (All of these prices are coming from a local Foodland.)
I have not found eating out to be all that much more. Fast food meals are $1-$2 more than the mainland. MOST sit down meals are on par, depending on the establishment.
And I would absolutely get a rental car! No question!
Some additional weather info is for the summer, it can get into the upper 80's/low 90's but when the trade winds blow (winds coming from the NE) it's not too bad. When we get what we call Kona Winds (winds coming from the SE) it can get hot and sticky. Also over the past couple of years, the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii has been spewing out more sulfur content than previously and when it blows up to Oahu in the Kona winds, we call it VOG. It can affect people who have respiratory problems. I don't have any breathing issues, but on occasion when we have voggy days, I'll wake up with a stuffed up sinus which will usually clear up when I shower.
I am too trying to get some info on Aulani. Since it is not open yet and no one has stayed there, its hard to judge everything. I know we are getting a car, but does anyone know if Aulani will charge for parking? I saw that at the next door JW Marriott they charge $35 a night! Also, are dining reservations recommended at Aulani like at WDW? I'm not sure if we should be reserving now... : / I agree, it is hard to figure out how to budget. I've been to Hawaii (Maui) once before and from I remember everything was pretty pricey, at least above the norm. : /
I am too trying to get some info on Aulani. Since it is not open yet and no one has stayed there, its hard to judge everything. I know we are getting a car, but does anyone know if Aulani will charge for parking? I saw that at the next door JW Marriott they charge $35 a night! Also, are dining reservations recommended at Aulani like at WDW? I'm not sure if we should be reserving now... : / I agree, it is hard to figure out how to budget. I've been to Hawaii (Maui) once before and from I remember everything was pretty pricey, at least above the norm. : /
Aloha! I do not know precisely what the parking charges will be, but I have a handful of dining reservations and the fine print at the bottom states:
"Special parking rates for guests of ʻAMAʻAMA and Makahiki will apply. Guests should inquire for the specific parking rate at time of dining."
I have no idea if there is "free" parking if you're actually staying at the resort, but my best guess (based on Hawaii standards) is that nothing is free. Not sure when you're going, but we've got one night there in September...so I can let you know for sure at some point.
It seems like the dining reservations are fairly open...I have had good luck getting what I want when I want it. If you have a rough itinerary and have an idea of one or two reservation times you'd like to have, I'd go ahead and book it.
[QUOTE=emilyandlogansmom;3631231
I would, however, bring the bug spray with you even if you don't plan on hiking. In the evening hours, bugs come out like crazy. There is an outbreak of dengue fever, that is being transmitted by mosquitos here on the island. ![/QUOTE]
I heard about dengue fever and we were warned about it for the Bahamas. Did many people get effected? Did you take any other precautions? That would be very scarey.
I heard about dengue fever and we were warned about it for the Bahamas. Did many people get effected? Did you take any other precautions? That would be very scarey.
This has been very intersting. Thanks for posting
I don't recall exact statistics, but it wasn't an overwhelming amount. There was a lot of hype about it, but it has subsided. (The news coverage anyway.) Still, we have issues with mosquitoes and other weird things that bite, but primarily in the evening hours.
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Current milk prices are in the $8 range/gallon, Coffee Mate is $6.39/half gallon. Basically, the dairy, meat, produce sections are where you'll see the shockers. Even a little box of local bakery donuts is about $7. (All of these prices are coming from a local Foodland.)
Also, are dining reservations recommended at Aulani like at WDW? I'm not sure if we should be reserving now... : / I agree, it is hard to figure out how to budget. I've been to Hawaii (Maui) once before and from I remember everything was pretty pricey, at least above the norm. : /
Love being Goofy on Space Mountain!! LOL 
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