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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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do you need a car or can you take tours rite from resort
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Off site -1990, Carribean- 1997 Honeymoon,
all star movies- 2001,2002, All star sports/BCV 2004
BWV- 2005 Steven's 6th Birthday\DVC Member since 2003-BCV 2005 SSR\POLY,BWV,SSR,VWL,DCL,AND BCV-2007\ BWV & Cabins-2008\ Disneyland 2009\ Disneyland & Disneyworld- 2010 wdw. universal.vero beachand disney dream aug 2011. wdw 15yr anny june/july 2012
do you need a car or can you take tours rite from resort
or can you just use the buses and trolleys
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Off site -1990, Carribean- 1997 Honeymoon,
all star movies- 2001,2002, All star sports/BCV 2004
BWV- 2005 Steven's 6th Birthday\DVC Member since 2003-BCV 2005 SSR\POLY,BWV,SSR,VWL,DCL,AND BCV-2007\ BWV & Cabins-2008\ Disneyland 2009\ Disneyland & Disneyworld- 2010 wdw. universal.vero beachand disney dream aug 2011. wdw 15yr anny june/july 2012
I know there are tours available from the resort, but every report I've read so far is that a rental car is a must. We're certainly planning on geting one for our trip next year.
The resort has planned/guided tours and other activities every day of the week, so there is no real need to rent a car. Of course, you will have much greater flexibility in your schedule if you rent a car. Certain of the Disney-organized excursions only occur one day per week, so if you wanted to take advantage of a particular excursion, you would need to check the schedule and plan around that. For example, we wanted to visit Kualoa Ranch, and the Disney-organized excursion only took place on Thursdays; if we had done the excursion through Disney, we would have been required to do the excursion on our very last day... We wanted to spend our last day relaxing at the pool, buying last minute souvenirs and taking some final pictures, so that would not work for us.
Another factor in favor of a rental car, is that you can probably arrange most of the excursions on your own, for a lot less money than it would cost going through Disney. I did some price comparisons, and the differences were substantial. Of course, I suspect that Disney probably throws in a few "extras" that I am not aware of that may make the price difference worthwhile (e.g., accompanied by a Disney Photopass photographer, etc.). I am just guessing on this.
We did rent a car on our recent trip, and I would recommend this for most people. The only exception I would make is if you know for sure beforehand that you really will want to spend 80 - 90% of your time in the Ko Olina area (Aulani and its environs). In that case, I could see the argument for saving on the expense of a rental car and doing an excursion or two through Disney. We rented a car for 9 days, and it came to about $460 (including all taxes), which was well worth it in my opinion.
Brad
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"Esprits et fantômes sur vos fièrs destriers, Escortez dans la nuit la belle fiancée." -- Madame Leota in Phantom Manor, DL Paris
We went to Aulani this past June, and we did rent a car. Ko Olina Is about 30 minutes outside of Honolulu. We found it nice to have the car, because there were inexpensive restaurants, a Costco, and a Target just one exit back down the highway from Ko Olina. We were able to secure a rental rate of under $300 for 10 days through Costco online. I'd say play around online with rentals, and if you find something decent, reserve it. Car rentals don't require payment until you pick up the car.
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Looking forward to another Christmas with The Mouse!!
We went to Aulani this past June, and we did rent a car. Ko Olina Is about 30 minutes outside of Honolulu. We found it nice to have the car, because there were inexpensive restaurants, a Costco, and a Target just one exit back down the highway from Ko Olina. We were able to secure a rental rate of under $300 for 10 days through Costco online. I'd say play around online with rentals, and if you find something decent, reserve it. Car rentals don't require payment until you pick up the car.
Wow! That is a really great rate. Was the rate you quoted the "all-in" rate, i.e., inclusive of all taxes, etc.? If so, then I really do need to explore becoming a member of Costco! The rate we got, (before taxes, etc.) was $328, which at the time I thought was good. Of course, on top of that were fees/taxes that came to an additional $130...
We also took advantage of the Target that is only a few miles away. They had a much bigger selection and better prices than the store across the street from the resort.
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"Esprits et fantômes sur vos fièrs destriers, Escortez dans la nuit la belle fiancée." -- Madame Leota in Phantom Manor, DL Paris
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I couldn't remember the exact price, but DH said it was under $300 for the whole shebang. We had booked it far out in advance, and then by chance looked at the Internet again just a week before we went. The price had dropped by over $50!! We rebooked at the cheaper price. Even though we didn't use it to travel the island too much, it was worth having for when we did.
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Looking forward to another Christmas with The Mouse!!
Yes, a cab from the airport would be the alternative. But if you're not going to be doing more than one excursion or two, it might be worth it to some families to forego the rental car and book the Disney excursions.
For us personally, I think we will always rent a car when we go to Aulani due to the flexibility, the off-site dining options, and the ability to buy groceries at Target.
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"Esprits et fantômes sur vos fièrs destriers, Escortez dans la nuit la belle fiancée." -- Madame Leota in Phantom Manor, DL Paris
Off site -1990, Carribean- 1997 Honeymoon,
all star movies- 2001,2002, All star sports/BCV 2004
BWV- 2005 Steven's 6th Birthday\DVC Member since 2003-BCV 2005 SSR\POLY,BWV,SSR,VWL,DCL,AND BCV-2007\ BWV & Cabins-2008\ Disneyland 2009\ Disneyland & Disneyworld- 2010 wdw. universal.vero beachand disney dream aug 2011. wdw 15yr anny june/july 2012
If you didn't get a car how would you get from the airport to the resort?
The name of the company escapes me at the moment, but if you call Aulani they can tell you the name of the company. They have a flat rate of $55 for a private taxi ride. We used them last month when we left the resort to go back to the airport at the end of our trip. I wish I could remember the name! They were great!
The name of the company escapes me at the moment, but if you call Aulani they can tell you the name of the company. They have a flat rate of $55 for a private taxi ride. We used them last month when we left the resort to go back to the airport at the end of our trip. I wish I could remember the name! They were great!
Thanks! If you think of it could you get back on and send the name?
Love this place, everyone is sooo helpful
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