Hawaii Here I Come! TR July/Aug 2011 UPDATED 8/23 - Page 10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Just those two photos have me salivating! So glad you reminded me of the updates!!! I can't believe you're in Hawaii RIGHT NOW! How awesome! Thanks for the live updates!
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I forgot to mention that in those photos out my balcony you can see lots of black rock. That's real volcanic rock from the last time Mauna Kea erupted many many years ago. Isn't that cool?
Today will be Farmer's Market day and going over to the Hilton Waikoloa pool area (where we can pool hop). I woke up again at 5:30am local time, which is fine with me. The kids and I climbed into bed around 7:45pm last night and we pretty much passed out instantly. The kids must be exhausted since they're still sleeping soundly right now.
Ok, time to make coffee! I'll try to upload some more pics later today!
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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.
The Farmers' Market was cool, but it wasn't very big. We bought some papayas, lilikoi, beef jerky, double chocolate covered coffee beans, and some lilikoi tangerine juice. There were also jams and jellies, breads, tomatoes, and lettuces. We didn't buy much since we are moving to the other Hilton Grand Vacations property tomorrow. I was hoping for some more general fruits like apples, but still it was good to stroll around. Now that I think about it, the climate probably isn't right for growing apples here.
After that, James and I decided to go check out the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort (hotel only, not timeshare). We had fun walking around, checking out the pools, looking at all the Hawaiian artifacts, watching the waves out in the ocean...wait til you see the pics! Everyone else went down to the pool area for some more swimming and slide action!
I'm uploading some more pictures now, so hopefully I'll be able to post a few later on.
Right now, I'm back at the room eating leftovers...the grilled chicken we had last night, and some eggs over easy. It's my brunch today...that plus some passion/orange/guava juice. It's not a Hawaiian vacation without pas-o-guava juice...POG!!! We want to eat as much of the food in our room as we can since I don't know if we'll have refrigeration at Bell Services for our move. I guess I should probably just call down to the front desk and check, huh?
Ok, be back later, hopefully with pics!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
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It's pretty hot, probably high 80s and a good amount of humidity. I was expecting 83 or so, but I had been checking the town of Waikoloa which is a little bit upcountry from here and a tad cooler due to the higher elevation. Today felt more hot and humid than yesterday. The weather report last night (or maybe it was the first night, I don't remember now) was only 65% humidity in this area, which I think is kind of low. It's even hotter in Honolulu because my brother texted me yesterday asking what I was going to do because it was so hot. Now if a local guy is telling me that, then it must be really hot!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Tonight, we ate dinner at Eddie Aikau Restaurant which is in Kings' Shops. The restaurant just opened a few weeks ago. It turned out to be a really great find! We were expecting their happy hour specials, but since we sat down in the dining room, we were told the specials weren't available since they're only available at the bar area. Well, our server, Kaimi (I hope I spelled his name correctly) went to check and came back saying they would be happy to offer the happy hour appetizer specials. Sophia ended up trying the 3 happy hour specials, a kalua pulled pork slider, a fish taco, and poke (it was a beef poke, not ahi) for $3 each. I tried a bit of the beef poke, and it was delicious! I went with the pre-set menu, and boy was that incredible! I chose the island chowder with beet and corn, so good! My entree was a Big Island Grass Fed Filet Mignon, and it was to die for! For dessert, I had a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream (there's a much better description of it, but I just can't remember it right now). It was just amazing! For $39.95, it was a great bargain for what I got! I took pictures of the chowder and steak, but for some reason my pictures aren't automatically uploading onto my computer, so once I figured that out, I'll have more pics to share!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
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I can't believe you're in Hawaii RIGHT NOW! How awesome! Thanks for the live updates! 
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