Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - the Hawaii section THIS SECTION COMPLETED 1/13 - Page 22 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Great information regarding the shops and restaurants across the street! I was under the impression that Aulani was isolated. Good to know it's not! And that's what I all a vacation lunch.
How cool that Goofy was actually IN the water! I didn't even know they allow that!
I guess maybe they're a bit more relaxed about these things at Aulani, because well Hawai'i is a bit more of a relaxed place.
That little shopping complex across the street changes my view of Aulani as an isolated beach resort!
I must admit I thought it was more isolated than it is, but I think part of that is I've never heard anyone talk about what else there is there. There are three other resorts, although we never left Aulani's area to explore them.
Quote:
I'd be very happy spending a few days between exploring the cultural talks and tours and pools at Aulani and visiting the little shops. If the DVC resorts at Hilton Head and Vero had something like that within easy scooting distance I'd try them as well! Relaxing with a real vacation lunch on your balcony with that view-- not hard to take!
Yes, I think without a car Hilton Head and Vero Beach probably are more isolated than Aulani now I think about it.
What a find near the resort! And you got a picture of Monkeypod Kitchen! That's Peter Merriman's restaurant that I had mentioned he was opening near Aulani!
Oh right!
Quote:
I can't believe I forgot to remind you to be on the lookout for it! Can you believe it's been over two years since my Hawaii trip?
I can't - where does the time go?
Quote:
I'm glad he opened his little restaurant near Aulani and that there are plenty of other shops there now. It just makes sense with so many people staying in that area.
It certainly does. I bet the shop, in particular, is a nice little earner....
Just read through 20 pages! Wheeeeeee! Great trip report so far and very, very helpful as I'm planning our first Aulani trip for this coming fall.
Oh I'm so glad it's helping with your planning.
Quote:
We've been to Hawaii once before to the Big Island (half stay in Hilo and half in Kona). I'm looking forward to a different Hawaii experience at Aulani. Your detail is greatly helping me in putting together my plan.
We did a day trip to Big Island to visit the National Park and wow, that's really something!
Quote:
If you ever come to Texas again, I hope you can come to Austin. I've got cows right behind the back of my house.
Austin is definitely on my list - and not just because you said there were cows behind your house although that does sound great to me. However, when we get there remains to be seen - we have such a list of places to see that it will take a while to get through everything....
That market looks great, and very convenient to Aulani. Can you walk there? I love pineapple coconut Haagen-Dazs!! I want some right now!
you literally come out of Aulani, turn left and walk to the traffic lights and cross there and over to the shopping complex. It's no more than five minutes walk from the entrance to Aulani.
Pictures from your room are beautiful. Cant wait to get there. The pictures of the shopping complex across the street are really helpful in figuring prices and available groceries. Thanks again.
Tuesday 5 November – part seven: visiting a one bedroom villa
After a bit of down time in the room, we headed out again…
… and down one floor to see the one bedroom villa they have on show here. Can you guess where it is?
As I’m sure you can imagine, I went a bit nuts in here, getting lots of photos of everything:
Isn’t this just the coolest?
Cecilia who showed us around told us about some cool things – like how the octopus in this artwork has grabbed the letters to spell Disney!
I happened to ask about their Grand Villas, thinking I’d have about as much luck with seeing them as we did at the Grand Floridian, but I was very wrong. It turns out that they have one available for Members to see at 8:30am from Wednesday to Saturday, so we booked in for Thursday morning.
Once we’d finished there, we browsed Laniwai, the spa here…
… then we headed out to fill our mugs again.
Then we wandered around, seeing the resort in the daylight…
The fun Menehune Bridge children’s water play area The Ka Maka Grotto infinity pool The Wailana Pool, just for adults! Keiki Cove children’s water play area This is a seating area near the counter service places, Mama’s Snack Stop and Papalua Shave Ice
We found Mama’s Snack Stop…
Now I don’t know about you, but I’d heard how pricey everything is in Hawaii, and I have to be honest, I found the prices comparable to what you’d get at any Disney park. Ok, so not exactly cheap, but not really anymore expensive either.
I just caught up with your trip report and wow...everything is so beautiful. You are definitely making me want to go back to Hawaii....and I think Hawaiian burgers are on the menu tonight!! That one of Marks looked so good..as did your ice cream!!
I have to agree. We spent two weeks in Hawaii in 1995 and I think we paid more for things then! I dont find those prices to bad for a quick service in a hotel.
__________________
DisneyDeva
1989+1993 Carribbean Beach,1996 ASS+Dixie Landings,1998 DL,2000 CB Hurricaine Floyd!!,2001 DL,2003 CS,2004 WL,2005 POR,2006 seven night eastern carb. disney cruise!!!,2006 Halloween Liki Tiki,May 2007 off site Orange Lake,May 2007 AKL,Sept 2007 CS,Oct 2008 Halloween ASM,May 2009 PC+ a seven night eastern carb. cruise,Feb 2010 GCV,BCV + BLT Sept 2011; OKW 8/12;Kindani 9/13: POR 3/13; Jambo Club Level & SS 6/14; Poly studio 8/15, GF villa July 2016;Blt + AKK June 2018
Very nice looking 1 bedroom. I like the booth seating area in the kitchen. Kids will love that! Great photos of the pool areas too!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Great pictures from the one bedroom and the resort! I'm with you, I don't think the prices are that outrageous at the snack hut! No different from anywhere I've vacationed!
The one-bedroom looks great! I love how they learn and improve each time they build a DVC property. I don't think the prices at the snack bar look bad at all. From the way people talked about food prices at Aulani I thought they'd be much higher! I am disappointed, though, not to see a single vegetarian item. The selection at the ABC shop looked great, though, so that would be an option for me. Also the Monkeypod Kitchen menu is so fabulous I'm sure I'd have to try that.
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
I can't - where does the time go? 
although that does sound great to me. However, when we get there remains to be seen - we have such a list of places to see that it will take a while to get through everything....
I'm with you, I don't think the prices are that outrageous at the snack hut! No different from anywhere I've vacationed! 
Linear Mode
