Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - the Hawaii section part 2 THIS SECTION COMPLETED 2/3 - Page 8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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 gotten so behind on your TRs! I didn't realize you were flying into Hilo Airport, although it makes sense since you were going to see the volcano.
I've only done a helicopter tour once, and it was over Kauai WITH the doors on! I found the initial ascent to be very much like Tower of Terror, and my heart was pounding for the first 20-30 seconds. Then when I started to focus on the scenery below, I forgot all about my nerves and really enjoyed it! I'd really like to try it again someday!
Isn't that National Park amazing! I can still smell the sulfur from those vents and see the glow of the distant lava. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your adventures! I have a feeling I know what you're doing next, and it's pretty amazing!
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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!
I've gotten so behind on your TRs! I didn't realize you were flying into Hilo Airport, although it makes sense since you were going to see the volcano.
That's exactly why I did it, as I knew it was the closest to the national park and also the fact that the helicopter would be leaving from there made it a no-brainer.
Quote:
I've only done a helicopter tour once, and it was over Kauai WITH the doors on! I found the initial ascent to be very much like Tower of Terror, and my heart was pounding for the first 20-30 seconds. Then when I started to focus on the scenery below, I forgot all about my nerves and really enjoyed it! I'd really like to try it again someday!
That's how I was the first time I did a helicopter tour and I absolutely adore them now.
Quote:
Isn't that National Park amazing! I can still smell the sulfur from those vents and see the glow of the distant lava. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your adventures! I have a feeling I know what you're doing next, and it's pretty amazing!
It's just stunning. I'm so glad that it re-opened and we were able to enjoy it. I'd have been devastated if it had still been closed down and we'd missed that.
Wednesday 6 November – part five: walking through a lava tube!
We went and had a look at the exhibition inside the museum and it was all about how volcanoes work, which was really interesting.
Once we were done with that, we set off the way we had come in, making our way back to the visitor centre and this time we headed to the Volcano House Hotel and Restaurant.
I had thought that only the lounge here was open for lunch, as that was what their website said, but when we went into the lounge, the girl in there told us that there were two options, the first was a bento box for $19 each and when we said that sounded really good, she looked quite crestfallen and told us that was in the next door Rim Restaurant. As I said to Mark, well don’t plug your competition first, sell your own place to us first!
We headed in there and were seated right by the window, with a great view over the Kileuau cauldron. As the meal wore on, it was really interesting to see how the smoke changed. Some times there would barely be anything and other times there would be masses of it. We even noticed that new smoke vents had opened up towards the end of the meal.
As for the food itself, it was superb and we were both really pleased with our choices. I had the macadamia nut crusted island catch, which was Mahi Mahi, and Mark had the braised lemon grass and kaffir lime Big Island chicken.
I would struggle to pick out a stand out winner, but I’d say it was probably the ahi poke wonton, raw tuna marinated in sesame oil, soy, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and srircaha, topped with Big Island slaw and crispy wontons, and the seafood saucethat went with the Mahi Mahi.
Just before we finished our lunch, a Japanese tour party arrived and of course with a Bento box offering, it was perfect for them. Mark was surprised by how quiet they were, but usually they are quite deferential when they’re in another country, which is why I knew that the tour party we had the issues with on the way up to Jungfraujoch (see my Switzerland trip report for full details)probably wasn’t Japanese.
We were done very quickly with our meal in maybe 40 minutes, which I appreciated, as it didn’t take too much time away from from our park touring. All in all, it was a great find and excellent quality and value.
The Rim Restaurant
Food 9 9
Service 8½ 8½
Atmosphere 9½ 8½
Value for money 9½ 9½
Average score: 9.00
We went to have a look in the gift shop here and, although we didn’t buy anything, having already got our fridge magnets and postcards at the visitor centre, I have to say that they have a much better selection here and really this is what the National Parks Service should be doing, if they want to bring in additional money.
As a footnote to this, we found out a couple of days later on our day trip to Maui that the National Parks Service can only sell items that are educational and their sales must be not for profit. All that is fair enough, but I wish they were able to be a bit more wide ranging, shall we say, in what comes under educational items, as I know that if you’re creative with that, you can have a lot until that terminology…
We left the Volcano House and headed into the rest of the park. The one thing that I really wanted to do that we hadn’t done yet was the Thurston lava tube, and we timed it just right. There can’t have been more than a dozen other people in it when we were there, but as we left, a massive Japanese tour group had just arrived.
What I wasn’t expecting from there was a full blown rain forest, which is what we got, as we walked down to the lava tubes and as we walked back. I cannot begin to describe the noise from the birds here. Honestly, the minute you opened the car door, it just hit you. It felt like a Disney soundtrack, if that makes sense only it was real. Where they were, I do not know, as I didn’t see a single bird during our whole walk to and from the lava tube.
As for the tube itself, it was very impressive and it really made you think. When you stood there and realised that lava had carved out this massive tunnel, we were now in, it reminds you of the power of nature. To give you some background, this lava tube was discovered by a local newspaper publisher in 1913, and it was then covered with lava stalactites, but these were taken by souvenir hunters. It was carved out several hundred years ago, and today the park is riddled with similar tunnels, taking the lava down to the ocean.
A very nice lunch with an incredible view. The lava tubes are amazing. How long a walk was it? It looks like it was downhill to get there and must have been quite a climb to get back.
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I love the nene and their variegated feathers, so pretty!
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It felt like a Disney soundtrack, if that makes sense 
only it was real. Where they were, I do not know, as I didn’t see a single bird during our whole walk to and from the lava tube. 
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