Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - the Hawaii section THIS SECTION COMPLETED 1/13 - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Monday 4 November – part five: so what’s the room like?
Our room was 1110 on the 11th floor, although we both swore we were told 10th, so we ended up on the wrong floor, but we quickly rectified that, then we found our room. This is the ceiling of the elevator…
The elevator area….
… and this is the sight that greeted us when we came out of it…
Some of the wallpaper…
For a studio, it was pretty big, and we were immediately impressed…
Oh yes! You could buy this in the resort shop, but trust me, it was not cheap! A close-up of the pattern on the sofa
The view outside was like a picture postcard – it was just perfect.
The lobby building The Menehune Bridge children’s water play area The volcano in the main Waikolohe family pool with the ocean behind A close-up of our ocean view The images carved on the end of each tower Rainbow Reef, the resort’s snorkelling reef The Waikolohe stream – a lazy river A close-up of the lobby building
I am so glad we went for the ocean view, as it was just what I’d hoped for.
We’d handed in our slip for the luggage when we checked in, and needed to move the car, so I suggested we split our resources, with Mark going off to move the car, and me waiting for bell services. They give you half an hour when you check in, but to be honest, I thought they were very laid back about it, and I’m sure had we been longer, they’d have been fine with it.
About five minutes after Mark left, bell services turned up in the shape of Kris. We got chatting and I asked him how long he’d worked for Disney and he told me four days. In fact, today was the first day he’d been out without someone training him, and he was doing great, and was very helpful.
I set about unpacking everything. It was so nice to be able to actually unpack, as we’d be here for eight days, rather than the usual three or four we seem to spend in one place each vacation these days. What I liked was all the suitcases fitted under the bed, as it was quite tall, like the ones on the Disney Cruise Line. There was plenty of storage space, with a total of eight drawers, along with a cupboard to hang things up. I don’t know how it would do four people, but for the two of us, it was absolutely fine.
We stayed put for a while in the room, and I got some more photos of the view from the room as the sun went down:
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Just beautiful! I can't wait until I can visit Aulani!
I was trying to think back to your trip to DLR when we visited the sample DVC Aulani rooms. Did they only show us a one bedroom unit that time? The Mickey lamp looks very familiar, though! I remember there was a pullout bed...under the tv?
The pictures really do look like postcards! I love those lagoons! I wonder how much busier the lagoons are now that Aulani is fully operational. I wish I were there right now!
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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!
Your camera takes beautiful shots, even from the plane. Count me as another person who is familiar with sausage as a patty. That is how my mom always prepared it and the only way I will eat it. Can't wait to see Aulani! BTW, I found a recipe for the Valrhona Chocolate cake and posted it on your WDW report. I may try to make it some weekend.
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Debbie
Many trips to WDW, too many to list. Going back in June 2017!
It's amazing how similar the hallways are to AKL. Change the lights and the wallpaper and you could be back at WDW! The elevator area especially, without the artwork, would have fooled me! Very nice that the studio is a bit more spacious than usual, and so helpful to have more space under the bed. The view is beautiful, just what you'd expect a resort in Hawaii to look like.
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Agreed - those pictures are soooooo inviting when it's just 1 degree outside!!
That ocean view is worth whatever extra money you paid or points you used. Absolutely worth it. Wow, wow, wow!!!!
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Tanya
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Just beautiful! I can't wait until I can visit Aulani!
I was trying to think back to your trip to DLR when we visited the sample DVC Aulani rooms. Did they only show us a one bedroom unit that time? The Mickey lamp looks very familiar, though! I remember there was a pullout bed...under the tv?
Can you believe I completely forgot about that? Wow, that was August 2011 - where does the time go? I just had a look through my photos and we saw a studio and a one bedroom villa and they are 100% spot on with what we saw at Aulani, which is good to know!
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The pictures really do look like postcards! I love those lagoons! I wonder how much busier the lagoons are now that Aulani is fully operational. I wish I were there right now!
It's hard to say, as the resort wasn't that full when we were there, but every time we went near the lagoons, they really weren't that busy. I suspect a lot of Aulani guests probably spend their time within the resort, rather than at the lagoon, but that's just a guess. It would be interesting to know what it's like there at the moment!
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Your camera takes beautiful shots, even from the plane. Count me as another person who is familiar with sausage as a patty. That is how my mom always prepared it and the only way I will eat it. Can't wait to see Aulani! BTW, I found a recipe for the Valrhona Chocolate cake and posted it on your WDW report. I may try to make it some weekend.
It's amazing how similar the hallways are to AKL. Change the lights and the wallpaper and you could be back at WDW! The elevator area especially, without the artwork, would have fooled me! Very nice that the studio is a bit more spacious than usual, and so helpful to have more space under the bed. The view is beautiful, just what you'd expect a resort in Hawaii to look like.
It's funny you say that about it spacious, as we felt it was spacious, although ironically the studios at Aulani are some of the smaller ones of the DVC resorts...
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.
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In fact, today was the first day he’d been out without someone training him, and he was doing great, and was very helpful. 
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Wow, that was August 2011 - where does the time go? 
It just looks so perfect doesn't it? Trust Disney to make real life look this good...
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