11 days to GOal: I'll be in Disney by tonight and I learned about the wonder of wandering yesterday. - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
PassPorter.com
Award-winning travel guidebooks

   guidebooks   |   news   |   podcasts   |   boards   |   blog   |   worksheets   |   photos   |   articles   |   updates   |   register   |   follow us on


Forums Closed
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!

Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!

Go Back   PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums > Blogs > Walt's Wave
Register


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.


(This is Main Street by Angie, who is working on art goals here on the blog!)


This has been a personal project to blog every day for a school year on goals and dreams. My hope was that I could find a group of people to work with me.

I was lucky enough to find a small, but sincere group of inspirational people to keep me company. We've been using Walt Disney's philosophies or creations as inspiration.

I am no longer blogging daily, but I am notified if comments are posted, and I'll be happy to keep the discussion going!

Click_Here_To_See_Projects_In_Progress

Click_Here_To_See_Finished_Goals_Or_Projects

Post_goal_updates_here



Two_Alices_fall_down_a_rabbit_hole_and_land_on_the ir_feet_in_WondORLANDO!

art by A.Daley






Please join us and introduce yourself here.
Rate this Entry

11 days to GOal: I'll be in Disney by tonight and I learned about the wonder of wandering yesterday.

Posted 05-01-2010 at 08:08 AM by Sandra Bostwick
Updated 05-04-2010 at 12:10 PM by Sandra Bostwick
I'm a little rushed, but didn't want to miss a day, and I have so much to share!

The Orange County Convention Center is HUGE! If a small country decided to have a group picnic and invite everyone, this would be the place.

I spent alot of time my first day wandering around lost. Yesterday, I decided to embrace that and let it work for me.

When I walked out the door, I told Tara that I was going to just allow my "lostness" to add to my "muchness". I told her that Every time I took a different turn, it would lead me to just the right time, place, and person.

WOW! Life is amazing!

We bumped into one of my Profs. from NYU in the hotel lobby. First we talked about how disappointing the appearance of the Rosen Plaza is (so you know it is NOT just me!) . Then we had to wait for another Prof. to come downstairs. I'd just been talking to Tara about her, and mentioning how I wish I could see her again some time.

We were headed to a Breakfast With A Scholar event to hear a speaker, Brian R. Little, PhD. Guess what his topic was?

Personal Project Pursuit: Human Doings and Well Beings.

How perfect, huh? His talk was a blog entry in itself for later, but he was delightful with a sweet, sincere delivery and just a twist of Monty Python.

Getting back to the journey now. Here is the short version:

-Told Tara that the wanderings would all be wonderful
-Bumped into former prof
-waiting for other prof
-walk to shuttle
-decide to take cab instead, walk
-walk to other hotel entrance
-take cab
-a little lost finding breakfast room in new hotel
-spend time being jealous because this hotel is MUCH nicer than ours
-walk into huge room full of people at tables
-choose a table at one end
-awful table! decide to move to other end of room
-sit down
-someone new comes and asks to join us
-she tells her name and what she does

POP, SPARKLE, FIREWORK FIZZ! I tell her "Well great, We have not met yet, but I've been looking for you for a few years now!"

Turns out she is an army OT working in mental health in, of all places, Honalulu Hawaii. You can tell immediately that she is bright, enthusiastic, energetic and...well...SPARKLY!

OK, let me backtrack to another sparkly person. Remember my book about Harold, the POW?

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...gular-day.html

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ng-harold.html

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...hort-ones.html

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...-good-day.html

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...4-namaste.html

Well, I'd been contacting the Veterans Administration to see if they would let me do some sort of blog project using Harold's story as writing prompts for soldiers with PTSD. Let me tell you, the VA is tougher to get through than Disney AND they are much less nice about it!

Well, Brandy the Army OT who works in mental health with soldiers with PTSD in Honolulu immediately sparked to the idea and started to expand on it with her own thoughts.

Deep in my heart, I knew I'd found a new soul sister and I believe that she is going to do whatever it takes to get this project going because she can see how helpful this story would be for her soldiers.

And so, with less than two weeks left of this blog, I can already see what is ahead.

And the best thing? Brandy will be driving over to Disney with us tonight, since we will probably not be together again in real time until I fly for a visit to the base in Honolulu. (Yeh, it is tough, but we do what we have to do!)


The world is an amazing place and I am so thankful for wrong turns and the delays that force you to wait for the right things. I'm so thankful for those little things that you think are distractions or problems, but end up just pushing you like water that flows toward the next place.

I'm thankful for friends like Tara who affirm that you set out that morning to find the perfect person that you need to meet and i am thankful for my blog buddies...the small but sincere group who have been such good company on this journey.

Namaste!
0 Pixie Dust
Posted in Walt's Wave
Views 19515 Comments 11 Email Blog Entry
Total Comments 11

Comments

  1. Old
    A.Daley's Avatar
    DISNEY!!! or ME!!!!
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 05-01-2010 at 08:14 AM by A.Daley A.Daley is offline
  2. Old
    A.Daley's Avatar
    That is quite the day! And I just sent you a PM about your sd room and it will all be made up for when its time for Disney... which is sort of true, she is heading that way with you...
    So... when do you tell me the wonderful, magical details of where I fit in to this fairy tale? Cuz I am sitting here, wishing I was there... I need SPARKLE!! SEND ME SPARKLE!!!! (...I'll be ok soon...)
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 05-01-2010 at 11:02 AM by A.Daley A.Daley is offline
  3. Old
    A.Daley's Avatar
    that was a PM about your **SAD** room... see??? I need SPARKLE!! I am in withdrawal!
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 05-01-2010 at 11:03 AM by A.Daley A.Daley is offline
  4. Old
    Sandra Bostwick's Avatar
    Angie, I'm in Orlando BUT I am definitely NOT in Disney. I am about six hours from Sparkle time!

    It isn't so much sad, but everyone staying here initiates the conversation that the rooms are small, the decor is blah, and the views are challenged.

    However, the staff is great, our meal at Jack's downtairs was SUPERIOR with waitress...I think Amal, who was wonderful also.

    There is sparkle, but it isn't Disney!
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 05-01-2010 at 11:29 AM by Sandra Bostwick Sandra Bostwick is offline
  5. Old
    PamelaK's Avatar
    Sounds like your Muchness took over for your Lostness. That is terrific. You know Disney is building a new resort in Hawaii, why not combine the two? Hmmmmm
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 05-01-2010 at 12:56 PM by PamelaK PamelaK is offline
  6. Old
    Sandra Bostwick's Avatar
    Don't think we have not already discussed that! :-)
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 05-04-2010 at 11:00 AM by Sandra Bostwick Sandra Bostwick is offline
  7. Old
    Sandra Bostwick's Avatar
    By the way, guess who called to check-in on how I was doing while I was in Animal Kingdom? HAROLD the WWII POW! He thought I was still in Jersey. I got to tell him all about my hopes that this project will work out.
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 05-04-2010 at 11:01 AM by Sandra Bostwick Sandra Bostwick is offline
  8. Old
    Christine43's Avatar
    I really loved the description of the speech "with a twist of Monty Python".
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 05-04-2010 at 11:07 AM by Christine43 Christine43 is offline
  9. Old
    Sandra Bostwick's Avatar
    You had to see the way he worked out a cramp in his leg. I know he did it to be funny! He looked like the Ministry of Silly Walks. This guy is a great speaker...humility and authority at the same time!
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 05-04-2010 at 12:06 PM by Sandra Bostwick Sandra Bostwick is offline
  10. Old
    TNTWheels's Avatar
    Hey Sandy I will be going to Hawai'i in two years or maybe next year. I really like to meet up when the time come.
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 08-13-2010 at 01:59 AM by TNTWheels TNTWheels is offline
  11. Old
    Sandra Bostwick's Avatar
    LOL! I don't get to Hawaii often. Let's see............so far I've been there in..................hmmmmmmmmmm..........NEVER! :-)
    0 Pixie Dust
    Posted 09-04-2010 at 05:34 PM by Sandra Bostwick Sandra Bostwick is offline
 







Please login or register to hide these ads -- it's free and easy!

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:05 PM.

-->

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.4.0 Patch Level 1 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
(c) 1998-2017 PassPorter Travel Press/MediaMarx, Inc.
Celebrating 19 Years of Making Dreams Come True
Ad Management plugin by RedTyger