A Magical Frozen Norwegian Adventure-Part 2 completed 8/23/2015 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
A Magical Frozen Norwegian Adventure-Part 2 completed 8/23/2015
I've started a new thread on this as there has been some trouble in the past couple of days accessing the old one. I was locked out for about a day until Sara helped me get back in. I know that Sabine is also locked out. Maybe others, although most of my faithful seem to be having no problems. Anyway, I'm going to repost my last update here as some haven't been able to see it. Then I will continue on this thread.
__________________
Last edited by duck addict; 08-25-2015 at 01:32 PM..
Today's port is Geiranger (gay'-ron-ger with a hard g sound). It was suggested that the sail in to Geiranger was worth getting up for. I had decided to skip that and just see it when we sail out, but I woke up at 5:30. I decided to go ahead and throw on my clothes and head up to deck 10. There were quite a few people up there. It was sprinkling when I arrived, but the rain stopped after a while. As we were sailing through the Geiranger fjord, I was reminded a bit of Tracy Arm Fjord in Alaska. It is one of the longest, deepest, most narrow fjords in the world at 9 miles long and 800 feet deep. It is gorgeous and serene, a deep green with waterfalls everywhere! I'm so glad that I decided to get up.
The Seven Sisters Waterfall
The Suiter Waterfall (directly across the fjord from The Seven Sisters
Wade and I had to meet our tour group at 8:15 and we were the first called to leave. Geiranger has one floating sea walk dock and we had use of it. The other boats here today were tendered. Today we took the Views of Norway tour with a drive to the top of Mt. Dalsnibba. This was a shorter tour lasting about 3.5 hours. Today's guide was wonderful! We rode up another of those roads full of hairpin turns. This road overlooks the fjord and valley where the town is located. The views are beautiful as we switched back and forth going up the mountain. The fjord lay below us with the mountain above.
You will see a lot of shots of the fjord with the ships in the harbor. The Magic is the closest in to port as you can see.
We made a stop 3/4 of the way up for coffee and Danish at Djupvasshytta Lodge. There was a souvenir shop as well. I was going to buy a sweatshirt, but the credit card machines weren't working due to the weather! Just as well, as I later found a better deal in town. The ground here was totally covered in snow, except for the road, which is checked daily and plowed when needed. It has only been open for about two weeks, but had to close for a while last week due to snow and avalanche. It was cold and rainy (maybe sleet) here. They said there was a beautiful lake behind the building. I’ll have to take their word for it as it was totally covered in snow.
Can you see the smooth "lake" of snow beyond the car and snowdrift? That's the beautiful blue lake! It supposedly has great trout fishing. Use your imagination here, folks!!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Thank you so much for opening a new thread! Now I can happily continue to read your trip report
Geirangerfjord looks stunning. It's hard to imagine having that much snow in June! Glad the streets were open when you visited. I love the view of the Magic docked in Geiranger down below. I don't know, to me the ship always looks majestic in a way.
I have had no troubles with the old thread, but so nice of you to open another one so no one is locked out. I can't believe the amount of snow in June and it looks quite chilly, too. But in spite of the cold and snow, the scenery is just incredible!
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.
I didn't have any problems with the old thread, but glad you did for the others!
Great photos and scenery of your excursion as everything is just so beautiful! Glad you had a better guide than your last excursion!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
So happy to be able to access this again! It was so weird on th least one, as it would load Cam's post (the first on a new page) but then nothing below that, and it just kept relaoding that one post like it was stuck - or a skipping record!
You're right, it does really resemble Tracy Arm in many respects. Beautiful!
How weird about the last thread - I had no ideas anyone was having issues with it, as it's been absolutely fine for me.
Thanks! I knew you had responded to the thread, but I couldn't access it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disneybine
Thank you so much for opening a new thread! Now I can happily continue to read your trip report
Geirangerfjord looks stunning. It's hard to imagine having that much snow in June! Glad the streets were open when you visited. I love the view of the Magic docked in Geiranger down below. I don't know, to me the ship always looks majestic in a way.
You are welcome. Apparently we weren't the only ones having issues. You are right about the majesty of the Disney ships. They just stand out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
I have had no troubles with the old thread, but so nice of you to open another one so no one is locked out. I can't believe the amount of snow in June and it looks quite chilly, too. But in spite of the cold and snow, the scenery is just incredible!
I knew that you had posted as well, but again, no luck in accessing. Spring was about a month late in Norway this year, hence all the snow. It was indeed chilly, but we weren't outside an extreme amount of time, so no problems with it. My jacket is fairly lightweight, but I had a sweatshirt and long sleeved tee under it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
I didn't have any problems with the old thread, but glad you did for the others!
Great photos and scenery of your excursion as everything is just so beautiful! Glad you had a better guide than your last excursion!
It was gorgeous and it was so nice to have a really good guide for this excursion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by belle0517
Thanks for reposting
You are so welcome.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
So happy to be able to access this again! It was so weird on th least one, as it would load Cam's post (the first on a new page) but then nothing below that, and it just kept relaoding that one post like it was stuck - or a skipping record!
You're right, it does really resemble Tracy Arm in many respects. Beautiful!
That's exactly what was happening to me, although I locked up on Sabine's last post on the previous page. I could see that other posts were being made, including my update, but could not access them. I was able to get to the page, but the "view new" button wouldn't work.
It was quite stunning scenery.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
The fjord photos are gorgeous! That Danish pastry looks very tasty!
The scenery was breathtaking and the pastry was delicious.
We then proceeded up the toll road to the top of Mt. Dalsnibba. It had been covered in fog all morning and was snowy (flurries) when we arrived. It was quite windy and cold! But we were in luck. Just as we were there, the clouds blew away briefly and we were able to see the valley and fjord, with the lovely Disney Magic down below. I later talked to a couple who were on the bus that was maybe 10 minutes behind us. They were not able to see the valley or ship when they were there.
It's not much of a view, but better than others got. It was tough getting any pictures as the wind was so strong it was difficult (and crowded) standing at the rail. I basically just had to stick my arm out over the rail and snap pictures, hoping it was working.
After this it was time to head back down the mountain. We made one stop at Flydalsjuvet viewpoint on our way down for more pictures. It was still rainy and cold. Upon returning at about 11:30, we made our way out the long windy sea walk to the ship. We dropped our stuff in the room and headed to Cabanas for lunch.
Some great photos and was amazed how the weather conditions changed not only in short time but elevation wise!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I'm glad it cleared enough for you to get a glimpse of the Magic - honestly from the earlier photos, you really wouldn't know there was anything at all beneath all that cloud!
I tell you what is fascinating me, the weather you've had on this visit. Given it was June when you went, and we went in April/May 2012, we had much better weather - sunshine and much warmer - so I naturally assumed June would be really nice, but it doesn't seem to have been. I still find it weird to see snow in June.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.