Four if By Land, Six if By Sea Updated 3/29 COMPLETE - Page 29 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great updates and pics, Jill! Now, if i were you, I would've had to report that I took the chocolate muffin from my sleeping child and finished it off !
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Read all about it in my TR, "Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!" Jill Phil. 4: 13
what a great day at ak
you had a great character day
too funny about mary devall wanting to ride ee at the last 5 min
too cute - maddie falling asleep with the muffin still in her hand
how funny you were able to get to kow the tram driver with hand gestures
hurry back with more please
Just got caught back up with your report Jill! I have a good excuse for being behind since I was at WDW though! I love all the pictures of Mary Devall and Maddie! The one with Stitch is so precious!!
Once back at BW, we stopped by the lounge for a bite to eat. This meal was made for the girls because besides the normal fare they also had chicken nuggets and turkey pinwheels. Of course, Thom nor I have ever turned our nose up at a chicken nugget, so we were good to go too. Between the dips (especially when I discovered the spinach one ), the cheese and crackers, the veggies (the zucchini was to die for) and the wine, I was happy as could be.
We returned to the room to grab our coats for the evening and then headed right back out to Epcot. It was EMH this evening, but the park was only open until 11 p.m. since they had changed their normal park closing to 8 p.m. on Friday nights.
Since we had missed out on Soarin’ the night before, it was our first stop. The tip board stated a 50 minute standby, but I assured Thom and Mary Devall that it wouldn’t be anywhere near that since Illuminations was due to start within 30 minutes. They both actually dared to doubt me , so I left them with a nonchalant “Believe me or not. It’s your choice.”
Maddie was wanting to ride that “tv thingie” again so off the two of us went to SE. Before we even got on the ride, Thom sent a text saying that they walked directly to the front and were already watching the pre-show. Oh, yee of little faith!
The camera on SE must have been busted because Maddie and I had to watch cartoon figures living our future instead of us! She took it pretty well and announced that it would be working when her daddy rode it with her next. Alrighty then!
We were heading back to The Land to meet up with Thom and Mary Devall, but Maddie spotted characters in the Character Connection (they hadn’t been there when we passed on our way to SE ) and everything came to a halt. Only a few families were in line, so we lucked out big time. I sent a text to Thom letting him know where we were and, moments before it was our turn with Mickey, Thom and Mary Devall came running inside to join us. Sometimes we do have perfect timing!
We had left the autograph books in the room, but since they had everyone’s autograph but Plutos that was okay. They mainly had fun interacting with the characters and making sure that they all had plenty of hugs and kisses.
Continued in next post . . .
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Sometimes words aren't needed . . .
Last edited by Jillybean; 03-20-2009 at 10:48 AM..
I was a little unimpressed with the PP photographers in CC. We did get some good pictures, but a ton of the pictures were blurry or not centered. For instance, the picture below was the only family shot that we had with Minnie and this is what we ended up with. I was surprised that the photographer didn't take several since you would have a better chance at everyone looking half decent! Please note that Minnie and I are the only ones cracking a smile in this photo.
And this was the only decent one with Donald.
Continued in next post . . .
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Sometimes words aren't needed . . .
Last edited by Jillybean; 03-20-2009 at 10:48 AM..
After this mega character meet, Thom and Maddie went back to SE while Mary Devall and I checked out the line at TT. It was already way out of the door, but we knew it was our last chance to ride. After about ten minutes of going nowhere, I noticed that the single rider line was empty. I mentioned this to Mary Devall and asked if she might be interested in trying it. She immediately said that her daddy had told her that she couldn’t do the single rider line, but I could tell that she was very intrigued by the idea.
I figured that if you were going to try the single rider line, then TT was the best place to do it. Odds were that she was either going to be in the car in front of me or behind me, so I would have her in sight the entire time. Add in the fact that she has never had a problem interacting with the single riders assigned to ride with us and it seemed to be a perfect first single rider experience. Once I explained exactly how it would work, she was ready to ditch this long line for the non-existent single rider line.
I wasn’t sure if the CM’s would have a problem with her age (or rather her size since she appears to be a lot younger than she is), but the CM manning the single rider line let us pass right by her. We waited less than 5 minutes before we were sent directly through the pre-show and into the line to be assigned to a car. Mary Devall admitted to me that she was nervous and excited all at the same time.
Well, luck was definitely on our side because a family of four entered into our lives. Mary Devall was assigned to ride in the front seat with the children and I was assigned to the back seat with the parents. We were actually going to ride in the same car!
This was such a sweet family because Mary Devall immediately felt comfortable with the children and the mom chatted with me the entire ride. When all six of us raised our arms around the outside loop, Mary Devall was in heaven!
Mary Devall had such a blast that she wanted to try the single rider line again as soon as the ride was over. I told her that we had to meet Thom and Maddie at Nemo, but maybe she and her dad could ride TT later.
Thom and Maddie had already been on Nemo once by the time that Mary Devall and I reached them, but we all went on again. Afterwards, we let the girls play in the hands on area and got the obligatory picture with Bruce.
After Nemo, I decided to take Maddie back to the hotel while Thom and Mary Devall stayed for some more TT time. Thom had simply been blown away that Mary Devall had done the single rider line, so I think he wanted to see for himself how well she handled it.
Maddie and I stopped by the lounge for desserts and a spot of Bailey’s for myself. When we were ready to go back to the room, I fixed a plate of cookies for Mary Devall and Thom and a “to go” glass of Baileys for myself. We hadn’t been in the room too long before they returned with two more SRL TT rides under their belts.
Maddie ended up falling in bed with me while we watched a little tv, so she stayed with me while Thom slept with Mary Devall. We definitely played musical beds on this trip.
Picture it . . . Sicily 1942 . . . okay, okay DHS December 2008
It was dark and getting late . . .
The girls were getting ready to ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, only to discover that it was someone's first time and we were already in the SRL!
What great photos! (Even if you weren't too impressed by the PP photographer.) I the ones where Maddie is sqeezing Goofy's nose and the one after where MD is kissing him on the cheek. Sharon better watch out for your family overtaking Goofy! (Or maybe she's rubbing off on all of you.)
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