To Alaska and Beyond! Updated 4/28 x 3 and it's 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm just catching up now. Looks so much fun! I can't resist puppies. We are huge fans of the Iditarod and get the all access package on the internet. Someday we'll cruise to Alaska - can't wait.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
Just got back from my SECOND cruise on Serenade with Mike on Saturday! Ricky Ricardo was still working on the Cruise Director staff, along with Tom (tall, skinny blonde guy). Tom said that our Activities Manager in July (Andy) is now a Cruise Director on Norwegian.... Royal Caribbean did not have any openings, he said! I told Tom that after our last cruise, I thought Andy would be a Cruise Director soon...... and he said that the Cruise Director that came the following week (after Mike) was outshone by Andy; an indication that it was time for him to be promoted! (So it's a good thing he got a promotion... even if it was with a different line!)
And they aren't allowed to do Fountains anymore
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MVC Owner - HHI, Myrtle Beach, Branson, Orlando
DVC Owner - VWL
Yearly trips (or more!) to Orlando since 2007
WDW Resorts: BLT, SSR, WL, POR, CBR
8 cruises on Royal Caribbean, 2 on DCL
Last edited by SevenWonkas; 11-25-2009 at 09:22 PM..
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I just found this TR!! I am absolutely loving it! I'm only at page 8 - the missing luggage...... I'm forcing myself to take a break.... I can't wait to read more, it sounds like the trip is off to a great start! (We will be cruising for the first time next summer to Alaska)- so I may end up reading this more than once cuz I already read a few things I need to take note of
Helloooo.. do you know me? So I refuse to give up on this trip report and I know since I last posted, quite a few of you are Alaska bound- via DCL or otherwise, so hope this helps in your planning.
After Erin dropped us off, we decided to browse a few of the stores before finding lunch. We found ourselves at the Skagway Museum, where we enjoyed some of the local artifacts...
When it came to this stop, we had as much fun in the gift shop as we did browsing the items on display. It was more like a museum that used to be a store, but we did find it interesting for a look- especially given that there was no admission fee for it. Matt fancied himself a new hat.. which he ended up not buying and I was certainly happy about that- LOL.
At that point, we were just absolutely famished and decided to stop in at Northern Lights Pizza. The place was absolutely packed but somehow we got seated within 15 minutes. As soon as we were seated, I heard the hostess tell newcomers that the wait was 45 minutes plus. I was a little surprised- with the volume of cruise passengers that come through Skagway, the pickings are kind of slim and you really can't escape the waits when it comes to table service restaurants.
I didn't take pics at Northern Lights but Aaron and I both had nachos, Matt had a burger, Kevan had a jalepeno burger. While I do remember the food being good, the $70 plus we spent seemed a little bit much. We noticed that to our right were 3 crew members from the Serenade- we recognized them immediately, and oddly enough one of them recognized us. We exchanged a few pleasantries and they asked how we were enjoying the ship and of course, I had no problem telling them what a great ship she was.
After lunch, we followed our Cruise Director's advice and made a special trip to Sugar Mama's Bakery just a few streets over. Note to all traveling to Alaska- please, please do yourselves a favor and visit this fabulous sweet shop. It's a bit of an eccentric store but we all greatly enjoyed our cupcakes- I got the Smurf- it was a blue raspberry cake with white frosting. Matt and Kevan both got PB and J cupcakes, Aaron got a chocolate and we all agree to this day- best cupcakes we have ever had.
After Sweet Mama's, we simply strolled the streets of Skagway and browsed in and out of shops. There are small mom and pop type places and then there is a rather large discount outlet type place that reminds me of trinket shops along 192 near Disney. However, they had some neat stuff in there- like cookbooks, stuffed animals, and shirts. I ended up doing quite of debit card damage in there-as well as the Christmas stores we visited. Here are some shots I took as we made our way along..
Here's the famous Red Onion Saloon:
At about 2:00, the boys were appearing to have had enough and we felt like we had also seen our fill, so we began our trek back to the ship. I've gotten many questions about my trip from co-workers, friends and acquaintances and many of them are about the ports of call. We expected there to be more in downtown Skagway, so we only planned shore excursions in the morning with the plan of spending the whole afternoon there. Frankly, we didn't find there to be a whole lot and in many aspects, it certainly was tourist driven. My advice would be to get out to those outlying areas for different experiences. When we go back, I won't plan for more than an hour or two in downtown and spend most of our time enjoying excursions. Still, Skagway had lots of old charm and was fun to see for a bit.
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We are huge fans of the Iditarod and get the all access package on the internet. Someday we'll cruise to Alaska - can't wait.
ºOº ~*~ 
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PassPorter Guide Author
please
So I refuse to give up on this trip report and I know since I last posted, quite a few of you are Alaska bound- via DCL or otherwise, so hope this helps in your planning.
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