Solo and Not So Solo TR - updated with final Magical Moment! - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!!
Sounds like your having a great time (and getting a lot accomplished!). Sounds like some delish meals also!! Glad you got to meet some fellow passporters... And that you got to take in the Animation Acadamy; I've never done it and it's top priority for our upcoming trip!
Looking forward to more...
I adored your Italy TR (now I'm dying to go) & this one is turning out to be so much fun to read...I love the pictures you post, they really add that special something. Thanks for sharing!
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The animation aCademy is a must on every trip for me. I usually do it more than once. As far as your collectible purchases, you are no worse than me. I love Rick's response to the purchase.
So many great stories for today! Now I almost hate to tell you this, but we have drawn Goofy two different times at the Animation Studios. But your Daisy is wonderful! I can see why you bought both the Hummel Goofy and the Classics Goofy. Awesome choices! Can't wait for Sheri to join you!
Hey, that's GREAT news -- I certainly don't begrudge you any Goofy drawing classes. That just means I'll have to go early next time and ask at every class if I have to! I would love to have my own pathetically-drawn Goofy!
After viewing B&TB and Little Mermaid, I was in a sentimental mood. So I visited Walt Disney: One Man's Dream and really took my time. I hadn't been in there in a couple years, and I got misty-eyed as I looked at all the exhibits. Uncle Walt, thank you!
I was waiting for the theater doors to open so I could see the film when I got a call from Sheri -- she had arrived and would meet me outside after the show. Cool! We walked around for just a bit and then headed to one of our favorite restaurants in all of WDW: the Brown Derby.
I think it's the first restaurant I book as soon as I know when I'm going to be at WDW -- I like it that much.
It was great seeing Sheri (Skateycat) again. We promptly got our pics taken at our table.
We were so busy chattering that it took me a minute to realize our server is the same gentleman who waited on me LAST February. "Adner!" I exclaimed. And I insisted on getting a pic with him.
As you may have noticed, Adner had brought me a Derby Margarita. Sheri, did you have a Mojito there? (That seems to be her beverage of choice.)
We surprised each other by having identical orders: the yummy Crab Cake and the Cobb Salad appetizers. Everything was great, as usual.
We love us some crab cakes at Brown Derby!
I ordered the banana tower (their best dessert, IMO), but then managed to ALSO eat a special birthday dessert. (How do you say "oink" in French, dahling? )
Adner said Sheri and I are so Disney-nutty that we had to meet his manager, Debbi. I wish we'd taken a picture with her, but we didn't -- but she gave us each one of her business cards. She was so much fun to talk to -- I'm going to email her and recommend she join the PP boards if she's not already on here somewhere.
Debbi took our photo and at the end of the meal presented us both with a printed Brown Derby menu-like folder with this inside:
Loving your TR! Hurry back with more please! Ellie wants to know if you will be there the next time we go to WDW, lol! I do believe she is a little late to be "unshy" as she says.
Loving your TR! Hurry back with more please! Ellie wants to know if you will be there the next time we go to WDW, lol! I do believe she is a little late to be "unshy" as she says.
Alison, that me up. Maybe if it's a bit WARMER the next time we meet, her shyness will melt away. She was a lot more interactive on Thursday at MK -- whoops, I'm getting ahead of myself in the timeline. Everybody will have to wait until I start writing about Thursday to see the great pics of Ellie "hiding" in her blanket with her Princess hair sticking out the top!
Get cracking on those PhotoPass pics -- the ones of Ellie at BBB are TOO CUTE. Can't wait to be able to add some of those to the TR -- or are you writing one of your own??? Please do -- we'd all love to read about your mother-daughter trip!
Tell Ellie I'd be delighted to meet her at WDW again!
After our fabulous-dahling dinner at the Brown Derby, Sheri drove me to BW. (There was EMH at DHS that night, but since Sheri hadn't checked into the resort yet, she wouldn't have been able to ride anything. And I was so happy to see her, I didn't mind cutting my day a little short.) She pronounced the resort and the room . I had worried that I would be a restless roommate, but I was so tired (and boozed-up from the Derby Margarita) that I was by the time Sheri got out of the shower. No problemo!
Wednesday morning was a gorgeous, clear-and-cold day, with temps running from a low of 43 to a high of 61 Fahrenheit -- at least 10 degrees cooler than Tuesday. So I decided to cram my hair into my pirate Goofy hat -- and believe it or not, it really did help keep my head warm all day! We had gloves on most of the day as well. Brr -- but fun.
Sheri got compliments on her Minnie scarf the rest of the week -- her mother had given her that. Isn't it ?
Hey, I didn't become a diva until I met Sheri!
We walked from BW to Epcot -- gawrsh, I could get used to that. Of course, we headed straight for the Land and got FPs for Soarin'. We were famished, so stopped at Sunshine Seasons (food court) for breakfast. I loves me milk, juice, banana, and chocolate croissant, I do!
We rode through The Land, and then did some window-shopping before it was time to ride Soarin'.
Gawrsh, I shore Goofy -- can you tell?
During our hang-gliding over California, I tried taking a couple photos in there (with my flash turned OFF, of course). I think this one is pretty.
Then we saw "Circle of Life" which I love and Sheri had never seen before -- she was afraid they would show animals getting killed, but no worries. I'd recently read that this film will be retired soon, so I wanted to make sure I saw it on this trip.
.
We also rode Spaceship Earth, but our photos didn't show up at the end. (I was not having luck with that attraction on this trip, no I was not. ) It was such a beautiful day that we took some pretty pics before our lunch at Le Cellier.
Another of my "arty" attempts!
Would you believe Sheri had never eaten at Le Cellier before! Since she lives in Florida and goes to WDW every chance she gets, I assumed she'd been EVERYWHERE. But she says her trips are often spur-of-the-moment and so she can't get in.
So you see, sometimes it's GOOD to be the commando type. Even though we didn't make it to all my reserved meals, I'm sure glad I made those ressies.
What did we get at Le Cellier? Cheddar cheese soup, of course!
Sheri pronounced it .
So, what did we get for our main course? Steak salad for me, and the mushroom steak for Sheri. And oh, that yummy bread!
The Brown Derby was very good to you two! the special menu they gave you! I also the picture of you and Sheri with your camera! Two very lovely ladies! And I too love Sheri's Minnie scarf! Beautiful! Great day at Epcot so far in spite of the chill!
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, isn't it?
me up. Maybe if it's a bit WARMER the next time we meet, her shyness will melt away. 
She was a lot more interactive on Thursday at MK -- whoops, I'm getting ahead of myself in the timeline. Everybody will have to wait until I start writing about Thursday to see the great pics of Ellie "hiding" in her blanket with her Princess hair sticking out the top!
by the time Sheri got out of the shower. No problemo! 
Of course, we headed straight for the Land and got FPs for Soarin'. We were famished, so stopped at Sunshine Seasons (food court) for breakfast. I loves me milk, juice, banana, and chocolate croissant, I do! 
Goofy -- can you tell? 
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