DREAMing of a Disney spring break COMPLETED - Page 12 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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How great that you took a picture with Terri on the Pilot boat!!! Loved the Animator's Palette and all the pics of Crush I feel so fortunate that my DH and share a love of Disney and travel too Cheryl! Whenever I say I think it's time for another Disney trip, he replies right away, "Book it"!
Sounds like the cruise is going well! It's funny, I recognized Terri in the photo before she pointed it out. Well, I thought to myself "That looks like Terri" because I'd read her article in the Passporter News. So forgive me for feeling proud of myself for a completely minor accomplishment.
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Just got caught up on your TR! Looks like you guys are having an amazing time! Your pics are really making me homesick (even though I've never been ) for a Disney cruise! That ship looks absolutely amazing. It's so big! It looked really crowded when you were boarding, but how were the "public" areas once everyone settled in? I'm curious to know if the ship "felt" crowded similar to how the parks are during the busiest seasons. Can't wait for the next update!
I won't answer that one just now, if that's Ok, as I think the answer will be apparent from our photos as we go through the next couple of days...
Animator's Palate looks great!! I'm a little disappointed that Crush won't be on the Fantasy .
I am as well, but I keep thinking that whatever they do on the Fantasy, and some of the details are out already, it will be amazing all the same. This is Disney after all!
Thursday 14 April – part nine: this really is bliss!
For dessert, we both chose the sweet temptations, which allowed to sample three of the dishes on the menu, crunchy walnut cake, pineapple financier and lemon mousse. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this, but they were perfectly sized tasting portions, so that you could get an idea for what you liked and what you didn’t, although the latter did not apply to us at all. We loved all three of them.
Despite the amount that I tried, I didn’t feel stuffed at the end of the meal. I just felt comfortably full.
Ciaran was having great fun with his dessert – a Mickey bar, as you can see from these photos:
Joyce came to see him and she nearly got a huge chocolate hug, but realised in time what a state he was in!
With my meal, I had a glass of the Riesling Spatlese that I had had the day before at Biergarten. I wasn’t expecting it, as on the menu, it said that you could only order a bottle. I actually ordered a glass of White Zinfandel, but I got talking to Pawelabout the fact that Spatlese was spelt incorrectly in one of the menus (I know, trust me, but proofreading comes naturally to me! ) and that stuck in his head, so he brought me a glass of that. Well, it tasted good to me, so I stuck with it!
We stayed for a while after dinner, just chatting and waiting for Sean to finish his beer (along with the wine they’d shared! ), but Ciaran was anxious to get to the children’s club and kept trying to encourage Sean to finish his beer. Well, he didn’t need any second bidding on that front!
When we were done, we headed back to the room to change, as I had my spa treatment coming up shortly and we both headed off to the Rainforest. We were the only ones in there and I was later to learn from my therapist that they only sell about 30 passes to it and all of those were gone, at least for today. It’s good that they ration it like that to keep it exclusive and relaxed.
Mark laid out on one of the hot stone chairs and that was my plan as well, but first I thought that I’d go and try out the steam rooms. Of course, hands up, who thinks going in there wearing your glasses is a good idea? you got it – it’s not the best plan. My goodness, it was hot in both, so hot I couldn’t sit down in there, but at least I could feel my sinuses opening up while I was in there, which was a good thing.
I literally made it back to the hot stone chairs and was about to sit down, when my therapist appeared. She apologised, saying that she was running a few minutes early, but that was fine with me. I left Mark enjoying the hot stone chairs and headed off to the treatment room.
First, you have to fill in a form, detailing medical issues or any allergies and, of course, she had fun with my allergy to tree fruit. She was so careful and checked off every single thing with me, before doing anything. Fortunately, it wasn’t as much of an issue as I thought it might have been.
Having got all of that out of the way, it was into the treatment room and those are exceptionally relaxing. I have regular massages and the room they use, while nice, is nowhere as nice as this one. Instantly, you feel as if you are a million miles away.
Earlier when we had done the tour, they explained to us that the reason they now have the basketball court at the aft is because there were so many complaints from people using the spa on the Magic and Wonder about having the courts above. Personally, I never noticed it, but moving it makes perfect sense to me.
The treatment was exactly what it says on the tin – it was complete and utter bliss! I just lay there and was completely and utterly pampered for 75 minutes. It really was heavenly and I loved every minute of it. I don’t think there’s much more I can say about it than that. If you get a chance to do this, then do it. It is so worth it.
By the time I came out of there, it was time to head back to the stateroom, where I found Mark already out for the count. I wasn’t far behind him, as it had been a busy day for both of us. Luckily at least he took a photo of what was waiting for him when he got back to the room...
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the 80s. The best thing today was experiencing the Disney Dream. The worst thing today was how crowded it was getting on to the boat and at the sailaway party.
[b]The funniest thing today was Ciaran with Crush at dinner. Today we tried dinner at the new Animator’s Palette And the result was it was amazing. The most magical moment today was Bliss treatment I had at Senses.
[b]Next: our first Disney character sighting in the virtual porthole
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I feel so fortunate that my DH and share a love of Disney and travel too Cheryl! Whenever I say I think it's time for another Disney trip, he replies right away, "Book it"!
PassPorter Guide Author
) for a Disney cruise! That ship looks absolutely amazing. It's so big! It looked really crowded when you were boarding, but how were the "public" areas once everyone settled in? I'm curious to know if the ship "felt" crowded similar to how the parks are during the busiest seasons. Can't wait for the next update!
My goodness, it was hot in both, so hot I couldn’t sit down in there, but at least I could feel my sinuses opening up while I was in there, which was a good thing. 
Holly: 
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