Dreaming of a Disney spring break - part three COMPLETED - Page 71 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 will have to remeber that line you told Eeyore the next time I see him. All the pictures were just wonderful. I can tell you had a great time with those loveable Characters. It is really great to have such a wonderful experience at the end of your trip. I just want to say I really enjoyed this entire trip, thanks so much for sharing!!!!!
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Missed reading yesterday, but I'm all caught up again. Your pictures of the Sunrise Safari remind me that we really have to do this tour again. I too thought the end of the breakfast was a little strange as it just dwindles until it's over. Your pictures with Eeyore are fabulous! So obvious that Eeyore was pleased to see a loyal fan!
I will have to remeber that line you told Eeyore the next time I see him. All the pictures were just wonderful. I can tell you had a great time with those loveable Characters. It is really great to have such a wonderful experience at the end of your trip. I just want to say I really enjoyed this entire trip, thanks so much for sharing!!!!!
No problem, it's been a pleasure, allowing me to relive some wonderful times.
Missed reading yesterday, but I'm all caught up again. Your pictures of the Sunrise Safari remind me that we really have to do this tour again. I too thought the end of the breakfast was a little strange as it just dwindles until it's over. Your pictures with Eeyore are fabulous! So obvious that Eeyore was pleased to see a loyal fan!
I'm with you about the Sunrise Safari. If we could get concierge again at Animal Kingdom Lodge again, I would in a heartbeat, as it was such a fun experience.
Sunday 24 April – part four: but this will be mad on Easter Sunday.... won’t it?
Then there was the moment of “now what shall we do?” We had another three hours to kill, before we needed to head for the airport and Mark suggested going to the Contemporary or the Wilderness Lodge to rent a boat from the marina, so we set off that way. We opted for the Contemporary, although we were wondering how easy it would be to get into the parking lot, bearing in mind it was Easter Sunday.
As we drove up, we couldn’t help but look at the parking lots for the Magic Kingdom. Where were all the cars? Seriously, the parking lot was the emptiest we’d seen it all week – nowhere near as busy as the chaos we’d seen on Monday. Ok, so maybe that’s not as busy as we thought today... A cunning plan started to form in our minds...
We got into the Contemporary no problem, despite the signs outside, saying how busy the resort would be and that it was only available to those staying there or with restaurant reservations. We parked up and headed straight for the walkway to the Magic Kingdom. Yes, we were going to give it a go on Easter Sunday – were we crazy? Only time would tell....
On the way, we watched them take a monorail OUT of service - you did read that right. Well, either it had a major problem or the crowds were not what Disney expected.
When we got to the turnstiles, we realised that the crowds were not what we expected and surely not what Disney expected either.... we walked straight in and tried to get a photo with one of the girls dressed up in a lovely Easter costume, but she left, just as it was our turn with the Photopass photographer.
Still, I did manage to get some shots of them as they disappeared.
As we entered Town Square and Main Street USA, we couldn’t believe how few people there were. I kept taking photos of the scene, as I knew otherwise you guys would never believe me! :
We also stopped for various Photopass photographers, as they were all standing around, with very little to do. I’ve never seen so many out and so few people to keep them busy.
We stopped for more Photopass photographers towards Tomorrowland, so set off that way....
Once in there, we decided to go on Buzz Lightyear. It was only a 20 minute wait although we walked on with my Guest Assistance Card. Once again, I did appallingly. I was doing great until about halfway round, when I got to 46,000, then I scored basically very little else and ended up on 49,000. Of course, Mark was on 100,000.....
We wandered towards Fantasyland and took some photos of the work that’s going on there. My goodness, we couldn’t believe how much progress they’ve made since we were last here. You can clearly see the new castle and some of the other buildings now taking shape.
The crowd levels at MK are really strange! I'll be interested to see the Fantasyland progress. Will the new castle change the sight-line looking down Main St, or is it off to the side? I'm all for progress, but some things I hate to see change!