National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! COMPLETED - Page 19 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Beautiful photos! Glad you found some lunch to keep you going.
Happy Christmas!
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Beautiful scenery and very nice options for lunch at the lodge. I'm wondering how you're going to get all your purchases home without going over the weight limit (and I'm sure you're not done yet!).
Your teaser has me guessing which animals are up next...
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Glad you found a good lunch option - I have read a fair amount about the Yellowstone Caldera - I use it as an example with my students of the ongoing volcanic activity on the North American continent.
I just finished up your last five updates and I absolutely loved hearing about your travels! The pictures are just stunning and I've learned so much about the National Parks! The cabin with the hot tub was so adorable. I've made note of the name of the hotel so that when my DH and I make the trip out there, we'll be sure to stay there!!! That buffalo on the side of the road was just massive in size! You really captured some great shots of him! Can't wait for more
Beautiful scenery and very nice options for lunch at the lodge. I'm wondering how you're going to get all your purchases home without going over the weight limit (and I'm sure you're not done yet!).
Your teaser has me guessing which animals are up next...
Something to do with taking out four cases in total, but one inside the other ones.... and as we were lucky enough to be flying Upper Class, we had a limit of THREE cases PER PERSON! I somehow figured it would never be that much of an issue getting it all home....
Glad you found a good lunch option - I have read a fair amount about the Yellowstone Caldera - I use it as an example with my students of the ongoing volcanic activity on the North American continent.
I just finished up your last five updates and I absolutely loved hearing about your travels! The pictures are just stunning and I've learned so much about the National Parks! The cabin with the hot tub was so adorable. I've made note of the name of the hotel so that when my DH and I make the trip out there, we'll be sure to stay there!!! That buffalo on the side of the road was just massive in size! You really captured some great shots of him! Can't wait for more
Glad you're learning a lot about the national parks - we were amazed at how much we learned during our visits, yet you don't feel as if the knowledge is being stuffed down your throat, if you know what I mean - it's fun learning.
Friday 9 September – part five: I like seeing animals, but not that close! :
Then we moved on to Grand View, which I think was my favourite. The colours in the soil here were quite something.
The final stop was Inspiration Point and I had read quite a lot about this, so I had high hopes for it, but honestly, I thought Grand View was much better.
On the way out of Inspiration Point, we saw the Glacial Boulder...
Our next stop was for the short trail to Upper Falls and this was just an amazing sight. I feel as if I’m repeating myself constantly here, using the same words, but it gets to the stage where you don’t know what words to use, as everything you see is just beyond words. Here, you really could hear the roar of the water and imagine its power.
We soon found the beginnings of Yellowstone Lake and stopped at a picnic area to get a close-up view:
It wasn’t long before we came across a herd of bison, just happily grazing by the side of the road. We pulled over to photograph them, but couldn’t believe the coach party walking towards us to see them. I’m sorry, I like the idea of seeing animals, but not that close. As Mark said, “I prefer to have a tin car surrounding me with those things.”
Your pictures are stunning. I wish we had more time at Yellowstone to see all the different areas of the parks. You are so lucky to see that many buffalo. I can't wait to hear what all those people were doing, but you know with a crowd walking down the side of the road, it must something great to see.
Grand View is beautiful. That area of Yellowstone still remains in my memory (many other things are long gone....) as one of my favorite trips as a kid. Lots of buffalo! But now your teaser has me curious for the next update!!!
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Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
You're not the only one running out of words! Beautiful will have to do.
I thought of you yesterday as I was watching a show in the "Nature" series called "Christmas in Yellowstone". Wonderful documentary and it covered a lot of the areas you went to.... only covered in snow.
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Originally Posted by lauriep
You're not the only one running out of words! Beautiful will have to do.
I thought of you yesterday as I was watching a show in the "Nature" series called "Christmas in Yellowstone". Wonderful documentary and it covered a lot of the areas you went to.... only covered in snow.
Laurie - thanks for the heads up about that show - I just added it to my Netflix queue.
Cheryl - as always, beautiful photos. You really should be a professional travel writer!
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I somehow figured it would never be that much of an issue getting it all home....
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