National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! COMPLETED - Page 22 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Okay, first things first (since my guests have now all left and my house is now Christmas-free):
Happy belated birthday and Merry belated Christmas!!
Thank you so much!
Quote:
I am looking at your pictures, and find it incredibly difficult to believe that this is all so close to me, yet I've never been there yet! Perhaps a summer trip is in order! I'm glad you had a great trip and saw some incredible things.
(BTW, not as a spoiler, but just in case I forget, some friends ate at the same restaurant this weekend that we did when you were here, and guess who was there????)
I think you should - the Grand Tetons is about five hours' drive from you guys and then you can just carry on into Yellowstone from there.
Oh my goodness - the main man himself was there? Wow - how cool is that!
Friday 9 September – part eight: wow – what a view!
From there, we started our drive across to Old Faithful. It starts to give you an idea of how big the park is when you drive it. I think when we left Mammoth Hot Springs this morning, Old Faithful was fifty something miles from us. Now it was still about 40 miles away and yet we’d been driving all day. The distances involved here are quite something.
This stretch of road took us alongside Lake Yellowstone, but there wasn’t much to see...
... well until we got a glimpse of the West Thumb Geyser Basin from across the lake, which was pretty neat.
After this though, it got really dull again and I’m sorry, but there are only so many photos you can take of trees.
We soon started to hit civilisation again and I think it’s just as well, as Mark was having a job staying awake and I must admit I was struggling and I hadn’t been driving. The signs for Old Faithful appeared and you could tell that this is obviously a huge tourist trap, as we saw the first two lane highway we’d seen so far in the park. I bet in the summer this place is absolutely mobbed. I can imagine that it’s probably murder here. Even though it was now 6:00pm, it was still pretty busy with a fair few cars left in the car park.
We found our way to the Inn and it really wasn’t that difficult to spot if you’re a Disney fan! This is where the inspiration for the Wilderness Lodge comes from, you could see that immediately.
I headed inside to check in and got Michelle to help us with the luggage. We went back out to the car to collect everything and Mark went to park up, with instructions on the quick way to get to the room, while we had to take the long route, due to steps on the way.
The lobby of this place really is something and I can see how this also served as inspiration for the Wilderness Lodge. It’s got the same huge fireplace and the same open balconies, off which are the rooms.
However, our room was off to the east wing, as we’d booked a room that faces Old Faithful, so I couldn’t wait to see it. I’ll be honest, the room was a little on the basic side, but then again, you are paying for the view – and what a view!
Billy the bison – as he was christened, because he had to come home with us!
We settled down to wait for the next eruption of Old Faithful, which was due at 7:06pm. Our dinner reservation was for 7:00pm, but I wasn’t about to miss this opportunity. : It really was a sight to see and absolutely breathtaking to see this geyser erupt steam into the air at exactly the time we’d been told. I was so glad that we’d booked this room all those many months ago to be able to enjoy this experience.
We have a Billy the Bison, too. Except his name is Adam. We bought him at the gift shop you were in a couple of posts ago. When we came out, a bison was laying right beside the parking lot. He was fairly young, but we didn't get too close.
It's amazing how big Yellowstone is. We've been there three times and still haven't seen the falls, so I really enjoyed your pictures.
We have a Billy the Bison, too. Except his name is Adam. We bought him at the gift shop you were in a couple of posts ago. When we came out, a bison was laying right beside the parking lot. He was fairly young, but we didn't get too close.
It's amazing how big Yellowstone is. We've been there three times and still haven't seen the falls, so I really enjoyed your pictures.
How cool that you got a Billy as well and what a great encounter with the young bison!
Yellowstone is a huge place. I think, in a way, it's a bit like Disney. You talk about how big it is, but it doesn't really sink in until you experience it for yourself.
I knew WL was inspired by the lodge at Yellowstone, but didn't know how many details were downright copied! The rooms at WDW are nicer, but you can't beat seeing Old Faithful from your room. How !! The distances you travel inside the park are amazing.
I knew WL was inspired by the lodge at Yellowstone, but didn't know how many details were downright copied! The rooms at WDW are nicer, but you can't beat seeing Old Faithful from your room. How !! The distances you travel inside the park are amazing.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Oh yes, that sulphur smell. The one thing that doesn't have me rushing to get back to Yellowstone. We had a "hang on, I'm gonna be sick" moment there.....
How amazing is that hotel? I love how you get a little "Disney" smack dab in the middle of Yellowstone. (or maybe you get a little "Yellowstone" smack dab in the middle of Disney?) So glad you booked that room with a view - wow!!!
__________________
Tanya
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
Wow, that view from the room sure is worth planning ahead for! And the distances you mentioned...yeah, I think I'll have to plan very well if I go with the kids...I think if we have to backtrack a lot, it will waste a lot of time and create one tired mommy!
I am loving every bit of your trip...the hotel looks beautiful (and now, of course, I'm adding WL to my must see list). Billy is just too cute, and I'm sure I'll have to add him to my family when I see him!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Loved your pics of the room. Back in the early 80s we stayed there and our bathroom had a huge old fashioned claw-foot bathtub! I see that they've renovated. What a fantastic view!
Oh yes, that sulphur smell. The one thing that doesn't have me rushing to get back to Yellowstone. We had a "hang on, I'm gonna be sick" moment there.....
How amazing is that hotel? I love how you get a little "Disney" smack dab in the middle of Yellowstone. (or maybe you get a little "Yellowstone" smack dab in the middle of Disney?) So glad you booked that room with a view - wow!!!
Oh boy, that sounds like a fun moment with the sulphur... not!
I was trying to work out which way round it was with the hotel. I guess, in fairness, as Old Faithful was there first, it must be a bit of Yellowstone in Disney!
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
they are big, aren't they? 
This is where the inspiration for the Wilderness Lodge comes from, you could see that immediately. 
: It really was a sight to see and absolutely breathtaking to see this geyser erupt steam into the air at exactly the time we’d been told. I was so glad that we’d booked this room all those many months ago to be able to enjoy this experience. 
!! The distances you travel inside the park are amazing.
What a fantastic view!
Linear Mode
