PTR....Universal Adventures of Dreams and an Expanding world part 2 - Page 20 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Day 6 is another port day. This time at Costa Maya. I don't know a lot about this port, but I have heard it's not always "safe" if you go to far in.
We arrive at 12:45 and stay till 5:30.
The plan right now is to stay near the dock. They have a little center there with some shopping and a big pool that you can use for free. We'll check that area out. I have heard you can get a taxi into the town, which isn't too far away and shop there as well, and we "might" do that as well and just see some local "toruisty" life. I'm not sure what the other girls have planned, but I think this id kind of what Brook has planned as well.
I have seen some pictures from someones blog that are just gorgeous of the area. I hope to get some great shots myself. A nice lazy day of fun is pretty much all the plan is. Again dinner on the ship and if there is a show, we'll try to catch it.
Day 6 is our last port of the cruise. This is a stop at Cozumel from 7:15 AM - 3:45 PM.
We are winging it here too. We found coupons for a free drink at Margarittaville, which I am told is near the port. So the plan is to go there and have a drink, eat some nachos and they also have a swim area there as well. I visited Cozumel in 1998 (I think). It was lovely, but we didn't have much time there. I believe the dock we were at was ruined in a hurricane since then and possibly rebuilt...AND I think a 2nd dock has been built as well....and I am pretty sure that is the one the Disney Ships dock at. So basically, even though I have visited there, it will still all be new to me.
The one thing I remember about my last visit..I bought a Dooney there for $40 and it was big. It probably was some knock off, but it looked real and I got lots of compliments on it. I loved that purse.
Tonight is scheduled as semi formal night. We decided we would like to give Palo a try. So Lisa, Brook, Carolyn and her 2 room mates and myself have a 6:30 reservation. It depends on how long this lasts, but if we get out in time, I would like to go to the show this evening as well. I hear Palo can lasts up to 3 hours...Honestly, at 2 I'll get jumpy. I am a fast eater and I would rather have fun conversation sitting somewhere else that at the table waiting on the next course. But I have wanted to try it and the chocolate Souffle, so I am going for it. I have brunch on the Dream in Nov. so it will be nice to compare them. We still have 1 more day at sea left!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Day 7 of my trip.....This is my last day of fun. One full sea day.
Again, no realy plans, but we'll see what is offered and go from there. I'm sure we'll try to fit in anything that we feel we missed and want to try out. Perhaps home sickness will now have started....or perhaps not! LOL
I think dinner is a farewell type deal. I hope the show is one I want to see as well.
I am also hoping at this point I can still fit into my clothing. I am sure I will not hold back at all when it comes to eating.
I am very excited to have 3 sea days on this trip. I then can actually try and relax without thinking I am missing something at a port.
At some point in time, I'll have to brwose the shops too. I am sure a little someone at hime wil lbe counting on a few prizes brought home from Mom. I am going to try and refrain a bit this year. Last year I did bring her home quite a few things, which she loved, but made for some heavy suitcases, thus having to buy another one and then paying to check an extra one in. I do have a rolling duffle packed in my bag, so I do have extra room this time around.
Then comes Day 8. The dreaded day.
Time to kick us off the ship.
Our flight isn't till 2:20. So I am NOT going to rush off the ship...they may carry me off kicking and screaming actually, so if you see that in the news...it was me!
We may get lunch on the way to the airport, we'll play it by ear and see how hungry we are by then. I just really don't want to sit there for hours doing nothing, only to get on a plane and do nothing for hours. i do like to be at the airport 2 hours early...but I think 3 or 4 would drive me nuts. I am not sure if Brook is riding back with us, or with Carolyn. Carolyn flies out of Bush I think, and not sure what her time is. Brook flies out of Hobby, and her flight is a bit later than mine.
We do change planes again at Chicago Midway. Our scheduled time home is 7:40. My Aunt is going to pick us up. She has invited us to spend the night, but unless we are very late, I think we'll head right home. I'll be ready to get there and I am sure Claire will be missing me and the sooner I get home the better. I pretty much expect that she will not go to bed till she sees me, which may be midnight. The nice thing about being home...back in your own bed, though my experience last year was a very comfy bed on the ship too.
And that pretty much wraps up my plans for the Sept. 22 cruise out of Galveston.
I do plan to write a trip report, but it will be slow going. When I get home, I will only have 5 weeks till my next big adventure and will have to get everything ready for that, plus catch up on work as well. Then I'll be off for almost 2 weeks again and coming back ready to start that report...and though I will write both, writing 2 at the same time is time consuming and hectic at times.
I am getting closer to being ready. My stomach is starting to go in knots...the pre vacation jitters, and worries.
Lisa called me last night and said she was nervous.
I took the phone out to the garage to talk. I often do this with phone calls, because Claire will bug me as soon as I am on the phone (unless it's work related and then she is good, ironically). Plus the TV was blaring, etc.
So we chat awhile. She was asking about packing, and little things like that. And soon Claire comes out and follows me where ever I walk to. So I tell her to get away and she finds a big ball and stick and starts smacking it. UGH..Super annoying and I swear she was this close to getting a smack too. LOL... then Skip keeps popping his head out the door to see whats going on...in other words...being nosey.
Honestly most of our conversation had nothing to do with the trip, so sorry to those who wanted to eaves drop...not much exciting tid bits to be pick up.
The weather here is starting to turn. So I am getting out of here just in time!
In other news. I have a wonderful friend who loaned me several outfits for Claire to wear when we go in Nov. Claire thought it was Christmas when we opened the box. She asked how she was going to be able to wear everything...and I told her, we change at least twice a day. She seemed good with that idea.
Here are some quick pics we took with my point and shoot camera.
We will probably wear this one to the Spirit of Aloha.
This one she will wear to the Halloween party and the nshe wil lchange into her costume around 7 PM.
One for the Christmas party
And some others we will fit in there when we can
And this isn't a good picture, taken with my phone, but we got a new headband yesterday that I had ordered. Claire will wear it the day we board the ship.
with this outfit I had posted in the past.
NO MORE clothes for her. She has a TON of things now.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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