PTR: Thingamabobs, Zebras, & Giraffes, Oh My! - Page 14 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Another great day! Never been to FFC, but only have heard good things!
Thanks! We are looking forward to it!
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Originally Posted by chezp
You'll love Flying Fish - it's one of our favourites.
Thanks! Yes, all the TR's here made us realize we need to try it out!
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Originally Posted by DisneyKimber
Congrats on becoming DVC members ! Your plans sound wonderful. I like the idea of having a relaxing picnic at HS. It sounds peaceful in the mist of all the hustle of the park.
We went to Narcoossee's last year, and we loved it. My DH wore khaki pants, and a nice button down shirt with collar. He was comfortable, and fit in with most of the diners. There were some dressed up a little more, but were the exception. The food was delicious. I wish we had a few more days at WDW because we would have gone back. Depending on the dinning times (I can't remember what time we went), but we all went out on the deck to watch the electrical parade. It was a breathtaking evening.
Thanks! We are looking forward to it!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Today we have to wake somewhat early, as we have a breakfast ADR at Ohana for 8:25 am. This is one of those breakfast that we always say we can skip next time, then time comes to book, and we book it! Guess you can say it's one of our favorites!
Although right now, with us not having a rental car, I am a bit concerned about getting here.....thinking the best way will probably be take a bus to MK, then monorail or boat over to Poly? But again, wondering if the buses will run that early? Is it one or two hours prior to park opening that they start running?
After breakfast we will venture over to MK for the first half of our day.
We have Fastpasses booked for:
Tomorrowland Indy Speedyway (this is the only way I will bother riding this....no way am I standing in line for an hour!)
Pirates of the Caribbean
Splash Mountain
Our plan is to head back to the resort after Splash. Hopefully we will have time to enjoy the pool a bit.
Then we will be spending the evening at Epcot. We have dinner ADR's at LaHacienda. We tried this for the first time last summer and really enjoyed it. More than likely, after dinner we will stay to view Illuminations if we haven't already seen it another night.
Epcot closes at 9pm, so not sure what we will do after - it will really depend on how tired we are - MK is open until midnight, so it would be easy to just hop the monorail over there. Or maybe walk around Boardwalk for a bit, we haven't really been there at night in a long time. And then there is the possibility of DTD. Or just plain ol' suck it up and call it a night and return to the villa! We will see which way the wind blows us!
Up Next: Day 10 Plans
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
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Somehow, I completely missed the start of this PTR I'm all caught up now, and your plans sound great so far! I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back, if all goes according to plan we'll be there for the 4th next summer too Congrats on paying off that DVC loan, that must feel so great!
Nice plans! I can't help with how early the buses run, as we always have a rental car to get around.
Thanks! um..yeah....starting to think I want a rental car, but I will keep quiet about it and let Scott think it's all his idea!
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Originally Posted by kingfamily1129
plans are looking good!!
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by JKnott17
Somehow, I completely missed the start of this PTR I'm all caught up now, and your plans sound great so far! I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back, if all goes according to plan we'll be there for the 4th next summer too Congrats on paying off that DVC loan, that must feel so great!
Thanks! Glad you are joining in! Feels good to have that loan paid off........until they send me a great deal!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Sounds like another great day!
Thanks!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
This morning we are planning to have breakfast in our villa.......probably on the balcony taking in the beautiful view!!!
We will start with Disney Hollywood Studios this morning with Fastpasses booked for:
Rock 'n Roller Coaster
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Show
I have to say, the Fastpass idea for the shows looks great - they give you a 15 minute window to enter for that specific show time - I think that will be nice - there have been times where we have entered for VOTLM and gotten near the entrance then cut off - and Scott really cannot stand in one spot for that long and they do not allow you sit on the floor, so hoping this works well for us!
And once again - all these attractions are before or around noon - so we will most likely head back to the resort mid-day for pool/relaxing time.
This evening we have dinner ADR's for Bongo's in DTD. This was on Scott's wish list. He has been wanting to try this for quite some time. After dinner, I am sure we will spend a bit of time walking around DTD for a little bit.......hoping that maybe a certain PPer.....uh, hmmm......Shelley........might come down to DTD so we can meet and possibly have a drink together!
Depending on how we feel and how late we hang out in DTD, we most likely will grab a bus to MK (probably via a bus to TTC or one of the MK resorts, then monorail.......I don't believe there is a direct bus from DTD to MK, right?).
If you follow me on Facebook, then you probably already know..........BUT we are SUPER excited in our house right now..........Emily got her braces off yesterday!!!! That $6000 smile is GORGEOUS!!!! And she is super excited that it happened in time for her dance performance (only 9 more days till that event!!). There is a photo of her on FB (a selfie she took) but I am hoping to get a nicer one later, and will come back to post!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
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I saw it on Facebook this morning. Congrats to Emily on getting those braces off!
AJ's doctor told him he could possibly get his off sometime in the summer. He hasn't had them for a long time, it's been only a year. At first he was supposed to have them for 18 - 22 months, but things are looking good.
I saw it on Facebook this morning. Congrats to Emily on getting those braces off!
AJ's doctor told him he could possibly get his off sometime in the summer. He hasn't had them for a long time, it's been only a year. At first he was supposed to have them for 18 - 22 months, but things are looking good.
Thanks! Yes, at first they told us 18-22 months for hers, then about 8 months into it, they said maybe earlier - it was almost exactly 23 months to the day!
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Originally Posted by TinkerbellJenn99
YAY for Emily - that's awesome!!
Thanks!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
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I'm all caught up now, and your plans sound great so far! I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back, if all goes according to plan we'll be there for the 4th next summer too 
If you follow me on Facebook, then you probably already know..........BUT we are SUPER excited in our house right now..........Emily got her braces off yesterday!!!! That $6000 smile 
~ Jenn 
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