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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Lunch and dinner both looked delicious. Room service is so cool on board since it's basically free.
I love room service!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
How great that Claire made a friend. Your dinner looks great.
It was. She went out of her shell this trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
You got some wonderful pictures both on the water and land too! Although I'm not a fan of the Bahamas, the water does look pretty. Sorry the seas were rough for snorkeling. I'm sure Claire enjoyed her time at the pool when you got back though!
Thanks
It's not the best port, but it's ok for us and we try to do different things each time we go there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
How exciting that Claire made a friend! Love the pic of you and Skip!
All too soon dessert was being served. I got my favorite DCL dessert…the Grand Marnier Souffle.
Skip went with the Strawberry Shortcake Sundae.
I also got a 2nd dessert….because I can. The Peanut Butter Mousse.
Needless to say, when we were done we were extremely full.
We headed out to get Claire so we could enjoy the Pirate party and had a run in with Mr. Mouse.
Claire was ready to join us. Her friend had just left about 10 minutes prior for the party as well. We headed up top with the party already started. Something I have never seen or remember noticing at least was that they were selling stuff at the pirate party.
Skip went to the side and observed and Claire and I went a little closer to try and see.
Pirates were invading the ship!
As we watched the party I noticed Mickey was getting in place to save the day…I pointed him out to Claire.
Mickey stepped out…still waiting for his entrance…..just “hanging” around. A few more people spotted him now.
He even waved to a few people.
And he is ready to save the day now.
This would’ve been a great shot if it wasn’t blurry.
And with Mickey saving the day…the fireworks started.
Once the fireworks ended it was back to the party!
Dance like a pirate!
These CM’s really work up a sweat with all the dancing they do.
They had a camera panning us and a few times we could see ourselves onscreen. Claire also saw her new friend on there as well.
Claire went over to hang with her Daddy a bit.
Having fun!!!
We watched these guys dance a bit. I am not sure if they were all one family or just friends, but the one guy was really dancing and they were all cheering for him.
We hung out in the area for a while and watched people dance, watched the screen, and just chilled and had a beverage.
After the party started slowing down we headed back to the room to call it a night. I think Skip headed off once again to wander a little bit and see what was happening in the adult area, but I don’t think he was gone too long before he came back to go to bed.
It had been quite a long day and we seemed to have done so much. Even though this was only a 3 night cruise it really seemed like we were making the best of our time and enjoying a lot of things.
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I can’t believe it! It’s our last full day on the ship. I must say though we have been having a great time and enjoying every minute of it.
Today was our Castaway Cay day. I must admit I was a bit worried that we wouldn’t be able to dock. I know when it is wavy or too windy the ship has issues docking and it had been both for most of the cruise. I have read a few TR’s where the ship would try for a while and then give up and some where it tried for quite some time and did actually make it in. I was hoping it would work for us.
I got up early and headed out to see the sites.
There she is!
Getting closer.
The decks have been swabbed for the day.
After watching for a bit, I went back inside.
Back out to deck 4. What a beautiful sunrise!
I was playing with my panoramic feature on my phone.
I hope you are able to dock - funny how experiences differ, we've never had an issue docking at Castaway Cay. Of course, now I say that, we won't be able to dock next month!
I hope you are able to dock - funny how experiences differ, we've never had an issue docking at Castaway Cay. Of course, now I say that, we won't be able to dock next month!
I hope you have no issues....and I wish I was there too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhinohunter
Great Pirate Party Day. Looks like you guys really had a lot of fun. Your dinner choices look very good. Hope you have fun at Castaway Cay.
We did have a nice time at the pirate party. I could go for some of that dinner right now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
I hope you're able to dock at CC!
coming up!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
From the lack of people in your photos, it seems you are on the ship all by yourself.
It really was pretty empty for quite some time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Looks like a lot of fun at Pirate Night! Hope you are able to dock at Castaway!
I LOVE how blue the water gets when it is churned.
We did not seem to be having any issues backing in.
The Cabanas off in the distance.
Then I headed back to the room to check on the family…who were dead to the world.
I then headed through Cabanas to the back of the ship.
The seagulls knew we were coming into port and were swarming.
I noticed construction off in the distance. I am not sure if this was just the staging area or if they are really building something back there. I know they were building new cabanas so this might be the base where they work out of….or it could be a future expansion….which there has been rumors of over the years.
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