A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM 12/2 - Page 21 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Your meals all looked good and especially the smoked salmon appetizer, which looked absolutely delicious! Glad they were able to correct the situation with your tuna! That was quite bizarre and scary with the tannoy announcements! Obviously, it was a pretty serious situation and glad it worked out!
Some great views from the ship of the beginning of the inside passage as well as the amazing scenery within Tracey Arm Fjord as well as those "ice cubes!"
Your meal at Palo looked incredibly good with so much to chose from! With so many great options, I think it would be tough on the first plateful and would have to keep going back!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Last edited by SuperDave; 10-24-2015 at 04:55 PM..
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That lemon meringue dessert was one of my favorites, too!
And glad Laurie could concur with me about the sticky buns being a starter. Whenever they're meant to be eaten, glad to hear you did try one!
Whenever I read an Alaskan TR, I am so amazed by how stunning the scenery here is. I can't wait to sail there one day. Bummer that you keep missing the whales, but , Mark!
Oh you would love Alaska and it's probably the most beautiful scenery we've seen anywhere in the world that we've travelled to....
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Your meals all looked good and especially the smoked salmon appetizer, which looked absolutely delicious! Glad they were able to correct the situation with your tuna! That was quite bizarre and scary with the tannoy announcements! Obviously, it was a pretty serious situation and glad it worked out!
So were we!
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Some great views from the ship of the beginning of the inside passage as well as the amazing scenery within Tracey Arm Fjord as well as those "ice cubes!"
Your meal at Palo looked incredibly good with so much to chose from! With so many great options, I think it would be tough on the first plateful and would have to keep going back!
It is tough to choose there, as you're right, there are just so many great things to try.
That lemon meringue dessert was one of my favorites, too!
And glad Laurie could concur with me about the sticky buns being a starter. Whenever they're meant to be eaten, glad to hear you did try one!
Wednesday 2 September – part five: a perfect viewing day
Eventually we decided to head up to deck 10 to see what the view was like from up there. The answer? Pretty darned spectacular!
We did make our way right to the front of the ship, but as you can imagine, this was absolutely mobbed. The wind had dropped right off now, and it was a perfect day, with the narrator explaining that we were seeing some of the mountains for the first time this season, the viewing conditions were so perfect. He also explained it was the first time he’d come down it and there was fresh snow on the mountains, which he called “terminating” if I remember right, as it marks the termination of summer.
He also explained about the native whales, and much to Mark’s disappointment, apparently they don’t go that far up the fjord. Mark thought that, with so many seals at the end of the fjord, they’d go up there to get lunch, but apparently not.
I have to say deck 10 was a mob scene, although we still managed to get some pretty neat photos…
We also got some shots with the official photographer up there, although at that point, there wasn’t much to see, scenery wise anyway…
However, there is no way I can stand for long periods of time, and I told Mark that I’d head back to the room and see him there. I have to confess I didn’t get very far, as I was taking various photos…
Then I came up with an idea, and figured I’d head back to see him to tell him. As I headed back to the front of deck 10, I smelt something familiar, and it turned out to be mulled wine, available in Alaska souvenir cups. Well, surprise, surprise, we ended up getting one each, although we both thought it tasted very different to what we get at home – not as sweet, and more of a taste of cloves and cinnamon, and sadly not as nice. However, we managed to put most of it away, and there was a lot of mulled wine in the souvenir cup – they certainly didn’t skimp on their portions!
My idea had been to head down to deck four, as I figured there would be more places to seat, and it would give us a different perspective, so we headed that way. Although it was busy, it was nowhere near as crazy as deck 10, and although many seats were taken, we found one easily enough. It was remarkably warm down here, and I ended up just sitting out in a T-shirt, as the sun was quite strong. It was all very different to our last visit here when we’d had sleet! It worked perfectly for me, as I could watch the scenery while sitting down, and then just get up whenever I wanted to get a photo.
Next: why is it constantly giving me an error message?
Ok W-O-W. You must've have the PERFECT day weather-wise for Tracy Arm Fjord! Those photos are absolutely stunning Now I know we HAVE to go on that cruise eventually!
Ok W-O-W. You must've have the PERFECT day weather-wise for Tracy Arm Fjord! Those photos are absolutely stunning Now I know we HAVE to go on that cruise eventually!
It was perfect weather and 100 times better than the last time we did it. I cannot recommend an Alaskan cruise enough to you - it is such an amazing experience.
I have to say that the food looked delicious at Palo and what beautiful views from the restaurant! The dessert looked so scrumptious and such a wonderful variety to choose from Your pictures from Deck 10 and 4 are simply breathtaking and how great that the weather was so beautiful I'm really enjoying all your pictures!
I have to say that the food looked delicious at Palo and what beautiful views from the restaurant! The dessert looked so scrumptious and such a wonderful variety to choose from Your pictures from Deck 10 and 4 are simply breathtaking and how great that the weather was so beautiful I'm really enjoying all your pictures!
I am in awe of how great your weather was going through Tracy Arm! I also think we have some of the same waterfall pictures, just with a lot more sun and blue sky in yours.
Interesting about the difference in American and British mulled wine. I always think of cloves and cinnamon when I think mulled wine. Wonder what mulling spices they use by you?
I am in awe of how great your weather was going through Tracy Arm!
We were so lucky that day!
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I also think we have some of the same waterfall pictures, just with a lot more sun and blue sky in yours.
Aw, sorry about that.
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Interesting about the difference in American and British mulled wine. I always think of cloves and cinnamon when I think mulled wine. Wonder what mulling spices they use by you?
They use cinnamon, but I don't think they use cloves at all or if they do, they use a lot less than in the mulled wine we had on board this cruise....
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.