A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM 12/2 - Page 36 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The birthday book is awesome! And this was all a complete surprise? Very cool!
Your morning views are beautiful!
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Tanya
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Friday 4 September – part two: where’s my DVC sweatshirt?
Once we’d had breakfast, I headed down to the Rainforest, and spent a very relaxing hour or so on the hot stone chairs, and enjoying the not-so-mild steam room. Apart from the couple from the character breakfast the other morning, who were in the showers and sauna, and only lasted about 20 minutes, I was on my own in there. Bliss!
I made my way back to the room, and then we headed up to the Outlook Café to get ourselves a hot chocolate and amaretto. Again, we were literally the only ones in the side we were sitting in, and I think there were only about two or three people in the other side. I did wonder whether most people’s shore excursions had gone off earlier than ours, as it was certainly now deserted on board.
When we got back to the room, we found this going on…
We were about to make our way down to Wavebands to sign in for today’s excursion, when I discovered that I no longer had my light blue DVC sweatshirt with me that I was going to take on the excursion. I immediately knew what had happened, I’d left it in the Outlook Café. We raced up there, and they told us they’d already sent it down to lost property at guest services. Now there’s Disney efficiency for you!
We raced down there, and fortunately they found it straightaway, and I signed for it, and we headed over to Wavebands to sign in with a couple of minutes still to spare. Phew!
We had a bit of a wait to get off the ship, as the guy who signed us in (Gaston and I am not joking!) forgot to tell a group of us to sign a waiver for the whale watching portion of the cruise, so we all had to go up and do that, so I took the opportunity to get some photos of this part of the Wonder:
I got some photos of the Wonder again as we disembarked, as that never gets old!
We made our way through the town centre, and I took some opportunities to get some photos, as four years ago, it had been just torrential rain all day, so there was no point in bothering back then. It certainly looked like a vibrant enough place, but the whole day I couldn’t get it out of my head that every car you see here has to be shipped in, as you can’t drive it, you can only reach this place by plane or boat.
I even managed to sneak a shot of her!
Next: walking the Trail of Time with Caleb and the tale of the young bear….
Glad you were able to retrieve your sweatshirt so quickly! It's a good thing you had planned on wearing it on the excursion, or you may not have noticed it was missing.
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I am so enjoying this trip report, it is fascinating!
I had to smile at your second-to-last photo, as it features a very nice Chrysler PT Cruiser - I have a silver one of these and she is my pride and joy!
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Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
I left my purse behind in Epcot's Norway once. Realized it after strolling over to Canada.... so not too long. And sure enough, by the time I got back to Norway they had just sent it to Lost and Found in the front of the park! I ran up there and actually beat it. Had to stand around and wait for it! Anyway, just happy to hear they're just as efficient on the cruise ship.
And happy it's not raining for you guys this time around!
__________________
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
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I love this photobook idea! I wish Skip was open to travel like that as that would be such a fun way to surprise him....though his first words would be he couldn't go then....no matter what the date was....just his natural response.
Glad you were able to retrieve your sweatshirt so quickly! It's a good thing you had planned on wearing it on the excursion, or you may not have noticed it was missing.
That's true. I would've hoped Disney efficiency would've brought it back to me, as they knew which room we were in....
I am so enjoying this trip report, it is fascinating!
I had to smile at your second-to-last photo, as it features a very nice Chrysler PT Cruiser - I have a silver one of these and she is my pride and joy!
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Very cool!
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
How I managed to keep it a secret though, I really do not know. 
Beautiful photos of Juneau, too. 
I did wonder whether most people’s shore excursions had gone off earlier than ours, as it was certainly now deserted on board. 
and I am not joking!) forgot to tell a group of us to sign a waiver for the whale watching portion of the cruise, so we all had to go up and do that, so I took the opportunity to get some photos of this part of the Wonder: 
I ran up there and actually beat it. Had to stand around and wait for it! Anyway, just happy to hear they're just as efficient on the cruise ship. 
Great pictures from Juneau so far! 
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