A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM 12/2 - Page 49 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Saturday 5 September – part six: how are we going to eat again in two hours’ time?
Once we were all aboard the bus, we headed off for George Inlet Lodge, seeing a waterfall on the way…
Finally, we were there, and descending down the 79 steps, only this time, unlike last time where we knew we’d be taking a seaplane back, we’d have to walk up them to get back to the bus.
We got some photos before heading inside…
… and we were seated with Tony and Tamara from West Virginia, who were perfectly pleasant, although I did have to tread carefully when they asked us what we thought of Hilary Clinton, not knowing their political persuasion. I just gave my usual stock non-political answer that it was about time the USA had a female President, as after all, they were now nearly 40 years behind us, as we had our first female Prime Minister in 1979.
We started off with a salad…
We got given our instructions on how to deal with the crab:
I have to say I struggled with my crab. Getting my lunch was certainly hard work, and although our two servers did take us through how to do it, I found it quite complicated, and struggled to follow it, so I just did my own thing. Whether it was right, I don’t know, but I got there in the end. There probably was an easier way, but never mind.
This time at the George Inlet Lodge was very different. Last time, on our flightseeing trip, there had been about eight or nine of us, and we had one person taking us through how to deal with the crab, and she’d been able to come round to see us individually to see how we were doing, and help out if needed. There was nothing like that today, as there were just too many of us. That was a real shame. In truth, I didn’t think our two servers were that great. Both Tamara and I asked for an extra napkin, and we never received one, and we also received our hot towels long before either of us had finished, so by the time we got to use them, they were pretty cold. Still, having said that, the crab was pretty darned good, although by the time we’d finished eating, it was 4:00pm. How the heck was I ever going to eat anything in less than two hours? I had no idea…
We waddled out of there, stuffed with crab, and I was actually glad of the 79 steps, as at least it gave us a chance to work off some of the extra fat we’d just put into our bodies.
The coach journey back was a bit painful, with Jonathan telling us another of his long winded stories. I’d love to recount it to you, as it was all about how the raven stole the sun, moon and stars, and gave them to the whole of the earth, but frankly, it was so long, I lost track of it quite early on, tuned out for a bit, and after that, I’d given up any hope of understanding where we were with it. As I say, others seemed to appreciate his stories, but they did nothing for me.
I didn’t take any photos on the way back, as the rain had continued to get heavier and heavier, and it was now impossible to shoot anything through the windows.
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The birds were quite beautiful but quite sad stories that went along with them. We have a Raptor's Trust Sanctuary close to our home that we've brought two new born birds to that we found on the ground and those types of facilities do such great work! Sorry the lunch was a disappointment along with Jonathan's storytelling. It does seem that you had more bear sightings this Alaskan trip versus your first one.
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At least the worst of the rain held off until your journey back to the ship. I think I would have tuned out Jonathan as well. If nothing else, just because I'd be exhausted by that time and with a full belly? Yeah, ready for a nap.
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Tanya
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The birds were quite beautiful but quite sad stories that went along with them. We have a Raptor's Trust Sanctuary close to our home that we've brought two new born birds to that we found on the ground and those types of facilities do such great work!
You're so right, places like that do amazing work.
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Sorry the lunch was a disappointment along with Jonathan's storytelling. It does seem that you had more bear sightings this Alaskan trip versus your first one.
Oh completely - maybe Alaska was making up for our previous trip.
At least the worst of the rain held off until your journey back to the ship. I think I would have tuned out Jonathan as well. If nothing else, just because I'd be exhausted by that time and with a full belly? Yeah, ready for a nap.
I usually don't do naps, as then I find I don't sleep at night, but yes, I was tempted....
The crab looks so good!
I debated doing a tour like that too that ended with a crabfeast...next time for sure!
Having done two such tours that included a crab feast, I would definitely recommend them. The only problem is that it does spoil you, as the crab is just so good.
Saturday 5 September – part seven: a bit of a surreal sight….
When we got off the bus in Ketchikan, we browsed a couple of the shops near the dock, including the Christmas shop, which we’d loved last time, but I thought it was very disappointing this time, and we didn’t find anything we wanted in there. It didn’t help that they had the strongest smell of cinnamon in there, something I usually enjoy, but this was too overpowering for me, and I had to head out.
We tried another place, and found nothing that appealed in there, plus there was a whingeing girl in there, who seriously wanted to buy anything edible in there. “Mom, can I have some taffy?” Mom’s reply: “No, I’ve told you, you’re not having anything more to eat.” A couple of minutes later, “Mom, this chocolate is only $2”. Mom’s reply: “I don’t care what it costs, I’ve already told you’re not having anything more to eat.” Oddly enough I could’ve anticipated that response!
We made our way back to the Wonder, and the gangway was quite busy, as you can see…
We came up through the lobby atrium, and a few minutes after we boarded, we heard the announcement that it was now closed, and anyone going ashore would have to do so via deck 1 forward. It was a bit surreal to see a deserted gangway beneath us:
It was even more surreal, when we headed down to the lobby atrium, and this was the sight that awaited us… not something you often see on a Disney cruise ship!
We got some more photos done:
I did want to get a photo with Russell and Dug from Up!, but the lines were just insane, and it was the same story for Mike and Sully, so we passed on those…
As we had a bit of time before dinner, we made our way back over to the Cadillac Lounge, hoping to see Jade again, but sadly she was about to go on her break, so someone else ended up serving us.
Just chillin’!
We both had the pomegranate passion I’d enjoyed the night before, as it was a little less lethal than Mark’s drink. We both took one sip, looked at each other and said “this doesn’t taste the same”. I said something, and a bit more passion fruit, and pomegranate in there, and it was a lot sweeter, and exactly the same as we’d had the night before!
Mark stuck at one, although I got a second one, and took it with me over to Parrot Cay, where we were dining tonight.
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The clouds/fog in the photos is more in line with how I picture Ketchikan to look like! You had such luck with clear skies and sunshine early on and now more typical. Quite the variety of weather on this cruise!
Love the pic of Mark in the window. And the drinks!!
__________________
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
The clouds/fog in the photos is more in line with how I picture Ketchikan to look like! You had such luck with clear skies and sunshine early on and now more typical. Quite the variety of weather on this cruise!
Fortunately, at least it was all in the higher temperatures, certainly a lot warmer than our previous cruise anyway.
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Love the pic of Mark in the window. And the drinks!!
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The only problem is that it does spoil you, as the crab is just so good. 
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