Are You Ever Coming Home?...No! I am playing with Wizards, Farkles and Sparkling Friends completed 10/21/2017 - Page 16 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Looks like a good show and dinner looked good as well!
__________________
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!
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.
I'm all caught up again after having been away. How cool you were able to do Palo brunch after all!
You're braver than me with the zip lining!
The party for the 4th of July looks really neat. Until I read this, it had never occurred to me that Disney would do something special for that - d'oh!
How fun to see a special show for the 4th of July!! The characters look so cute in their Patriotic costumes!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I really loved that they celebrated it on the ship and had a special show. This was the first time the Fantasy has done this, so we all felt special.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Looks like a good show and dinner looked good as well!
It was!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I'm all caught up again after having been away. How cool you were able to do Palo brunch after all!
You're braver than me with the zip lining!
The party for the 4th of July looks really neat. Until I read this, it had never occurred to me that Disney would do something special for that - d'oh!
I have been loving your facebook pictures!
I do love Palo brunch and I was happy that I attended with them.
In any other situation, zip lining would have never been on my radar. Now, I may give it another try at another port in the future.
It seems like from what I have read not all ships do anything super special for the 4th. That was a big concern in our facebook group and we really had no idea if anything would be done till we got on the ship. I think they announced it the first or 2nd night. It was a first for the Fantasy.
Today was the first port day that we would have an excursion on our own…without any of our friends at all. Claire kept hoping Jeanne and family would join, but they ended up just not doing anything today. They originally had the Baths scheduled but the time was changed and we had a short day in the port as it was, so she decided to cancel it. They told her if she wanted, she could join our excursion, but they needed a rest day.
I had my strawberry cheesecake from last night in my fridge, so that was breakfast today.
I went up top a bit to take a look at Tortola. The horns sounded, which totally scared me, and I tried to catch them. As I was videoing, the NCL Escape pulled right in next to us. The horn did go off again and it scared me again. hahaha
Now I had been on the ship for 7 days…the rest of this sailing was now bonus time! I tried to stay offline from the outside world on most sea days, but in ports I would check my emails and facebook. I was surprised each day to find posts under my pictures saying things like …Are you ever coming home?....Just how long is this cruise?...wish I had your job.
I kind of laughed and thought it was funny. I only had 2 days at WDW before the cruise…and up till this point; most reading would not know how many days my actual sailing was. For my Oct. trip I arrived in FL 3 days before our 7 night cruise and stayed an additional night after. As for wishing they had my job….I do love my job, but this was not a work trip.
I then headed back to the room to get our bag packed and ready for the day. Claire and I then headed down to D Lounge once again to meet for our excursion. Today we were doing Treasure Island Swim & Snorkel.
We were led to our boat and we had to take our shoes off before getting on. They put all the shoes in a clothes basket. They wanted to keep their boat as clean as possible. At first I thought it was strange, but then I realized they really had a good idea.
A lot of people headed for the front, but we just found a both type table and sat down.
Looks like a beautiful day and like you said it's amazing how blue the water is. Hope you enjoy your day at Tortola!
__________________
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!
Looks like a beautiful day and like you said it's amazing how blue the water is. Hope you enjoy your day at Tortola!
It was such a great day. The weather was perfect for snorkeling
Quote:
Originally Posted by benchley
We loved Tortola. Can’t wait to see your thoughts on your excursion - it was a close call between it and the baths for us and the baths won.
Brook and Patty went to the Baths and their pictures are amazing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I can't wait to hear about Tortola - I'd love to go there one day.
It's really not a super big port, but they offer some nice excursions for snorkeling. unfortunately they got hammered by Irma and I hope they can recover soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
That water is amazingly blue! I hope the boat was super clean, because I would be skeeved out to have to go barefoot on a dirty floor.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
It was VERY clean. They took very good care of it.
We were bobbing and I realized I didn’t take sea sickness meds that morning….I did last night, but not again this morning. Now I was psychologically thinking I would get sick. The family behind us was talking about sea sickness meds as well and I asked if they had any extra….it was actually the lady who had been hypnotized the one night and we had talked here and there throughout the cruise. She did have some and I now felt better. LOL.
As we got further out, we were bobbing a bit more and making dips…and all the people in the front were getting huge splashes. You would hear them scream each time it happened….we of course thought it was funny.
The reason I picked this particular excursion was because they said we would be snorkeling in caves. I had talked to someone in Oct who had done this excursion and they raved about it. As we approached the cave areas the captain announced that all the mooring balls were filled up and we would not be able to go to any of the 3 caves today. We would moore further down and have excellent snorkeling and he would keep watch to see if any of the balls opened up.
Total Bummer. I was so looking forward to going into the caves.
I will say the snorkeling was great here. I did see a ton of tiny jellyfish in the water though. I never felt like I got stung, but in spots they were everywhere. I, of course, had jellyfish sting repellent sunscreen…that I did not put on today….and was back in my room.
We swam around looking for the good spots to see. I will warn you now…I took a ton of pictures.
What a bummer that you couldn't snorkel in the caves! They should say in the excursion description that you may snorkel in caves, availability permitting, or something like that. But you saw lots of great sights anyways!
Too bad about the caves. You got to see a lot and some great photos underneath the sea!
__________________
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!
What a shame about the caves, but you still got to see some pretty neat sights.
I was bummed, but at least it was still good snorkeling
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
What a bummer that you couldn't snorkel in the caves! They should say in the excursion description that you may snorkel in caves, availability permitting, or something like that. But you saw lots of great sights anyways!
I agree. It should say they try to get you there. That was the whole reason I booked this particular excursion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Too bad about the caves. You got to see a lot and some great photos underneath the sea!
As we were sailing to our next destination, I felt a pinch on my foot. I looked down and it was this big (well he looked big to me) yellow and black spider. That sucker just bit me. I quickly got him smashed…but that sucker hurt.
As we got off, I asked the crew if a yellow spider was poisonous. I told them I didn’t want to go home with some Caribbean fever. LOL. They said no, and looked at what was left of the remains, and the one guy was like…oh that is the terrible poisonous such and such…and then laughed.
I don’t know how that sucker got onboard, but I was not a fan of him. I was fine, but my foot was sore for a bit.
We debated going to get a snack or something to drink, but our friends husband brought out 2 drinks he had bought and it had come to something like $27…um we’ll wait. We don’t HAVE to have anything right now. LOL.
After a bit we decided to head to the bathroom…however Claire wasn’t smart and didn’t go. She will wait till the last possible second. I try to tell her to go when she can because there may not be an option later.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
Linear Mode
