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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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This is taken from my trip back in 2002 when we visited DC.
Aug 23, 2002
Today was our day at Discovery Cove! This is my anniversary gift from DH since it has been one of my dreams to swim with dolphins. This was supposed to be a surprise, but DH forgot to tell me not to look at the credit card statement (I do the bills) a while back and I found out about his plans. Oops! DC opened at 9am today and we arrived a bit after 9am. There was a bag check as you entered the building and then we were directed to a desk to check in. Our pictures were taken for our ID badges and then were on our way into the park. We were put into a group with a guide who talked to us about the park and led us in. They also take a complimentary photo as you walk into the park. Got in line for our snorkels and masks. I also got a wetsuit. DH decided to go with a vest. We found ourselves some lounge chairs to park our stuff and make our home base.
We decided to try out snorkeling right away since our dolphin encounter was scheduled for 11:20am. DC has a lagoon with non-salt water that we tried out first. I have never been snorkeling before and I had a hard time getting used to it. My snorkel kept filling with water and I thought I was doing something wrong. Turns out something is wrong with the snorkel, it was leaking at the closed end. Went and traded it in for a new one. The new one worked great! Toodled around in the water for a while and decided to walk over to the coral reef lagoon and try it. I soon became a fish like those I was swimming with. I loved this! I could have done this all day! There are tropical fish swimming about along with dozens of manta rays. They also have sharks and barracuda in a tank within the lagoon. It looks like a sunken ship from above, but it's actually tanks for the sharks and barracudas.
About 10:30ish we decided to go back to the chairs and get ready for our dolphin swim. I had to use the ladies room also; I can't believe how hard it is to get a wetsuit off your body while it is wet. It was an interesting bathroom break! We were the first ones to show up for the swim. Once everyone got there, we watched a short video about dolphins and then a trainer gave us more information. We were split into pods and our group had 8 people in it. Walked over to the lagoon where the dolphins are and got in the water. This was such an awesome experience! The dolphin we were partnered with was Roxie. We all got to touch her and kiss her. Then Jason and I got to go into deeper water with a trainer and Roxie.
We did a couple tricks with her and she pulled us into shore one by one. There were two other families in our pod and each of us got to have our private encounter. They have people taking pictures and video that you can purchase. The time in the water with Roxie went by really fast and before I knew it we were being asked to leave the water and go back to our cabana. There we got to see our pictures and select which ones we wanted to purchase. Of course we had to buy pictures and the video! Spent a pretty penny doing so too! We bought 4 5x7s and the video; our total was $146.23. I know that is a lot, but we wanted to make sure we had pictures and a video to help us remember. Our stomachs were grumbling so we decided to have lunch. I got a chicken finger meal with French fries, a salad, fruit punch, and Oreo cheesecake. DH got a bacon cheeseburger, potato salad, soda, and chocolate pudding with whipped cream and a cherry. The food was delicious! They had a quite a few different meals to choose from and there is something for everyone!
After we stuffed our faces, we thought we better sit for a while and not go snorkeling right away. We headed over to the photo place to pick up our pictures and video. This was about 1:15pm. Our video wasn't done yet and neither was our complimentary photo. They told us about 20 more minutes. We figured we'd just come back later for them. That lasted about 15 minutes before we were back in the coral reef lagoon. I cannot express how much I enjoyed this day. It was absolutely perfect! DC also has a bird aviary and we took the lazy river to get there. It's pretty cool; you have to go under a waterfall to get there. There were some cool birds that would eat out of your hands and we got our picture taken with them. We were both getting pretty tired, but decided to make one last swim through the lagoon. Afterwards, went back to the photo shop and our video was done, but our complimentary photo was not. The lady said about 15 more minutes. So we walked through the shop next door. Bought a couple postcards, a shot glass, a polo for DH, and a t-shirt for me. Went back to the photo place. Still wasn't done. We ended up waiting 45 minutes for the photo. This is the only complaint I have about Discovery Cove. I will be writing them about our photo experience to let them know how unhappy we were. You figure for as much money as you spend to come there, they could get their stuff together! After getting our picture (finally), we made our way out the car and back to the resort.
Photos in next posts.
__________________
Denise
Counting down to....
May 2017 - Poly (Grandma's 1st Trip to WDW)
Sept 2017 - DH's bday celebration
Aug 2018 - DCL Family cruise on the Dream
Last edited by wdwlovers; 02-01-2007 at 01:54 PM..
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Pixie Dust
Taken from our lounge chairs. 
Jason in the chlorine pool
This is fun!
Jason near the barracuda tank
Taken in the bird aviary
Our lunch
PassPorter Guide Author
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