Four if By Land, Six if By Sea Updated 3/29 COMPLETE - Page 19 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Just too Cute.... All Snuggled down and warm I am sure.
And Little Miss Maddie looks sound asleep already. Like a little angel. She is growing up so beautifully. Then again so isn't Mary Devall. I wonder where they get their good looks.
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Conga line?! Ok, which trip report do I need to read for that?
Sounds like you had a lovely evening.
You know . . . I should have put that in the tr! During Mouse Fest, Sharon and Heather rode SE together and ended up in a conga line in the future - - all by selecting health! Who knew!?!
My little early riser must have been tired because she didn’t make a peep until 7:45 this morning. What a lovely night of sleep that was! I told Thom later that I did dream that I was being held captive all night though because the duvet was so heavy. I generally do not move a lot when I sleep but I really didn’t this last night because I couldn’t!
As usual, once Maddie was awake she was ready for breakfast. We headed down to the lounge for a quick bite and then returned to find that Thom was showered and Mary Devall was awake and watching tv. While I took my turn getting ready, Thom took Mary Devall for breakfast and Maddie kicked back for a little tv watching. She also enjoyed hiding in the curtains and having me find her.
Once every one was back in the room and ready, we took the long, long, long walk to the elevators. The time it took to get from the elevators to the bus stop seemed minimal after that other walk! There were a ton of people waiting for a bus and we figured out pretty quickly that it was an AK bus when someone asked another bus driver to radio for a bus. Within minutes, an AK bus arrived and it pulled right up in front of us. I felt a little guilty about it since we were pretty much the last people to arrive at the bus stop , but I also didn’t want to get trampled in a mob scene so we hopped right on the bus.
Maddie and I took a seat together and I did scoot over to let a little boy sit beside us. Some bad mojo caught up with me because I brought just one more café mocha with me on the bus (with lid attached) and didn’t even have to look down when Maddie said “Mommy, look what you did.” I had somehow managed to dribble coffee down the front of my vest, but all was not lost because I was able to wipe off all of the coffee from the repellent material without a single stain. I was loving my brother-in-law at this point because he had given me this handy dandy vest for Christmas.
As Maddie and I were going through this little scene, the bus was becoming entirely packed. There was not an inch more of room, but the bus driver was determined that every single last soul was fitting on her bus. She kept saying “shuffle, shuffle, shuffle” over her microphone until a man finally yelled out “drive, drive, drive.” This was met with resounding applause and we were soon on our way.
She announced that we would be stopping at BB first and a groan went up in the bus since it was maybe low 50’s that morning. Since the bus driver probably felt a little tension on the bus, she asked “Is anyone actually going to BB?” The people must have answered in whispers because the only thing I heard was the bus driver saying “Well, we’re going to BB.” And another groan went up! Then the people around me amused themselves by wondering what kind of people would go to BB in this kind of weather and then one man said “If it’s as crowded at AK as it is in this bus, then I’m going to BB.” Hee-larious!
Maddie and I enjoyed talking with our little seat mate. He was telling us about his roller coaster experience and then Maddie would share some of hers - - I was thinking that there was a little exaggeration on both sides.
Once we dropped off the two - - yes, two - - people going to BB, we were on their way. Thankfully for them, they were seated at the front of the bus. From what I could see, they threw their hoodies over their heads and just kind of slunk off.
As soon as we finally made it through the front gates, we headed in the direction of Dino Land. As we passed Character Landing, a CM informed us that there was very little wait to see Pooh and friends. What a great thing to do with Maddie while Thom and Mary Devall rode EE!
We quickly waved goodbye and then headed down the path. Maddie was beyond excited when she saw who she was going to see. There were only a few people in line ahead of us, but then Pooh went in for honey so that took a bit more time.
When it was Maddie’s turn, she was absolutely ecstatic! This girl was a serious autograph seeker now. She reminded me so much of how methodical Mary Devall used to be about the entire process - - autograph first, then hand off autograph book to parents, then picture. I especially loved how Maddie would put her hand on her little hip as she waited for the characters to sign her book.
And oh, how she loved hugging these characters and giving them kisses. It was so much fun that I even had to get it on the action.
Continued in the next post . . .
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Sometimes words aren't needed . . .
Last edited by Jillybean; 03-04-2009 at 08:42 AM..
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Awwwwwwww....what adorable pictures! Pooh and friends are my DS's favorites. We did not get to see them at AK this time but will on our next trip.
Maddie is so cute! She definetly has her own mind and determination, what a fiesty little girl!