Don't Stop - part one of Disney trip COMPLETED - Page 13 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your flight experience!!! What a lovely way to fly The only time that I ever had anything close to your service on a plane was when we flew to Hawaii in 1998. It was truly a memorable experience just as I'm sure this was!!! Sorry it took so long to get to the Contemporary Resort. It can be so frustrating when it takes so long because you're just so anxious to get to your "Happy Place" Loved the view you had of the Magic Kingdom from your balcony! Can't wait for more.
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Cheryl, I just got all caught up start to finish thus far. I'm sorry about all the delays you had in the beginning, but Virgin Atlantic all I can say is WOW! sounds and looks like your dinner at the Hilton was delicious. Gatwick defanitely looks like a much nicer airport than Heathrow(where I flew into and left from in 2002 for my London Study Avroad Trip). The Upper Class Lounge looks heavenly compared to the Delta Crown Room and the other Frequent
Flyer Clubs we have over here. Upper class on Virgin Atlantic looks Breath taking and so comfortable. The food on the plane even looked quite yummy and edible. I'm so sorry about all the turbulance you had and delays once you got to Orlando. BLT looks incredible an what a view you and Mark have of the castle. The Top of the World Club looks like some place Id love to visit some day. Those Flatbreads look delicious. Looking foward to more please. Your pictures are outstanding as usual.
P.S. Too bad I didn't get to view the link to the PPer Meet in Allentown until the day before. I so
would have begged Erick for our car that day so Skyler and I could have made the drive to meet
you and Mark while you were here (in addition to all the other PPers who were there). We would
have loved to have met you in person. Hopefully one of these days.
Did you agree that once you stepped out of the walkway right into the building it had this really CLEAN and LOVELY smell in the new building? I couldn't get over how nice it smelled in there. LOL
Also, although they say that the studio sleeps four, I found it to be the smallest of any studio we've been in and it was really too small for the four of us. WAY too small. We probably wouldn't go back unless it were just Sam and I. It was really beautiful, just way too small for us.
We thought that the studio was bigger than we were expecting actually. We knew it was the smallest of all the DVC studios (writing the DVC e-book, you learn things like that! ), but having seen the model room at Saratoga Springs, we thought it would be really cramped and we didn't feel that. Mind you, it was only the two of us. I would not like to try and fit four people in there. :
I have been looking forward to them. I can't wait for our Food & Wine visit in October--we will have a dedicated two-bedroom and only 4 people, so I don't think space will be an issue!
Oh my goodness, you'll have an absolute ball - four of you in a two bedroom, you could have a party in there... and I'm sure you will.
P.S. Too bad I didn't get to view the link to the PPer Meet in Allentown until the day before. I so would have begged Erick for our car that day so Skyler and I could have made the drive to meet you and Mark while you were here (in addition to all the other PPers who were there). We would
have loved to have met you in person. Hopefully one of these days.
Thursday 10 December – part six: “I wonder if we can see this from our room?”
I walked outside and got a front row spot just as Holiday Wishes started. Mark joined me a couple of minutes later and we watched a few minutes of it.
We then both had the same thought – “I wonder if we can see it from our room?” so off we went. The elevator seemed to take forever to come for us, but fortunately we didn’t miss too much and I got some great shots from our room, once we got back there:
As soon as Holiday Wishes was done, we were done too and it was off to bed. It had been a very long day, but we had made it to Disney!
By the way, no pedometer readings this trip, partially due to me losing mine, but also because I figured we’d be doing a lot less walking than previous trips, so it would hardly be comparable.
The weather today was sunny and dry and in the 50s in London and dry and in the low 60s when we got to Orlando. The best thing today was seeing Holiday Wishes from our room and flying Upper Class. The worst thing today was how long it took us to get to Walt Disney World after we landed. Today we tried flying Upper Class And the result was it’s an amazing experience. The most magical moment today was seeing that we had a Magic Kingdom view from our room.
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I have always reading your TR's & all the amazing pics as well. This TR is off to a great start! Flying to WDW in style is the way to go!! Sorry to hear DME caused a hiccup for the start of your trip.
BLT is my dream home resort! When we toured DVC in Oct DH & I spent the whole time arguing not on weither we will by into DVC, but BLT vs. AKL!!! Doesn't get much better than watching Holiday Wishes from your balcony!!
i love those great fireworks pics, cheryl. even more so because i was in the park at that exact moment with a group of other PP's and their families....thanks for sharing them.
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The only time that I ever had anything close to your service on a plane was when we flew to Hawaii in 1998. It was truly a memorable experience just as I'm sure this was!!! Sorry it took so long to get to the Contemporary Resort. It can be so frustrating when it takes so long because you're just so anxious to get to your "Happy Place"
Loved the view you had of the Magic Kingdom from your balcony! Can't wait for more.
PassPorter Guide Author
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reading your TR's & all the amazing pics as well. This TR is off to a great start! 
Flying to WDW in style is the way to go!! Sorry to hear DME caused a hiccup for the start of your trip. 
Doesn't get much better than watching Holiday Wishes from your balcony!!
<--- Disney Fantasy 2016!
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