Don't Stop - part one of Disney trip COMPLETED - Page 18 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great 'Ohana photos! Thanks for the information on viewing the grounds at BLT. If we decide to pursue it, I will ask a CM for assistance and see where it gets us!
What wonderful pictures you took Cheryl!!! I love the sunrise photo from the walkway! We're leaving for WDW is a couple of weeks and I was hoping to check out Bay Lake Towers. If you're not staying at the resort, is it possible to get into the lobby to see it? I thought I read on a website that you had to be a guest there to get into the building.
Breakfast at Ohana's looks as as always! And the character interaction looked fun, too. What a hassle with the tickets! But what fun when you got in -- the trolley is beautiful at Christmastime.
What wonderful pictures you took Cheryl!!! I love the sunrise photo from the walkway! We're leaving for WDW is a couple of weeks and I was hoping to check out Bay Lake Towers. If you're not staying at the resort, is it possible to get into the lobby to see it? I thought I read on a website that you had to be a guest there to get into the building.
Both the lobby and walkway are key access only. Of course if someone is coming out as you walk in, then you could get in that way....
At this point, you'll see the first mention of Photopass pics. Sadly, the CD is yet to arrive, despite the fact I ordered it on 3 January. It's usually meant to take between three and seven working days (today) to get to me, as an international customer, but they do warn it can take up to 14 working days (end of next week). I guess the snow we've had here has held it up. As soon as I get the CD, I'll go add those mentioned to date into their own installment.
Friday 11 December part three: trying to catch the challengers
I got off and noticed that I had a text from Bob to say that he and Larry were in the Main Street Bakery. I called him and, sure enough, they were still there, so in I went and found them immediately. Mind you, its not that hard to find someone when youre looking for a person on a cell phone! We hugged and I told them that I was going back to get Mark and then wed return.
I found Mark still waiting to see Daisy, but fortunately he was near the front of the line now. I took a few more shots while we waited...
Then we saw the main duck herself and she loved Marks Donald hat, so much so that she wanted to take him home with her! No way I was standing for that... :
We headed back up to the Main Street Bakery and met Bob and Larry outside it. Finally Mark got to meet these great guys and, as I knew they would, they were all chatting away like old friends immediately. They were heading to Splash Mountain to meet the challengers, Sharon, Karen and Heather, as they attempted to do all 54 attractions in the Magic Kingdom in one day. The mad fools...
We wandered over there...
On the way, we found these guys, who also seemed to like Marks hat...
... then we waited for him and we waited and we waited. There was no sign of them at the appointed time of 10.10, so either we had missed them or they were running behind. It turned out to be the latter, as they ran past us to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad...
A few minutes later, we saw them run to Splash Mountain, but apparently it was closed, so they couldnt do that.
While we were waiting for them, I decided to get a photo of Bob, Larry and Mark and we ended up with random guy in the background of the shot, as you can see. We honestly have no idea where he came from or who he was he just popped up as I took it and the guys didnt believe it, until I showed them the shot, but there he is.
When they came out, we walked with them, admittedly with us walking behind a bit, as we couldnt even keep up with their walking pace.
Just to prove how fast they were walking, compared to us!
Heather showed us the sheets they were working to impressive stuff.
We got to the Haunted Mansion and there were Eileen and Jill, sitting on rocking chairs, waiting for them. That went down well, I can tell you!
We all headed in there and managed to stay together until the stretching room, then the doors opened and we barely saw them, they were just gone. It was so funny, watching Eileen running to keep up with them and apparently they left her for dust as soon as the ride finished.
We split up not long after we came out of there, as I wanted a restroom break and was starting to get quite tired, no doubt still jet lag from yesterday. We hit the restrooms, passed on the Jungle Cruise, as it was showing a 20 minute wait and went for Pirates of the Caribbean instead, which was a walk-on. It was showing a five minute wait. When we got there, I asked the Cast Member at the entrance if it was a walk on. His answer? aaaaaarrrr... Very good!
When we came out of there, I was finally able to catch up with Carrie. She called just before we went into Pirates and then we had lost the signal. We agreed to meet by the Country Bear Jamboree and, a couple of minutes later, found them.
We headed first to the Hall of Presidents and lucked out, as a show started literally a couple of minutes after we went in. This show really doesnt do much for me, Im sorry to say. I was interested to see Barrack Obama and that was the only reason I wanted to go on it, but really it doesnt excite me at all. It might not help that were not American, of course.
I love Mark's hat!!! It looks like a lot of other people did too! How fun that you were able to meet up with Bob and Larry. It sounds like the ladies were leaving everyone in the dust with their quest to finish all the rides that day!
I swear, I know who this guy is, he looks very familiar!! Funniest one ever!
I've seen this face before too. Wonder if it's a PP DH or if it's another Disney fan there for the non-MF weekend.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
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Pixie Dust
Dana
<--- Disney Fantasy 2016!
as always! 
And the character interaction looked fun, too. What a hassle with the tickets! But what fun when you got in -- the trolley is beautiful at Christmastime.
Deb
PassPorter Guide Author
: 
I swear, I know who this guy is, he looks very familiar!! Funniest one ever!
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