Twas The Night Before Disney...(TR 12/2 - 12/9) - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Well we left pretty much when we had planned on. We pulled out of our driveway at about 9:15am!! I was so excited and was hoping that we didnt hit any traffic anywhere. Last year we were stuck in traffic our entire time in Va...
First we finally made it out of Jersey. I dont know why but it always feel like Jersey takes forever...maybe because I know its the start of the trip so it feels longer? We actually had to stop for Josh to use the bathroom before we even got out of Jersey!! Ugh - at least it wasnt me this time!! Next up was Delaware
Delaware is always a quick one to get through. Next was Maryland -
Usually I stop here for a bathroom break but I was fine and didnt need to stop.
Next up Virginia
Josh started to get a little sleepy
That didnt look to comfy!! We needed to stop for lunch at this point and Sam was requesting McDonalds...Sam is a VERY picky eater and doesnt eat much so we gave in and stopped. He had his favorite - Fries and Ice Cream.
I was very surprised that we hit NO traffic at all yet. We soon entered into North Carolina.
It was starting to get dark and felt myself getting tired. We had planned on driving until 10 but I was thinking maybe we should stop earlier...but Rob kept reminding me how happy I would be tomorrow with less of a drive...and as usual he was right. I told him to go on. We passed South Of The Border but didnt stop.
We stopped to grab something quick to eat and they were selling blankets there - My kids really wanted them. They were 2 for $12 so we got them. They snuggled right up in the car with them.
We entered into Gerogia I didnt get a picture of the sign though. All I was thinking about was sleep!! Rob said at 10 we would stop. Poor Sam(more like poor mommy) fell asleep in the car at 9:45.
We pulled off at 10:02 at exit 107. We found a Hampton Inn in Port Wentworth. It was nice, clean and quite!!
By the time we got in a unpacked the overnight bag, gave the kids showers, had a snack it was late - about 11:45. I feel asleep while everyone was awake watching TV.
Next up - The rest of the drive and Disney - woo hoo!!
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Last edited by jovigirlnj; 12-04-2011 at 11:14 PM..
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Well we woke up a bit later today than we had planned. We hoped to be out of the Hotel at 8 but we forgot to set our alarms. Usually Sam wakes us up early but I guess he was tired because even he slept late. We woke up at about 7 and headed down to the lobby for breakfast. Breakfast was included with the room. It was nice. I didn’t take pictures of my food but I took a blurry picture of the area. They had homemade waffles (yum) then those premade eggs and sausage. They also had Oatmeal, several different kinds of cereals, muffins and bagels.
We finally pulled out of the Hotel about 9:15. The GPS said we would be in Disney by 1:30.
We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center. My favorite thing here of course is the little OJ or Grapefruit juice they give you. It always is so cold and so good!! We grabbed a few brochures and headed back out.
We arrived!! I love driving through these arches. We are home.J
On our way to the Wilderness Lodge. WOW!! Was I blown away when we walked in and saw that Christmas tree!! It really took my breath away.
I went to online check in and was happy to hear our room was ready. We headed up and unpacked. We grabbed a quick bite at Roaring Forks. I had the Wilderness Lodge Salad – It was very good!! I also had a Smores cupcake. My hubby had a Chicken Sandwich (no picture) and a vanilla cupcake. My son had the Pizza.
Then we hopped on the boat over to MK. Here we went right to the Monorail. Today is resort hopping day!! First we stopped at the Contemporary. The Gingerbread Tree was wonderful!!
After we headed on over to Poly. I wasn’t really planning on stopping here today since we have a ADR for Ohanas in a few days but I figured what the heck!! They have a few nice trees and neat decorations.
Next up was Grand Floridian. What a great tree here too!! And of course the Gingerbread House!! I loved this.
Josh has never had gingerbread so he wanted this - we brought it from the gingerbread house
Next we headed back to MK then took the bus over to YC. I loved the tree and Train here. I spent a lot of time checking out the train.
On to BC. LOVED the Carousel and the Spinning Castle! I cant believe how great all of this is!!
After we walked over to the Boardwalk Bakery. I couldn’t decide what I wanted so I got the Oreo Bon Bon Cupcake and the Mickey Cake. My Hubby got a brownie and my sons wanted Pretzels from across the way.
After our snack we checked out the BWI. We were never here before. What a nice place to stay!! I really loved there Gingerbread Decorations here. I think my kids liked this one best.
After we were done we headed over to Fort Wilderness. We were never here before. We took the boat from WL over to there. We had to hop on the bus to go up to the Outpost to pick up our Golf Cart rental. We rented one so we could drive around and check out the decorations…..WOW Do some of these people Decorate or what!!
I could have spent hours driving around but by 10:30 the kids were done!! We returned the cart and hopped on the boat back to WL. We ordered room service because we were all hungry but I knew the kids couldn’t make it anywhere to eat. My hubby got a roastbeef sandwich and Pizza. Josh got a grilled cheese and fries. I got The Reuben with chips. It was good.
the reuben
I loved these little Salt and Pepper shakers and the little condiments.
Today was a great day here!! I really enjoyed seeing all of the decorations at the hotels and Fort Wilderness!!
Next up - Hollywood Studios!!
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Last edited by jovigirlnj; 12-05-2011 at 12:00 AM..
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