Just Keep Swimming - Our First Disney Trip TR - COMPLETE 3/21!! - Page 4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Woke up on Tuesday feeling really nervous for my bank account. But we had to get moving since I had a hair salon appointment at Ivy Trellis before brunch at 1900 Park Fare. I decided to get in touch with Disney on the way there. We grabbed a cherry danish on the way to the bus. I didn't think I'd be able to sit through a hair appointment without any food in my system.
We quickly polished off the danish as the Magic Kingdom bus arrived. It got us there in good time and the bus driver explained how this one tunnel we went under actually was a passageway for the resort boats! I thought that was really cool.
We went up to the resort monorail platform and waiting a few minutes for a monorail. We had our own car for most of the trip. I really couldn't enjoy it though since I started my phone conversations with Disney. They lead me in circles about how I didn't charge anything to my room and they couldn't figure it out. I hadn't been double charged or anything. This went on all the way until we got to GF. Finally someone told me to call my bank because most likely someone had stolen my debit card number. I hadn't lost my actual card since it was still in my wallet. I was majorly stressed out at this point but I had to get to my hair appointment as I was already late.
The hair appointment itself was nice. My hairdresser did a really nice job washing and cutting/styling my hair. She even gave me pixie dust! Not the giant flakes like in other salons. These were more like regular glitter but more subtle. They added a nice sparkle to my hair. Zac was really nice and paid for my appointment considering I was now broke. I decided to ask my Dad for advice on what to do.
I called my Dad and he said to call the bank right away and report the fraudulent charges. Then to go to any front desk and speak with the manager on what might be done. I called the bank and reported all the charges. Basically components to a resort package booking totally around 1,800 dollars. They created the dispute for me. I talked to a manager at the GF and he gave me the direct number to billing and research. The only information they could give me was the name of the person on the reservation. Granted, it could probably be a fake name.
I really didn't want to go to brunch now. I was really upset and half panicked. Zac pointed out that this was the breakfast I was most looking forward to. That I'd feel better once I'd had something to eat. I eventually agreed and we went to the restaurant. It was around 11:15 at this point and we were 15 minutes late. It didn't seem to matter and we were seated right away. We didn't see any characters in sight aside from the Mad Hatter. We decided to get food after he came over. We had a short interaction. He wasn't the most memorable of characters I'd seen. But he signed my book and posed for pictures so I was happy. We then went to the buffet to get food.
I got a bagel with cream cheese, lox, and tomato, some bread pudding, and some fruit. It was all super yummy. I wanted to try the strawberry soup but I wasn't very hungry. Unfortunately I'd never get to try it as I filled up quickly. We got to see Mary Poppins next. She was lovely and I told her how she was my absolutely most favorite Disney character ever. Which she is and has been. I grew up on Mary Poppins and she was always a role model of sorts for me. So it was really amazing to be able to "meet" her. She signed my autograph book and made sure to write in "Supercalifragalisticexpialidocious". She said it was special for me. I'm not sure if does it for everyone but I'd think so. It was still really nice.
Next I got to see Pooh and Tigger. They were really fun and nice to be with. I wanted to bounce with Tigger but forgot to ask. Both of them signed my book as well. Alice was over last and she was a riot! A cast member was coming by with a wheeled cart and Alice pretended to get hit by it and fell on the floor going, "My leg! My leg!" and then stood up and said, "Just kidding!" We also talked about my Fairies pins which was cool. It's nice when the characters personalize your meeting with them. And, of course, she signed my book too. We happened to be able to get a picture of Pooh and Tigger together which was super awesome! I suppose since it was the end of the breakfast shift.
I was feeling much better after breakfast. Still a little shaken up but seeing all the characters really helped me smile. It was just what I needed. We were supposed to spend the day in Downtown Disney and go to Disney Quest before having to make the 9PM showing on La Nouba. However, I wanted to see the Magic Kingdom and we did have a spare park day (I had thought we'd hit a park on Sunday but we didn't). So we got back on the monorail and I made sure to enjoy that ride.
So sorry about the banking woes - I can fully understand your worry about that. I hope it's all resolved. I'm glad that you did go to the brunch and you were able to enjoy that.
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So sorry about your banking troubles. I hope they get sorted out quickly. No one needs that added stress.
Your day at Epcot sounds very nice. I'm with you on IllumiNations, I enjoy it alright but just don't "get it" like a lot of other people do. I'd say it is probably my least favorite night show.
I'm sorry for the long delay between posts. I'd been sick with a terrible flu and tonsillitis for the past few weeks and then lost power due to the hurricane.
I hope to be posting Tuesday morning pictures this evening and maybe doing Tuesday part 2 as well.
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I'm glad that you did go to the brunch and you were able to enjoy that.
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