Celebrate! A Disney TR-November 16-24, 2013 - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 think Jacob had an awesome day leading right up to his birthday. I the idea of ice cream for lunch. We do that almost every trip. I like both the parties: MNSSHP and MVMCP. But my favorite is MNSSHP.
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Very cool to be at MK right at the moment Jacob turned 11! I love all the photopass pics from the party. The ones of the castle fit so perfectly with the borders you chose.
Glad you had a great time at the Christmas Party, despite the crowds. Wow, a near fight - I know it happens at Disney, but not something you want to see.
Ice cream for lunch is perfect!
MVMCP sounded fun, but I agree with Cam MNSSHP is tops.
How very magical to be at MK at the exact time of your birth. I've been on my birthday, but the exact time is even more special!
Today was Jacob’s 11th birthday! While planning this trip he was given a choice of where he wanted to spend his birthday and he chose DHS. We started the day by giving him a small gift which was a new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book which I had brought down with me. We spent the day enjoying each other and hitting some attractions.
We took a stroll down Pixar Place and ran into this guy.
Our destination was the Back Lot Tour and I handed Jacob the camera.
My only complaint about this attraction is the ramp. I'm very glad Justin's upper body wasn't injured and he could help push him upwards! The Back Lot Tour was another first for me, Jacob had been on it several years ago with my sister. We enjoyed it and moved on to see the Muppets in 3D. I offered to let stand in line for Jacob to meet Phineas and Ferb but he wasn’t in the mood so we just moved onto the shop with all the Muppet stuff. I’m a bit fuzzy on this part of the day but I know we moved onto Star Tours and we had a fun flight and I was selected as the Rebel Spy! Jacob was a little bummed he wasn't picked but laughed about it because I am the most clueless person about Star Wars. I know enough after doing some research for his Jedi Training Academy party that I threw for his 9th birthday.
After our tour we spent a bit of time in the store letting Jake browse and we kept trying to buy him stuff without much luck. Jacob ended up selecting a light saber key chain and a Lighting McQueen dressed up as Luke Skywalker which he purchased for his cousin who’s also his best friend. I filled out the slip for it to be shipped back to the resort and then we moved on. We meandered back over to Pixar Place for our FP+ for TSMM. I don’t remember if we rode this ride twice today or not but I’m pretty sure we did. I was just not feeling well for part of the day. I know we managed to visit One Man's Dream but didn't watch the film.
We eventually made our way to ABC Commissary and ate a late lunch. Justin had a bacon cheeseburger and Jacob and I each had kids meals. I took a picture of Justin’s cup because the parks were decorated for Christmas but he received a Halloween cup!
We had a chuckle at this and then I just wasn’t feeling well. I tried to push through but we ended up leaving the park and going to the resort. I sent a text to my uncle to let him know and told him we’d be available earlier than expected for dinner. Justin and Jacob took a trip to the gift shop to buy me some ginger ale and to get Justin’s mug and of course Jacob came back with ice cream. I took a shower and laid down which, along with some ginger ale, really helped me feel better. We relaxed for a little while and then my uncle and cousin were almost to the resort to pick us up so we headed to the front doors to meet them.
My cousin and uncle live near the parks but never go so our drive was a tiny bit adventurous, as in we got lost. We finally made it to the Contemporary and tried to check in early but since they were booked we went in search of the gingerbread display and took some pictures.
We then ended up getting some seats near the lounge and just chatted and caught up. Because we had so much time we took a loop on the monorail. My uncle hadn’t been since the 70’s and he couldn’t get over how different it all looked. When it was time I checked in and went back to our seats and then we were buzzed almost immediately. We got our picture taken.
We were then seated at the same table that we had to celebrate Jacob’s 7th birthday. We were all starving at this point because it was after 8pm and even though we chanced missing a character we all went to get food.
Donald was our first character and we got his autograph. My mind was a bit frazzled but I remembered to take a picture and get the autograph books signed.
Pluto was up next and then Mickey!
Because we had a few minutes before Mickey came over I remembered we had made goody bags to pass out. Jacob had requested to do this during his birthday dinner and thankfully I finally remembered. He gave one to Mickey who was very excited, especially when we wished him a happy birthday.
Donald came back around and Jacob stopped him to give him a goody bag which ended up with Donald joining us at our table and giving us tons of attention.
Goofy came by and this was a very fun and exciting meet.
The manager came by and sang the hot dog song and Jacob and Goofy danced to it. This really just melted my heart. I remembered when Mickey Mouse Club House came out and Jacob was very little and we used to sing that song a lot. All during this I felt slightly sorry for my cousin, the characters kept walking up behind him and he’d shy away from them.
I guess he’s too cool for a picture with them. I tried to get my uncle to take a picture too but he said no until Pluto walked right up next him and I kind of forced the picture.
We also handed Pluto’s goody bag to him and he enjoyed it and exchanged hugs with Jacob again. The napkin waving started and we went for dessert!
Donald came around for more attention!
We ended up waiting a while for Minnie but I guess we had missed her when we went up for that first trip to the buffet. The handlers were extremely nice and let us get pictures right next to the table after her tour through the dining room. We wished her a happy birthday and gave her a goody bag which she made a fuss over.
Since we had already settled our bill and were getting ready to leave we handed out the last three goody bags to the 2 character attendants that were so nice and we asked for them to pass the last one onto the manager who sang for Jacob. We took one last picture of my son and cousin, which my sister made sure I knew she wanted.
We then departed the Contemporary got lost again and they dropped us back off at the resort and we said goodbye. I’m pretty sure we all got ready for bed and then relaxed for a bit before lights out.
What a great birthday for Jacob! Sorry you got to feeling ill. How nice to have family join you all fro the birthday dinner, too. I love that Jacob was sung to by one of the managers. Precious!
That was some birthday! The character interaction looks just fantastic, and so sweet that you had goodie bags for them and also the handlers and manager.
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