A Christmas Ship Comes Sailing In (A Cam and Luke TR) Completed 2/16 - Page 11 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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'm going to try and stay caught up with this!
Nice drive down and glad you made it safely. Crazy about your room.
Looking forward to hearing about the Nautilus tour on Grand Cayman as that's on the list for our October cruise.
I don't know how the text system for room readiness works, but it's a mess! Most often I get no text at all, and if I do get a text it's often way past 4pm. I usually just call at 4pm and it's always been ready when I call.
Your room looks nice, though. You didn't buy tickets for the new party?
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Hope you found the drive to be worth repeating. Being able to stop when we need/want to has always been a big selling point for us. Knees and backs aren't hurting when we arrive and we meet some interesting people along the way.
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A nice start at OKW and Epcot to your cruise! I didn't realize there were so many bus stops at OKW as I've never stayed there! But should know that as how expansive the resort is and with the many golf rounds (certainly at least 10), I've played at Lake Buena Vista, which surrounds OKW and others here! A lot of LBV golf course occupies OKW and all on the first nine holes. There are other Disney resorts surrounding the LBV course, with them being POR, POFQ, SSR and THV. Quite a lot over a golf course. I think that is all of them. Let me know, if I forgot a resort!
The latter four resorts are on the back nine and just love the views of them, while playing here! . Especially, seeing the boats from the PO resorts going to and fro' to DTD!
When we stayed at SSR in October of 2013 our back patio looked on to the golf course.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
I'm going to try and stay caught up with this!
Nice drive down and glad you made it safely. Crazy about your room.
Looking forward to hearing about the Nautilus tour on Grand Cayman as that's on the list for our October cruise.
I'm afraid I won't have too much to say about the Nautilus tour, but that will be explained later.
I don't know how the text system for room readiness works, but it's a mess! Most often I get no text at all, and if I do get a text it's often way past 4pm. I usually just call at 4pm and it's always been ready when I call.
Your room looks nice, though. You didn't buy tickets for the new party?
I'm with you on not having much confidence in the texting for room readiness, but we were right at the door at 3:58 and the bands couldn't open it. We kept trying every 5 minutes with the same result. The door didn't open until the text arrived.
No tickets, but lots of laughing over it whenever one of us thought about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sunshinetaradise
Love the room at OKW!! That was the first Disney Resort I ever stayed in and it always just looks like "Home" to me!
We really like OKW, especially the size of the rooms.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stardust190
I think I'd check out that new party. If anyone can pull that off Disney can!
I don't know where my road weary mind came up with all that, but it was funny!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Hope you found the drive to be worth repeating. Being able to stop when we need/want to has always been a big selling point for us. Knees and backs aren't hurting when we arrive and we meet some interesting people along the way.
We really enjoyed our road trip down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mpwife153
Oh how I love OKW, but agree that the bus hitting all the stops does seem endless especially when you wanna get to a park
The bus ride didn't take that long, but as you said wanting to get to a park made it seem that way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
What a bummer that you could see that your room was ready but couldn't get in It does seem that the text feature does not work very well.
I love the new party name
If we'd have known it would be after 4:00, we might have just headed on to Epcot.
We love OKW!!! It is big - but we always try to get near the Hospitality House and then we get off at the first bus stop and walk. It was always faster than riding through.