A Christmas Ship Comes Sailing In (A Cam and Luke TR) Completed 2/16 - Page 15 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
For some reason when I read your TRs I end up missing a chunk of text. I can see the great pictures with Mary with no idea of how they came to be looks like a ton of fun though!
xwewhisper, are you reading on an iPad or iPhone? The same thing happens to me. Very annoying. I posted in the Garage forum about it once to see if I could get any suggestions on how to fix the problem, but didn't get anything.
Looks like you had a fun time in the MK with many great photos! What a nice meeting with Mary you had! Pretty cool you got to see SM with the lights on! I've seen this a few times on the PM! Once I was on SM and the ride stopped, while I was on it and the lights came on, which was quite cool to see inside. Stranger yet, we were going up a hill on a 45 degree angle, in which we remained for about 10 minutes, until the ride started up again! Not the most comfortable of positions to be in, while sitting in the car!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
xwewhisper, are you reading on an iPad or iPhone? The same thing happens to me. Very annoying. I posted in the Garage forum about it once to see if I could get any suggestions on how to fix the problem, but didn't get anything.
Guilty of iPhone reading! I thought it just turned pics upside down sometimes... Now this?!
Just came from you fall TR and your meeting with Mary...and find out that you had a really magical meet with her on this trip! I would be the same way...completely tongue tied because I am in awe of Mary Poppins! But you really look quite comfortable with her...just like two old friends!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Just getting back in the swing of Passporter life - and what better way to start than reading your report!! Love to read about the adventures of Luke and Cam!! Can't wait to read more WDW and then about the ship at Christmas...
Your interaction with Mary was so cute! And you both got the memo to wear some red that day! Lol
Luke had teased me because I felt we needed to wear red or Christmas stuff for our MK day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by roaminggnome
I love Mary!! The inside of SM is cool w/ the lights on. We have caught it a couple times while on the people mover.
We've seen the SM inner workings several times and gotten better pictures, but I needed to get the flash off this time and didn't have time before we were out again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
For some reason when I read your TRs I end up missing a chunk of text. I can see the great pictures with Mary with no idea of how they came to be looks like a ton of fun though!
How weird! Is this the part you were missing?
Instead we went to the Confectionary to purchase breakfast, a large chocolate chip cookie in the shape of a Mickey head with its ears hand-dipped in chocolate. We also got Cokes. We walked through Uptown Jewelers to our usual alley to dine. And guess who was there? None other than Mary Poppins who only had one current guest. I had let out a little gasp when I saw her, and she had looked my way. She requested I sit at a table with her for a little chat. Magical! Unfortunately, I have no memory of what we talked about as I was so excited and nervous the whole time we were talking. She’d ask a question, and my brain seemed to slowly process it before I had an answer. Luke took photos then the CM with her took a pic all three of us. We moved to another table to eat our mega-nutritious breakfast while Mary continued to meet other guests, including many NCA cheerleaders. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them, were everywhere as they were part of today’s taping.
Looks like you had a fun time in the MK with many great photos! What a nice meeting with Mary you had! Pretty cool you got to see SM with the lights on! I've seen this a few times on the PM! Once I was on SM and the ride stopped, while I was on it and the lights came on, which was quite cool to see inside. Stranger yet, we were going up a hill on a 45 degree angle, in which we remained for about 10 minutes, until the ride started up again! Not the most comfortable of positions to be in, while sitting in the car!
At first I thought how neat to be on the ride when it stops and the lights come on. But then a 45 degree angle wouldn't be fun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
What an amazing experience with Mary!! You're just sitting there chatting away like you are old friends. That is truly a magical moment.
I couldn't believe when she asked me to sit with her.
Just came from you fall TR and your meeting with Mary...and find out that you had a really magical meet with her on this trip! I would be the same way...completely tongue tied because I am in awe of Mary Poppins! But you really look quite comfortable with her...just like two old friends!
I keep thinking that the more I meet her the more relaxed I'll get with her, but that's just not happening.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrDolphin
Just getting back in the swing of Passporter life - and what better way to start than reading your report!! Love to read about the adventures of Luke and Cam!! Can't wait to read more WDW and then about the ship at Christmas...
Thanks! I thought of you on our way home as we set the GPS at the port, and since we weren't going back to Orlando we ended up passing by Jacksonville. If I'd have know, I'd have let you know we were coming.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenseib
How awesome you got to run into Mary and then sit with her and chat. I probably wouldn't remember the conversation either.
I know she asked me several questions, my brain would freeze, then I'd answer and she would talk a bit before another question. I should have written the conversation down as we ate breakfast.
Instead we went to the Confectionary to purchase breakfast, a large chocolate chip cookie in the shape of a Mickey head with its ears hand-dipped in chocolate. We also got Cokes. We walked through Uptown Jewelers to our usual alley to dine. And guess who was there? None other than Mary Poppins who only had one current guest. I had let out a little gasp when I saw her, and she had looked my way. She requested I sit at a table with her for a little chat. Magical! Unfortunately, I have no memory of what we talked about as I was so excited and nervous the whole time we were talking. She’d ask a question, and my brain seemed to slowly process it before I had an answer. Luke took photos then the CM with her took a pic all three of us. We moved to another table to eat our mega-nutritious breakfast while Mary continued to meet other guests, including many NCA cheerleaders. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them, were everywhere as they were part of today’s taping.