A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM 12/2 - Page 48 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Saturday 5 September – part five: what sad stories!
We timed it perfectly, as it began to rain more heavily again as soon as we got into the mill. There were various remnants of its time as a saw mill, but don’t worry, visitors couldn’t play with any of this stuff.
I have to say I stopped listening to DJ at this point, not because what she was saying wasn’t interesting, but because I noticed some of our group standing looking out of the window, and I headed over to investigate. It was another bear, or it could’ve been the same bear, it was hard to tell.
From here, we ended over to see some of the birds that the Alaska Raptor Centre have saved over the years. They’re based in Sitka, but bring a selection of birds down here each summer, so that more people can see their work. I think they must do pretty well out of it too, as we made donations, and I saw that a number of other people did as well. The birds were just stunning…
They all had such sad stories. I can’t remember which one, but one was taken as a chick by a young boy who hand reared it, and now he can’t hunt for himself, and has on occasions, even tried to mate with humans, as he sees them as his family, and not other birds. It was such a sad story, and just goes to show the destructive influence humans can have on animals, even if it’s done with the best of intentions.
Next we went to see a couple of eagles, and again these can’t be released into the wild, because of the difficulties they’ve encountered in their lives. It was hard to get photos though, with the wire they were behind, but I did my best.
Our next stop was to meet a totem pole carver, although this was a bit disappointing, as the main carver wasn’t around, and it was his assistant we met inside. She tried her best, but you could tell she just wasn’t comfortable talking to visitors, which is not great when that’s exactly what you’re required to do.
With that, we were done, and we could reclaim our items that we’d handed in before our walk, and we could browse the gift shop. We had a few minutes to wait before our bus arrived, then we headed on board. As we were the first group, we had quite a wait for the second part of our group to turn up, as they were obviously a far bit behind us.
Next: how are we going to eat again in two hours’ time?
I can see the photos, and the bird ones are gorgeous. The detailed close up on their feathers - something we just don't normally get to see! Very nice. Bummer about the totem pole visit though.
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Tanya
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I can see the photos, and the bird ones are gorgeous. The detailed close up on their feathers - something we just don't normally get to see! Very nice.
When I was on early this morning none of the photos were coming up...even in my own TR. But now I can see the photos. I thought it was just my iPad, as sometimes that is an issue.
And I have to say Cheryl, your photos of the birds are beautiful!
When I was on early this morning none of the photos were coming up...even in my own TR. But now I can see the photos. I thought it was just my iPad, as sometimes that is an issue.
I think it was probably Photobucket or maybe the boards had a bit of a meltdown earlier?
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And I have to say Cheryl, your photos of the birds are beautiful!
The two of you had a great time with the stone massages today as well as some nice villa time! Must have been quite soothing and relaxing!
Your excursion seemed like a good one and you got to see so much that nature has to offer! Too bad with those imbeciles in your group scaring off the bear! That's quite sad about some of the birds and how they can't be released into the wild! You took some amazing photos during this adventure!
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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!
The two of you had a great time with the stone massages today as well as some nice villa time! Must have been quite soothing and relaxing!
It was very nice, I just could've done with it being a bit longer...
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Your excursion seemed like a good one and you got to see so much that nature has to offer! Too bad with those imbeciles in your group scaring off the bear! That's quite sad about some of the birds and how they can't be released into the wild!
I know. They seemed happy enough, but I couldn't help but look at them and think how they would never have an ordinary life.
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You took some amazing photos during this adventure!
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I thought it was just my iPad, as sometimes that is an issue.
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