A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM 12/2 - Page 50 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great pictures of the two of you. Too bad the character lines were so long, but I guess it's to be expected. We've been so lucky on both of our stops in rainy Ketchikan. The first trip we had a sunny, rain free day. On our second trip, it was cloudy but didn't start to sprinkle until we were heading back on the ship. I believe they say it rains 365 days of the year in Ketchikan.
Great pictures of the two of you. Too bad the character lines were so long, but I guess it's to be expected. We've been so lucky on both of our stops in rainy Ketchikan. The first trip we had a sunny, rain free day. On our second trip, it was cloudy but didn't start to sprinkle until we were heading back on the ship. I believe they say it rains 365 days of the year in Ketchikan.
Wow, you did luck out with the weather on your visits there.
Such cute photos of the owls - I love owls! But the rain and the clouds remind me of how much I disliked the Oregon weather when we lived there. Going to Alaska from there felt like more of the same. Thought another cruise to Alaska might be a nice change from Las Vegas but realized no, that won't work for me. So we cancelled the Alaska cruise for our 20th next year. Don't mean to be a downer and I want you to know I am thoroughly enjoying your cruise. You're doing it all up just right!
Such cute photos of the owls - I love owls! But the rain and the clouds remind me of how much I disliked the Oregon weather when we lived there. Going to Alaska from there felt like more of the same. Thought another cruise to Alaska might be a nice change from Las Vegas but realized no, that won't work for me. So we cancelled the Alaska cruise for our 20th next year. Don't mean to be a downer and I want you to know I am thoroughly enjoying your cruise. You're doing it all up just right!
Sorry you cancelled the cruise, but I can tell you've thought long and hard about it and made the right decision for you and that's the most important thing.
Saturday 5 September – part eight: whose birthday was it last night?
When we arrived at Parrot Cay, the others were all there, and had already ordered, so we had a look at the menus, and quickly put our orders in, as I didn’t want to hold them up.
This was waiting for us when we arrived – exactly as I’d requested, the remainder had come down from Palo to here.
The rest of the table delighted in telling us what happened last night. Apparently, they had had the whole happy birthday song routine from the servers for Tom, although he then had to tell them at the end that he wasn’t actually Mark. They told us it was an absolutely classic moment, and that we should’ve been there to see the look on our servers’ faces. I can just imagine!
I ended up going with three different appetisers, although I did pass on the option of the Alaskan crab legs… can’t think why…
My first choice was the trio of salmon, made up of smoked salmon, gravlax, and salmon canapé rolled in a potato wrap, with a dill and sweet mustard sauce. It was pretty good, and a nice creative use of salmon, and at least I could say I’d had my fill of salmon while In the salmon capital of the world.
Next I had the creamy velvety fish soup served with cod dumplings and dill, which I really enjoyed. It had a very refreshing flavour to it, and was very unusual.
For my entrée, I chose another appetiser, the cheese and carrot soufflé with watercress salad, and light wine cream sauce. This was a shame, as it could’ve been so much better. The soufflé wasn’t as light as I’d expected it to be, and the sauce certainly wasn’t as light as it was billed on the menu, so I didn’t eat much of it.
Mark had no appetiser, but got the marinated sirloin steak with thyme flavoured parsnips, potato gratin, and a cognac-peppercorn sauce, and I heard no complaints from him about it.
We’d noticed when we arrived that we all seemed to have champagne flutes at the table, and I did wonder what on earth was going on. I assumed it was for Mark’s birthday, but I’d never heard of Disney giving away free alcohol like that. The reason eventually became clear, it was apparently a thank you from the serving staff for the feedback we’d given earlier on in the cruise about the food. Ok, if you’re going to do that, then I can give a lot more feedback..
The fun didn’t stop there, as Mark acquired a birthday hat…
… then they decided to serenade him and sing happy birthday to him. I particularly liked the guy doing the guitar routine!
Next, the birthday cake arrived, something the rest of our table were very familiar with, seeing as how they’d been served one yesterday too!
For dessert, Mark had the sticky fig and walnut pudding served with vanilla bean custard sauce and brandy cream, which surprised no-one at the table. As soon as Tom saw the menu, he said he knew what Mark was going to have. I guess he got the measure of him pretty quickly!
I went for the cool-n-crunch sundae, made up of chocolate mint ice cream topped with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and crunchy meringue, and boy this was good.
At the end of the meal, Rhonda kindly took a couple of photos of us.
We headed back to the atrium to get a few more photos done:
Then we went over to the shop, and Mark managed to find a sweatshirt, and I found another T-shirt, so we were good to go.
We made our way back to the room, and found this offering tonight:
We then watched Beauty and the Beast. I still cannot believe how Disney have turned Gaston into a loveable rogue, as he is a horrendous villain in the film, really nasty.
Despite Mark declaring when we got back to the room that he was “wide awake”, he was asleep before long, and although I made it to 9:30pm, positively late for me , I gave in shortly afterwards as well.
The weather today was damp with light rain and temperatures in the low 50s. The best thing today was the couple’s choice spa villas treatments. The worst thing today was the rain as we headed back into Ketchikan. The funniest thing today was the happy birthday presentation to Mark. Today we tried a treatment in a spa villa And the result was it was an expensive indulgence, but wonderful. The most magical moment today was seeing another two bears.
Oh what a fun night! Even funnier given the fact the staff already did the whole thing the night before! Great end to the day.
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Tanya
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What a fun dinner! The wait staff really gets into the Happy Birthday song! Your dessert choice sounded yummy! I love mint chip ice cream!
It was the best birthday celebration we've had on board - Mark celebrated his birthday on the first Alaskan cruise we took and I had my 40th on the Dream.
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Honestly, I don't think I could pick a favourite bit if I tried....
Great pictures getting back on the ship! 
They told us it was an absolutely classic moment, and that we should’ve been there to see the look on our servers’ faces. I can just imagine! 
The reason eventually became clear, it was apparently a thank you from the serving staff for the feedback we’d given earlier on in the cruise about the food. Ok, if you’re going to do that, then I can give a lot more feedback.. 
Great end to the day. 
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