A Magical Frozen Norwegian Adventure updated 07/28/2015 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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A Magical Frozen Norwegian Adventure updated 07/28/2015
Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. So, first, let me introduce the adventurous (or not) travelers.
Me, Pris, 67 I love to see new places and am in love with Mickey and Disney. Cruising has also become a favorite way to travel, as the idea of seeing the world and taking my hotel room with me is very appealing. I have taken 3 Disney cruises, several with other cruise lines and a very exciting European River Cruise. (see that report here http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...er-cruise.html)
DH, Wade, 62 Let’s just say that DH is not as much into traveling as I am, and only does Disney to make me happy He has been on all of the same cruises as me, except for my very first one, which was Disney. I traveled that one with DD.
As a little back-story, our first cruises were Disney, but as empty nesters, we decided to try another cruise line, particularly because of the cost. Most of our other cruises have been with Royal Caribbean. It is an excellent line----but, it is not Disney. In early January of this year, we went on a Western Caribbean cruise out of New Orleans. I had hoped it would be very relaxing and fun. We had been to 2 of the 3 ports before, so weren’t planning a whole lot in those ports. To make a long story short, it was not a good cruise for us. No reflection on RC, although this was a slightly smaller ship than our previous trips, and we didn’t find as much to explore in all that down time. Add in some personal problems that caused major distress, and…. On one of the days we were out, I spied the Disney Magic tendered right next to us. Needless to say, I melted and wanted to be there instead of where I was.
When we returned home, I expressed the desire to cancel our RC Med cruise booked for June. We discussed it and decided that we would probably not enjoy it and also would be exhausted, due to the long and strenuous excursions that would be involved in order to see all we could. Before I actually went online and cancelled, DH sat down and started looking at my iPad. I had no idea what he was looking at, when he started asking questions about staterooms. (Keep in mind, DH is totally clueless when it comes to planning vacations. I do it all and he just follows along.) I answered what I could. Then he started talking about Norway. I looked at him and said, “what site are you on?” He promptly replied Disney. My jaw dropped, as I started to get excited.
So we explored the cruise and prices. The cost was about the same as the longer RC Med cruise, but the excursions would no doubt be a lot cheaper. Also, they wouldn’t be as exhausting, as I expect we will spend more time sightseeing on busses or boats and less time climbing over ruins or walking busy city streets. That’s not even mentioning, fewer ports and a 5 day shorter cruise. Those of you who read my European River Cruise trip report know that that trip turned out to be longer than we enjoyed. I even went back and read Cheryl's Norwegian cruise trip report. http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...completed.html
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Last edited by duck addict; 07-28-2015 at 07:59 PM..
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