For the First Time in Forever...Sisters Trip!!!! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We're back! I stink at taking pictures and I stink even more at adding them, so, sorry, the TR portion of this will probably be a little boring.
That said, the trip wasn't boring at all. I had a wonderful time and was so so sad to leave!
Th, Dec 1st
Left work and made the drive to Portland. Got to DSis's with plenty of time. Her DH gave us a ride to the metro station, and we were off to the airport. I have GOT to get a photo or two uploaded here, just to show you how cute we were....
I'm the one with the goofy look on my face, my sis has the sunglasses on. I don't always look that dumb!
This is from Friday in the park, but we wore these outfits the whole trip. We flew without even carry-on, to save as much $ as possible. Spirit Air rocks! $74 round trip from Portland to LAX.
We had to wait a while for our SuperShuttle, and it took some time to pick up folks from other terminals and get on the highway. Once we did, it was smooth sailing. We were at the hotel by 9:30.
Hotel review. We stayed at the Little Boy Blue, next to the Hyatt House on Harbour and Katella. It was a great location, and at about $70 per night it was a steal. The room was updated, didn't smell funny, and it had a bit of motor lodge charm. Here's a photo I found online of the place from the 60's. It hasn't changed too much, but the water slides are gone.
Another picture from the net, pretty true to what the room looked like from the front door. 2 Queen beds, a TV, a mini fridge and a table and chair. A clothing rack, a tub and shower, and decent room on the bathroom counter for toiletries.
Over all, it was clean, mattresses were new with no bed bugs (I checked first thing), bedding was fine, bathroom was actually pretty decent. Mini fridge was handy, and came standard. No coffee pot, but I survived. There was a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on the next block west, that became my go-to spot.
I had eaten a sandwich while waiting in the airport, but Sis needed some dinner. We were too late to redeem our tickets at the park, and we were beat, so we went to the CVS to get some breakfast stuff, and Sis got a hotdog and soda, and I picked up some rum, and we were back in the hotel and in bed by 11 or so.
I was kinda disappointed not to go to Trader Sam's on Thursday night, but with wanting to rope drop the next day, and getting in so late, it didn't make sense. I tried really hard not to let my own agenda get in the way of common sense or sisterly togetherness on this trip. Overall I was successful. Yay!
Up next: Friday, day 1 in the parks.
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Last edited by KimmyAnn1147; 12-06-2016 at 10:35 AM..
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