An Island Frame of Mind (A Cam and Luke PTR) Updated 5/22 - Page 14 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 Cam PTR is a rite of Spring! Thank you as I gaze at snow banks in my yard! My 23 y/o son is staying at a deluxe studio at the Poly 5/17-5/21...same time you will be there. We had leftover DVC points so I offered them to him and his friends. I figured they would be at OKW or SSR. They only booked a week or so ago. I was shocked they booked the Poly. I'm happy for you both! those dining plans are great. I like how you added some new places to try for dining.
We had a gorgeous day yesterday with a high of 78 and loads of sunshine. Today is not so gorgeous as it is raining, windy, and the temperature is currently 44 degrees. I'm ready for full-fledged spring or I need to head to WDW now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Great plans, and how fun to try some new restaurants!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
We didn't really realize it until we were done planning that we had picked over half of our restaurants to be new to us. Two of the oldies we haven't visited in several trips, so this trip should be a dining adventure.
Every great Disney trip has one problem – it will come to an end. So now on to our last two days.
Tuesday, May 19
Our last full day we plan to visit Epcot, finish off anything we’ve missed or want to see again of the Flower & Garden Festival. Once again we have our FP+ starting mid-morning to allow a bit more sleep time. We have the following attractions scheduled:
Spaceship Earth 11:20 AM - 12:20 PM (No sure that we’ll actually need this one, but the system needs three selections and we prefer to choose our own.)
Test Track 12:50 PM - 1:50 PM (This is one of Luke’s favorites so when we had to decide between Test Track or Soarin’, Test Track one hands down.)
Mission: SPACE 1:55 PM - 2:55 PM (This is another that we may not really need the FP+ for as we ride the green side, which usually doesn’t have a long line when we are there. But better to have it and not need it than the other way around.)
At some point will make our way to Downtown Disney for dinner at yet another new restaurant for us, Paradiso 37, Taste of the Americas at 6:15 PM. I’ve been very happy to read some favorable reviews of their food in some other trip reports. I’m sure since we will be so near the shops we’ll have a look in at least a few of them.
Wednesday, May 20
When we originally planned this day, we were considering flying and worked accordingly. We figured we’d have DME pick up around 3:00 to 3:30, so we planned a noon lunch and then heading back to the resort. Now that we are driving, we initially considered leaving earlier. But then decided we wanted a little time in the Magic Kingdom and to keep our lunch ADR, which ended up being pushed back until a little later than noon. So this is how the day is shaping up right now. We will get up early so we can have that little bit of time for attractions.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 9:05 AM - 10:05 AM (Luke wanted one last coaster ride and I prefer BTMRR to Space Mountain.)
Jungle Cruise 10:35 AM - 11:35 AM (We haven’t used a FP+ for this one yet, and we know how it can be very backed up in the standby line. We do enjoy this one, just not the wait in line most of the time.)
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 12:25 PM - 1:25 PM (And another coaster ride on a new favorite before we call the party over. We couldn’t tweak this one to get an earlier time, so we made the decision to move lunch later as we really want to do this one more time.)
With a longing look back at Main Street and the castle, we’ll head over to Disney's Contemporary Resort for lunch at The Wave... of American Flavors set at 1:15 PM. Afterwards, we’ll return to the Poly where we plan to have the Edge already packed and ready for travel. Once we climb in we’ll be headed away from the Most Magical Place in the World. I’m sure I’ll be a bit sad as we won’t be returning in October for our annual F&WF visit. We excited about going to Disneyland, so I’m sure that will fill the gap.
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I am so looking for to the new Restaurant reviews and photos. It is great plans for the last part of your trip. We to have a bitter sweet feeling the last day of our trip, but that being said, now I just start our plans for our next trip.
I just love your plans and your relaxed mornings. That is one of the things I love about FP+. We still do have our early mornings but we also plan those lazy mornings, either sleeping in or the pool and then we can wander over to the park and enjoy the attractions.
That morning dash to TSMM (while Jasmine had perfected it and we usually ended up with two FPs a day for this attraction) definitely was a tiring day (especially for my FP runner.....LOL)
I love that we can sleep in and still enjoy TSMM and ToT with FPs.
Getting back onto the boards. All caught up with the PTR. Getting close for the actual trip. All your plans sound wonderful so far. I hope they all work out. Good luck with your Dad's move. My mom considered moving last summer so since then she has been in clean-out mode. She is still in the same house I grew up in and I can't imagine how emotional I'll be when she does finally sell it. For now however she is staying put. More please
Your plans sound great! But I do understand that dread thinking of that last day
When we're at Disney, it just seems so much less stressful, but then we can't avoid reality forever.
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Originally Posted by DMA
I love visiting MK on the last day! Looking forward to hearing about lunch at The Wave, as we have a lunch scheduled there in September.
Luke asked a few trips ago when we did not finish with MK that we make it a tradition to end with this park. So that's what we will do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
More great plans! I hate thinking about the last day!
When we are making the initial plans, I guess I don't think much about it being the last day as the whole trip is so far away in time. But the closer we get to the trip, the less I like to think about it ending.