Ditching the Hubbies for Mousefest - Final Thoughts COMPLETED 3/4/08 - Page 17 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I actually *knew* that Piglet was a he, but we were talking about how he'd answer the question in sign language -- without getting dirty -- and he started "answering" the question before we could let him know that we already knew....
The one story that Dawn didn't tell was that I made the near-fatal error or walking towards Tigger while Tiff was putting her bag down. Dawn's iron arm shot out and hit me smack on the chest. "Give her a mo' with her guy, mmmmkay?" I stepped back quickly and felt the rush of air go past me when Tiff barrelled straight into Tigger's arms. (I'll refrain from mentioning that Tigger was almost twice Tiff's height....)
It was very cute and a mistake I won't make again!
Why wasn't Sharon with us at the parade? I forget...
Eileen
Whew! I just caught up with your entire tr! What a fantastic time you two are having! And I am SO jealous about the Epcot Lush Club! OMG! That sounds like THE best time!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Oh my goodness, how cute are the pictures of y'all with Pooh 'n Company? Tiff looks totally beside herself with Tigger. Eeyore's scarf is sooo adorable. What fun!
Day 5, Part 3: A Few Pre-Dinner Drinks, A Fulfilling Meal and the AC!
A few pre-dinner drinks, a fulfilling meal, and a fun time at AC with a bunch of PassPorters!!
We had an enjoyable bus ride back to WL with Eileen and Karen. We headed up to their room on the 5th floor. Sharon was out on the balcony just enjoying the view when we entered. We asked how her afternoon was and she filled us in what she did. Eileen brought out the four pack of mini Bailey’s bottles ,and I went and grabbed some ice for Tiff and I. Karen made some coffee for Eileen to mix with her Bailey’s. Karen, I believe had some wine. It was nice relaxing with the girls enjoying my favorite beverage.
After the CLT spruced up a bit, we headed downstairs to WCC. Karen went and made sure they could add two to the ADR and it wasn’t a problem. We were seated rather quickly if I remember correctly. Our server came and got our drink orders and meal selections as well. Again, if memory serves me correct, Tiff, Eileen, and Karen went with the skillet. I believe Sharon went with a salad for an appetizer and I went with the Western Chips and Dip that I shared with the girls. I believe Sharon and I both went with the Roast Chicken with mashed taters and vegetables. (Please correct me if I am wrong girls!) We also had dessert that we split among the group but I can’t exactly remember what we had. I’m thinking Kahlua Flavored Chocolate cake was one of them.
After dinner, the CLT ran back up to their room to get some stuff. Tiff and I hung out in the lobby taking pictures.
The girls returned, and we headed off to the bus stops. We grabbed a bus rather quickly but had no idea how long it would take to get to DTD. We stopped at the Poly and GF then took the longest ride to DTD that I have ever encountered. Maybe it was just me..who knows. We were dropped off at the second stop at DTD and went to find the ticket booths so the girls could purchase the PI tickets. I had purchased mine through ticketmania.com so I just hung back and waited for everyone. We were directed the wrong way at one point but eventually found the correct ticket booths. Once all that was taken care of, we headed over to the Adventurer’s Club for the PP Meet.
We walked in and made our way down the stairs to see that the PassPorters had taken over the joint. We said hello to those we’d had seen previously, introduced ourselves to those that we hadn’t met, and gave hugs to those we hadn’t met up with this trip yet. It was just great to see all of these great people in one place. So many antics happened on this night, it’s hard to go into them all. Two of the funniest things were Steve (Sue’s DH) following Hathaway Brown around the library videotaping him and Hathaway reacting to the taping and the whole discussion of having an “ER” when a croup of PassPorters were explaining what a PassPorter was to Fletcher and Hathaway. I was able to get some pictures of some of the performances in the Library and some of the shows out in the lobby.
Overall, it was a great time. One of the most memorable nights at AC that I have. We hated leaving that night even though we needed to because we had to pack as tomorrow was our last day. Saying good-bye is always a hard thing to do, especially to this great group of people. We went out to the bus stops with the CLT and said good-bye. Robin was waiting for the SSR bus as well, so we chatted wither her on our very short bus ride back to SSR. We said good-bye to her as we were in different parts of the Grandstands. Once we made it back to the room, we had to do the awful task of packing. We set up a time to have Bell Services come get us and our luggage in the morning before heading out to the parks. We got ready for bed, set up our final wake-up call, and fell sleep rather quickly.
Coming Up: Our Meal with Tigger and Eeyore and some final moments in the Magic Kingdom
Great update, Dawn! Sounds like a great time with the CLT at WCC and all the PassPorters at AC. I can't believe your final day is here already More please
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