You can find me in da Beach Club -- COMPLETE!! Final Thoughts UPDATE 7/1 - Page 21 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I'm now wondering (from Jill's response) if they don't "withhold" the info on a rep leaving DVC so that the rep has the opportunity to contact their clients themselves (as Jill's did.)
That's good form... and not Disney trying to cover up something.
If the reps didn't contact their clients and left without notice or without a good relationship with Disney, it's fairly customary to keep that info under wraps. I've been on the other end of that many times in the corpoate world and have been evasive regarding the departure of a colleague.
Okay, I am now caught up. Karen, you set a very high standard in your trip reports! I am loving it all. Sorry to hear about the fall, but it sounds like a good recovery. We are eating at Mama Melrose's at the end of the month, but we didn't pick it--it's where lunch is served on the Backstage Magic Tour. I'll keep the pasta in mind!
Getting back to an old post, I kinda like meat with sweet, although I got really burned out on Sweet and Sour Pork a long time ago. By the way, Salty and Sweet is a favorite of mine, but kittens and cream?! Kittens are much better with a savory sauce....
If I could have one wish granted - I would wish that I could sleep well. Like Steve can. Steve has the ability to close his eyes and be comatose in seconds. I, on the other hand, am the founder member of Insomniacs’ Anonymous. One of the major symptoms of my complete inability to sleep well is that I never recover from jet lag. So whilst America was sleeping soundly, I was communicating with work on the internet. At 3am.
Having divorced a couple of clients before breakfast, I decided that I’d leave Steve and Kat in the land of zzzz and venture out to do a little exploring of my own.
First I took a photo of Da Beach Club Villas.
Before heading over to the Boardwalk Bakery where I decided to indulge in a spot of breakfast.
Given that it was only 7.00am or so, I was surprised that the Boardwalk Bakery was really rather full.
I decided to order the most indulgent looking thing I could spy, which was a loaf cake. You see, I’d just decided to start a diet on the flight home and I have this theory about loading my body with trillions of calories immediately prior to any weight loss programme. Shocks the body into parting with fat, I believe. Anyhow, Id just ordered said cakey decadence when someone in the queue ahead of me complimented me on my English accent. Of course, I was really rather thrilled, in the way one is when complimented on something that involves absolutely no effort. So I talked a bit more and a little more loudly in the hope that I might elicit a few more words of admiration. I even put on my best English accent, which is sort of a cross between Mary Poppins and the Queen. Regrettably, a couple standing just behind me, asked where I was from, and I instantly realised that not only were they English, but they were from my neck of the woods.
So rather shamefacedly, I paid for my cakey yumminess and headed outside, whereby the English couple (who happened to come from a town about ten miles from me -WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF THAT??) sat with me. There then followed a rather stilted conversation during which I tried to adjust my accent to sound like, well, me. It was truly a Ross from Friends moment.
This is what I ate.
I can’t tell you if it was good or bad. I was concentrating on my elocution.
I wandered back to Da Beach Club……..
…..where Steve and Kat were scrubbed and dressed and ready to go. There’s not much point in staying at Da Beach Club if you’re not going to take advantage of its proximity to Epcot. So it was to there we headed.
Kat’s ride of choice was the Nemo ride, so we decided to have our own little whirl in a clamshell. (Has anyone mentioned that these shells are somewhat cosy? If you consider yourself Pooh sized, or do not want to get up close and personal with your ride partner, it might be worth riding alone).
At this point I could type ‘Mine! Mine! Mine!’ But that would be predictable. So I won’t.
I’m collecting photos of this shot with a view to presenting Kat with a ‘Katherine in Bruce’s Mouth through the Ages’ collage when she’s 21. What do you think?
Next, we managed to score the elusive front row, no-feet-dangling-to-screw-up-the-illusion seats on Soarin’.
And I’m not going to moan this time, because everyone else adores Soarin’ and I’m a lone voice in my quest to get the film jazzed up a bit. (How about a flight over the Hollywood sign? What’s more Californian than that?)
Kat wanted to do a little more Character Connecting.
Hmmm. Her hair was sporting its finest Jimi Hendrix look. I only realise, looking back, that I allowed my daughter out with such dishevelled hair. This is what happens when I leave Steve to get her ready in the morning. Steve, for obvious reasons, doesn’t quite appreciate the importance of occasional hair combing.
Just for a change, we decided to wander over to the Universe of Energy.
Steve took this photo, ignoring my rule that photos of me are NEVER taken from behind.
The ride was fun enough with Ellen complementing me on my lovely hair (accent and hair in one morning, what can I say?). I did sport the best hair in the Baker family that day I have to say. And whilst I had no intention to spoil the ride for anyone else I couldn’t resist shouting out ‘Brain Power’ at the end. Just so everyone would think me dead clever with loads of errr ….brain power.
It was time to eat so we grabbed Kat some McNuggets and ambled over to the Liberty Inn. We’d never eaten here before and both Steve and I got burgers.
These burgers were quite delicious. Just as good as Pecos Bills. I think we got some kind of apple cobbler for dessert, but it was unmemorable.
We wandered back to Da Beach Club for a quick freshen up, before heading out to the Mall at Millennia to shop for a few essentials.
__________________
Karen
Last edited by mattnkatsmum; 04-05-2007 at 12:06 PM..
Steve has the ability to close his eyes and be comatose in seconds. I, on the other hand, am the founder member of Insomniacs’ Anonymous.
Ditto! It drives me mad that as soon as Andy's head hits the pillow, he's gone while I lay there thinking and worrying about everything. Must be a man thing
Great update - that burger looked lovely! We've never eaten there either, must give it a try some time. Looking forward to more
Having divorced a couple of clients before breakfast
Bwaaaahaaaahahaaa (You surprised me with that one!)
Quote:
I can’t tell you if it was good or bad. I was concentrating on my elocution.
Oh, my, oh my!!! Terribly funny!
Quote:
I’m collecting photos of this shot with a view to presenting Kat with a ‘Katherine in Bruce’s Mouth through the Ages’ collage when she’s 21. What do you think?
I think this would be a lovely gift to present to Kat on her wedding day
Quote:
Steve, for obvious reasons, doesn’t quite appreciate the importance of occasional hair combing.
OMGosh! You totally slayed me with that one!
Oh, our poor husbands. D'ya think they have any idea how much we rib them in our trip reports?!
Great stuff, Karen. Looking forward to more!
Eileen
Great update Karen! I sometimes have the same problems with falling asleep while Charlie (like Steve) is comatose within seconds of putting his head on the pillow. It drives me absolutely mad!
Your pictures of Beach Club Villas are making me sooooo homesick! I can hardly wait to get back there in June.
You see, I’d just decided to start a diet on the flight home and I have this theory about loading my body with trillions of calories immediately prior to any weigh loss programme. Shocks the body into parting with fat, I believe.
You are HILARIOUS!!! That literally made me laugh out loud!! That makes me laugh because when I fall off the wagon (the diet-wagon ) I always tell anyone who will listen it is because I need to give my body 'a rest'. Yeah right!
__________________
Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
First with the divorcing of a couple of clients?
Then Ross moment?
At this point I had to get up and use the ladies room before I made a mess
Then Steve ignoring your picture rules.
And last but not least Ellen complimenting your hair.
Phew! What a great update can't wait for more!
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
(You surprised me with that one!)
Linear Mode
