To Alaska and Beyond! Updated 4/28 x 3 and it's COMPLETE!! - Page 22 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
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We headed back to the stateroom and I was slightly concerned that getting my gaggle of gentlemen to step it up in dress code might be a bit on the challenging side. Kevan obviously, could fend for himself. I threw the outfits at the boys and they put them on without complaint.
Aaron and Matthew had been quite comfortable with their casual dining ways at Windjammer so I was very excited they were joining us for dinner in Reflections. I hoped for a nice quiet meal with great scenery that would make them want to return. Um, nice meal. Yes. Great Scenery. Yes. Quiet was a negative.
Tonight, unbeknownst to us was the parade of wait staff and musical entertainment with the meal.
Here are the fellas, waiting on our table.
We got seated in about 10 minutes, and had just decided on our choices for the meal, when the choas began. They announced the parade of servers and the music started up. The boys, I had to laugh- looked shocked that this was going on. Our head server was a trip- as well as doing his job amazingly every time we were in the dining room- was soo entertaining- and this proved to be no exception.
Get down with your bad self..
Matthew caught this video as they finished up that part:
So we thought it was over, and then, we got our flashbacks to WDW.. can anyone say Chef Mickey's??
Got to interrupt here for backstory. Before Lynn and I sailed on the Monarch, I scoured You Tube for video of the ship and the only thing I could find was video of people doing the Macarena at dinner. We joked for a month before that, and we joked about it every night at dinner once onboard. But there was no Macarena to be.
So you can imagine my reaction when they announced next for everyone to get up and do the Macarena. Actually, true story- I had just taken a sip of my water and heard that- only to spit it out and burst into laughter. So that's where the darn Royal Caribbean Macarena went!!
And you guys thought I was brave before.. here for your laughing pleasure.. and that of the whole world as a matter of fact because now I too, am on You Tube doing the Macarena. And I don't do it well, fair warning. View at your own risk.. The lady behind me is kind of funny. Might I also add, Matt took this too. If it looks like I was having a blast with this ridiculous dance in the middle of this gorgeous dining room.. that's good because I was having the time of my life.
After all that excitement, we finally got to the business of food. The boys both ordered off the kids menu.
Kevan got a crab gratin for appetizer..
I ordered french onion soup and it was very good. For main course, Kevan went with halibut and I ordered a New York Strip, both of which were superb. The boys were pretty quiet as they were too busy eating to talk much with us.
It was about this time, we noticed the ship had come to a complete stop in a lovely little area- there were homes along the shoreline and it had a very welcoming village type feel. Our server, Kevin and assistant server Lloyd told us that they had never seen the ship stop here and something must be up. We saw several crew members outside walking along the promenade, who obviously shared the same sentiment. (Turns out, there was a medical evacuation- and Captain Michel chose Auke Bay for this- so the patient could get to Juneau easier via ambulance as there was a nearby highway.)
Did I mention Fumble had a dinner partner by the name of Heinz??
For dessert, Matt and Aaron both got a brownie ala mode, which they both talked about for the rest of the night. Kevan had a maple cake and I passed- I was just too, too full.
Aaron took one of Matt, Fumble and I before we left.
Another wonderful meal in the dining room and I think the boys both really liked it so I had hope for more. I can't believe we did this, we totally forgot to go find the ice sculpture. As we exited the dining room, I made a plea for the fellas to accompany me to the evening show- a comedian/music impressionist. To my surprise, all the boys agreed to come with me- so we headed to the Tropical Theater for a few laughs.
ºOº ~*~
Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
What a great evening! I tell you - the daylight in the evening is really messing with me... I had to go back and double check you guys were at dinner, when I saw how light it was!
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