The Holi-Canoli! Whirlwind Trip That Wasn't Supposed to Be - Page 24 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Laura, I am loving your TR. Thanks for the pics of DisneyQuest. DBF went when we were there in November, but DD and I didn't. We are thinking of getting the Water Parks and More option the next time we go to WDW. Sounds like something we would all love to do.
Wow! DQ looks awesome The boys would have loved it! It was on my list of things they might want to do, but we never got around to trying it! It looks like so much fun!!
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Your day at DHS sounded great. I'm glad y'all got to ride TSMM so many times. Love the drawings of Carl (even Michael's). HDDR looked like lots of fun too. And I've got to get to Disney Quest one of these days!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
I love your TR and can't wait to read more. Glad your DH is home safe and sound. We appreciate all he does for our freedom , as well as the sacrifices military families make!
We went to see Beauty and the Beast on our November trip too for the first time in a long time...the first time for both of the boys. And we had the same prince...I have to agree with you there
HDDR looks like a lot of fun and something I am going to put on my list. We haven't been to DQ in a long time either, but it looks like they've changed some things and we'll have to go back.
I'm a little frustrated because I had written this entire update and was inserting the pictures last night when my internet shut down. Grrrrr! So, I gave up last night and haven't attempted it again until now. So, here is my next update....
Today is Epcot day and our first time at the F&WF. I was really excited about trying out the foods from the different countries. I had already researched the food options online and knew some specific places I wanted to try.
We grabbed some breakfast at the resort and drove to Epcot. Once again, we used our AAA Diamond parking pass and parked very near the entrance. I took this picture before we went in the gates.
We easily made it through security by 8:45 a.m., and I was so tickled to see the decor for the F&WF.
Our first goal of the day was to get to Soarin' and get FPs and hopefully ride it, too. Victoria was going to be our "runner" to get the FPs. We made it to rope drop and waited for the CMs to lead us to The Land. At 9 a.m, the rope was dropped, and we were on our way to get our FPs. Victoria was ahead of us and got to the FP machines before we did. Since there wouldn't be a long line yet, we hopped in line and rode Soarin'. I this ride. It makes me happy.
After we soared over California, we decided to ride Living with the Land. I have always loved this ride. I miss having a CM narrate, but the automated voice was okay, too. I won't bore you with ALL of my pictures.
A hidden Mickey!
I love all the vegetation and the unique ways they have of growing it.
This would make a lot of lemonade!
We left The Land and walked over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends to check out the "new" ride. We haven't been to WDW since they made the changes over here and were looking forward to our ride in a clammobile. We all really loved the queue. It was very nice being in the A/C after the heat outside. The ride was a walk-on.
We enjoyed our ride. It was very cute. We looked around the seas a little and had to get our picture with Bruce.
We left Nemo and friends and went to Imagination. Along the way, we saw these little critters.
It was time to pay a visit to Figment!
Weebo! We really like the movie Flubber.
The ride was a walk-on. I tried to get a few pictures.
We began our walk to MS, and I snagged this pretty shot.
We are BIG Mission: Space fans and were ready for a trip to Mars. We walked over there and got in line for the Orange side. We have never tried the Green version and don't think we ever will. This ride, too, was a walk-on. Nice! I had to snag a picture of Gary Sinise as we were being briefed.
We made it safely back from Mars and were all really thirsty. We decided to go to Club Cool. Okay, the last time we went to Club Cool, there was real snow in there. Does that tell you how long it has been? Needless to say, they didn't remember a bad drink, and I had a drink in mind that I wanted them to try. (Insert evil laugh here. )
We walked to Club Cool and once again were relieved to be out of the hot sun.
I let Victoria and Michael lead the way and sampled whatever they wanted to sample. Beverly was the next to be sampled. Bwah ha ha ha ha! We toasted our cups...CHEERS!
I got out the video camera and took pictures at the same time. I think Victoria's picture will speak much louder than words.
HYSTERICAL!!!! Michael had a funny face, too, and I got it on video. I loved it! Thankfully, they didn't hate me for the trick. AND, they even continued to try other flavors. Most are actually not bad, but they will never forget Beverly.
We decided to head over to the WS so we could start grazing over the world. Yum! I got this beautiful picture along the way.
Great start to your day at Epcot and the F&WF! Luke and I the Living with the Land ride and I always take lots and lots of pictures. The Beverly trick is such a WDW classic! Can't wait to hear what you thought of the F&WF.
Laura just caught up to your many updates, thank you so much for sharing Michael's homecoming. I am so happy for all of you, what a moving and beautiful ceremony, I was already in tears just reading about your excitement.
Loved all your updates, sounds like a couple of fun days so far and some new things (Typhoon Lagoon) and some relaxing days too (Disney Quest). Can't wait to read more.
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