WIZARDS, REAL AND AMAZING, CHRISTMAS PARTIES AND CANDLELIGHT- PTR - Page 29 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Nice creative spin with Orlanjo! Almost in the teens now!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Now that we are just under three weeks out, (and also because I am incredibly bored today as I sadly sit here watching the Eagles) I looked over our schedule and I am quite happy with it!! We have tweaked a few things, but I think, in a good way and I love posting our plans before I go to see what we change while we are there. (And there is always something!)
These are our final plans!! I am sure that we will stick with most of them and probably change a few up as well!! For the next post, I copied and pasted the Disney portion from MDE, so it looks weird but saved me lots of typing! Let me know if you guys spot anything that doesn't mesh. Anyway!
Saturday, December 3rd- Arrival day, Portofino Bay and Sea World:
We are just as excited to do this part of our trip as we are to do the Disney part!! We are very much looking forward to experiencing the holidays here as well as seeing the new Harry Potter attractions and we haven't been to Sea World in years!!
We will be up bright and early this morning and be at the airport by 8:30 AM for our 10:30 AM flight after stopping at Starbucks for a drink. When we get to the airport, we always get breakfast at McDonald's. That is our good luck tradition!!
We are scheduled to arrive at MCO at 12:30 PM. We most likely won't get out of there until around 1:15 PM. We then have to get in the taxi line to catch a cab to Portofino Bay so I am guessing we won't arrive until around 2:30 PM.
As soon as we check in, we are planning on catching the next available shuttle to Sea World. It is open until 10:00 PM tonight and we are thinking we will probably close it down. We have a Christmas show package booked with reserved seating for the holiday festivities! We will wing dinner in there somewhere and end the day by having a night cap at Portofino Bay.
Sunday, December 4th- A whole day at the parks
Today, both USF and IOA ARE OPEN FROM 9:00 AM - 8:00PM. Since we are staying onsite, we can get into USF at 8:00 AM so we plan to start our day there. We just found out that Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is down for rehab and while that is a little disappointing, at least we already got to experience that attraction. We plan to park hop today as it is very easy to do!!
We plan an early dinner at Cowfish and then we really, really, really hope to see Mannheim Steamroller!! We love their music and have most of it in one form of media or another!! I have to say here that while I certainly appreciate the fact that this is a free concert, I am very nervous that there are no ticket sales for the event. We will make the best of it in any case!
Monday, December 5th- A half day at the parks and enjoying our resort
This morning we are planning to return to the Parks to enjoy what we missed yesterday and/or return to what we'd like to do again. We can again get into USF at 8:00 AM, so that is what we will shoot for.
We need to be back at Portofino Bay by 12:30 PM to get ready for our massages!! Remember, Muffin does not know about this and I am really excited to surprise him with it!!
We have our dinner for BICE scheduled for tonight at 6:30 PM and we are also very much looking forward to this experience!!
After dinner, we don't have any set plans so we will see how we feel. We may hang out at Portofino Bay or we may head back to City Walk.
We also have to pack up tonight because we are planning to leave early tomorrow morning to head to AKL.
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Plans look very good with some very active days! The massages sounds like a great idea and you also have some nice meals included, Mannheim Steamroller concert (hope you get in!) and some relaxing time in the bar and resort!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.