Our "30 Year Anniversary" Disney Vacation 2014 [February 7-14] - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Nice to see you back on the boards. Congrats to your boys for all the good stuff in their lives. You must be proud of them.
Great start to your tr. I am looking forward to reading along.
Great travel day! The Cracker Barrel lunch looked yummy!! Then Outback for supper?!? My two favorite places!! So glad you could book a room at your resort!!
Great start! Can't wait to see what you thought about the resort.
Resort reviews coming up!
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Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Great start!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
What a yummy looking lunch!
I love comfort food....Cracker Barrel always satisfies that!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Great start!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by shazza
Looks like you had a very smooth travel day.
We had left a very icy, cold VA, it was a welcome change !
Quote:
Originally Posted by travismom
Great Start!!!
I love eating at Cracker Barrel, it always reminds me of vacation because we always stop at the one in Pensacola, Florida when we drive!!
That's pretty much the only time we eat at Cracker Barrel, while traveling to Disney!
Great start! Nice that they had room for you at the resort! Yay! One more night in the magic!
......well, they thought they had a room @ ASMovies....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Great travel days, especially arriving early enough to get another night at Disney!
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Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
How great that you were able to check in a day ahead of schedule!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Great start to your trip! Glad you were able to get a room at the resort!
A great start to our trip for sure!
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcmary
Nice to see you back on the boards. Congrats to your boys for all the good stuff in their lives. You must be proud of them.
Great start to your tr. I am looking forward to reading along.
We are very proud of the boys! A big year for both of them (and us!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoJayMom
Great travel day! The Cracker Barrel lunch looked yummy!! Then Outback for supper?!? My two favorite places!! So glad you could book a room at your resort!!
The FOOD.....always a very big part of any of our vacations!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
Glad the drive went smooth. And score on getting in a night early!
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We hit quite a bit of traffic...... but it wasn't long before we saw this........ We booked a room-only for tonight, so no park ticket or dining plan was included. We were fine with that because we were in Disney and could still take advantage of their transportation and we could eat at any of the resort restaurants or at Downtown Disney. Our biggest problem was deciding where to eat! :O)
I posted before about choosing a value resort this time. We have only stayed at moderates (Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs) and the one time at a deluxe (Beach Club). This time we were booked at All Star Movies. For some reason, I'd been reluctant to try a value resort, but we decided to go a little cheaper this time and give it a try. All the benefits of staying on property are the same, it is just a more reasonable option. I went into this trip with the mindset that we were just giving a value a try, but it turned out to be one of our best stays yet! More on this later! :O)
We got to check-in and a friendly CM helped with our reservation. It turned out though, that ASMovies was completely booked tonight. She asked if we would mind staying next door at ASMusic just for tonight and check-in at Movies as planned the next morning. She gave us an upgrade to a preferred room at the standard room rate. Fine with us!
{side note: a room a WDW value was cheaper than staying at Courtyard Marriott}
Our room was in Calypso section Room #1525. Very close to the food court and buses. A great location and the room was very nice!
I checked online to see which restaurants had openings for dinner. We decided on the Grand Floridian Café. We had eaten there on our last trip and loved it! To me, it's a hidden gem. We took the bus to Magic Kingdom and hopped on the monorail. Located at the Grand Floridian Resort, it is very easy to get to, the atmosphere is awesome, the food is delicious, and the service is great. Dinner did not disappoint.....I had the yummiest chicken and mushroom risotto ever!
After dinner, we decided to call it a night and headed back to the resort. It was so nice starting our trip off with an extra night at Disney! :O)
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.
Glad you are all checked in and ready for some Disney fun! We love Grand Floridian Cafe as well. We've eaten lunch and breakfast there and had good experiences both times.
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