National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! COMPLETED - Page 31 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I finally just caught up with your last five or six updates and I have to say I am so impressed by your photos and commentary!!! The pictures are so beautiful and you captured the essence of the scenery around you I've been talking to a few friends who are interested in going to the National Parks this summer and told them about your trip report. I know they're going to copy a lot of your itinerary as you were able to cover so much in such a short amount of time! Can't wait for more.
I finally just caught up with your last five or six updates and I have to say I am so impressed by your photos and commentary!!! The pictures are so beautiful and you captured the essence of the scenery around you I've been talking to a few friends who are interested in going to the National Parks this summer and told them about your trip report. I know they're going to copy a lot of your itinerary as you were able to cover so much in such a short amount of time! Can't wait for more.
Thank you so much. I'm glad we can be of help to your friends - hopefully they can learn from the comments along the way. As you'll see as we go forward, we could've done with a little more time here and there...
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Sunday 11 September – part one: what do you mean you heard noises outside in the night?
As we had no phone in our room, we set both our cell phones for a 6:30am wake-up start, as we had a fair bit of ground to cover in the Grand Tetons and needed to be leaving at around midday, so we didn’t have much time.
The first challenge was the temperature of the room. Although the bedroom area wasn’t too bad, the heater didn’t do anything for the bathroom, so showering was fun. It was like being back in student days!
After Mark told me that he’d heard a noise at 3:00am, I made sure to check for any bears outside ( seriously!) before we headed over for breakfast at the Ranch House. Thank goodness, there were no eyes looking back at me when I looked out, so the coast was clear..
We both opted for the buffet, which was $13, after I saw my old favourite French toast on the menu. I like these guys in this part of the country. Usually, it’s so hard to get French toast, yet here, it’s everywhere. I also got some fruit and some cereal. I have to say here that I was amazed by the selection of fruit we found both here and in Yellowstone, as it was our understanding that, unless you had fruit grown local to you, it generally wasn’t shipped in from out of state. At least that’s what friends have told us before. Not here obviously... : Of course, guess what? I forgot to get a photo of the French toast!
We chatted to our server, Cheryl (good name ) and asked what she does out of season. She told us it was her first year, but the plan was to go for Florida for the winter and work. It’s her, her husband, brother and brother-in-law. I tell you, you have to be a certain type of person to live a nomadic lifestyle like this.
John Colter Ranch House:
Food 8 8½
Service 8½ 8
Atmosphere 8 8
Value for money 7½ 8
Average score: 8.06
We got our stuff packed up and checked out at reception and then headed for the Colter Bay Visitor Centre. Apart from the fact that I was able to get a stamp for my National Parks passport, there wasn’t much else here. As it was September 11th, this is the sight that greeted us when we arrived:
The Indian Arts Museum was interesting...
... and we managed to make a few purchases in the gift shop there. Mark spotted a bear that he really liked and got it, along with the obligatory fridge magnet, Christmas ornament, book and scrapbooking kit from the Grand Tetons.
With that done, we headed over to the marina to get some photos of the lake and it was beautiful here, with the mountains reflecting on the perfectly still water below.
Mark thought that we could carry on along this road and get out, but a member of staff told us that wasn’t possible, so we turned round and headed next for Jackson Lake Lodge.
Now, I had nearly stayed here, but it was more expensive than Colter Bay Village and in the end, I’d opted for the latter. I was fascinated to see this place, as I knew that they had the most amazing floor to ceiling windows in their lobby. They did and it was certainly beautiful.
However, you didn’t quite get the wow factor from the view. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice enough, but somehow I had expected it to be closer to the lake and we were still quite a way from it, which was a bit of a disappointment. We went out and got some photos.
We headed back inside just at the right time, as the Chinese tour group arrived. As Mark observed, they’re quite happy to barge everyone else out of the way to get their photos, but they expect you to wait for them.
Looks beautiful there! In part thanks to this TR, we are now considering a family road trip to Yellowstone & Grand Teton, as well as perhaps Glacier NP. Summer of 2013 I think.
I think the view from Colter Bay Village was beautiful, but if you wanted it closer to the lake, then yeah, it wasn't the best. I also love those photos you took of the lake with the mountains in the back. Perfect reflections!
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Looks beautiful there! In part thanks to this TR, we are now considering a family road trip to Yellowstone & Grand Teton, as well as perhaps Glacier NP. Summer of 2013 I think.
I'm so glad we could help inspire you. I so wanted to visit Glacier as well, but it didn't work out for this trip. I'm hoping though maybe on a future trip it will work out, as that's definitely on the list of places I want to see!
I think the view from Colter Bay Village was beautiful, but if you wanted it closer to the lake, then yeah, it wasn't the best. I also love those photos you took of the lake with the mountains in the back. Perfect reflections!
I know - that's what struck us immediately, those amazing perfect reflections.
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I've been talking to a few friends who are interested in going to the National Parks this summer and told them about your trip report. I know they're going to copy a lot of your itinerary as you were able to cover so much in such a short amount of time! Can't wait for more.
PassPorter Guide Author
I'm glad we can be of help to your friends - hopefully they can learn from the comments along the way. As you'll see as we go forward, we could've done with a little more time here and there... 
seriously!) before we headed over for breakfast at the Ranch House. Thank goodness, there were no eyes looking back at me when I looked out, so the coast was clear.. 
I also got some fruit and some cereal. I have to say here that I was amazed by the selection of fruit we found both here and in Yellowstone, as it was our understanding that, unless you had fruit grown local to you, it generally wasn’t shipped in from out of state. At least that’s what friends have told us before. Not here obviously... 
: Of course, guess what? I forgot to get a photo of the French toast! 
it will work out, as that's definitely on the list of places I want to see! 
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