A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM 12/2 - Page 38 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Your bear encounter reminds me of hiking in Sequoia and coming upon a bear on the trail. It was just the two of us but, thankfully, we were near the parking lot and made it back safely to our car. I know that "oh no!" feeling!
Your bear encounter reminds me of hiking in Sequoia and coming upon a bear on the trail. It was just the two of us but, thankfully, we were near the parking lot and made it back safely to our car. I know that "oh no!" feeling!
Oh wow, that sounds scarier than our encounter, given it was just the two of us. At least we had strength in numbers in our group....
Friday 4 September – part four: it’s scary how much this has receded!
From this point forward, we would occasionally see stones marking the limit of the ice at various points during the 20th century, and it was terrifying just how far the glacier had receded. It reminded me of the one we’d been to see in Olden.
Finally, we were at the viewing platform for the Mendenhall Glacier, and given it had only been four years since we were last here, I wasn’t expecting to see much, if any, change in it. Oh my goodness, how wrong can you be? We could both immediately see how much it had receded in that small amount of time, which was terrifying. I would show you our 2011 photos, but frankly I went back to look at them and they’re not great, as we had heavy rain that day and I can’t find a shot in a similar position that really gives you an idea of the change…
Up close and personal with the glacier, thanks to my super zoom!
We made our way down to the area outside the visitor centre for some more photos…
We didn’t have time to go into the visitor centre, which wasn’t a problem for us, as luckily we’d done it four years ago, but I did feel a bit for the others who wouldn’t have had that opportunity. We made a brief restroom stop, and then got David to take some photos of us by the glacier:
Then we were back on the bus, where we were given our snack bags, made up of almonds, a granola bar, and a fruit leather. Thank goodness you guys had warned me about this, as it was raspberry, and I thought I’d be fine with it, but it was made up of apple and pear puree. That could’ve been a close call!
We made our way over to the harbour where we’d be catching our whale watching boat. We were a bit early, and had to wait for it to come back in, when we saw another Disney group get off it.
Once they were off, we got on, and I immediately grabbed the seats at the back, as I figured we wouldn’t rock about quite as much on those. We headed out and stopped in one spot, when we saw a single whale, but honestly, I’m not sure a single person got a shot of him, as he just didn’t want to play ball.
Instead, we were told to take some test photos, as David had made us all use special settings. At least now I know I can flip to a certain point on my camera if I need to do animal shots again…
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Those photos are so very good. Not just of the "woods" but really giving you a feel of the woods. Well done! And his little bear story is cute! Very glad it had a good ending.
The comparison photos of the glacier that they provided are stunning. Kinda scary. Makes me think I need to get up there to see these things before they all disappear. And happy you were aware of the fruit leather.
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Those photos are so very good. Not just of the "woods" but really giving you a feel of the woods. Well done!
Thank you so much!
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And his little bear story is cute! Very glad it had a good ending.
So was I!
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The comparison photos of the glacier that they provided are stunning. Kinda scary. Makes me think I need to get up there to see these things before they all disappear.
That's the sad thing isn't it, knowing that one day these wonders won't be with us any longer...
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Great photos of the glacier! Hopefully it doesn't recede too much further before I get to see it.
When are you planning on heading to Alaska? I'm sure it will be good for a few more years yet, but I wouldn't leave it another 20 years or so, shall we say?
When are you planning on heading to Alaska? I'm sure it will be good for a few more years yet, but I wouldn't leave it another 20 years or so, shall we say?
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That was quite an excursion you had with so many great photos of the scenery as well as the momma bear and her cubs! Although, it got a a bit scary with the encounter and at least you can laugh about that now with Marks' warning!
Looked lie a nice dinner back on The Wonder! Especially your second dessert!
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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!
Some beautiful photos of the scenery on your hike! That's a bit odd with the child Caden on this excursions regarding when he can ask questions!
That was quite the bear story, from your guide David and a bit too close!
Glad your whale excursion is starting and hope you have some good luck in some sightings and capturing this! What setting are you using for animal photos, for future reference?
Glad you got your DVC sweatshirt back! I once left my camera on a bench outside the main entrance to the Grand Floridian a few years ago. I went back outside to retrieve it and it was gone. I went to guest services inside and they had it!
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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!
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Cute little bear story! 
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We could both immediately see how much it had receded in that small amount of time, which was terrifying. 
I would show you our 2011 photos, but frankly I went back to look at them and they’re not great, as we had heavy rain that day and I can’t find a shot in a similar position that really gives you an idea of the change… 
it was made up of apple and pear puree. That could’ve been a close call! 
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