The trip of many changes... TRIP REPORT UPDATED 4/25 - Page 46 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 photos from along the drive. I can see how these areas would remind you of Orlando. It does to me in the area a few miles outside of Orlando Airport prior to WDW. Too bad Ryan was perhaps the most inept and incompetent tour guide you may have ever had! Other than that he was fine!
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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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Nice photos from along the drive. I can see how these areas would remind you of Orlando. It does to me in the area a few miles outside of Orlando Airport prior to WDW. Too bad Ryan was perhaps the most inept and incompetent tour guide you may have ever had! Other than that he was fine!
Friday 19 January – part six: not a good idea to have that in “hare” speed…
We headed back into the terminal building and went to buy a Christmas ornament and fridge magnet in one shop and also managed to find a tea towel, so we were set.
We made our way back on board following a guy in an ECV. He got out of it and was pushing it up the gangway, except he had it on “hare” speed, rather than tortoise and it went hurtling out of control up the ramp. Thank goodness no-one was in front of him and there was a Crew Member on hand to grab it from him.
We headed back to the room and then made our way up to Cabana’s for lunch. The Crew Member at the entrance told us they had sushi on and I’m glad she did, otherwise I don’t think I’d have spotted it, as it was quite out of the way… but wow, what a display it was!
There were also some very neat views from here:
We ended up chatting to Sean from Ireland, who we’d spoken to in Cabana’s earlier this cruise. His accent made him a little hard to understand and he very much seemed to be cruise demob happy, as he comes off with us on Sunday. I just get the impression he’s already mentally left the ship, shall we say?
We headed back to the room for a break and then down to the Buena Vista Theater for the 2:00pm showing of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Yes, we got to see it again! I have to say I was expecting this to be packed, but I counted 12 people in there, including us, when it started. That number had probably doubled by the end, as people kept coming in, some half an hour or more into the film. It was also absolutely freezing in there. I had a feeling it might be, so took a long sleeved top and I was very glad of it.
When that finished, we went back to the room and I went to look something up on the Navigator, only to find it had disappeared. I looked and couldn’t find yesterday’s in my collection either, so went down to guest services and got both plus tomorrow’s. I know it’s hardly necessary now with the app, but it is needed for digital scrapping.
We had some down time in the room and then headed out for dinner. When we arrived, I was greeted by this napkin…
It wasn’t quite right, as this is what the other ones looked like…
Julia confidently said that she’d do it and failed, so in a rare moment of showing some interest in us other than serving us, Henri did it for me. If only we’d had a bit more of this earlier in the cruise.
I think it’s fair to say that everyone on our table was here for one item tonight, but more of that in the next update…
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.
Well, it certainly sound like Ryan should find another profession because tour guide isn't working for him. The beaches and crystal blue waters of Aruba are simply amazing! It's one of the reasons why we never seem to leave the beach area because we're either snorkeling in the ocean or swimming in the beautiful pools all day, and then we sit on the beach to watch the absolutely spectacular sunsets. I'm hoping you enjoyed the meal at dinner on this night and that your service gets better.
The sushi display is really cool! They're so creative.
Beautiful daytime views of the island, just as I was thinking! Love that last shot all zoomed in at the beach and the various shades of blue. So relaxing!
And you still managed to squeeze in a movie before dinner.
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Tanya
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Well, it certainly sound like Ryan should find another profession because tour guide isn't working for him.
You think?
Quote:
The beaches and crystal blue waters of Aruba are simply amazing! It's one of the reasons why we never seem to leave the beach area because we're either snorkeling in the ocean or swimming in the beautiful pools all day, and then we sit on the beach to watch the absolutely spectacular sunsets.
I can see why people stay in those areas, as the rest of the island, while interesting, is a bit repetitive as far as scenery goes - if you like cacti, you're sorted though.
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