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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We had 1 more stop today. This one I was really looking forward too as well……Blizzard Beach. I had never been to a Disney waterpark. I, personally am not a water park kind of person. I had an “incident” many years ago when Paige was little at a waterpark. She went down a big slide before me and was given strict instructions not to go anywhere and to wait. I went down and opened my eyes, only to NOT see her anywhere. I also had a 2 piece on and lost half of myself out in the open, so as I was adjusting myself and looking frantically for her, I got up and tripped over the side and scraped my knees really bad. I kept going and with the rest of our gang we searched for Paige. She had wandered over to a kids play/spray area, but it took us about 7 minutes to find her….the longest 7 minutes ever. Why she did this, I have no clue and she was hugged and yelled at all at the same time. After finding her, I realized I was in pain and looked down to find blood dripping off both knees. I had to go to first aide and get bandaged up and it took a REALLY long time to heal. Ever since then, I am just not a fan of water parks. Slides are just not that fun to me, especially when my suit likes to rearrange itself while going down. Now Claire on the other hand…she LOVES them. I did want to see the park and perhaps someday we will take her here.
We soon arrived and there is also one of the putt putt courses right here as well.
Tommy and Rita said that we didn’t have to get off the bus if we didn’t want to. It was going to be a fairly quick tour and those who had been here before could skip it. A few did stay on, but most got off.
I also took many pictures of Phineas and Ferb here as well.
The theming was just fantastic here.
I really liked this…it was really open and you could see in the store. (if they had some sort of window there, I couldn’t tell.)
As we moved along, Tommy told us more about the theming and the different areas.
It was a perfect day to be at a waterpark. It was VERY HOT!
We kept moving and I kept taking pictures. I really thought this place looked fun and that is saying something…. But I still don’t know about spending the extra money and a day or two away from the parks. If we came in the summer as a family, I would probably do it, but we usually come in the spring, and the weather is unpredictable and our time is always so limited as it is……but we’ll see in the future.
This is more my speed….a lazy river.
Definitely not my speed!
As you can see, it was pretty busy here today.
Before long, we started heading back towards the front. We had the funniest conversation. One of the TA’s was from Montreal and she made a comment about seeing beer for sale in bottles. She wondered how they could do it and I told her I bet they were cans that looked like bottles, as I have seen those at resorts before, but she said they looked more like a bottle. Another TA said they were plastic. I agreed that could be, though I hadn’t seen one. Mindy said she never heard of the can or plastic version and this conversation went really weird. It was almost an argument on whether there was such a thing as plastic bottles for beer. We went by a stand that was selling them and Mindy ran over to touch one on display….sure enough they were plastic bottles. LOL! It was kind of funny. We were just kind of innocently talking about them at first, then several people joined in to put their opinion in…so now you all know, they have plastic bottles of beer at Blizzard Beach!
A few more shots before we left.
I loved the snowman family….too cute.
And back out to the bus. Rita had told us prior to going in to Blizzard Beach that they had these wonderful little mini donuts, and if we ever got a chance, to go and try some…..well she had a surprise for us on the bus. She had gotten some of the donuts and we all got a few. And yes, they are pretty darn good. Not the best I have ever had, but I would probably buy some if I went to BB for a day.
We headed back towards the Yacht Club now, with a stop at Hollywood Studios for anyone who wanted to go there now. I did, but I also wanted to freshen up and put a little more deodorant on before going, so I stayed on the bus.
Blizzard Beach sure looks like fun. How does one get to the top of the slide? Is there a ramp or steps or perhaps an elevator? It sure looks very tall. After reading your story, I understand your reluctance to visit water parks.
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I'm not big on water parks, either, but I go occasionally just for the lazy river.
Those mini-donuts are really good! The family that owns the kiosk started it after selling a trash-disposal business in (I think) Minnesota, then spending some time driving around the country looking for a town they'd like to live in. They happened upon Celebration, decided that was what they were looking for, and came up with the donut idea. They only have to check on the kiosk once a day!
Your experience with Claire at the waterpark was one of my greatest fears, so I didn't take my kids to any until they were about 10 and it was at TL at Disney. I would love to go to Blizzard Beach, but you're right about the cost.
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Blizzard Beach sure looks like fun. How does one get to the top of the slide? Is there a ramp or steps or perhaps an elevator? It sure looks very tall. After reading your story, I understand your reluctance to visit water parks.
I think the chair lifts take them up so far and there are stairs too? I'm not really sure...norwill I ever ride that beast to find out!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Great photos from Blizzard Beach--I love the lazy river there!
I'm a lazy river kind of gal too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great photos from Blizzard Beach - I'm not a huge fan of the waterparks, but I love the theming of them.
The themeing is great. I have wanted to go there to take pictures, but that isn't really worth the price, so I am glad we did tour it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I'm not big on water parks, either, but I go occasionally just for the lazy river.
Those mini-donuts are really good! The family that owns the kiosk started it after selling a trash-disposal business in (I think) Minnesota, then spending some time driving around the country looking for a town they'd like to live in. They happened upon Celebration, decided that was what they were looking for, and came up with the donut idea. They only have to check on the kiosk once a day!
That sounds like the perfect life for me. Donuts and Florida!
Quote:
Originally Posted by patclairesmom
Your experience with Claire at the waterpark was one of my greatest fears, so I didn't take my kids to any until they were about 10 and it was at TL at Disney. I would love to go to Blizzard Beach, but you're right about the cost.
It was actually Paige, my older DD (who is now 19). It was many years ago and it was scary. It wasn't something she would normally do either. My son, Michael, on the otherhand, thats exactly what he would do. LOL! So that made it all the scarier when she turned up missing.
This is a very informative TR. Thanks for all the info and great pics! Oh, and I'm proud to say I'm a Disneyaholic, too!
Thanks so much. I try to take lots of pcitures and be somewhat detailed for people who don't know, but sometimes I can't remember it all either.. LOL! (especially since this was all 6 months ago now)
Back to the Yacht Club we went. Brook was heading straight back to the room. She was going to meet up with Joe and Henry for the rest of the day. Mindy’s family had arrived for the start of their family trip, so she was going to go meet up with them and get them settled in at their resort. Patty went back to her room and told me to call her when I headed out. I went for a stroll. I wanted to get as many Yacht Club pictures as I could. I know I had taken a lot already, but there were many areas I hadn’t even taken a single picture of, plus I wanted to get some of Storm Along Bay as well.
Looks like we need a little Disney maintenance going on here.
Into the building for a little cooling off.
And a tour of the gift shop.
A CM told me that this boat was going to be removed the next week, so get all the pictures of it I wanted now. I haven’t heard if it actually was moved or not.
I loved all the pretty little suitcases….little did I know, one of those would be coming home with me.
That’s the sweatshirt that I had bought a few days earlier.
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