Going north, south, east and west - UPDATED 12/18 - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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One's Man's Dream is amazing. What is really amazing is that I read somewhere that Walt Disney was fired from a job because he had no imagination...guess they are regretting that decision now
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.
Saturday 18 October – part four: I wish we could stay here longer
We had a one bedroom villa for the night and then we would be spending the rest of our time here in a studio from tomorrow. We haven’t stayed in a Beach Club Villas one bedroom villa since 2004 and they really are just as beautiful as I remembered. I always forget how roomy they are though. They’re lovely. And the location was great. It was on the ground floor and just off the main lobby, so the quiet pool was just outside. If only we could’ve stayed here for our whole stay at Disney.
The view from our balcony
After spending some time checking out the room, I went out to hang my feet in the hot tub, while Mark waited for bell services to bring our cases.
As I sat there, I realised what it is I love about Disney so much. Don’t get me wrong, the attractions are great and there are some that I can’t miss like Test Track, Soarin’, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Pirates of the Caribbean and IllumiNations, but for the most park, what I now love about coming back so often to Disney is moments like this. Sitting there at the Beach Club Villas enjoying their hot spa or just taking time to browse World Showcase at Epcot or even just enjoying a meal. Those are the things that keep me coming back time and time again, just as much as the rides do.
When I got back, they had arrived and we had some down time in the room, before my tummy told me that I was in need of a little something, to quote a certain bear so it was into Epcot to go and sample the Food and Wine Festival.
As we’d expected, for a weekend during the festival, the park was packed. Fortunately, there wasn’t much of a wait at the first booth we came to, which was Istanbul, Turkey, located between the United Kingdom and Canada. We got all three items available – the meze, matin with yogurt sauce and pistachio baklava, along with some water and that was our snack credits for the day gone. All of the food was excellent and to be honest, if the rest of the food at the booths this year lives up to this, I’ll be very happy.
We stood there and ate and listened to Off Kilter and then walked back into the United Kingdom.
Cool dude!
Mark went to check on the football score and fortunately his team had won. Thank goodness for that! In the meantime, I went to see which characters were in residence and wouldn’t you know it? Pooh and Tigger were there and then I saw my beautiful donkey. Only problem? My DH was nowhere to be seen. Oh well, I will just go in by myself then. Fortunately, just as I finished hugging all the characters, he arrived, just in time for photos.
Then it was outside to see Mary Poppins. The line had just been cut for her when we arrived and we knew she was due back at 3pm. She was one of the best face characters that we’ve seen in a long time. She was very chatty, asking where we were going, how long we were staying etc. When she heard we had come from New York, she asked us if we had seen her play on Broadway. No, but we could say that we had seen it in London.
On our way out of the park, we stopped at the World Traveller shop and I got a Food and Wine Festival T-shirt in a lovely lavender colour. We were also after a “mine, mine, mine” fridge magnet that we saw in there, but the only one they had was damaged, so it wasn’t to be.
We headed back to the room for some down time and some time in the spa bath, as this would be the only night that we’d be able to enjoy it, before moving into a studio and it was a lovely treat and way better than the cheap one we’ve got at home.
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.
Wow, that one bedroom villa at the Beach Club looks great! I'm so excited to try a 1-BR villa (not at the BC, but at the AKV and SSR) for the first time ever next year!!! And the food items you got from the Istanbul stand look delicious!
I know what you mean about enjoying time outside the parks just as much as going on the attractions. It's the main reason why hubby agreed to become DVC owners. Because we love spending time at the resorts and the Disney magic is simply everywhere
What a great first day! You have some really great Photopass pictures, they always seem to get you in such cute poses . Love the 1 bedroom villa, it's gorgeous, I'm glad you got at least one night there!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I so want a villa on our next stay. I will find out how to rent points from a DVCer and make a villa happen on our next trip since DH says it will be at least 3 more years.
Always love the Beach Club! It's a shame you weren't able to keep the room the entire time!!
Great photos! Love the Cool Dude shot!
Really glad Mark got back in time for your hugs with Eeyore!!
As I sat there, I realised what it is I love about Disney so much. Don’t get me wrong, the attractions are great and there are some that I can’t miss like Test Track, Soarin’, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Pirates of the Caribbean and IllumiNations, but for the most park, what I now love about coming back so often to Disney is moments like this. Sitting there at the Beach Club Villas enjoying their hot spa or just taking time to browse World Showcase at Epcot or even just enjoying a meal. Those are the things that keep me coming back time and time again, just as much as the rides do.
OH NO, Cheryl!!! You've grown up!! It's not so bad, though... it happened to me once, too.
Your photos make me wish I was back at Disney! Your villa looks fabulous! Having been to Turkey, and I liked the food quite a bit (as long as I didn't look in the kitchen!), your lunch looks good!
Love your villa pictures. What a gorgeous suite and I love how close it is it Epcot.
I'm with you in that the Disney magic is not just in the rides but the ambiance. That's the key difference between the people that 'get it' and those that don't. I love sitting in different areas of the different parks and getting 'a feel' for the themeing. It's not all about the rides ~ they're just icing on the cake.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
Last edited by Minnie Lor; 11-18-2008 at 11:38 PM..
Perhaps Frozone doesn't look like a Mr. because he's so ....cold ? Great pictures once again the bathtub looks very inviting. Is it me or is Pooh looking smaller than ususal?
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Claytrgtshooter (Minnie Lor's Hubbie)
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so it was into Epcot to go and sample the Food and Wine Festival. 
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