Yes, CLQ-1, there is a Santa Claus - Updated 1/13 COMPLETE!! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
On to the trip... you know I'd never stand in the way of a FAB, but I'd strongly encourage you to drink it down while you were moving towards the next ride. I'm all about the multi-tasking lady! Can't wait to hear more and see some pictures of friends new and old.
OK Karen - I just had to clean the tea off of my computer screen! You provided us with many laughs throughout the trip without even being there when Eileen and Jill would share your messages with us.
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.
Sorry you had a rought start, but things seem to be looking up!. Just this little bit of the TR has gotten me so excited. You all sound like you have so much fun (whether you're actually all together or not) and I think that's great. I'm looking forward to the rest of the TR and actually being at Mousefest next year!!
I was cracking up at the comment about Columbia's cabs...i was thinking that when i was reading that too!
I run up on the mcdonalds curb almost everytime i stop there for tea....i am gonna blow my tire for sure soon after reading what happened to you!
Such a rough start but i could tell all that went away once you were with friends...sounds like you guys were having a great time...
cant wait for more!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Hi Christine! I had so much fun with you too! You really need to write a tr too, so we'll know what you did when you weren't with us!
Jill
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minniemouse27
I can totally "hear" you as I read everything!
I had so much fun this weekend.
Bethany knew where I was and adored her chocolate covered Mickey rice krispy treat in her lunch on Tuesday. She did cry while she hugged me hello though...which made be sad. Both kids were thrilled w/ their stuffed Mickey and Minnie (Ben took it w/ him to daycare the next day) and Beth has been sporting her new Mickey snowman pin as well.
I'm looking forward to the rest of your TR Jill. I may attempt my first one...have to find the time!
What a great TR start! Oh and I am a huge fan of the Kay Scarpetta series also!!!
I just bought the book for my birthday/Christmas present. I haven't started it yet
so no spoilers please.
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 made my purchase and then rejoined my buddies. Larry was a sweetheart and wiped down a wet chair for me right beside him. How did he know that I really needed some Larry time? Eileen took a picture of us for her blog and it looks as if we’re shooting daggers at each other, but I promise that I was smitten with him immediately (well actually, I’ve been smitten with Larry and Bob for years ).
Bless your heart, you sweet thing. I can just hear you saying "smitten". Y'all act like it was a trial for Bob and me to put up with you, but we of course fell in love with all of you and were afraid you'd think we were stalking you.
It's true folks, while we look terribly serious in the picture, Eileen must have waited until one of the few moments we weren't laughing.
I am a big fan of Jill and her family, and must take this opportunity to publicly thank Thom for his blog comments that kept us so entertained. Did Jill tell you about my dramatic reading?
Anyway, as we covered at the time, I was very happy to have someone new to listen to all my old material and SO WAS BOB!
Thank goodness you've started your trip report....
What a long trip you had to get to your happy place! Glad you made it safe and sound.
I swear, I started to drool when I read where you were having lunch. And it got worse when I read what you ordered! Good food always goes best with good friends and it sounds like you were surrounded by many of them.
We lost Sarah, Evan and Terri to their Kona Café ADR, but the rest of us decided to take the monorail for a quick trip to MK. The park closed at 7 p.m. that evening for MVMCP, so we had just enough time for a ride and for a look at the lights.
We decided on the Jungle Cruise since it was already dark by this point and JC is so much fun at night! We probably waited at least 20 minutes, but we were never at a loss for words so the time just flew! Sara (Belle*) joined us in line, so I was able to finally meet her too! Eileen even spotted a Santa Look-a-like and chatted him up - - although I think she was just sharing her Christmas list with him.
We were soon on board a boat with Skipper Pete. He was quite a character - - funny at times, but a bit scary at others. He actually told a woman sitting near the back that (a) the python would crush her to death and (b) she might be electrocuted if water hit the light above her. We were all highly disappointed when he totally flubbed “the back side of water” with “behind water.” I mean . . . how can you mess that one up? Bob and Larry even confirmed that this was just not a one time mistake since they had ridden with Pete earlier in the day and he had used the same lame line. He was a nice guy . . . just a little . . . um . . . different.
After JC, Christine and Sara left us to enjoy MVMCP and the rest of us went to check out the Castle lights! Once again, they were absolutely gorgeous! I even managed to get these good looking people to pose for me!
It was almost 7 p.m. by now, so we followed the non-party goers out of MK.
We said to Bob and Larry at the bus stop since they were headed to YC and we were going to SSR. We hopped right on a waiting bus, but we ended up having to stand which wasn’t too bad since we were able to take refuge in Eileen’s favorite spot near the back doors.
Since Lesley is from Chicago, we began discussing the governor scandal and we quickly were joined by one of our fellow passengers. You could tell that he had a lot of pent up frustration about the state of politics at this point and he just let it rip. He wasn’t nasty about it , but he let his feelings be known. Eileen finally squashed the political discussion with a very polite “Well, we’ll see what happens.” Lesley informed us later that she had a very nice “unpolitical” discussion with him, his wife and four children after Eileen and I got off the bus at the Grand Stand.
Once Eileen and I were off the bus at the first stop (after making plans with Lesley to touch base later), I informed her how hard it was to find your room at SSR. We checked out the numbers on the first building and, wonders of all wonders, it was our building. Next we realized that our villa was on the first floor and then we discovered that we had the very end unit next to the bus stop. It was an excellent location even though we only needed it for the night.
We checked out our new digs for the night and then sat at the table chatting and drinking tons of water. For some reason, both of us were dehydrated - - probably had nothing to do with all of the yapping! After a bit, Eileen sent Lesley a text asking her to join us. When Lesley informed us that she was stopping by the Carriage House on the way over, we gave her our order of white wine and chocolate cake! How’s that for a well rounded dinner?
Eileen and I continued catching up until we heard a knock at the door. When I opened the door, there stood Lesley pulling a little case of goodies! The funny thing is that there was an ECV parked behind her and plugged into the wall - - I guess our neighbors next door had no qualms about someone stealing their ECV. After Lesley assured us that it wasn’t hers , Eileen began to wonder if Karen hadn’t joined us after all and was planning on surprising us later. Sadly, it ended up just being the neighbors.
Lesley immediately began unloading her bag of treats. She had brought a yummy looking sandwich for herself and two pieces of chocolate cake for Eileen and me from Artist’s Palette. She also was packing two bottles of wine - - a pinot noir for her and a chardonnay for us. I opened the white wine while Eileen did the honors for the red. Since we were staying in a one-bedroom villa we were able to enjoy the wine from actual wine glasses too!
We spent the next couple of hours enjoying our wine and snacks, talking like mad and checking out Eileen’s blog and the boards. It was such a relaxing way to end this crazy day. When we were all about to drop, Lesley packed up her bag and headed back to the Springs with promises of seeing us tomorrow. Lesley for treating us that night!
Eileen and I quickly got ready for bed, but sorry to disappoint that we didn’t bunk together. She took the pull out couch in the living room while I slept in the king bed (which, in hindsight, I should have made Eileen sleep in because I stay in one spot the entire night and just waste the majority of the bed ).
When I put on my pajama pants, I noticed that they were wet down the legs. Eileen and I had split a bottle of wine, but I didn’t remember doing anything that should have caused my pants to be wet. Hmmm . . . the mystery would be solved the next morning.
I said nighty night to Eileen, read a few pages of my book and then was out like a light. An early morning, a busy day and a half bottle of wine will do it to me every time!
Up next . . . CLQ-2 becomes CLQ-1
__________________
Sometimes words aren't needed . . .
Last edited by Jillybean; 12-19-2008 at 08:25 AM..
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.