LIVE - From Walt Disney World and Universal!! Jan 21-26 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Went to Islands of Adventure this morning. Did lots all before 1pm. Laid by the pool for a few hours after that. Going to get ready and head out to City Walk in a little bit. Might check out the Hard Rock Hotel on the way.
I have a lot more pics to share, but apparently they are almost all showing up oversized for some reason and that's not allowed, so it'll have to wait. Sorry! Not sure what is going on, my settings on PB are 640x480 and that is the allowed size for here, but I have been told they are showing up larger.
Heading back to snowy PA tomorrow.
Glad you are having fun in the dark side! One thing about PB that I have noticed is that while your setting are to upload at 640x480, if you do any kind of adjustment to the photo at all - if you don't also resize at the same time it will revert it back to the original size of the photo. Total pain the butt. Not sure if that is what is happening to you. If you go back and resize all the photos you posted already they will filter to the boards and be adjusted.
The Poly looks really pretty, just really different. I miss the fountain in the middle and the memories of the kids making their wishes to meet again......
Anyway--- so what are you doing now? I need entertainment.
I agree -- the new one is pretty, but it's just missing it's... umm.... "Muchness" and the birds.... oh how I loved the birds and the waterfall.
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~ Jenn **Disney is REAL LIFE Magic, so much more than optical illusions **
Seems like I recall a huge snowstorm when you went to WDW last Jan. Too bad it didn't hit a day earlier... you could have extended your trip if school was cancelled. :0( Oh well. Hope you don't have any trouble getting home from the airport.
We're back home safe and sound. Sorry for the lack of pics. Still not sure why they were coming up oversized, but I guess that's against the rules here and I had no way to attempt to try to fix them with only an Ipad. They all looked the same size to me from that and I double checked my settings on PB and they are correct.
As soon as I get a chance I will get the pics from my camera loaded and can share some of them.
Hope you all had fun following along!
Let me know if you have any questions about anything!
__________________
Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
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We're back home safe and sound. Sorry for the lack of pics. Still not sure why they were coming up oversized, but I guess that's against the rules here and I had no way to attempt to try to fix them with only an Ipad. They all looked the same size to me from that and I double checked my settings on PB and they are correct.
As soon as I get a chance I will get the pics from my camera loaded and can share some of them.
Hope you all had fun following along!
Let me know if you have any questions about anything!
Welcome home!
I had the same issues when I tried uploading pictures here too. I got yelled at from the admins, so I just stopped posting pics. I'm clearly not smart enough to figure it out. lol
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Originally Posted by DisneyWorldNut
Welcome home! I have tons of questions but I don't want to spoil the TR so I guess I'll wait. Looks like you missed the snow???
Same here! Lots of questions, but I'll wait for the TR!
The *only* one I want to ask is, how the heck should I pack!?! So far I have 3 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs shorts and lots of layers. LOL. Should I bring a jacket or will a light cardigan be OK ? I am seeing lots of rain in the extended forecast, so I hope that changes a bit.
Ask away ladies!!! I don't know if/when I will ever get to a TR. I still haven't finished my August TR.
Heather - layers definitely!! For example, our last day - Sunday - when we went to IOA for early admission at 8:00am it was 48 degrees. Later that afternoon we were laying by the pool getting a sunburn!! The weather is crazy!
__________________
Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
Ask away ladies!!! I don't know if/when I will ever get to a TR. I still haven't finished my August TR.
Heather - layers definitely!! For example, our last day - Sunday - when we went to IOA for early admission at 8:00am it was 48 degrees. Later that afternoon we were laying by the pool getting a sunburn!! The weather is crazy!
You act like you're busy or something....???
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Jodi šOš
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
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Ask away ladies!!! I don't know if/when I will ever get to a TR. I still haven't finished my August TR.
Ok then. I just have one question... can you tell me all about your trip???
Ok seriously, I want to know what you thought about the Poly, BLT, US, any new restaurants you went to, the weather, crowds... yeah, basically everything. Pictures would be great too.
Ok then. I just have one question... can you tell me all about your trip???
Ok seriously, I want to know what you thought about the Poly, BLT, US, any new restaurants you went to, the weather, crowds... yeah, basically everything. Pictures would be great too.
Well, honestly we didn't love BLT. I mean great location obviously, but that's about it. It just reassured me that DVC is not for us. The studio seemed smaller that a moderate. I suppose if you counted the kitchen space it may have been the same, but it really cut down on the sleeping space. The bathroom was tiny too. Only one sink and a very small counter. We were so cramped that we ended up making DS15 a bed in the kitchen! He made jokes every night that he was going to his kitchen bed!!
The staff was friendly and we were always greeted with a Welcome Home! We had a side view of the castle and Wishes, so that was nice.
Disney was great. More crowded than we are used to. Those late August trips with no waiting really spoil us!
Portofino Bay Resort is just beautiful! I wish they could pick it up and move it to Disney!! Large and nice room, with a beautiful view.
The Universal Parks were fun. I'm glad we finally went. The boys did not want to go at all, but ended up really enjoying it. Some of the rides were really neat. There are a lot of simulator type rides though, which can get a bit old on your head and stomach after a while. The parks are not as nice and clean as WDW, that's for sure. Even DH commented on how dirty it was in places. That is bad when the DH is commenting on cleanliness! City Walk was neat, but not as large or as fun as DTD. I don't know if we will go back. Maybe someday, but it's definitely not something we fell in love with and want to go to every time.
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Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
I feel kinda the same about US/IOA, but my DH and boys really like it. We ended up getting APs last year. I was hesitant on mine but couldn't not go with them. Although I do really love the WWoHP. We are all Harry fans!
I guess I'm just a Disney girl.
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One thing about PB that I have noticed is that while your setting are to upload at 640x480, if you do any kind of adjustment to the photo at all - if you don't also resize at the same time it will revert it back to the original size of the photo. Total pain the butt. Not sure if that is what is happening to you. If you go back and resize all the photos you posted already they will filter to the boards and be adjusted. 
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I agree -- the new one is pretty, but it's just missing it's... umm.... "Muchness" 
~ Jenn 
so I just stopped posting pics. I'm clearly not smart enough to figure it out. lol 
The parks are not as nice and clean as WDW, that's for sure. Even DH commented on how dirty it was in places. That is bad when the DH is commenting on cleanliness! City Walk was neat, but not as large or as fun as DTD. I don't know if we will go back. Maybe someday, but it's definitely not something we fell in love with and want to go to every time.
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