LIVE - From Walt Disney World and Universal!! Jan 21-26 - Page 8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Well the trip sounds pretty good overall. Too bad BLT was so small. I've never been overly impressed with the CR, but I was hoping BLT would be nice. Oh well. Now you know.
I felt the same way about Seaworld that you do about US (except SW was really clean). But it just doesn't have the same atmosphere that Disney does. It's just weird.... something's missing. I still think it's the CM who make all the difference.
I don't think I could handle a bunch of simulator rides. All of those make me sick except Soarin. There is something about Soarin that is totally different... very smooth.
So what did your younger DS and husband think of the rides since they aren't thrill seekers?
And you didn't say anything about the Poly. Does that mean you didn't like it???
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I agree with you about the BLT studios. Very poorly designed, I think. Tons of space in the kitchen, but all you have is a microwave, so it makes no sense. Teensy bathroom and no place to store suitcases. I feel cramped in there when it's just me. To be fair, though, the 1-bedroom units are very nice.
I agree completely about BLT. We were not fans at all when we stayed there. The location was nice, but the feel of the resort wasn't our style at all. And those rooms were definitely cramped. I can't even imagine having 4 adults in one of the studios. Bob and I were tripping over each other with just the 2 of us!
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Well the trip sounds pretty good overall. Too bad BLT was so small. I've never been overly impressed with the CR, but I was hoping BLT would be nice. Oh well. Now you know.
I felt the same way about Seaworld that you do about US (except SW was really clean). But it just doesn't have the same atmosphere that Disney does. It's just weird.... something's missing. I still think it's the CM who make all the difference.
I don't think I could handle a bunch of simulator rides. All of those make me sick except Soarin. There is something about Soarin that is totally different... very smooth.
So what did your younger DS and husband think of the rides since they aren't thrill seekers?
And you didn't say anything about the Poly. Does that mean you didn't like it???
DS13 liked US, but didn't love it. It might be something we do again one time, but definitely not all the time.
Oh the Poly - I forgot!! It's really hard to say just yet. I am worried that it is never going to have the same feel again. The lobby is very nice and pretty, but not the same at all. Although, it did still smell the same! There's still so much going on. I can't wait to see it this summer!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I agree with you about the BLT studios. Very poorly designed, I think. Tons of space in the kitchen, but all you have is a microwave, so it makes no sense. Teensy bathroom and no place to store suitcases. I feel cramped in there when it's just me. To be fair, though, the 1-bedroom units are very nice.
Exactly!! Why so much wasted space on a kitchen with only a microwave?? Weird.
I wish we could have gotten a 1-bedroom, but all that was available when we booked was a studio.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heather_K
I agree completely about BLT. We were not fans at all when we stayed there. The location was nice, but the feel of the resort wasn't our style at all. And those rooms were definitely cramped. I can't even imagine having 4 adults in one of the studios. Bob and I were tripping over each other with just the 2 of us!
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Yeah, I guess that's it - just not our style. Lacking much of a theme or something. Oh well, we tried and now we know.
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Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
Yay photos!!!!! I'm so glad you are going to post some! I can just feel the warmth coming through those pictures.... sigh is right.... :0(
The high here for Wednesday is 17. 17. What the neck do you do when it's 17 degrees? That probably doesn't sound shocking to you, but I've never seen it this cold here, ever. I don't even have proper clothing for this mess! The lows this week are 5 and 0. And to think that I was floating in the water at Castaway Cay this very week last year. Ugh! AND I am so bummed because it looks like DD will be out of school all week because of snow and ice, so we could have gone somewhere warm and sunny! Is it too late to book a cruise for this Thursday?
Yay photos!!!!! I'm so glad you are going to post some! I can just feel the warmth coming through those pictures.... sigh is right.... :0(
The high here for Wednesday is 17. 17. What the neck do you do when it's 17 degrees? That probably doesn't sound shocking to you, but I've never seen it this cold here, ever. I don't even have proper clothing for this mess! The lows this week are 5 and 0. And to think that I was floating in the water at Castaway Cay this very week last year. Ugh! AND I am so bummed because it looks like DD will be out of school all week because of snow and ice, so we could have gone somewhere warm and sunny! Is it too late to book a cruise for this Thursday?
Just kidding, but I sure wish I wasn't!!
I know, look at those blue skies!!
Well 17 would be a warm up for us. Yesterday the high was 3. Yep, 3. Warm spell today - 12. I HATE winter!!!!
I'm sure we can hook you right up for that cruise!!! If only, huh?
I'll try to get some more pics up here soon, because I don't know if/when I'll ever get to a TR...
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Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
Just read thru your TR. You accomplished quite a bit. Curious what the crowd levels were posted as compared to how busy you thought it was. The new lobby at Poly is pretty but makes me sad. We had many memories walking around the vegetation.
Just read thru your TR. You accomplished quite a bit. Curious what the crowd levels were posted as compared to how busy you thought it was. The new lobby at Poly is pretty but makes me sad. We had many memories walking around the vegetation.
Hope you enjoyed!
All in all crowds probably weren't that bad. But when we see a line for things like IASW and POTC, it is definitely more crowded than we are used to in late August.
I definitely miss the old Poly lobby too.
__________________
Shelly
Disney Destinations Specialist
Magical Vacations Travel
I thoroughly enjoyed your TR. I should have said that earlier. Thanks for the crowd info. I've always taken the kids out of school during low season, so we are spoiled....longest line ever was 10 minutes.
I promised my daughter one more trip before high school at the Poly and she cried when i showed her your photos. You would think Disney made the changes just to torture her. I laughed so hard when she asked if they could fix it for her.
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And to think that I was floating in the water at Castaway Cay this very week last year. Ugh! AND I am so bummed because it looks like DD will be out of school all week because of snow and ice, so we could have gone somewhere warm and sunny! Is it too late to book a cruise for this Thursday? 
I HATE winter!!!!
If only, huh? 
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