Have Pen, Will Travel: A Solo Trip Report--Includes Dining and CSR Reviews and Photos! - Page 11 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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However, it is also infinitely MORE difficult in many ways--for example, there’s nothing with which to threaten her, and she has a room key to which she can charge things.)
That is too funny. That's how I feel about Lenny at Disney sometimes - harder to deal with than Abby for those exact reasons (although I have to admit I don't have to worry about him drinking around Epcot - he's admits that he's "outgrown" the idiotic behavior of getting drunk just becuase he could).
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That is too funny. That's how I feel about Lenny at Disney sometimes - harder to deal with than Abby for those exact reasons (although I have to admit I don't have to worry about him drinking around Epcot - he's admits that he's "outgrown" the idiotic behavior of getting drunk just becuase he could).
That's why only MY card has charging. Hubby tends to miss calculate his spending. Not for drinks but the kids "need" this or that. He "needs" another pin/hat.
First, I'm sorry you have the germy bug. Seems everyone has brought back more than memories from WDW lately.
Second, I feel for you with your "situation" at Epcot. I have been on both sides of the coin on that one. Back in the day, my girls and I would plan a day of drinking around WS but we were all drunk (never sloppy) and still tell stories of our ridiculous hangovers. I remember just about dying in World of Disney downtown, another friend barely lived thru Stitch's Great Escape and we once had security called to our room at CBR for loud laughing/music. But when it's you that's sober and with a completely different goal as the person you're with - it stinks.
I'm so happy you tried EE and loved it, it's one of my faves.
I'm also taking note your experience at Epcot. As you know, I'm trying to plan a solo trip during F&WF this year and I was thinking about having some FL friends stay with me. Your notes on how much fun going solo is are causing me to rethink my plans. I beleive I'll keep my solo adventure - solo.
Feel better soon girl!
thanks for the well wishes--and don't let my experience sway you away from friends. friends are good! and we did have fun--i just think i was in too much of a 'work zone' (and a solo zone) at the time.
additionally, i wasn't totally sober, as is evidenced here...
note, the drink in my hand is my first (of three total) so the behavior (crazy photo with a hat) isn't drunken-ness, it is just...me.
Off topic when is the "teaching" blogs going to be up. I'm waiting on pins and needles.
i know--i need to get to work on that (for multiple reasons). the research i did is going on that blog (and going into my book proposal). i've just been SO busy (and SO tired) since i returned home (and i've been writing this TR!) that i've not had the time or energy to work on it. i guarantee at least two posts by the end of this coming weekend
We will be there when you are in May. Do you have your days planned yet? If we are in the same area the same day I would love to say Hi. even if it's just for a snack.
my days were planned, but i may be mixing it up due to my mother staying an extra day. i'll post a PTR with all the details--i'd love to meet up for a snack! my mom's super outgoing too (i say 'too' because i am as well--see photo above of me in sombrero to prove this!)
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Just catching up.... I'm enjoying your TR! Sounds like you are having a great time. You are not alone with the dole whip; I have yet to have one, but I know it is not something I would be crazy about without even trying it......
And as for the friend; I am very particular about who I travel with, because I like "organized fun"- Like you, I always make rope drop and I like to have a plan.....
Just catching up.... I'm enjoying your TR! Sounds like you are having a great time. You are not alone with the dole whip; I have yet to have one, but I know it is not something I would be crazy about without even trying it......
And as for the friend; I am very particular about who I travel with, because I like "organized fun"- Like you, I always make rope drop and I like to have a plan.....
organized fun--i like that phrase! i was actually just reviewing a different thread i started--about how to pass on fastpasses--and i realized that the reason i had a problem giving my 2 soarin FPs away was because i was trying to also entertain my friend, and it was literally impossible to do that AND go somewhere that i could have given the FPs away. had i been on my own, i would have been able to walk somewhere else to pass them on. same with collecting FPs--it just didn't work with her, because she didn't understand the purpose or need for them. i guess this happens when people like us (fans of organized fun that read boards like this one) bring non-forum, non-planning people to WDW. there's nothing wrong with being the other type of person, but it is difficult to mesh them (or at least it was for me, especially when 11 drinks were added to that other person!)
I'm super shy: can't ya tell. As of right now it looks like we are in Epcot the same day. I can make sure you get that school bread (for research of coarse)
No hurry on the blog, I'm just very excited to see it from a teachers point of view (not just a parents) and it will help for future trips when the teachers say "do something educational."
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I'm super shy: can't ya tell. As of right now it looks like we are in Epcot the same day. I can make sure you get that school bread (for research of coarse)
No hurry on the blog, I'm just very excited to see it from a teachers point of view (not just a parents) and it will help for future trips when the teachers say "do something educational."
that's exactly why i'm writing it!
if we end up adding an extra day, we may be switching the epcot day, but i'm not sure. i'll keep you updated!
oh...and now i'm thinking about school bread. i had a sad little salad for lunch...sigh....
No hurry on the blog, I'm just very excited to see it from a teachers point of view (not just a parents) and it will help for future trips when the teachers say "do something educational."
I'm excited to see this as well. (Especially since mine is missing 5 days of school - not on purpose though - they lost their April Vaca thanks to SNOW!) I did enjoy your live blog - and I noticed where you did the math to figure out how long you would have to be at WDW for in order to see/do everything. That might actually be something to try with my 9 year old who's learning about multiplying/dividing now.
I'm excited to see this as well. (Especially since mine is missing 5 days of school - not on purpose though - they lost their April Vaca thanks to SNOW!) I did enjoy your live blog - and I noticed where you did the math to figure out how long you would have to be at WDW for in order to see/do everything. That might actually be something to try with my 9 year old who's learning about multiplying/dividing now.
oh i forgot about my attraction math! i did that while i stood in line for the studio backlot tour! ha! oh the things a person will do when traveling alone!
and thanks for the ditto feedback on my blog/book idea. i'm (very) glad people are interested in my whole educational bend. i was actually surprised at how much i found--and i assumed there would be a lot. i promise lots of posts asap. i've just been SO burned out from work lately--it's standardized testing season, which is just a soul-crushing to teachers as it is to kids (i don't like having to crush souls for a living--it really stinks!)
we lost most of our (already short) spring/easter break, too--we have off good friday and that's it. we also added a week to the end of the year--we'll be in classes until JUNE TWENTY-FIRST! the actual first day of summer!!!