Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - THIS SECTION COMPLETED 12/27 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I have no idea how I missed the start of this. And of course I was already 16 pages behind. I all caught up now so all is good.
Great start to your trip! I'm loving the Villas of Grand Floridian, so far. Can't wait to see the rooms.
Really interested to hear your thoughts of staying at GF villas, as we have felt the same the GF is not really our thing. So far it looks beautiful! That is a bummer that they do not have a small store in the DVC building, did they offer DVC items in the main gift store?
We didn't actually make it to the gift shop in the main building, so I'm afraid I don't know.
I'm finally all caught up! Glad you made it to Disney safe and sound, and I'm loving the look of the new DVC lobby at the GF...especially the fountain with the penguins. I do agree with you about at least on food option in there because who wants to walk over to the main area every single time they want to grab a bite or refill a drink?!?!
Definitely a mis-step not to have a small store there. It's very pretty, but I still don't think I'd pay the extra points to stay there. Too much cold marble to my taste, and the location leaves a lot to be desired. The building looks great, though, and I'm sure the furnishings and views from the rooms are wonderful.
They were. I must admit I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it and I thought it might be a bit cold, but as you'll find out, we didn't feel that at all.
I can't believe it doesn't have a little store though!
Maybe the little brother couldn't be trusted with a store...
Quote:
FL can get chilly at night, and it rains too. I know the walkway is covered, but that's not going to help when it's raining sideways and someone
needs diapers.
I'm finally all caught up! Glad you made it to Disney safe and sound, and I'm loving the look of the new DVC lobby at the GF...especially the fountain with the penguins. I do agree with you about at least on food option in there because who wants to walk over to the main area every single time they want to grab a bite or refill a drink?!?!
That is definitely a downside. With the new technology, a drink refill station would be relatively easy to have it there, as it doesn't require any monitoring any longer, as if your refillable mug isn't properly chipped, you won't get anything from the machine...
Just got all caught up! Love the VGF pics, I'll be staying for a few nights next month and when DVC called to make sure I was all set she mentioned that they were all "very pleased with how it turned out"
The villas are so pretty and definitely have the more homey feel for sure. I agree that the GF while so beautiful is more over the top than I care for. I like how they brought the villas into a more relaxed feel of home. I absolutely love the fountain, just the cutest thing. I kept looking for Mary Poppins to pop on in.
You really got some great shots during your flight! I never made it over to see the villas at the GF (I intend to correct that next month), so I really am enjoying your photos of it. We were waving to you guys from our spot in the Poly lounge, right across the water.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Just got all caught up! Love the VGF pics, I'll be staying for a few nights next month and when DVC called to make sure I was all set she mentioned that they were all "very pleased with how it turned out"
The villas are so pretty and definitely have the more homey feel for sure. I agree that the GF while so beautiful is more over the top than I care for. I like how they brought the villas into a more relaxed feel of home. I absolutely love the fountain, just the cutest thing. I kept looking for Mary Poppins to pop on in.
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I must admit I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it and I thought it might be a bit cold, but as you'll find out, we didn't feel that at all.
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