DawnDenise Does Disney: Final Thoughts **Updated 11/10** COMPLETE - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Day 2, Part 2: What My Future Entails, Dinner with some PassPorters, and DTD
Day 2, Part 2: What My Future Entails, Dinner with some PassPorters, and DTD
I made it to EPCOT rather quickly then easily made my way through security and the turnstiles. My first objective was to find a Photopass photographer. I saw two standing just chatting and went up to them and asked which one wanted to take my picture. The older gentleman snatched my card out of my hands and said, “We are gonna have some fun!” He led me to the flower bed right in the middle, told me to take off my bag, and first had me stand for the normal picture with Spaceship Earth in the background. Then you can just see the progression of pictures. I had a lot of fun and the photographer was probably one of the best I have encountered.
Of course then, I had to grab a couple of pictures for myself on my way to Spaceship Earth for my first ride on it since the rehab.
I had maybe a five minute wait as they had to stop the ride several times for those transferring. I boarded my time mobile and got comfy. I really liked the interaction at the beginning, and I do like Dame Judy Dench but I still miss Jeremy Irons. Just MHO. Any who, I had to grab some pictures of my future. I thought it was kind of funny. When I got home, Chuck said it looked like I divorced him and feel for another fella.
After enjoying Spaceship Earth, I headed to the Living Seas. I grab a ride in the Clam mobiles and journeyed under the sea. At one point, we were stopped and the woman in the clam next to me asked if I knew what time it was. I happened to have my cell phone out because I was sending a picture to Tiff for my live updates to help her out. Next, I headed over to Test Track and joined the single riders’ line. I probably waited about 15 minutes which isn’t bad at all. After surviving my testing session, I took a bathroom break and then went to find a cart to grab water. I headed over to the Land and grabbed a fast pass for Soarin’. I had about 90 minutes before it opened so I took my chance and decided to the EPCOT Character Spot. I walked in the doors and found that the line maybe had 15 people in it which was more than manageable for me. I hopped in line and started having a conversation with a woman and her daughter who was dressed as Minnie. Right as we were up to the front of the line, the characters went in for a break. As promised, the characters arrived within 5 minutes and it was time for me to get some more love from some characters. The PhotoPass Photographers were not consistent so some of the pictures were taken by them and some were taken with my camera by the handlers.
So after leaving the characters behind, I headed into the World Showcase, I wanted to take some pictures in the pavilions. I headed into Canada and got caught up watching Off Kilter. Gotta those men in kilts. While I was watching, I got caught up in a conversation with a delightful older couple who had moved from Indiana to Florida. Being from Indiana, we talked a lot about the different cities and then they went on a selling escapade trying to convince me that I needed to buy DVC since I am down here so much. I told them I was sold on it but they needed to talk to my hubby. After talking with them for about 15 minutes, I headed up to the United Kingdom and grabbed some pictures.
At this point, I needed to head back to Canada as my dinner with Janine and Sheila was about 20 minutes away. I tool some pictures of the area and then grabbed a spot on a bench to wait for Janine and Sheila.
After about 10 minutes, I got a text from Chuck telling me Janine and Sheila were waiting for me for dinner. Hmmmmm…I then saw them up at the entrance big Le Cellier sign. I yelled their names and they waved and headed down toward the entrance. Janine told me that for some reason my cell phone didn’t take the night before so she called Chuck and had him text message me. Sheila checked is in and we waited about 10 minutes before being called in. They directed us to the Alberta section I think. We got a booth in the corner. They hostess told us our waiter was Patrick and would be there in a moment. I hoped it was the same Patrick that my mom and I had in February. Within a few minutes, it was the same Patrick and I let him know that he was my waiter the last time I had come to Le Cellier with my mom. I told him we had gotten a picture with him and he said he remembered. He then went into the new drinks available. We all ordered and then took at a look at the menu for our dinner. Janine and Sheila were on the DDP, but Janine and I decided that a bowl of the Cheddar Cheese Soup was a must. We all placed our dinner orders. After that was taken care of, I gave Janine her birthday gift. I think she liked it. I made a scrapbook on Shutterfly of pictures from the DL PassPorter trip from 2007. Before we knew it, our soups had arrived along with that wonderful breadsticks with extra pretzel bread. I cannot tell you enough how much I this soup. We all just sat and chatted through dinner. I had the Filet minus the mushrooms which was a larger portion. Patrick let us know that they went from a 7 ounce to a 9 ounce steak. I had a hard enough time finishing the 7 oz., so I had a lot leftover. Patrick surprised Janine with a glass of champagne with a strawberry garnish for her birthday. $64 later (so not used to paying OOP for meals) with tip, we headed out. I had planned to head to DTD to do some guilt shopping for Chuck. Amy was meeting me there in front of the Christmas shop. Janine and Sheila decided to join me. We grabbed a Friendship boat and got off at the Boardwalk to grab a bus to DTD. We didn’t wait long before we were on our way.
When we arrived, we found Amy waiting for us. She had hoped she hadn’t missed us and we weren’t in the Wonderful World of Memories store getting lost in the scrapbook stuff. She knows me too well. After hugs and introductions, we made our way through DTD. I wanted to stop at Team Mickey as I knew they had golf specific stuff. Chuck had taken up golfing again since we moved to Louisville, so I wanted to get some stuff for him. The girls let me wander. I found a golf towel with Goofy on it in green and some ball marker spots with different characters on them. Amy found a shot glass with a Mickey golf ball in it that was perfect for Chuck to put on his desk at work. Guilt spending completed, we headed over to World of Disney. There were a lot of things that caught my eye but nothing that had to be bought right then. I was coming back in November so I figured it would still be there. Amy however found the cutest little Eeyore bag that was filled with candy. The sweetie that she is said she was gonna buy it for me as a something to mark my first solo trip. Amy! It sits proudly on my desk for work. We got in line to check out and of course, we got behind the one guy that bought a lot of breakable items that he wanted each wrapped separately. At that point, I started coughing. I just couldn’t clear my throat. We luckily got out of there and I treated everyone to a beverage of their choice.
We were done in DTD since I had decided against going to AC one last time after hearing of the crowds. Amy offered to drive us back to our resorts so we wouldn’t have to take the bus. Amy warned us that she would try not to get us lost but she was still learning. I am happy to report that she did just great. Didn’t get lost once! We dropped Janine and Sheila off at Coronado Springs. We got them dropped off safely and then she took me to Caribbean Beach. Once we hit the resort, I told her to turn at a specific point but it would have taken us straight into a pond so she decided to disregard my directions. Probably good on her part. She pulled into the circle right in front of my group of buildings and we sat and chatted a little longer. She decided that she wanted to get a self-portrait shot to send to Dyan. She then sent it to me so I could send to Tiff.
After saying good-bye and making plans on when to meet on Monday for breakfast, I headed back to my room. I called Chuck and then took a shower before heading to bed. I didn’t set a wake-up call but knew I would be up and about on time to head back to EPCOT.
Coming Up: Spending the Day with Mo in EPCOT and EMH at MK.
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The PhotoPass Photographers were not consistent so some of the pictures were taken by them and some were taken with my camera by the handlers.
those men in kilts. While I was watching, I got caught up in a conversation with a delightful older couple who had moved from Indiana to Florida. Being from Indiana, we talked a lot about the different cities and then they went on a selling escapade trying to convince me that I needed to buy DVC since I am down here so much. I told them I was sold on it but they needed to talk to my hubby. After talking with them for about 15 minutes, I headed up to the United Kingdom and grabbed some pictures.
We all just sat and chatted through dinner. I had the Filet minus the mushrooms which was a larger portion. Patrick let us know that they went from a 7 ounce to a 9 ounce steak. I had a hard enough time finishing the 7 oz., so I had a lot leftover. Patrick surprised Janine with a glass of champagne with a strawberry garnish for her birthday. $64 later (so not used to paying OOP for meals) with tip, we headed out. I had planned to head to DTD to do some guilt shopping for Chuck. Amy was meeting me there in front of the Christmas shop. Janine and Sheila decided to join me. We grabbed a Friendship boat and got off at the Boardwalk to grab a bus to DTD. We didn’t wait long before we were on our way. 
Amy! It sits proudly on my desk for work. 
We got in line to check out and of course, we got behind the one guy that bought a lot of breakable items that he wanted each wrapped separately. 
At that point, I started coughing. I just couldn’t clear my throat. We luckily got out of there and I treated everyone to a beverage of their choice. 
Sammi
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