Sue and the DoD trip that "Just might end up on the Internet somewhere" report!--COMPLETE 6/5/09 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
We were making our way over to Coral Reef when I decided to try and text one of our missing party-goers. And..WOW! She was just arriving at Epcot! We arrived at Coral Reef and met up with.....
Marie!
Marie had been a late addition to this crew, deciding to come on down with like 30 days or less to spare! She was here for Sunday, Monday ad Tuesday only, but it was so good to have her join us!
More and more of us gathered in the area right by Coral Reef. At about 11:40 or so, the back door opened and they let us sneak in!
Inside, we were greeted with a beautifully decorated registration table in a tastefully decorated waiting area:
Everyone needed to be checked off against the list, given their pass, and then given a laynard to wear if they didn't already have one. I believe it was Becki that was doing the check-in process, and it was a bit overwhelming. Jennifer asked me to help, which I quickly did. Then Sara came out and the three of us had a pretty good system going. I couldn't resist a shot of a gaggle of Passporter laynards:
Soon, everyone was checked in and it was time for lunch! We went up one flight, down a long hallway and into a room that up until a few months ago I didn't even know existed! The walls were done in warm wood tones, and the furniture had a funky contemporary look. The tablecloths were real linen! I could get used to this! But the two most dramatic pieces in the room were the crystal piano and the glass windows overlooking the aquarium. I actually did not take alot of pictures of the room, as I was doing more videotaping. I know Chez has pictures, and if anyone else wants to post some here, feel free, you won't be hijacking my trip report!
Soon, lunch was served. This was the menu from the original post:
Quote:
California mixed greens layered with cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots, served with lite zinfandel vinaigrette and avocado low-fat Ranch dressing
Maryland seafood pasta salad with dill and lemon vinaigrette
Sweet cream coleslaw
Oven roasted corn on the cob
Vegetarian Texas barbecue beans
Southern fried chicken with buttermilk mashed potatoes
Kansas City-braised pork shanks with crisp onions
House-made cornbread and butter
Strawberry shortcake
Kentucky bourbon bread pudding with vanilla bean sauce
Coffee and teas
Let me tell you, seeing it on paper did NOT do this meal justice! The pork fell off the bone, the corn was so good, and the garlic mashed potatoes.... Everything was great, and our servers were very attentive.
A few buffet line pictures:
We had a great table, and I finally got to meet Carrie (Elastigirl)! We were waiting to go to the buffet table, when Sara showed up with a surprise guest:
SABINE!!! As you read in Chez's report, Sabine and Manuel had spent the last two days in Celebration hospital, while Manuel had his appendix removed! Sabine was going to try to make the luncheon, but no guarantees. We were a pretty happy table when she arrived!
Towards the end of dinner, Jennifer and Dave got up and started to speak. I have no pictures, because I videotaped the whole thing. They first thanked MouseFan Travel and all their wonderful agents (including the "beck and call" girls ) for pulling this all together. Then the thanks went to the Bruce and Marta, and to the Guides and the Authors, and of course, to our wonderful Passporter goddess, Sara. A special thanks in abstensia to Chad Larner, who couldn't be at the festivities. Thanks went to Jennifer and Dave's family, some of whom were travelling with them. And finally, a very special thank you to all the readers and community members that make up this wonderul site called Passporter. I know there were more then a few misty eyes in that audience thinking about what this book, website and community means to us.
But wait...there's a bit more! Members of Passporter wanted to give a little something back to Jennifer and Dave for all their years of hard work and dedication. Several ideas were tossed around, and finally, the idea of a digital picture frame was decided on! At this point, I need to stop and thank both Ann (Luvsun) and Lesley (WDWfan) for all their hard work in bringing this to fruition. You see, Ann was the one who found the right frame and had it engraved, and Lesley was the one who collected the pictures sent to her. She put them on a memory stick, and then she and Ann loaded the frame. You both ROCK! When the frame was presented, along with a wonderful speech by Sara and Cheryl, it was loaded with over 250 pictures of Passporter meets, Mousefest events, and memories of vacations past that Passporter played a part in!
We posed for some group shots, and then we had CAKE!!!
A few group shots:
Marie, Terri, Ann and Sara:
Dawn:
Marie, Wendy, Terri and Sheri:
Sabine, Carrie and Karen:
Tina and Sara:
There were a few other fun things that went on, but I'll let some of the other trip reporters fill you in on those. All I can say is it was a great way to spend an afternoon! It made me feel so proud and happy that all those years ago, I joined this site and found my second family!
Wonderful update! For those of us who could not be there I speak for everyone saying "Thanks" for letting us join in the this way and a bigger "Thanks" to everyone who makes this place the second "Happiest Place on Earth!"
Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
You're right - I did make my plans at the VERY last minute - it was actually only about 12 days prior! I was so lucky to be able to attend not only the DOD trip - but the lunch as well.
It was a whirlwind couple of days - and such a blast to spend time with both old friends and new!
Great. I'm tearing up all over again just remembering what a fantastic speech that was. I really lost it when Jennifer said she didn't think Sabine made it and we hollered Oh Yes she did!! And then the applause for her!
Let's just say that I'm glad I had Cheryl's camera and not your video camera because it would have been bouncing around from the emotion!!
Those ribs were to die for! You know it's a great party when there's bbq ribs and corn on the cob
It was so great to finally meet you Marie and I am glad that you were down there!!
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Southwestern Florida, USA
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 39,153
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 39
Likes (Received): 114
Thanks (Given): 18
Thanks (Received): 46
Pixie Dust (Given): 1
Pixie Dust (Received): 8
What wonderful pictures! Such fun memories were made that day!
The meal was amazing, the Coral Reef is so beautiful, the desserts were oh so yummy , but most of all the frienships made that day are priceless!
I can't believe that Dave and Jennifer have never had a digital picture frame (until now!)!! Being so technology minded, I would have thought they would have at least one! I am so glad we were able to give them something they didn't already have, but more importantly, something that stores and shares good times with wonderful people!
A great day - a great update Sue!
Thanks again for all the great pics and reporting you are doing. it is so wonderful to be reading all these tr's and reliving special moments with my new friends!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Passporter!!!
Everything was great, and our servers were very attentive.
When the frame was presented, along with a wonderful speech by Sara and Cheryl, it was loaded with over 250 pictures of Passporter meets, Mousefest events, and memories of vacations past that Passporter played a part in! 
All I can say is it was a great way to spend an afternoon! It made me feel so proud and happy that all those years ago, I joined this site and found my second family! 
ºOº ~*~ 
you do have a eye for it LOL
LouigiAnne
PassPorter Guide Author
Linear Mode
