Have a Happy Birthday - Part Two - COMPLETE w/Final Thoughts **Updated 11/25** - Page 13 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We took the monorail to the Contemporary and quickly checked in at Chef Mickey’s. Our pager went off within about 10 minutes and, for the first time ever, we were not seated in the back room. Instead, we were lead to a booth in a corner behind the buffet. It was actually a nice, quiet, out-of-the-way area - - well, as quiet as Chef Mickey's can be!
The characters immediately started coming around, but Thom, Misti and I managed to get food for the children in between. Maddie was just a little shy at the beginning, but with Thom’s help she was still touching the characters and giving them kisses.
Notice how she's in the picture, but still at a safe distance from Goofy.
At one point she had to go to the bathroom, so I took her and told her that we had to hurry so we didn’t miss any characters. She took me at my word and kept saying “Don’t want to miss any characters.”
When I returned to the table with Maddie, I finally had a chance to make a salad for myself and grab some boiled shrimp. My next plate was pure and simple carb loading with a bit of scalloped potatoes, pasta with chicken and jambalaya. Everything I tried was very tasty, but my favorite thing was the Imagine chardonnay. My wine buddy, Misti, had a glass of red wine. I finished off my meal with several different desserts and found them all to be delicious!
Minnie came by several times to our table and had a fantastic interaction with Jack. He was sitting down eating his ice cream and she sat beside him. He just kept eating his ice cream and pretty much ignoring her so Maddie took advantage of the situation. Minnie had been sitting in front of Thom’s backpack which was on the booth seat. After she left, Jack said “I think Minnie left her backpack.”
I think the excitement of the other three children around the characters was finally the breaking point for Maddie. As they would scramble from their seats to take a picture, she would be right behind them. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip because she finally felt brave enough to stand by herself with a character (pssst Eileen, notice who finally turned her around. )
(And that's only about 1/3 of the pictures, so I spared you! )
Misti was going to take the kids back to MK for the fireworks, but my crew was worn out. We waited only a few minutes on the dock at the Contemporary for a boat to WL where we were besieged by little annoying bugs. They were everywhere! Not the love bugs of June either. Thom had brought a towel along just in case Maddie had an accident, so I used it to cover up the girls from the bugs on our boat ride. Then we walked quickly to the door.
The desserts were still out, so we helped ourselves. We had just finished dinner, but I simply cannot turn down that warm berry cobbler. That, along with another glass of white wine , made a perfect ending to the day. We sat at the little table and chairs with the girls watching tv and enjoying our desserts. Thom even surprised me by drinking a glass of red wine. He claims that he helps him to sleep.
We had had a long day, so we went to bed early although Mary Devall and I did start watching Halloweentown High. As we watched the movie, I thought that I heard a noise outside, When I investigated out on the balcony, I saw the Electric Water Pageant coming our way. How could I have forgotten that? I called Mary Devall outside who was super excited to see it since it was one of her favorite parts about staying at WL in 07. We watched a bit of it, but the lack of sleep and the busy day soon has us back in our beds and .
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Love all of the great pictures!
I am so happy that Maddie has warmed up to Mickey and the gang....or should I say Minnie??? I don't blame her! Minnie is my favorite too!
I just love watching the electrical water parade from the beach at WL. Oh....that brings back good memories!
Great update! I am really looking forward to Miss Maddie's birthday!
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
What a great way to end a very long travel day...the kids all looked adorable with the characters at CM but Maddie definitely stole the show. What a differerence a few weeks can make...seeing her hugging Mickey and kissing Goofy and standing right beside him....they were all picture perfect.
Glad you all finally made it back to the room...I don't know how you all made it so long. Glad that you and Mary Devall were able to enjoy the Water Padgent together...
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I kept forgetting to send my tr home! I usually write at work (more time there 
), but post from home!
My wine buddy, Misti, had a glass of red wine. I finished off my meal with several different desserts and found them all to be delicious! 
Not the love bugs of June either. Thom had brought a towel along just in case Maddie had an accident, so I used it to cover up the girls from the bugs on our boat ride. Then we walked quickly to the door. 
I called Mary Devall outside who was super excited to see it since it was one of her favorite parts about staying at WL in 07. 
.
Margaret
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