Trying New Disney Things - UPDATED 8/28 w/more videos - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi great tr I can't wait till you post more. Wow you stayed in four resorts !! That's cool my dh never wants to move to other resorts. I would love to try all the resorts some day. We tryed a few but not many. Lucky you !!!
I just read your whole TR. It looks like you had fantastic rooms at the different resorts and what great views! I'm glad CRT was so special. We are hoping to view Wishes from CRT in September. I hope it works out for us. That would be awesome.
The night began earlier that afternoon. We went to Epcot to pick up our tickets for the F&F Party. Showed our ID and confirmations and presto! We were given two large white envelopes. One for DS#2 Chat and I and one for DH and DS#1 Luke. DD Lucy was to pick up her own packet before the party.
Inside the envelope was this:
Of course, it's the ticket (lanyard) that you wear around your neck for entrance to the special event. There was a letter from Steven Clark thanking us for joining the event...a page from the D23 website describing the event...an Epcot map...an I'm Celebrating pin...F&G program...and a really nice surprise - a Soarin' fastpass. Chat and I would use ours later in the week!
The evening started with Chat taking the last of the F&G pics he wanted and some shopping around the world. Chat found an item a fellow passporter had wanted last year! He bought one quickly and ran it back to our van. We received a text from Lucy. She was called into work. Yes, the life of a Dmanager. You are salaried and you never know when you need to step in and lend a helping hand. So no Lucy for the party, but she was handling the news with Disney grace!
The first part of the evening was reserved seating at the final Flower Power concert at the American Gardens Theater. It was in the center part! The artist for the last night of the concert series? Tony Orlando. He was a riot! He showed up with Mgloves on and lead us in M-I-C-K-E-Y. Throughout his show, he would call out to the D23 members - which was very .
When the show was over, we were escorted over between France and the UK - the special viewing down by the bridge. We happened to be in the front - still not sure how that happened, walking next the cm and his guiding light. Of course, I can't keep quiet. So we're talking and I find out he only works weekends and is a school teacher in real life (his words). Epcot is busy! But he weaves us in and out of the crowd, talking the whole way!
And then we arrived. It was so very walking up knowing that we could actually go in! Usually we walk by and say - lucky ducks!
There were two levels and my Dguys wanted down by the water so they went in and found a table right by the fence. Of course, they're 6'4 and they found a tall table to stand at!
Each level had three stations:
*Coke floats...but I just asked for the Coke (and then just ice cream later)
*Teas, Bottled Water...I asked for the ice (and then water later)
*And of course the desserts! The D23 members rushed in and started grabbing food so the pics show some of the food gone just after a few minutes!
Something very about the desserts -- some were Walt Disney's own personal favorites!
The desserts:
*Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
*Apple Brown Betty (heated)
*Fantasia Cheesecake
*Chocolate Cream Pie
*Butterscotch Haystack Cookies
Some more pics of the food:
It was a lot of fun! We had enough time to walk around and meet other D23 members. There were a good number of people, but not too many. We were not squished like sardines, but had a very intimate setting. I was wondering how it would be and it worked out so wonderfully!
Next came a perfect ending...Illuminations!
I usually leave the fireworks pics to my Dguys -- you'll see why! But here's some of mine:
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We went to Epcot to pick up our tickets for the F&F Party. Showed our ID and confirmations and presto! We were given two large white envelopes. One for DS#2 Chat and I and one for DH and DS#1 Luke. DD Lucy was to pick up her own packet before the party. 
Yes, the life of a Dmanager. You are salaried and you never know when you need to step in and lend a helping hand. So no Lucy for the party, but she was handling the news with Disney grace! 
Epcot is busy! But he weaves us in and out of the crowd, talking the whole way! 
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