The happiest place on Earth for 28. (TR) - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
The the next 1/2 hour we sat on the sidewalk and visited with the family in front of us, they were nice. The the tug-of-war began. CM's were coming by and telling us we had to stand up but there was still a 1/2 hour to go so we would nod and they would move on and we still sat. Finally about 15 minutes before the parade one CM stayed and insisted we stand, Karen and I stood but the lady in front of us told Beth to stay sitting and she did. A big family squeezed in on my left and 2 more couples crowded in behind us so my claustrophobia was kicking in. DD got to her knees, the reason her feet were so sore was because she wore flats that had no support. I had offered to get some tennis shoes but she didn't want them and was now paying the price. It wasn't my feet that were bothering me too much it was my back. I was leaning against a tree so that helped the back pressure some. Then the parade started and even with people jostling me, especially the kids on my left and with my phone I did manage to get some pictures.
Just before the parade Karen decided to go look for other students to ride SM with so as soon as the parade was over and people left the sidewalk I sat down to rest my back. DD moved to the road to see the fireworks better.
Then there was an announcement that the fireworks were delayed, after about 15 minutes there was an announcement that the fireworks were cancelled due to wind but they showed the lights/show on the buildings so we watched that then headed to the meeting place. I knew Sheryl and the teacher had FP right after the parade for ST's so they were not at the meeting place yet and students were watching clocks to see if especially the teacher made it by the time he had said all must be there. They came jogging up right on the dot. We headed for the hotel and had a short meeting about the next day with the teacher emphasizing all must be on time. I did room check then fell into bed.
Up next; We're early...no we're late.
Just so everyone knows, I am leaving today for TN so probably won't post for about a week and a half.
Great photos of the PTN Parade! Too bad the fireworks were cancelled!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Well, my week and a half turned into several months because I've missed placed my note book for this trip. I'm hoping to find it this weekend so I can finish!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I have been searching for months for my notebook for this trip and I think it's disappeared into a black hole however, yesterday I asked DD(18) for help in reconstructing our trip while we jogged each others memory I took notes; so I am going to try and finish using those.
Yesterday, we did not arrive early enough for me, so I was leaning a bit on the teacher and adults who are the type to get there whenever they are ready but maybe it worked because this morning everyone was on time and we were off. There was hardly any line for security and the lines at CA gates were much less than the lines we encountered yesterday which made me happy!
We were gathering in the plaza (?) just inside the gates
because we were going as a group to pick up FPs for WOC. After waiting for a few minutes, about the time I thought we should be going, word traveled through us that one student had forgotten her ticket...so we had to wait for her. So yes we had arrived earlier than yesterday but still not moving early enough for me because I wanted to get to TSM before the lines got too long. While I waited I took pictures.
I liked this bench.
Sitting around waiting.
Beautiful flowers
Beautiful girls (DD and her friend)
The look on DD's face is like "would you stop with the pictures" These are the ears she picked yesterday.
Teacher waiting with the students.
Then there was a commotion and we saw Oswald, Sheryl grabbed her daughter and hollered for the rest of us but DD and I were the only ones who went to check it out.
Finally, the student had her ticket and we moved on to find the FP distribution.
Because everyone now seemed to think I knew so much about Disney I knew where I was going they were all following me.The reason this was funny was that the first time I had been to CA there was no WOC yet and so I had never gotten FPs for it. I knew on the map about where it was so I had headed down the path passed Soarin but wasn't sure exactly where I was going but was hoping we'd find it without revealing I didn't know exactly. We followed the U turn in the path and headed up the hill. DD said students were complaining about the long walk but I saw a CM up ahead on the left and sure enough he was passing out FPs . We got our FP's and everyone dispersed quickly, DD, Karen and I kept going up the hill before we realized everyone else had turned around and went back the way we had come. Lucky for us, we turned the corner and on our left was Chip & Dale! DD and I had never met them and there was no line - only one person with them so we waited. I figured we were already later than I planned and a few minutes more wouldn't make a difference. I'm we did because they were hilarious! We had to coax Karen into joining us for the pictures.
While Chip was entertaining us, Dale took my sunglasses, I did not even know.
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