Passing through the Panama Canal - a Passporter's Tale **Updated 8/21** - Page 15 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great start Terri! The photos are wonderful, the car , the flowers gorgeous and you and Leslie look relaxed and ready to go! Hope the blister doesn't develop too badly!
Can't wait for more!
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Terri,
You look GREAT in your pics-so relaxed and happy-try to hold on to that feeling with your future hectic schedule!
Thanks for being in TR mode and letting up experience it
I'm glad you managed so many updates, Terri! I know the cruise must've gone really fast for you, because it went fast for me and I wasn't even on it! Your luggage struggles with the car made me giggle about what's to come. And thanks a lot - now I'm dying for a lamb wrap! Hurry back with more!
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Day 1 continued - AK, Y&Y and EE
Since my brain remains in vacation mode - I really don't want to work on the report I should be working on and I am leaving for lunch in like 10 minutes - I will work on another update.
OK – so we checked into 4105 at the Boardwalk villas – my first time in a one bedroom. It was really nice. I think Lesley took pics of the bedroom and bathroom (since somehow I missed them).
I must say that the funniest thing in the room was a laminated sheet with instructions on it. I looked at it and discovered it was instructions on how to operate the fold out couch!!! And I remember thinking – “oh I won’t need those – it’s only a fold out couch”…
DCL has a new policy that you can not check cases of water, beer, etc as part of your luggage (although I DID see cases tagged with baggage tags on boarding day) – and as a result, and not wanting to pay $35.00 for a case of Evian in the room (I am a water drinking fiend), I had picked up a case of 16 oz waters at Costco in Jacksonville – 35 bottles – for $5.00. This meant that the bottles had to be placed in our checked and carry on luggage. For the trip down, I had put them all in mine. So – when we arrived in the room, I opened up my big black suitcase to move some of the bottles of water, as well as to get to my tennies and some socks to help with the blister.
We left not too long after that to head to AK for dinner at Y&Y. While we were in the hallway – we found the hidden Mickey in the carpet, as well as noticed certain hats and shoes in the carpets.
We drove over to AK in Alice’s car and parked in the handicapped parking area (Alice has a tag). We entered the park, Lesley and Alice headed to get Alice an ECV, I headed to get my EMH wrist band – then they got theirs and we all headed back to Y&Y. While they got us checked in – I ran over to EE to get Lesley and I fastpasses for our post-dinner meeting with the Yeti!!
After I picked up the FPs - I stopped to have a couple of Photopass pictures taken - including my "prayer" pose (?) at the temple - at least that is what the photographer called it. After the photos, I discovered the Lesley had called (and my phone had not rung) wondering where I was... playing with pictures - so I ran over and we were seated.
We ended up upstairs overlooking a large strangling fig (or is it a banyan) tree with prayer flags in it.
Lesley and Alice got adult beverages (I believe A got the Big Bamboo while L got the Yak Attack) – which both tasted wonderful (that BB was POTENT!!). We also decided to make dinner of a variety of appetizers. We started with the tuna, and also had the lettuce cups and eggrolls. After all of that – we added the wontons and ice cream for dessert. It was all WONDERFUL!!
I know that there have been some naysayers on eating at Y&Y – well – if you stick to the appetizers – you should be just fine! One note – discounts are on entrees only – so if you employ our method – no AP discounts. Then again, apps tend to be cheaper than entrees anyway. We got our fortune cookies – my fortune said “Working hard will make you live a happy life” well it looks like I have happiness covered then – since I have never been accused of not working hard (in fact I usually get accused of working TOO hard).
What a great room Terri! Wow, that's a lot of bottled water I wonder why DCL won't let you check them in anymore?? Glad you had a great time at Y&Y!! More please
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, the flowers gorgeous and you and Leslie look relaxed and ready to go! Hope the blister doesn't develop too badly! 
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More please 
Hurry back with more!
Sounds like you had a nice time at Epcot! Can't wait to hear more
And I remember thinking – “oh I won’t need those – it’s only a fold out couch”… 
- so I ran over and we were seated. 
I wonder why DCL won't let you check them in anymore?? Glad you had a great time at Y&Y!! More please 
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