Go your own way - Decade of Dreams - UPDATED 6/24 - COMPLETE!! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Hey thanks everybody!! Chez, you are right, I didn't let it hold me back---not with all the um, medications I had. That's why no one really knew about it---i'm really not that loopy and out of it! Well not most of the time!
Sara, I like the See Ya Real Soon too!!
I can't wait for the update from when you get there Chez!!
Great update, Cheryl! Saying goodbye is hard, but at least you had so much to look forward to. The airport lounge is an interesting concept. I've never seen those in U.S. airports, other than for frequent flyer/elite status customers for a particular airline. So anyone can pay a fee to wait in these lounges? Interesting. I'm not a big traveler, so maybe they have them in the U.S. and I just never noticed them before. Looking forward to hearing about your arrival!
Yep, anyone can pay for them. They're about Ł15 - Ł20 per person (c. $25 - $30). There are also some lounges that are just for the frequent fliers / those in business class as well.
you were both so happy when i finally caught up with you on saturday that i would not have known anything was amiss or that you were missing any loved ones! i love that you are both adding your own touches to the report, that is great! miss you both!
You take the best pictures - I can taste the food from here. And how hard to be parted from Mark and how hard for him to see you go off to have fun. Yikes!
I thought it was interesting you mentioned work, because it seems like you're always traveling. LOL!
Thursday 30 April – part two: demonstrating “something cool”… or not…
Eventually, we were landing and that’s when I started to fill up again. The thought of landing on my own and knowing that I was going to be met by Wendy and Amy was too much to bear, but I had to a few things to go through before I got that far.
The first was to clear immigration and my goodness, the guy asked me more questions than I’ve ever been asked before on any previous visit. He started with was I travelling alone and then why, so I explained the situation, then I get asked what my husband does for a living and how many people work in his company. Next we got on to the last time I was in the States. It became a bit like a test really. I was so glad when he finally let me through, as I was beginning to wonder.
Next, it was a case of waiting for the case to come out. I was very glad that I was flying Premium Economy, as all our cases came out before they even started the carousel for economy. Mine was probably one of the last cases to come off and then it was out to catch the monorail to the main building.
It was only at this point could I turn the cell phone on and there was a message from Mark waiting for me. How sweet, but that also started to get me all emotional and when I got to the main building and saw Wendy and Amy waiting for me, the tears really were coming. I composed myself and got Mark to call me. My goodness, he did sound miserable, which wasn’t nice to her, but at least I had spoken to him.
We headed back to Amy’s car with Wendy taking charge of my luggage (she is such a good mom! ) and then it was off to Disney!
Soon the famous signs were in front of us and then we were back on property and off to the BoardWalk. You know, every time I come here, it does feel more like home and today was no exception.
We parked up and started to hike to get to our room and it was a hike too. I felt like we had walked forever when we got to the Innkeepers’ Club concierge lounge. Amy and Wendy said that they were going to demonstrate something cool, but neither card would work to get the door to swing open and in the end Amy just tried it and, sure enough, it was already open. In we went and I had a quick look at the concierge lounge, which was very nice.
Then it was off to our room. This was lovely. I really liked the size and theming of it immediately and we had a nice view over the quiet pool.
It wasn’t long before I gave in and had a shower to try and make me feel human again. It worked and we set off for the concierge lounge, where we sat and chatted and Wendy and I enjoyed the Beringer White Zinfandel, which was lovely. It was cheese and wine and, as well as the cheese, they also had some carrots and tomatoes, which was just what I needed.
Eventually we had to make a move, as we had dinner booked at the Rose and Crown and we headed that way, seeing all the festivities going on at the Beach Club. It looked like there were couple of weddings on over there. I was so pleased when Wendy offered to get a photo of me with the Beach Club in the background and the shot came out lovely.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.