A 40th celebration to end the world! THREAD 1 COMPLETED 2/16 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I didn't think I was the least bit hungry until I read about your meals at B&C. And now I'm wondering if I could squeeze a lunch in here on our trip in June as I think my DSis's family would all enjoy it. I love the Grumpy hat Heather gave Mark!
Great 1st day! And I love Beaches and Cream - it is always a must every trip. We went there Oct 2012 w/their new menu - I had the pot roast sandwich - and it was yummy!!! And I love their No Way Joses!!! Can't wait to read more, espcecially the Segway tour - we will be doing that this upcoming June!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
It was just great to see you guys on your arrival day! I love B&C so much--I've been alternating between the grilled cheese and the burger! Need to go back soon!
I didn't think I was the least bit hungry until I read about your meals at B&C. And now I'm wondering if I could squeeze a lunch in here on our trip in June as I think my DSis's family would all enjoy it. I love the Grumpy hat Heather gave Mark!
I'm sure they would love it there. I say go ahead - squeeze it in!
Great 1st day! And I love Beaches and Cream - it is always a must every trip. We went there Oct 2012 w/their new menu - I had the pot roast sandwich - and it was yummy!!! And I love their No Way Joses!!! Can't wait to read more, espcecially the Segway tour - we will be doing that this upcoming June!
It was just great to see you guys on your arrival day! I love B&C so much--I've been alternating between the grilled cheese and the burger! Need to go back soon!
Ok seriously jealous that you get to go back soon... we have to wait until November.
Friday 7 December – part one: the problem’s at our end and we’ll have to reboot
Jetlag is a killer, and the first night is always the worst. Sadly, this vacation that was no different. I slept fine through to 12:30am, then I woke up, but went back to sleep again until 1:30am. After that, I couldn’t go back to sleep properly, so I cat napped until around 4:00am, which was almost eight hours’ sleep, then I gave up and got up.
I worked on the trip report for a bit, then I tried to log on to the Internet. go. The computer could find the wifi from Disney, but then when it connected, it just said there was no Internet access. I did all the usual stuff, like rebooting it, and I even tried plugging into the high speed Internet access, but nothing worked. I knew it couldn’t be the computer, as the thing was new – we’d only got it at the end of October, so in the end I called front desk. I was told to call 56 and speak to a technician. Now this is where I got seriously impressed….
First off, I was amazed there was someone there, bearing in mind it was about 4:40am, but there was. The guy talked me through various things, with me struggling at times, as I’m still getting used to Windows 8 (if you don’t have it, I will warn you it’s a radical change from anything that’s gone before ) and the guy on the other end probably thinking it’s user error. However, after talking me through various things, he said that it was actually their modem and they’d have to re-boot it and to try again in half an hour. Wow, as Mark said, I probably saved Disney a heck of a lot of time. Can you imagine when people started waking up and had no Internet? They’d have had loads of people on the phone….
Despite that, there was still no sign of the wifi working an hour later, so I gave up and headed outside to get some photos. I honestly thought that as it was 5:30am, I’d be alone out there, apart from maybe a few Cast Members, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. A family of four came along with their luggage, and there was a woman in the lobby, and later a couple in there, as well as people running outside. It was beautiful, although a little misty, as you’ll see in some of these photos. It gave me a chance to experiment with my camera, which was useful…
As I headed back to the room, I could see a Disney’s Magical Express bus just about to leave, so I guess that’s why there were a few people around then…
When I got back to the room, at least the coffeemaker had finished heating the water, so we could grab some tea. I knew there was something we’d forgotten, as everything fitted into the three cases far too well. It was the travel kettle! Oh well – we’ll manage.
I did briefly get as far as logging on to Disney’s wifi network, before it dropped out again. Oh dear, doesn’t look like it’s a good day for Disney technology today.
I guess that would be the recipe. I never make it, I only ever buy it at a shop... Not sure about adding bacon to it...
You are kidding me - you've never made it yourself?? Wow. You clearly weren't brought up on a council estate!!
Well, for those who need to know here is the proper, British recipe (as opposed to the one that looked like the Grand Floridian version to me!) :-
Take two slices of thick, untoasted white bread. Butter lavishly. Add a slab of sharp, white cheddar cheese to one slice, top with several rings of Spanish onion (or any large salad onion), add the other slice of bread, and enjoy.
Simples!
__________________
Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
The pre-dawn pictures around the resort are lovely!
How frustrating, though, that you were not able to connect to Disney Wifi. I'll bet after your phone call the technician was scrambling to make things right before the morning rush!