Making Lemonade out of Mousefest **Updated 2/18** COMPLETE - Page 18 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I am so sorry that I missed the Margarita meet (but not sorry that I didn't win the hat ). I me a good margarita, although I prefer mine on the rocks with salt. Guess I need to make a trip to NO and see if you can make me a good one.
I decided that I was not going to stay for the PM Illuminations meet as I had seen Illuminations yesterday and I don't have an antenna on my car. Where do I go next?
For the record, do not get in Terri's way on a challenge! She is a woman on a mission! Technically Terri, Sarah and I were a tema but Sarah and I figured out pretty quickly to just follow her lead. Me? I had Evan so wasn't paying much attention to anything else!
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That margarita meet sounds like it was so much fun. I'm really sorry I missed it (and I realize that I didn't get a margarita at all ). It's fun to read about what you were doing when you weren't with us!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
That margarita meet sounds like it was so much fun. I'm really sorry I missed it (and I realize that I didn't get a margarita at all ). It's fun to read about what you were doing when you weren't with us!
Its okay . . . Jill is forgiven and so are you! I'll buy you a Margarita in May!
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With a full belly and having decided not to stay for Illuminations I discovered that Deb was also on her way out of Epcot so we buddied up! Both of us were on our way to the MK. I wanted to see Spectro and Wishes.
On the way up the monorail ramp I gave out my remaining rubber duckies to CMs and kids, although one little girl looked at me like I was nuts and ran away . . . Smart Girl!
We got off at the TTC and I disposed of my empty rubber ducky bags and we headed for the MK monorail and got right on. The MK was packed. I mean packed. We made it down Mainstreet and then we split up. I was off to torture myself and Deb wanted to catch Philharmagic.
I took these from the front of the castle
Then I arrived at the one thing I was determined to do before Spectromagic.
Unfortunately everyone else in the MK is also a masochist.
But I was bound a determined to catch a dirty murder on film . . . what is that boy doing?
(Insert inappropriete comment here Eileen)
I spent most of the ride playing with my camera settings
After saying goodbye to all my little dolly friends in 18 different languages I made my way over to Liberty Square to see what the wait looked like for HM. I turned directly back around and got some ice cream and waited for the P-rade!
I was not in a great spot for photos, but I'll fix that in June! I promise!
After Spectro ended I thought about staking out a spot for Wishes, but I realized I was exauhsted. I looked through the shops on mainstreet, or rather I used them as an exit route. I was too tired to shop!
Apparently I was not alone. I looked at the line for the monorail to the TTC uh oh. Then I looked at the line for the boat launch to the Poly . . . nobody there and boat approaching! Lets do that! I was standing with one other family waiting for the boat when this huge group walks up and tries to muscle their way ahead of us. I wasn't having it. I stepped forward and used my ELBOW to block the gate! Ha! I heard the father of the first family (the patiently waiting family) mutter "nice job" under his breath. Almost all of us got on the next boat and we were off to the Grand Floridian.
At the GF boat launch we had to stop. Why? Music was playing and lights were twinkling. I've never seen the Electric Water Parade FROM the water before!
Parade over we headed onward to the Poly where I got off. From the Poly I walked to the TTC and then got on the Tram to my car. Yes I remembered to write down where I had parked it. I scooted back to SSR and PASSED OUT!
Now I realize that if I had just gotten in the monorail line I likely would have made it to the TTC faster, but I hate waiting in line for transportation. I would rather take the boat and walk then spend any time standing around doing nothing. My other favorite move is to take the resort monorail to the first stop and get a bus for DTD and then walk or hop my resort bus there!
On the way up the monorail ramp I gave out my remaining rubber duckies to CMs and kids, although one little girl looked at me like I was nuts and ran away . . . Smart Girl!
Heather's quote of the day . . . "Want a rubber ducky?!"
Quote:
But I was bound a determined to catch a dirty murder on film . . . what is that boy doing?