Our First Christmas in the World - COMPLETED 3/26 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great pictures from the resorts! Morgan said that chair at BC was scary last summer when we stayed there. Beaches and Cream is one of our favorite CS restaurants, but we had the same thought after eating there the first time. The second time, Luke and I split the burger and I had room to eat my own sundae.
Splitting a sandwich and then a sundae is definitely the way to go at Beaches & Cream! One Man's Dream is my favorite attraction at DHS. We didn't have a TV in 1955, but I used to sneak next door to watch Mickey Mouse Club its first year!
One Man's Dream is always one of my favorites as well. Unfortunately what usually happens for us is that just about 3/4 of the way through the exhibits, they announce the movie will be starting in a few minutes, so we rush through the rest, head in the theater to watch the show and then never make it back to see the rest of the exhibits.
One of these days we'll hit it right, or...just wait and catch the next show!
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Great pictures from the resorts! Morgan said that chair at BC was scary last summer when we stayed there. Beaches and Cream is one of our favorite CS restaurants, but we had the same thought after eating there the first time. The second time, Luke and I split the burger and I had room to eat my own sundae.
I realized in looking through my pictures of Beach Club that I didn't take as many as I'd thought, but still they are a good representation of the Christmas decorations, and that was what we'd gone to see.
Yes, splitting a meal is definitely the plan for September when we have our first stay at BCV.
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Back in the room we took a nap and then watched some TV. Then we decided to head back up to the Top of the World Lounge and watch Wishes from there. What a difference from the last time! Since it was close to time for Wishes, it was really crowded! We had quite a wait at the bar before someone even took our drink order. Jeff had a beer and I had a glass of Riesling. Total was $15.75, including automatic gratuity. (Note that you can use TiW at most of the lounges on property!) I headed outside so I wouldn’t miss the beginning of Wishes, and Jeff joined me a few minutes later. The CM who was waiting on him wasn’t too speedy.
We found out this was an awesome place to watch Wishes!
After the show we went back inside to have a seat and finish our drinks. There were two empty seats at a table and we asked the couple there if we could join them. Then we had a great time sharing stories about Disney and DVC.
Sometime after 10:00 we headed downstairs and over to MK for EMH.
First a few Photopass pictures:
Then we walked back to New Fantasyland and rode Dumbo with no wait.
Then we got in line for Under the Sea. The wait time was posted as 30 minutes but we walked right on.
After that we walked through FL and headed for Haunted Mansion which also had no wait. By this time we were getting a little hungry but we weren’t sure what CS restaurants would be open. We stopped into Pecos Bills and found out they were open until midnight, so we decided to ride BTMM first (no wait) and then went back for some grub. We split a chicken wrap and piled on some goodies from the toppings bar. For drinks I had hot tea and Jeff had chocolate milk. The bill was $15.10. By then it was about midnight and we decided to go back to New Fantasyland and check out Enchanted Tales with Belle. I think the posted wait time was 25 minutes, but the line wasn’t too bad. In about 10 minutes we were inside the cottage and in another 10 minutes we were in Maurice’s shop. We enjoyed the animatronics of the armoire and Lumiere, and of course seeing Belle up close was a treat. All in all, it was a cute attraction, but we probably would not stand in line to see it again.
We rode Winnie the Pooh on our way out since Jeff couldn’t ever remember doing this. Really??
And then we walked back to BLT. How awesome to be able to walk back to the resort!!
There was no way we were getting up for EMH tomorrow morning! We decided to skip the wake-up call and get up whenever.
Weather today was: warm, but cloudy
The best thing today was: EMH at MK
The worst thing today was: Trying to get our drinks in time for Wishes
The funniest thing today was: Hollywood Public Works characters
Today we tried: New Fantasyland during EMH
And the result was: short waits for Dumbo, Belle, and Under the Sea
The most magical moment today was: Wishes from Top of the World Lounge.
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Morgan said that chair at BC was scary last summer when we stayed there. Beaches and Cream is one of our favorite CS restaurants, but we had the same thought after eating there the first time. The second time, Luke and I split the burger and I had room to eat my own sundae. 
definitely!!
So glad you joined in! Glad you are enjoying it!
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