Laurie and Carol's Panama Adventure **Updated 6/11** COMPLETE - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Awesome Laurie! Looking forward to more. DH and I (among LOTS of others) will bring that ship back to FL in August. If you get a chance, could you tell of your experiences with your laptop. Is there WIFI available? I'm not sure whether or not I will bring mine with me.
Wonderful pics! Thanks for the updates. Can't wait to hear more! We will be on that return trip as well! If this works well in the cabin, I might take mine as well! (And I love 7114! We were in that cabin last summer for our Eastern Caribbean cruise! )
Laurie, were you at one of the lunch with an vet things at Jiko? When Dr Mark Setter was the speaker? I recognize you from that meal! I think it was May 2006?
Anyway, you pictures are wonderful and it sound slike you are having a fabulous time!
Laurie, were you at one of the lunch with an vet things at Jiko? When Dr Mark Setter was the speaker? I recognize you from that meal! I think it was May 2006?
Anyway, you pictures are wonderful and it sound slike you are having a fabulous time!
Yes, I was at that Jiko lunch! What a nice group of people that was. I've been wishing I'd stayed in contact with them and now here you are! Hello again. Wasn't that a wonderful lunch and presentation? I wish they still had that program.
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.
Yes, we do have wireless in the staterooms, but, depending I guess on the stateroom location and the location of the ship, the signal strength varies. The best signal I've found was in Cove Cafe this morning. Just be sure to compose any post of any length in a word program before trying to send it. Several times I've tried to send short update here or write short e-mails and the signal disappeared just as I hit send. Very annoying. Also, thanks to Lesley, I changed the settings here to NOT show sigs, photos or avatars, which helps a lot with the loading speed. There are reminders on the instructions, but it's easy to forget, so I'll stress it again. Remember to LOG OUT when you end a session. Don't just close the internet window or you'll continue to be charged.
Had another great day today. So much to do. I had a nice, leisurely start in the Cove Cafe, then went to the shopping talk, had lunch at Goofy's Galley (I LOVE the selections here--I had a roasted veg panini and an asparagus and green bean salad, both delicious). Met up with Lesley and Terri at the DVC event, but Terri and I left early for the Panama Canal History talk. This was the only time this talk is scheduled and it was very good. It was given by Captain Ken Puckett, former Captain of the Canal Zone and Pilot. He had a lot of photos in the slide presentation that I'd not seen in any of the books or videos. Thursday he will give another talk on how the locks work and what will happen as we go through the process on Friday.
I've also seen Jean and George and said hello to Deb Wills, but haven't made contact with other PP.
Next I wanted to do the Art of the Theme Show Ship's Tour, but left after a short time. There were so many people (at least 50!) that by the 2nd stop I was too far behind to see or hear anything. So I re-set my plans and went to Bingo. Didn't win anything, but had a lot of fun. The big jackpot is already over $1000 and there are 13 days to go!
Dinner tonight was at Parrot Cay and again we had no complaints. Our delight in having such wonderful dining companions increases with each meal and the food has been really good. Very creative, too. As a vegetarian I'm used to having to settle for pasta with red sauce or prima vera, but so far the meals I've had are wonderful and surprising. Tonight I had an asparagus and citrus salad followed by roasted turnips, leeks and pumpkin with fried polenta. Both were excellent (and not only vegetarian, but vegan). The dessert wasn't vegan, but was yummy as well--riccotta creme brulee.
Carol had a great day today also. She worked out in the morning and afternoon in the fitness center, went to the wine tasting, and did some "real world" work.
Again, we both are too tired to go to the show. I'm sorry to miss Golden Mickeys and the party afterwards, but my eyes are closing....
Thanks so much for the real time reports. It's envious, I am, that you are able to do this! I can't wait for what the PC is like.....hopefully, you'll be able to post some pictures of that, too, so we don't have to wait!
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What great photos! You are an excellent photographer.
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